--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have spent many years trying to recover…" description: "\"I have spent many years trying to recover a common language, one that can cross the distance between people.\" — Robert Bly" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/robert-bly-3269_common_i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recove_309006.png" --- # I have spent many years trying to recover a common… ![“I have spent many years trying to recover a common language, one that can cross the distance between people.” quote by Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/robert-bly-3269_common_i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recove_309006.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/robert-bly-3269_common_i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recove_309006.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/robert-bly-3269_common_i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recove_309006.png) > “I have spent many years trying to recover a common language, one that can cross the distance between people.” [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He seeks a universal way of communicating that bridges personal and cultural gaps. **In simple terms:** Finding a shared language across differences. Key Takeaway Cultivate listening and empathy. Themes communication culture empathy Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - cross‑cultural teamwork - conflict resolution - education - community building Key Concepts linguistics psychology social cohesion Questions to Reflect On - What common values can you identify? - How can you practice active listening? A Different Perspective Language alone cannot erase deep‑seated biases. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) [Common language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-language/) [Crosses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crosses/) [Distance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distance/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Language Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language-cross-2676665/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Recover Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recover-common-2935583/) [Spent Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spent-years-485557/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Years Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-trying-272736/) ## Related quotes > [Comics are an international language, they can cross boundaries and generations. Comics are a bridge between all cultures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-tezuka/comics-are-an-international-language-they-can-cross-boundaries-and/) [Osamu Tezuka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-tezuka/) > [I always believed that I could make it or I would never have spent so many years trying to get here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-reddy/i-always-believed-that-i-could-make-it-or-i-would-never-have-spent-so/) [Helen Reddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-reddy/) > [I spent two years trying to get into drama school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rege-jean-page/i-spent-two-years-trying-to-get-into-drama-school/) [Rege-Jean Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rege-jean-page/) > [I had a mystical experience when I was in my late teens, early 20s, and I spent years trying to recapture that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lurie/i-had-a-mystical-experience-when-i-was-in-my-late-teens-early-20s-and/) [John Lurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lurie/) > [She had been born for this man, and she had spent so many years trying to accept the fact that he had been born…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-quinn/she-had-been-born-for-this-man-and-she-had-spent-so-many-years-trying/) [Julia Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-quinn/) > [“She'd spent years trying to explain herself to me (and I to her), but in the end, it had all been for nothing. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pagan-kennedy/she-d-spent-years-trying-to-explain-herself-to-me-and-i-to-her-but-in/) [Pagan Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pagan-kennedy/) > [I spent so many years trying to become an actor, trying to be a person that I wasn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hedges/i-spent-so-many-years-trying-to-become-an-actor-trying-to-be-a-person/) [Peter Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hedges/) > [After the years of me trying to figure out what I wanted to do with myself, I knew I had to go back and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fetty-wap/after-the-years-of-me-trying-to-figure-out-what-i-wanted-to-do-with/) [Fetty Wap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fetty-wap/) > [I spent almost two years trying to get my father elected president.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meghan-mccain/i-spent-almost-two-years-trying-to-get-my-father-elected-president/) [Meghan McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meghan-mccain/) > [The jingles saved my life. When I got hired to do that, I was on top. I finally was making a living doing what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-foster/the-jingles-saved-my-life-when-i-got-hired-to-do-that-i-was-on-top-i/) [Mark Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-foster/) > [I've spent years trying to time up my drops with my throws. You learn to listen to your feet and trust your positions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rodgers/i-ve-spent-years-trying-to-time-up-my-drops-with-my-throws-you-learn/) [Aaron Rodgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rodgers/) > [I spent a lot of years trying to beat the system and, in the end, the system kicked my behind good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rourke/i-spent-a-lot-of-years-trying-to-beat-the-system-and-in-the-end-the/) [Mickey Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rourke/) > [“Don’t bother calling the cops, because nobody can find me here. I know, because after all these years, I’m still trying to find myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/don-t-bother-calling-the-cops-because-nobody-can-find-me-here-i-know/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [The trick is to use the drugs once to get there, and maybe spend the next ten years trying to get back there without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/the-trick-is-to-use-the-drugs-once-to-get-there-and-maybe-spend-the/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) > [Ever notice your Parents spend The First 18 Months Trying To Make You Stand Up And Talk. And The Next 18 Years Trying To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu/ever-notice-your-parents-spend-the-first-18-months-trying-to-make-you/) [Ritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu/) ## More by Robert Bly > [I use the phrase 'sibling society' to suggest a culture fundamentally without fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, or ancestors. The thinking is horizontal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-use-the-phrase-sibling-society-to-suggest-a-culture-fundamentally/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [All of Japan once a year will get up on their rooftops, because that's the night that the shepherd boy from one side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/all-of-japan-once-a-year-will-get-up-on-their-rooftops-because-that-s/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [I got about half the time I wanted to write poetry. I got about half the time I needed to be a father. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-got-about-half-the-time-i-wanted-to-write-poetry-i-got-about-half/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Every noon as the clock hands arrive at twelve, I want to tie the two arms together, And walk out of the bank carrying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/every-noon-as-the-clock-hands-arrive-at-twelve-i-want-to-tie-the-two/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Rumi is astounding, fertile, abundant, almost more an excitable library of poetry than a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/rumi-is-astounding-fertile-abundant-almost-more-an-excitable-library/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [One could say the higher the spirit goes, the more deeply the soul sinks down into the waters of melancholy and tragedy. Drowning in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/one-could-say-the-higher-the-spirit-goes-the-more-deeply-the-soul/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Don't go outside your house to see flowers. My friend, don't bother with that excursion. Inside your body there are flowers. One flower has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/don-t-go-outside-your-house-to-see-flowers-my-friend-don-t-bother/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [The models of adulthood are disappearing fast. How can two people have a new marriage if neither of them is an adult?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-models-of-adulthood-are-disappearing-fast-how-can-two-people-have/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [One out of three black men are in the criminal justice system in some form. Their despair is beginning to resonate through the entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/one-out-of-three-black-men-are-in-the-criminal-justice-system-in-some/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Sociological prose is generally written without images in an exact form for an academic audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/sociological-prose-is-generally-written-without-images-in-an-exact/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [We spend our life until we’re twenty deciding what parts of ourself to put into the bag, and we spend the rest of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/we-spend-our-life-until-we-re-twenty-deciding-what-parts-of-ourself/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Every modern male has, lying at the bottom of his psyche, a large, primitive being covered with hair down to his feet. Making contact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/every-modern-male-has-lying-at-the-bottom-of-his-psyche-a-large/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [My feeling is that poetry is also a healing process, and then when a person tries to write poetry with depth or beauty, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/my-feeling-is-that-poetry-is-also-a-healing-process-and-then-when-a/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [The ancestors are very much invested in the children, because the children are the ones who are going to continue the world that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-ancestors-are-very-much-invested-in-the-children-because-the/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [“When a man says to a woman, "You are my anima," she should quickly scream and run out of the room. The word anima…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/when-a-man-says-to-a-woman-you-are-my-anima-she-should-quickly-scream/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) [Explore all 135 Robert Bly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) ## More Common quotes > [I'm Fine!, the most common LIE in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/i-m-fine-the-most-common-lie-in-the-world/) [Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/) > [A flourishing, morally credible media is a vital component in the maintenance of genuinely public talk, argument about common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/a-flourishing-morally-credible-media-is-a-vital-component-in-the/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Our times demand the declaration of the world's resources as the common heritage of all people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/our-times-demand-the-declaration-of-the-world-s-resources-as-the/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/when-you-have-a-cavity-in-your-tooth-and-you-let-it-get-worse/) [Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/common-sense-is-nothing-more-than-a-deposit-of-prejudices-laid-down/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [It is a tragedy that we live in a world where physical courage is so common, and moral courage is so rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/it-is-a-tragedy-that-we-live-in-a-world-where-physical-courage-is-so/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [Those who advocate common usage in philosophy sometimes speak in a manner that suggests the mystique of the 'common man.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/those-who-advocate-common-usage-in-philosophy-sometimes-speak-in-a/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) [Browse all 7,866 Common quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have spent many years trying to recover a common language, one that can cross the distance between people.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Bly" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recover-a-common-language-one-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Common" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recover-a-common-language-one-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/robert-bly-3269_common_i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recove_309006.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/robert-bly-3269_common_i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recove_309006.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/robert-bly-3269_common_i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recove_309006.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have spent many years trying to recover a common language, one that can cross the distance between people.” — Robert Bly", "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": "Robert Bly", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I have spent many years trying...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recover-a-common-language-one-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recover-a-common-language-one-that/#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 } } ] } ```