--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I’ll never be put in a box and lowered…" description: "\"“I’ll never be put in a box and lowered into the earth. I’ll never grow old and watch the veins on my hands begin to work their way out of my skin. … I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b44/shirley-ann-grau-33347_nature_i-ll-never-be-put-in-a-box-and-lowered-i_2807341.jpg" --- # I’ll never be put in a box and lowered into the earth… ![“I’ll never be put in a box and lowered into the earth. I’ll never grow old and watch the veins on my hands begin to work their way out of my skin. … It was funny, now, the way all the inner workings of old people moved to the outside. Their muscles and their sinews got hard and ropy and hung on…” quote by Shirley Ann Grau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b44/shirley-ann-grau-33347_nature_i-ll-never-be-put-in-a-box-and-lowered-i_2807341.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b44/shirley-ann-grau-33347_nature_i-ll-never-be-put-in-a-box-and-lowered-i_2807341.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b44/shirley-ann-grau-33347_nature_i-ll-never-be-put-in-a-box-and-lowered-i_2807341.jpg) > ““I’ll never be put in a box and lowered into the earth. I’ll never grow old and watch the veins on my hands begin to work their way out of my skin. … It was funny, now, the way all the inner workings of old people moved to the outside. Their muscles and their sinews got hard and ropy and hung on the outside of their skins. Their veins rose up, so where you hadn’t been able to see them before you could see them now. There were little blue ones that appeared on the forehead, jagged like a saw blade, where the skin had once been smooth. There were others like cords wrapping their way across the backs of hands, and along legs. And pulses turned up where they never had been before. The throat one now, you didn’t even know it was there, until one day you saw it, naked and exposed, pumping your blood for everybody to see. … I won’t be like that, Margaret thought. I won’t ever get old and I won’t ever die. I couldn’t. …”” [Shirley Ann Grau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-ann-grau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator fears aging and bodily decay, imagining a future where she avoids death and physical decline. **In simple terms:** Fear of aging and death. Key Takeaway Embrace mortality and cherish life. Themes mortality aging body image Mood somber reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal reflection - health anxieties - life planning Key Concepts existential dread human fragility Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront your fear of aging? - What aspects of aging can be embraced? A Different Perspective Aging is natural and can bring wisdom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grow Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grow-old/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Old people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-people/) ## Related quotes > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. 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It would be called Great.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew/if-good-stuff-happened-to-us-until-we-died-it-wouldn-t-be-called-life/) [Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew/) > [I think that, most importantly, when I see issues of war, I see them in a personal vein, and I am reluctant to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/i-think-that-most-importantly-when-i-see-issues-of-war-i-see-them-in/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [how cruel, your veins are full of ice-water and mine are boiling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/how-cruel-your-veins-are-full-of-ice-water-and-mine-are-boiling/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [Yet some natures are too good to be spoiled by praise, and wherever the vein of thought reaches down into the profound, there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/yet-some-natures-are-too-good-to-be-spoiled-by-praise-and-wherever/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [When I meet a new person, something has to be a little off for me to consider them beautiful. It could be crooked teeth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/when-i-meet-a-new-person-something-has-to-be-a-little-off-for-me-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [Wine, it's in my veins and I can't get it out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burgess-meredith/wine-it-s-in-my-veins-and-i-can-t-get-it-out/) [Burgess Meredith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burgess-meredith/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [It definitely helps that I can bet big with ice water in my veins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-holzhauer/it-definitely-helps-that-i-can-bet-big-with-ice-water-in-my-veins/) [James Holzhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-holzhauer/) ## More by Shirley Ann Grau > [“I wonder now what it was like living for four years, not wanting to, only waiting for your hold to weaken so you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-ann-grau/i-wonder-now-what-it-was-like-living-for-four-years-not-wanting-to/) [Shirley Ann Grau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-ann-grau/) > [“He wondered if she’d been waiting all these nights to come because she hadn’t had a nightgown. 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I’ll never grow old and watch the veins on my hands begin to work their way out of my skin. … It was funny, now, the way all the inner workings of old people moved to the outside. Their muscles and their sinews got hard and ropy and hung on the outside of their skins. Their veins rose up, so where you hadn’t been able to see them before you could see them now. There were little blue ones that appeared on the forehead, jagged like a saw blade, where the skin had once been smooth. There were others like cords wrapping their way across the backs of hands, and along legs. And pulses turned up where they never had been before. The throat one now, you didn’t even know it was there, until one day you saw it, naked and exposed, pumping your blood for everybody to see. … I won’t be like that, Margaret thought. I won’t ever get old and I won’t ever die. 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