--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I did not know that a person could hold…" description: "\"“I did not know that a person could hold up a wall made up of imaginary bricks and mortar against the horrors and cruel, dark tricks of time that assai..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ff/sebastian-barry-3654_bricks-and-mortar_i-did-not-know-that-a-person-could-hold_2874162.png" --- # I did not know that a person could hold up a wall made up… ![“I did not know that a person could hold up a wall made up of imaginary bricks and mortar against the horrors and cruel, dark tricks of time that assail us, and be the author therefore of themselves.” quote by Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ff/sebastian-barry-3654_bricks-and-mortar_i-did-not-know-that-a-person-could-hold_2874162.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ff/sebastian-barry-3654_bricks-and-mortar_i-did-not-know-that-a-person-could-hold_2874162.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ff/sebastian-barry-3654_bricks-and-mortar_i-did-not-know-that-a-person-could-hold_2874162.png) > ““I did not know that a person could hold up a wall made up of imaginary bricks and mortar against the horrors and cruel, dark tricks of time that assail us, and be the author therefore of themselves.”” [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A person can construct mental defenses against life's hardships and shape their own identity through imagination and resilience. **In simple terms:** Imaginary walls protect us and define ourselves. Key Takeaway Build mental resilience. Themes resilience identity imagination Mood reflective determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crisis - grief - creative writing - self‑reflection Key Concepts self‑determination psychological defense Questions to Reflect On - How do you use imagination to cope? - What risks come from self‑created narratives? A Different Perspective Imaginary defenses may isolate you from reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) ## Related quotes > [“The terror and hurt in my story happened because when I was young I thought others were the authors of my fortune or misfortune;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/the-terror-and-hurt-in-my-story-happened-because-when-i-was-young-i/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“Always grab the reader by the throat in the first paragraph, send your thumbs into his windpipe in the second, and hold him against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-o-neill/always-grab-the-reader-by-the-throat-in-the-first-paragraph-send-your/) [Paul O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-o-neill/) > [Dance, don't hold the wall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-timberlake/dance-don-t-hold-the-wall/) [Justin Timberlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-timberlake/) > [The bourgeoisie of the whole world, which looks complacently upon the wholesale massacre after the battle, is convulsed by horror at the desecration of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/the-bourgeoisie-of-the-whole-world-which-looks-complacently-upon-the/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [The general public will almost always stand behind the traditionalists. In the public eye, architecture is about comfort, about shelter, about bricks and mortar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-tschumi/the-general-public-will-almost-always-stand-behind-the/) [Bernard Tschumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-tschumi/) > [Women have sat indoors all these millions of years, so that by this time the very walls are permeated by their creative force, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/women-have-sat-indoors-all-these-millions-of-years-so-that-by-this/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [What I resist is techniques. I find techniques very problematic. So when critics talk about my work in those terms, I find that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-adjaye/what-i-resist-is-techniques-i-find-techniques-very-problematic-so/) [David Adjaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-adjaye/) > [Even if I am predisposed to shop online, I see bricks and mortar as part of marketing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-massenet/even-if-i-am-predisposed-to-shop-online-i-see-bricks-and-mortar-as/) [Natalie Massenet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-massenet/) > [Composing is like driving down a foggy road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-britten/composing-is-like-driving-down-a-foggy-road/) [Benjamin Britten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-britten/) > [“Discussion keeps a house alive. It cannot stand by bricks and mortar alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/discussion-keeps-a-house-alive-it-cannot-stand-by-bricks-and-mortar/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [The cost of acquiring new customers and maintaining those relationships in an online environment versus bricks and mortar is significant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-cohen/the-cost-of-acquiring-new-customers-and-maintaining-those/) [Stephen Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-cohen/) > [It is too expensive to have a bricks and mortar presence everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-bhattacharya/it-is-too-expensive-to-have-a-bricks-and-mortar-presence-everywhere/) [Arundhati Bhattacharya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-bhattacharya/) > [There was a place in New York called Tannen's Magic. It still exists. But back in the day, it was really fantastic. You'd go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-copperfield/there-was-a-place-in-new-york-called-tannen-s-magic-it-still-exists/) [David Copperfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-copperfield/) > [The Internet has allowed even more growth possible than in the bricks and mortar industries that I dealt with years ago. It is easier…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-pena/the-internet-has-allowed-even-more-growth-possible-than-in-the-bricks/) [Dan Pena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-pena/) > [“There's something about a place you've been with someone you love. It takes on a meaning in your mind. It becomes more than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/there-s-something-about-a-place-you-ve-been-with-someone-you-love-it/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) ## More by Sebastian Barry > [“As I do not seem able much to heal, then maybe I can simply be a responsible witness to the miracle of the ordinary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/as-i-do-not-seem-able-much-to-heal-then-maybe-i-can-simply-be-a/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“In the darkness as we lie side by side John Cole's left hand snakes over under the sheets and takes a hold of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/in-the-darkness-as-we-lie-side-by-side-john-cole-s-left-hand-snakes/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“His people had hogs there till the bottom fell out of hogs. The bottom was always falling out of something in America far as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/his-people-had-hogs-there-till-the-bottom-fell-out-of-hogs-the-bottom/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“Spring comes into Massachusetts with her famous flame. God’s breath warming the winter out of things”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/spring-comes-into-massachusetts-with-her-famous-flame-god-s-breath/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [And whatever my life had been up to that day, it was another life after that. And that is the gospel truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/and-whatever-my-life-had-been-up-to-that-day-it-was-another-life/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“The knives opened the flesh like they were painting paintings of a new country, sheer plains of dark land, with the red rivers bursting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/the-knives-opened-the-flesh-like-they-were-painting-paintings-of-a/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“I suppose therefore God is the connoisseur of filthied hearts and souls, and can see the old, the first pattern in them, and cherish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/i-suppose-therefore-god-is-the-connoisseur-of-filthied-hearts-and/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“There is a craziness in it all that betokens a kind of delicious freedom. Notions are cast off. If only for a moment. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/there-is-a-craziness-in-it-all-that-betokens-a-kind-of-delicious/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [He loved telling stories. He had been everywhere in the world. The northwest frontier, the landscape of the Hindu Kush, was one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/he-loved-telling-stories-he-had-been-everywhere-in-the-world-the/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“Our smiles mostly for each other, and every stranger a possible demon or bear, till they proved otherwise”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/our-smiles-mostly-for-each-other-and-every-stranger-a-possible-demon/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“It is always worth itemizing happiness, there is so much of the other thing in a life, you had better put down the markers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/it-is-always-worth-itemizing-happiness-there-is-so-much-of-the-other/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“I wonder if I were to have an X-ray at the little hospital, would the machine see my grief? Is it like rust, arheum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/i-wonder-if-i-were-to-have-an-x-ray-at-the-little-hospital-would-the/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“No one says too much and what is said is only light-hearted and bantering because we want to preserve our advantage over fear. Fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/no-one-says-too-much-and-what-is-said-is-only-light-hearted-and/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“They say we are creatures raised by God above the animals but any man that has lived knows that’s damned lies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/they-say-we-are-creatures-raised-by-god-above-the-animals-but-any-man/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [“There is a moment in the history of every beaten child when his mind parts with hopes of dignity — pushes off hope like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/there-is-a-moment-in-the-history-of-every-beaten-child-when-his-mind/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) [Explore all 125 Sebastian Barry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) ## More Bricks and mortar quotes > [“There's something about a place you've been with someone you love. It takes on a meaning in your mind. It becomes more than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/there-s-something-about-a-place-you-ve-been-with-someone-you-love-it/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [The Internet has allowed even more growth possible than in the bricks and mortar industries that I dealt with years ago. It is easier…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-pena/the-internet-has-allowed-even-more-growth-possible-than-in-the-bricks/) [Dan Pena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-pena/) > [There was a place in New York called Tannen's Magic. It still exists. But back in the day, it was really fantastic. You'd go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-copperfield/there-was-a-place-in-new-york-called-tannen-s-magic-it-still-exists/) [David Copperfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-copperfield/) > [It is too expensive to have a bricks and mortar presence everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-bhattacharya/it-is-too-expensive-to-have-a-bricks-and-mortar-presence-everywhere/) [Arundhati Bhattacharya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-bhattacharya/) > [The cost of acquiring new customers and maintaining those relationships in an online environment versus bricks and mortar is significant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-cohen/the-cost-of-acquiring-new-customers-and-maintaining-those/) [Stephen Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-cohen/) > [“Discussion keeps a house alive. It cannot stand by bricks and mortar alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/discussion-keeps-a-house-alive-it-cannot-stand-by-bricks-and-mortar/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [Composing is like driving down a foggy road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-britten/composing-is-like-driving-down-a-foggy-road/) [Benjamin Britten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-britten/) > [Even if I am predisposed to shop online, I see bricks and mortar as part of marketing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-massenet/even-if-i-am-predisposed-to-shop-online-i-see-bricks-and-mortar-as/) [Natalie Massenet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-massenet/) > [What I resist is techniques. I find techniques very problematic. So when critics talk about my work in those terms, I find that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-adjaye/what-i-resist-is-techniques-i-find-techniques-very-problematic-so/) [David Adjaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-adjaye/) > [Women have sat indoors all these millions of years, so that by this time the very walls are permeated by their creative force, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/women-have-sat-indoors-all-these-millions-of-years-so-that-by-this/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [The general public will almost always stand behind the traditionalists. In the public eye, architecture is about comfort, about shelter, about bricks and mortar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-tschumi/the-general-public-will-almost-always-stand-behind-the/) [Bernard Tschumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-tschumi/) > [The bourgeoisie of the whole world, which looks complacently upon the wholesale massacre after the battle, is convulsed by horror at the desecration of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/the-bourgeoisie-of-the-whole-world-which-looks-complacently-upon-the/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Your own words are the bricks and mortar of the dreams you want to realize. Behind every word flows energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-choquette/your-own-words-are-the-bricks-and-mortar-of-the-dreams-you-want-to/) [Sonia Choquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-choquette/) > [There's a long-standing (50 year old) flame war within the field over whether it's "sci-fi" or "SF".SF has traditionally been looked down on by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/there-s-a-long-standing-50-year-old-flame-war-within-the-field-over/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [The bricks and mortar of the music business, they don't exist any longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-oates/the-bricks-and-mortar-of-the-music-business-they-don-t-exist-any/) [John Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-oates/) Browse all 41 Bricks and mortar quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I did not know that a person could hold up a wall made up of imaginary bricks and mortar against the horrors and cruel, dark tricks of time that assail us, and be the author therefore of themselves.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sebastian Barry" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/i-did-not-know-that-a-person-could-hold-up-a-wall-made-up-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bricks and mortar" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/i-did-not-know-that-a-person-could-hold-up-a-wall-made-up-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ff/sebastian-barry-3654_bricks-and-mortar_i-did-not-know-that-a-person-could-hold_2874162.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ff/sebastian-barry-3654_bricks-and-mortar_i-did-not-know-that-a-person-could-hold_2874162.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ff/sebastian-barry-3654_bricks-and-mortar_i-did-not-know-that-a-person-could-hold_2874162.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I did not know that a person could hold up a wall made up of imaginary bricks and mortar against the horrors…” — Sebastian Barry", "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": "Sebastian Barry", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I did not know that a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/i-did-not-know-that-a-person-could-hold-up-a-wall-made-up-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/i-did-not-know-that-a-person-could-hold-up-a-wall-made-up-of/#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 } } ] } ```