--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life as it proceeds reveals, cooly and…" description: "\"“Life as it proceeds reveals, cooly and dispassionately, what lies behind the mask that each man wears. It would seem that everyone possesses several f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/sadegh-hedayat-22787_life_life-as-it-proceeds-reveals-cooly-and-di_316269.jpg" --- # Life as it proceeds reveals, cooly and dispassionately… ![“Life as it proceeds reveals, cooly and dispassionately, what lies behind the mask that each man wears. It would seem that everyone possesses several faces. Some people use only one all the time, and it then, naturally, becomes soiled and wrinkled. These are the thrifty sort. Others look after…” quote by Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/sadegh-hedayat-22787_life_life-as-it-proceeds-reveals-cooly-and-di_316269.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/sadegh-hedayat-22787_life_life-as-it-proceeds-reveals-cooly-and-di_316269.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/sadegh-hedayat-22787_life_life-as-it-proceeds-reveals-cooly-and-di_316269.jpg) > ““Life as it proceeds reveals, cooly and dispassionately, what lies behind the mask that each man wears. It would seem that everyone possesses several faces. Some people use only one all the time, and it then, naturally, becomes soiled and wrinkled. These are the thrifty sort. Others look after their masks in the hope of passing them on to their descendants. Others again are constantly changing their faces. But all of them, when they reach old age, realise one day that the mask they are wearing is their last and that it will soon be worn out, and then, from behind the last mask, the real face appears.”” [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People present different personas to the world, but ultimately the true self emerges when the façades wear out. **In simple terms:** We hide behind many masks, but the real self shows when they fade. Key Takeaway Accept and integrate your authentic self. Themes identity authenticity self‑discovery aging Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal relationships - career transitions - family dynamics - end‑of‑life reflections Key Concepts psychology existentialism mask metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What masks do you wear in different contexts? - How can you honor your true self while navigating social expectations? A Different Perspective The metaphor may oversimplify complex social roles and cultural expectations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mask](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mask/) [Masks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masks/) [Old age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-age/) ## Related quotes > [“Do you think you wear a mask?’ ‘I’m wearing one right now.’ Valentino smiled softly. ‘We both are.’ ‘It’s a sad thought.’ ‘Yes,’ he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-doyle/do-you-think-you-wear-a-mask-i-m-wearing-one-right-now-valentino/) [Catherine Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-doyle/) > [I had to get used to wearing a mask and wearing a prosthetic and performing with those things while singing and expressing myself through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-butler/i-had-to-get-used-to-wearing-a-mask-and-wearing-a-prosthetic-and/) [Gerard Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-butler/) > [“No. There had been nothing more. Through vanity he had spared her. In hypocrisy he had worn the mask of goodness. For curiosity's”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/no-there-had-been-nothing-more-through-vanity-he-had-spared-her-in/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Never give yourself a chance to meet life, changing faces, changing hearts are filled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/never-give-yourself-a-chance-to-meet-life-changing-faces-changing/) Mak\_786 > [“She shook the thought away, determined to grow into the mask she was now wearing until it fit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-kelliher/she-shook-the-thought-away-determined-to-grow-into-the-mask-she-was/) Steven Kelliher > [I realised that in my last two bodies of work - the mural and the Chanel pieces - that I didn't use any make-up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-sherman/i-realised-that-in-my-last-two-bodies-of-work-the-mural-and-the/) [Cindy Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-sherman/) > [Stories have a way of changing faces. 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The masks were a brilliant concept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-plimpton/the-new-york-times-published-the-guest-list-on-the-front-page-the/) [George Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-plimpton/) > [“Modern man has too many masks to wear. We must unmask and be ourselves, sincerely, earnestly and live truly as we are,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gyomay-m-kubose/modern-man-has-too-many-masks-to-wear-we-must-unmask-and-be-ourselves/) [Gyomay M. Kubose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gyomay-m-kubose/) > [Everywhere else, we are someone else, but at home, we remove our masks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/everywhere-else-we-are-someone-else-but-at-home-we-remove-our-masks/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) ## More by Sadegh Hedayat > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [“A story is only an outlet for frustrated aspirations, for aspirations which the story-teller conceives in accordance with a limited stock of spiritual resources…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/a-story-is-only-an-outlet-for-frustrated-aspirations-for-aspirations/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [ \[Death is\] the best asylum for pains and sorrows and troubles and the injustices of life. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/death-is-the-best-asylum-for-pains-and-sorrows-and-troubles-and-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [Only death does not lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/only-death-does-not-lie/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [Ugh! 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If only oblivion were attainable, if it could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/from-the-bottom-of-my-heart-i-desired-to-surrender-myself-to-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [“The sun, like a golden knife, was steadily paring away the edge of the shade beside the walls.The streets were enclosed between old, whitewashed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/the-sun-like-a-golden-knife-was-steadily-paring-away-the-edge-of-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [In life there are certain sores which, like a kind of canker, slowly erode the soul in solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/in-life-there-are-certain-sores-which-like-a-kind-of-canker-slowly/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [“The doctor came and prescribed opium for me. What a marvellous remedy for the pains of my experience!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/the-doctor-came-and-prescribed-opium-for-me-what-a-marvellous-remedy/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) [Explore all 22 Sadegh Hedayat quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) Deanna L. Lawlis > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Life as it proceeds reveals, cooly and dispassionately, what lies behind the mask that each man wears. 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