--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And truly it little matters what I say…" description: "\"And truly it little matters what I say, this or that or any other thing. Saying is inventing. Wrong, very rightly wrong. You invent nothing, you think ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e11/samuel-beckett-365_escaping_and-truly-it-little-matters-what-i-say-t_2356162.png" --- # And truly it little matters what I say, this or that or… ![“And truly it little matters what I say, this or that or any other thing. Saying is inventing. Wrong, very rightly wrong. You invent nothing, you think you are inventing, you think you are escaping, and all you do is stammer out your lesson, the remnants of a pensum one day got by heart and long…” quote by Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e11/samuel-beckett-365_escaping_and-truly-it-little-matters-what-i-say-t_2356162.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e11/samuel-beckett-365_escaping_and-truly-it-little-matters-what-i-say-t_2356162.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e11/samuel-beckett-365_escaping_and-truly-it-little-matters-what-i-say-t_2356162.png) > “And truly it little matters what I say, this or that or any other thing. Saying is inventing. Wrong, very rightly wrong. You invent nothing, you think you are inventing, you think you are escaping, and all you do is stammer out your lesson, the remnants of a pensum one day got by heart and long forgotten, life without tears, as it is wept.” [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Words can feel empty when they become mere performance without genuine creation. **In simple terms:** Speaking without true invention is hollow. Key Takeaway Seek authenticity in expression. Themes meaninglessness language existentialism Mood reflective philosophical Type dramatic existential When to use this quote - theatre - writing - personal reflection Key Concepts nihilism creative authenticity Questions to Reflect On - Do you think language can ever truly capture reality? - What does “inventing” mean in communication? A Different Perspective May be seen as overly pessimistic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lessons/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“And even my sense of identity was wrapped in a namelessness often hard to penetrate, as we have just seen I think…Yes, even then,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/and-even-my-sense-of-identity-was-wrapped-in-a-namelessness-often/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [A terrible cold world of ice and death had replaced the living world we had always known. Outside there was only the deadly cold,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-kavan/a-terrible-cold-world-of-ice-and-death-had-replaced-the-living-world/) [Anna Kavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-kavan/) > [“I don't know why I didn't say it when he could hear it. Maybe I was afraid to trust him with something so personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-don-t-know-why-i-didn-t-say-it-when-he-could-hear-it-maybe-i-was/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [“I don’t …” I sound like I am being strangled. “My family is all dead, or traitors; how can I …” I am not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-don-t-i-sound-like-i-am-being-strangled-my-family-is-all-dead-or/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [“We imitate each other with slavish devotion and our most strenuous efforts are put forth to try to say the same thing that everyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-w-tozer/we-imitate-each-other-with-slavish-devotion-and-our-most-strenuous/) [A.W. Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-w-tozer/) > [“I mean, it's one thing saying you've got the best god, but sayin' it's the only real one is a bit of a cheek,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/i-mean-it-s-one-thing-saying-you-ve-got-the-best-god-but-sayin-it-s/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“This is a terrible thing that she is saying. It is a terrible thing that she loves herself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/this-is-a-terrible-thing-that-she-is-saying-it-is-a-terrible-thing/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [I was on the train the other day, and I heard somebody say, I'm really good at checkers. That's the same thing as saying,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demetri-martin/i-was-on-the-train-the-other-day-and-i-heard-somebody-say-i-m-really/) [Demetri Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demetri-martin/) > [I'm extremely straightforward. And I can't do that sort of traditional girl thing of saying one thing that actually means something else. I never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanne-bier/i-m-extremely-straightforward-and-i-can-t-do-that-sort-of-traditional/) [Susanne Bier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanne-bier/) > [What was that?" Jace said. "Sorry, I think I fell asleep for a moment. Do, continue with whatever mesmerizing thing you were saying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/what-was-that-jace-said-sorry-i-think-i-fell-asleep-for-a-moment-do/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Its a special thing, saying I Love You to the people you love. Because you never know when youll lose them, or when theyll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-a-special-thing-saying-i-love-you-to-the-people-you-love-because/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Some choices are harder than they appear. You can never say yes to one thing without saying no to another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-coppernoll/some-choices-are-harder-than-they-appear-you-can-never-say-yes-to-one/) [Chris Coppernoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-coppernoll/) > [What I didn't do was pick one thing and keep saying it over and over again, so I could have gotten credit for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-cuomo/what-i-didn-t-do-was-pick-one-thing-and-keep-saying-it-over-and-over/) [Mario Cuomo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-cuomo/) > [The next best thing to saying a good thing yourself is to quote one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-next-best-thing-to-saying-a-good-thing-yourself-is-to-quote-one/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“You're doing the girl thing. Saying you're happy when you're not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-perkins/you-re-doing-the-girl-thing-saying-you-re-happy-when-you-re-not/) [Stephanie Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-perkins/) ## More by Samuel Beckett > [“It was December, I had never felt so cold, the eel soup lay heavy on my stomach, I was afraid I'd die, I turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold-the-eel-soup-lay-heavy-on-my/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“To be always what I am - and so changed from what I was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/to-be-always-what-i-am-and-so-changed-from-what-i-was/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [To what will love not stoop!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/to-what-will-love-not-stoop/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [With all this darkness round me I feel less alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/with-all-this-darkness-round-me-i-feel-less-alone/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“You may say it is all in my head, and indeed sometimes it seems to me I am in a head and that these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/you-may-say-it-is-all-in-my-head-and-indeed-sometimes-it-seems-to-me/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“Here he stood. Here he sat. Here he knelt. Here he lay. Here he moved, to and fro, from the door to the window,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/here-he-stood-here-he-sat-here-he-knelt-here-he-lay-here-he-moved-to/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/what-are-we-doing-here-that-is-the-question-and-we-are-blessed-in/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/i-shall-state-silences-more-competently-than-ever-a-better-man/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [It is useless not to seek, not to want, for when you cease to seek you start to find, and when you cease to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-is-useless-not-to-seek-not-to-want-for-when-you-cease-to-seek-you/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. How many people can boast as much?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-are-not-saints-but-we-have-kept-our-appointment-how-many-people/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [The new light above my table is a great improvement. With all this darkness around me I feel less alone. (Pause.) In a way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/the-new-light-above-my-table-is-a-great-improvement-with-all-this/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [I lay down across her with my face in her breasts and my hand on her. We lay there without moving. But under us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/i-lay-down-across-her-with-my-face-in-her-breasts-and-my-hand-on-her/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Women are all the bloody sameyou can't love for five minutes without wanting it abolished in brats and house bloody wifery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/women-are-all-the-bloody-sameyou-can-t-love-for-five-minutes-without/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“ESTRAGON: Do you think God sees me? VLADIMIR: You must close your eyes. Estragon closes his eyes, staggers worse. ESTRAGON: (stopping, brandishing his fists,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/estragon-do-you-think-god-sees-me-vladimir-you-must-close-your-eyes/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Deplorable mania, when something happens, to inquire what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/deplorable-mania-when-something-happens-to-inquire-what/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) [Explore all 609 Samuel Beckett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) ## More Escaping quotes > [Because after you've crossed some lines, you just keep crossing them. And there's no escaping from constant escape. Distracting ourselves. Avoiding confrontation. Getting past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/because-after-you-ve-crossed-some-lines-you-just-keep-crossing-them/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Writing is the self escaping into the open." E.B. White”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solveig-eggerz/writing-is-the-self-escaping-into-the-open-e-b-white/) Solveig Eggerz > [Patience is necessary in this life because so much of life is fraught with adversity. No matter how hard we try, our lives will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/patience-is-necessary-in-this-life-because-so-much-of-life-is-fraught/) [Thomas a Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [The real test of a bridge player isn’t in keeping out of trouble, but in escaping once he’s in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-sheinwold/the-real-test-of-a-bridge-player-isn-t-in-keeping-out-of-trouble-but/) [Alfred Sheinwold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-sheinwold/) > [Elvis' early music has drama because as he sang he was escaping limits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greil-marcus/elvis-early-music-has-drama-because-as-he-sang-he-was-escaping-limits/) [Greil Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greil-marcus/) > [I think the reason I'm an actor is the joy I find from escaping and going to be somebody else. That's what I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-glover/i-think-the-reason-i-m-an-actor-is-the-joy-i-find-from-escaping-and/) [John Glover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-glover/) > [But the desire of obtaining the advantages, and of escaping the burthens, of political society, is a perpetual and inexhaustible source of discord; nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/but-the-desire-of-obtaining-the-advantages-and-of-escaping-the/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [My youth is escaping without giving me anything it owes me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/my-youth-is-escaping-without-giving-me-anything-it-owes-me/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [Now there is no taboo; everything is allowed. But one cannot simply go back to tonality, it’s not the way. We must find a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gyorgy-ligeti/now-there-is-no-taboo-everything-is-allowed-but-one-cannot-simply-go/) [Gyorgy Ligeti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gyorgy-ligeti/) > [“Is there any escaping the junkshop of the self?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/is-there-any-escaping-the-junkshop-of-the-self/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [Now the first step has to be taken, the step towards democracy. This step is full of risks, and requires trust on all sides.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-barenboim/now-the-first-step-has-to-be-taken-the-step-towards-democracy-this/) [Daniel Barenboim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-barenboim/) > [“The dark might be dark, but at least we don’t have to look at ourselves when we’re standing in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/the-dark-might-be-dark-but-at-least-we-don-t-have-to-look-at/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [My films do have characters who have trouble escaping the world around them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lasse-hallstrom/my-films-do-have-characters-who-have-trouble-escaping-the-world/) [Lasse Hallstrom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lasse-hallstrom/) > [She clutched the train ticket tighter and waited for the sense of escape to come over her as it had a dozen times before,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-brockway/she-clutched-the-train-ticket-tighter-and-waited-for-the-sense-of/) [Connie Brockway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-brockway/) > [The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-best-way-to-keep-a-prisoner-from-escaping-is-to-make-sure-he/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 344 Escaping quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "And truly it little matters what I say, this or that or any other thing. Saying is inventing. Wrong, very rightly wrong. You invent nothing, you think you are inventing, you think you are escaping, and all you do is stammer out your lesson, the remnants of a pensum one day got by heart and long forgotten, life without tears, as it is wept.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Beckett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/and-truly-it-little-matters-what-i-say-this-or-that-or-any-other/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Escaping" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/and-truly-it-little-matters-what-i-say-this-or-that-or-any-other/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e11/samuel-beckett-365_escaping_and-truly-it-little-matters-what-i-say-t_2356162.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e11/samuel-beckett-365_escaping_and-truly-it-little-matters-what-i-say-t_2356162.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e11/samuel-beckett-365_escaping_and-truly-it-little-matters-what-i-say-t_2356162.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And truly it little matters what I say, this or that or any other thing. Saying is inventing. Wrong, very…” — Samuel Beckett", "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": "Samuel Beckett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "And truly it little matters what...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/and-truly-it-little-matters-what-i-say-this-or-that-or-any-other/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/and-truly-it-little-matters-what-i-say-this-or-that-or-any-other/#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 } } ] } ```