--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I prayed to rediscover my childhood, and…" description: "\"I prayed to rediscover my childhood, and it has come back, and I feel that it is just as difficult as it used to be, and that growing older has served ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e14/rainer-maria-rilke-193_childhood_i-prayed-to-rediscover-my-childhood-and_588260.jpg" --- # I prayed to rediscover my childhood, and it has come back… ![“I prayed to rediscover my childhood, and it has come back, and I feel that it is just as difficult as it used to be, and that growing older has served no purpose at all.” quote by Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e14/rainer-maria-rilke-193_childhood_i-prayed-to-rediscover-my-childhood-and_588260.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e14/rainer-maria-rilke-193_childhood_i-prayed-to-rediscover-my-childhood-and_588260.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e14/rainer-maria-rilke-193_childhood_i-prayed-to-rediscover-my-childhood-and_588260.jpg) > “I prayed to rediscover my childhood, and it has come back, and I feel that it is just as difficult as it used to be, and that growing older has served no purpose at all.” [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker laments that revisiting childhood feels as challenging as before, questioning the purpose of aging. **In simple terms:** Returning to youth feels equally hard, questioning aging’s value. Key Takeaway Reflect on growth’s purpose. Themes nostalgia aging purpose Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - therapy - creative writing - life coaching - personal reflection Key Concepts memory existential reflection Questions to Reflect On - What does “rediscovering childhood” mean to you? - How can you find purpose in later life? A Different Perspective Nostalgia may idealize the past unrealistically. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Growing old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-old/) [Growing older](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-older/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) ## Related quotes > [Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it's like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-marley/memories-of-your-childhood-come-back-and-are-so-clear-and-vivid-it-s/) [Bob Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-marley/) > [I had a lovely, feral, free childhood - out and then come back when you're hungry or it gets too dark. I feel slightly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-colman/i-had-a-lovely-feral-free-childhood-out-and-then-come-back-when-you/) [Olivia Colman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-colman/) > [The insistence of childhood come back to me / But today no one can take care of them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/the-insistence-of-childhood-come-back-to-me-but-today-no-one-can-take/) Mak\_786 > [Each era invents its own child. Over the past 500 years, conceptions of the child changed gradually from an ill-formed adult who must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-scarr/each-era-invents-its-own-child-over-the-past-500-years-conceptions-of/) [Sandra Scarr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-scarr/) > [“Peter Pan has to be the book of my childhood. Come to think of it, it's the book of my adulthood too. It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/peter-pan-has-to-be-the-book-of-my-childhood-come-to-think-of-it-it-s/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-dove/all-of-us-have-moments-in-our-childhood-where-we-come-alive-for-the/) [Rita Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-dove/) > [Anyone who stops learning is old — whether this happens at twenty or at eighty. Anyone who keeps on learning not only remains young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/anyone-who-stops-learning-is-old-whether-this-happens-at-twenty-or-at/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [Growing older is mandatory, but growing up is optional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-brewer/growing-older-is-mandatory-but-growing-up-is-optional/) [Heather Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-brewer/) > [“She blew a stream of smoke up at the empty clotheslines. 'These silly dreams you have when you're young. I mean, what, Katie and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-lehane/she-blew-a-stream-of-smoke-up-at-the-empty-clotheslines-these-silly/) [Dennis Lehane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-lehane/) > [I wonder if one of the penalties of growing older is that you become more and more conscious that nothing is very permanent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/i-wonder-if-one-of-the-penalties-of-growing-older-is-that-you-become/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [“now? When she looked at herself she saw her outside changing, growing older, while inside she still felt young. Aging was a strange thing—made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-macomber/now-when-she-looked-at-herself-she-saw-her-outside-changing-growing/) [Debbie Macomber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-macomber/) > [I think, is wonderful about growing older, is appreciation for the miracle of existence, of life. I thank God every day. I also do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbra-streisand/i-think-is-wonderful-about-growing-older-is-appreciation-for-the/) [Barbra Streisand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbra-streisand/) > [“Sometimes seeing the changes in one another had the opposite effect and actually comforted them. Seeing that they weren’t alone in growing older, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-thomas-ford/sometimes-seeing-the-changes-in-one-another-had-the-opposite-effect/) [Michael Thomas Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-thomas-ford/) > [“The freedom of growing older is that one is no longer obliged to dislike someone simply because they dislike you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-fellowes/the-freedom-of-growing-older-is-that-one-is-no-longer-obliged-to/) [Julian Fellowes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-fellowes/) > [“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayer-of-an-anonymous-abbess-lord-thou-knowest-better-than-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Rainer Maria Rilke > [The artist's experience lies so unbelievably close to the sexual, to its pain and its pleasure, that the two phenomena are really just different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-artist-s-experience-lies-so-unbelievably-close-to-the-sexual-to/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Out of infinite longings rise finite deeds like weak fountains, falling back just in time and trembling. And yet, what otherwise remains silent, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/out-of-infinite-longings-rise-finite-deeds-like-weak-fountains/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“I love the dark hours of my being. My mind deepens into them. There I can find, as in old letters, the days of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-love-the-dark-hours-of-my-being-my-mind-deepens-into-them-there-i/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“A complete sharing between two people is an impossibility and whenever it seems, nevertheless, to exist, it is a narrowing, a mutual agreement which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/a-complete-sharing-between-two-people-is-an-impossibility-and/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“But this is what ... people are so often and disastrously wrong in doing: they (who by their very nature are impatient) fling themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/but-this-is-what-people-are-so-often-and-disastrously-wrong-in-doing/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“If there is nothing you can share with other people, try to be close to Things. Things will not abandon you. The nights are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/if-there-is-nothing-you-can-share-with-other-people-try-to-be-close/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [To be here is immense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/to-be-here-is-immense/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Sin is the most wonderfully roundabout path to God”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/sin-is-the-most-wonderfully-roundabout-path-to-god/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Swells, Marina? we ocean, depths, Marina? we sky!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/swells-marina-we-ocean-depths-marina-we-sky/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality by tearing down all boundaries; on the contrary, a good marriage is one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-point-of-marriage-is-not-to-create-a-quick-commonality-by-tearing/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [You life will find its own paths... and that they be good, rich, and wide is what I wish for you, more than I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/you-life-will-find-its-own-paths-and-that-they-be-good-rich-and-wide/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [I do not want to be folded for where I am folded, there I am a lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-do-not-want-to-be-folded-for-where-i-am-folded-there-i-am-a-lie/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [At no other time (than autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/at-no-other-time-than-autumn-does-the-earth-let-itself-be-inhaled-in/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“That is why the sadness passes: the new presence inside us, the presence that has been added, has entered our heart, has gone into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/that-is-why-the-sadness-passes-the-new-presence-inside-us-the/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms, like books written in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/have-patience-with-everything-that-remains-unsolved-in-your-heart-try/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) [Explore all 861 Rainer Maria Rilke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) ## More Childhood quotes > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? Your childhood is always ending and your adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-espach/children-s-lives-are-always-beginning-and-adults-lives-are-always/) [Alison Espach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-espach/) > [“From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw—I could not bring My passions from a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/from-childhood-s-hour-i-have-not-been-as-others-were-i-have-not-seen/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [We were so poor as kids. I didn't even see a bathtub, running water, hot water, commode - we didn't have any of that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-robertson/we-were-so-poor-as-kids-i-didn-t-even-see-a-bathtub-running-water-hot/) [Phil Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-robertson/) > [I had a rough upbringing. Group homes. Foster homes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-shamrock/i-had-a-rough-upbringing-group-homes-foster-homes/) [Frank Shamrock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-shamrock/) > [When I talk about my childhood I used to say it as if it was scripted and I'd make jokes because it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-katona/when-i-talk-about-my-childhood-i-used-to-say-it-as-if-it-was-scripted/) [Kerry Katona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-katona/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [It's a very familiar type of place where people either go to their house on the lake or they get together in different places.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-carell/it-s-a-very-familiar-type-of-place-where-people-either-go-to-their/) [Steve Carell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-carell/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [Downstairs in my house, I have a museum room. I keep all of my awards down there, and childhood photos, and even all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kelly/downstairs-in-my-house-i-have-a-museum-room-i-keep-all-of-my-awards/) [R. Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kelly/) > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [On paper, it looks rough, but I had a great childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-morton/on-paper-it-looks-rough-but-i-had-a-great-childhood/) [Samantha Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-morton/) > [Let positive, strong, helpful thoughts enter into your brains from very childhood. Lay yourselves open to these thoughts, and not to weakening and paralysing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/let-positive-strong-helpful-thoughts-enter-into-your-brains-from-very/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [I always knew that I was kind of bored; the regular life of a child didn't fit me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-ricci/i-always-knew-that-i-was-kind-of-bored-the-regular-life-of-a-child/) [Christina Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-ricci/) > [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I'm not sure I would have ever started to draw, let alone write, if my childhood hadn't been so happy. It was a mixture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-jansson/i-m-not-sure-i-would-have-ever-started-to-draw-let-alone-write-if-my/) [Tove Jansson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-jansson/) [Browse all 5,837 Childhood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I prayed to rediscover my childhood, and it has come back, and I feel that it is just as difficult as it used to be, and that growing older has served no purpose at all.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rainer Maria Rilke" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-prayed-to-rediscover-my-childhood-and-it-has-come-back-and-i-feel/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Childhood" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-prayed-to-rediscover-my-childhood-and-it-has-come-back-and-i-feel/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e14/rainer-maria-rilke-193_childhood_i-prayed-to-rediscover-my-childhood-and_588260.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e14/rainer-maria-rilke-193_childhood_i-prayed-to-rediscover-my-childhood-and_588260.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e14/rainer-maria-rilke-193_childhood_i-prayed-to-rediscover-my-childhood-and_588260.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I prayed to rediscover my childhood, and it has come back, and I feel that it is just as difficult as it…” — Rainer Maria Rilke", "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": "Rainer Maria Rilke", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I prayed to rediscover my childhood,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-prayed-to-rediscover-my-childhood-and-it-has-come-back-and-i-feel/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-prayed-to-rediscover-my-childhood-and-it-has-come-back-and-i-feel/#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 } } ] } ```