--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I existed finally as the idea of temporal…" description: "\"“I existed finally as the idea of temporal extension.”\" — Rae Armantrout" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1a/rae-armantrout-15496_existed_i-existed-finally-as-the-idea-of-tempora_2004441.png" --- # I existed finally as the idea of temporal extension. ![“I existed finally as the idea of temporal extension.” quote by Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1a/rae-armantrout-15496_existed_i-existed-finally-as-the-idea-of-tempora_2004441.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1a/rae-armantrout-15496_existed_i-existed-finally-as-the-idea-of-tempora_2004441.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1a/rae-armantrout-15496_existed_i-existed-finally-as-the-idea-of-tempora_2004441.png) > ““I existed finally as the idea of temporal extension.”” [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Existence is framed as a concept of extending time, suggesting identity is tied to duration rather than substance. **In simple terms:** Identity as time extension. Key Takeaway Embrace the fluidity of self. Themes identity time philosophy existential poetry Mood contemplative poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - mindfulness - creative practice - literary analysis Key Concepts temporal extension selfhood continuity Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to exist beyond moments? - Can time define who we are? A Different Perspective The notion may overlook physical and emotional dimensions of being. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existed/) [Existed Finally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existed-finally-3544987/) [Idea Temporal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idea-temporal-3544989/) [Temporal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temporal/) [Temporal Extension](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temporal-extension-3544988/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [In the early days of the New England colonies, no more embarrassing or hampering condition, no greater temporal ill, could befall any adult Puritan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-morse-earle/in-the-early-days-of-the-new-england-colonies-no-more-embarrassing-or/) [Alice Morse Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-morse-earle/) > [“We are doomed to live the feeling of being lost because temporal beings are doomed to feel this way; this is something that transitory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-are-doomed-to-live-the-feeling-of-being-lost-because-temporal/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“You may lose paradise, but gain heaven when you rise up and repent. 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LEWIS](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [“A leader’s cross is the temporal pain they go through and his crown is the permanent gain when at last victory is achieved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/a-leader-s-cross-is-the-temporal-pain-they-go-through-and-his-crown/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“Cultivate the habit of defining, refining, redefining and redeeming your opportunities. Failure is a temporal event, not a permanent trademark.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/cultivate-the-habit-of-defining-refining-redefining-and-redeeming/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“Writing is a temporal form of creating forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-heatt/writing-is-a-temporal-form-of-creating-forever/) [Jonathan Heatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-heatt/) > [“Everything that I hold will eventually be gone. 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It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-first-and-last-lesson-of-religion-is-the-things-that-are-seen-are/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The Dalai Lama is just a temporal leader of Tibet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-dalai-lama-is-just-a-temporal-leader-of-tibet/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) ## More by Rae Armantrout > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [“this route is only one of several imaginary paths.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/this-route-is-only-one-of-several-imaginary-paths/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [“To reinvent anomalous figments.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/to-reinvent-anomalous-figments/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [I know you by your willingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-know-you-by-your-willingness/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [People probably long for something genuinely personal in a society where the personal is often indistinguishable from the "personalized." Maybe the poetry audience member…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/people-probably-long-for-something-genuinely-personal-in-a-society/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [“The jacaranda, for instance, is beautiful but not serious.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/the-jacaranda-for-instance-is-beautiful-but-not-serious/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [Like most of my poems, 'Lie' has several sources: I read a very troubling book called The Sixth Extinction. I took note of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/like-most-of-my-poems-lie-has-several-sources-i-read-a-very-troubling/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [Poets tend to form loose groups - the "Romantics" or the "Imagists". And sometimes they write manifestoes in the name of these groups. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/poets-tend-to-form-loose-groups-the-romantics-or-the-imagists-and/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [“Evening succeeds evening.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/evening-succeeds-evening/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [The ghosts swarm. They speak as one person. Each has left something undone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/the-ghosts-swarm-they-speak-as-one-person-each-has-left-something/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [Metaphor is ritual sacrifice. It kills the look-alike. No, metaphor is homeopathy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/metaphor-is-ritual-sacrifice-it-kills-the-look-alike-no-metaphor-is/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [Carried by light, images remain while sensation is so evanescent as to be always beyond belief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/carried-by-light-images-remain-while-sensation-is-so-evanescent-as-to/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [“The feeling of emptiness is a pre-existing condition. Jargon forces intimacy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/the-feeling-of-emptiness-is-a-pre-existing-condition-jargon-forces/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [Like all my poems, 'Negotiations' has several sources. It deals with aging lovers and the often silent deals they make. Thinking about bargains made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/like-all-my-poems-negotiations-has-several-sources-it-deals-with/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [clarity need not be equivalent to / readability. How readable is the world?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/clarity-need-not-be-equivalent-to-readability-how-readable-is-the/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) [Explore all 43 Rae Armantrout quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) ## More Existed quotes > [“For a long while I have lived with the notion that I was the most normal being that ever existed. This notion gave me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/for-a-long-while-i-have-lived-with-the-notion-that-i-was-the-most/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“The air felt different in my lungs. The world no longer looked the same. You change and then you change again. You become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-air-felt-different-in-my-lungs-the-world-no-longer-looked-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Perfect happiness existed, but perhaps only in small increments.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elin-hilderbrand/perfect-happiness-existed-but-perhaps-only-in-small-increments/) [Elin Hilderbrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elin-hilderbrand/) > [Geometry existed before creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/geometry-existed-before-creation/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Above all else, it is about leaving a mark that I existed: I was here. I was hungry. I was defeated. I was happy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-gonzalez-torres/above-all-else-it-is-about-leaving-a-mark-that-i-existed-i-was-here-i/) [Felix Gonzalez-Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-gonzalez-torres/) > [“If Erik existed and lived life in despair, We wish him to know we are here and we care.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/if-erik-existed-and-lived-life-in-despair-we-wish-him-to-know-we-are/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [Karma has always existed, as have you, I, and all things in this wonderful universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-has-always-existed-as-have-you-i-and-all-things-in-this/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [For me, Mexploitation seemed like something that should have existed, but didn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rodriguez/for-me-mexploitation-seemed-like-something-that-should-have-existed/) [Robert Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rodriguez/) > [“Sometimes, when I was looking out for my own happiness, I almost forgot you existed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-gibbons/sometimes-when-i-was-looking-out-for-my-own-happiness-i-almost-forgot/) [Alan Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-gibbons/) > [I was progressive before the term progressive actually existed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-adams/i-was-progressive-before-the-term-progressive-actually-existed/) [Eric Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-adams/) > [“(We) consist of everything the world consists of, each of us, and just as our body contains the genealogical table of evolution as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/we-consist-of-everything-the-world-consists-of-each-of-us-and-just-as/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“The only thing she could be certain of was that she existed. All else was suspect, even her own thoughts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/the-only-thing-she-could-be-certain-of-was-that-she-existed-all-else/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [We've decided what we are. That's the dream. When the dream fades, it's not that we don't exist. How could we not exist since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/we-ve-decided-what-we-are-that-s-the-dream-when-the-dream-fades-it-s/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If I find out that you stopped caring for no reason.. I am going to stop believing you ever existed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-i-find-out-that-you-stopped-caring-for-no-reason-i-am-going-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [At a lot of companies founded on principles, the notion of making money is almost antithetical to the ethos of the place. From the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mackey/at-a-lot-of-companies-founded-on-principles-the-notion-of-making/) [John Mackey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mackey/) [Browse all 439 Existed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I existed finally as the idea of temporal extension.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rae Armantrout" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-existed-finally-as-the-idea-of-temporal-extension/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Existed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-existed-finally-as-the-idea-of-temporal-extension/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1a/rae-armantrout-15496_existed_i-existed-finally-as-the-idea-of-tempora_2004441.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1a/rae-armantrout-15496_existed_i-existed-finally-as-the-idea-of-tempora_2004441.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1a/rae-armantrout-15496_existed_i-existed-finally-as-the-idea-of-tempora_2004441.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I existed finally as the idea of temporal extension.” — Rae Armantrout", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Rae Armantrout", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I existed finally as the idea...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-existed-finally-as-the-idea-of-temporal-extension/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-existed-finally-as-the-idea-of-temporal-extension/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```