--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I act and react, and suddenly I wonder…" description: "\"“I act and react, and suddenly I wonder, ‘Where is the girl that I was last year? Two years ago? What would she think of me now?”\" — Sylvia Plath" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/sylvia-plath-149_last-year_i-act-and-react-and-suddenly-i-wonder-wh_1418464.jpg" --- # I act and react, and suddenly I wonder, ‘Where is the girl… ![“I act and react, and suddenly I wonder, ‘Where is the girl that I was last year? Two years ago? What would she think of me now?” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/sylvia-plath-149_last-year_i-act-and-react-and-suddenly-i-wonder-wh_1418464.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/sylvia-plath-149_last-year_i-act-and-react-and-suddenly-i-wonder-wh_1418464.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/sylvia-plath-149_last-year_i-act-and-react-and-suddenly-i-wonder-wh_1418464.jpg) > ““I act and react, and suddenly I wonder, ‘Where is the girl that I was last year? Two years ago? What would she think of me now?”” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## 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 reflects on personal change over time, questioning identity and self‑perception. **In simple terms:** Question who you have become. Key Takeaway Embrace self‑reflection. Themes identity growth self‑reflection Mood introspective melancholic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - journaling - therapy - career planning - relationship dynamics Key Concepts time personal evolution Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of yourself have shifted? - How can you accept change? A Different Perspective Self‑analysis may cause anxiety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Girl Year](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/girl-year-4189065/) [Last year](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/last-year/) [React Suddenly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/react-suddenly-5017177/) [Suddenly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suddenly/) [Suddenly Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suddenly-wonder-899459/) [Two years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two-years/) [Two years ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two-years-ago/) [Years ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-ago/) ## Related quotes > [You suddenly find yourself somewhere and you wonder, how did I get in this room? That happens to me all the time, every day!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-henderson/you-suddenly-find-yourself-somewhere-and-you-wonder-how-did-i-get-in/) [Shirley Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-henderson/) > [She was afraid of these things that made her suddenly wonder who she was, and what she was going to be in the world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/she-was-afraid-of-these-things-that-made-her-suddenly-wonder-who-she/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [I did find a wonderful girl last year, but the photographs that we did were more about motorcars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-newton/i-did-find-a-wonderful-girl-last-year-but-the-photographs-that-we-did/) [Helmut Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-newton/) > [I used to live with Teri Toye in the '80s - a really gorgeous transsexual. She won Girl of the Year in 1986 \[I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-goldin/i-used-to-live-with-teri-toye-in-the-80s-a-really-gorgeous/) [Nan Goldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-goldin/) > [I've never been the girl that's had the five-year plan, the 10-year plan and I'm still not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trisha-yearwood/i-ve-never-been-the-girl-that-s-had-the-five-year-plan-the-10-year/) [Trisha Yearwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trisha-yearwood/) > [There's Kenyan guys who last year or two years ago were running for Kenya, and then they switched to Qatar and Bahrain and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-farah/there-s-kenyan-guys-who-last-year-or-two-years-ago-were-running-for/) [Mo Farah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-farah/) > [“All, all, becomes profitable. Education is of the most satisfying and available nature. I am at Smith! Which two years ago was a doubtful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/all-all-becomes-profitable-education-is-of-the-most-satisfying-and/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Last year a friend went dark in a nervous city alone, the sea flashing against his glasses, the sea sorted out at last in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/last-year-a-friend-went-dark-in-a-nervous-city-alone-the-sea-flashing/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I've been vegan for 15 years, and it turns out it makes a very big impact on the environment to eat fewer animal products,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/i-ve-been-vegan-for-15-years-and-it-turns-out-it-makes-a-very-big/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [It felt like 10 years, but I was actually in treatment for three-and-a-half years. I finally finished in April. Two years ago, I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/it-felt-like-10-years-but-i-was-actually-in-treatment-for-three-and-a/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [There's nothing worse than the guy who at the party goes, 'Oh, I had that idea two years ago.' Well, then, why didn't you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-randolph/there-s-nothing-worse-than-the-guy-who-at-the-party-goes-oh-i-had/) [Marc Randolph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-randolph/) > [“She’d passed sentence on God two years ago, and she fed her doubts of Him daily, taking care they didn’t shrivel and die.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-kaufman/she-d-passed-sentence-on-god-two-years-ago-and-she-fed-her-doubts-of/) [Karin Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-kaufman/) > [One or two years ago, I didn't know who I was on court and I used to swear a lot. But now I've learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-federer/one-or-two-years-ago-i-didn-t-know-who-i-was-on-court-and-i-used-to/) [Roger Federer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-federer/) > [“Several times that day, the name or thought of Papa had come up. And each time, Francie had felt a flash of tenderness instead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-smith/several-times-that-day-the-name-or-thought-of-papa-had-come-up-and/) [Betty Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-smith/) > [I don't think I've ever bench-pressed anything in my life. Until about two years ago I swam a mile almost every day. Then I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-antosca/i-don-t-think-i-ve-ever-bench-pressed-anything-in-my-life-until-about/) [Nick Antosca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-antosca/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. But it is hard and I have so much, so very much to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-life-but-it-is-hard-and-i-have-so-much-so-very-much-to-learn/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [... These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. ... --Lady Lazarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/these-are-my-hands-my-knees-i-may-be-skin-and-bone-nevertheless-i-am/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I couldn't stand the idea of a woman having to have a single pure life and a man being able to have a double…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-couldn-t-stand-the-idea-of-a-woman-having-to-have-a-single-pure/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I saw the gooseflesh on my skin. I did not know what made it. I was not cold. Had a ghost passed over? No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-to-live-my-life-and-it-is-the-only-one-i-ll-ever-have/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The city had faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman. Ordinarily, I would have been nervous about my dress and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-city-had-faded-my-tan-though-i-looked-yellow-as-a-chinaman/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Joy:show joy & enjoy: then others will be joyful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/joy-show-joy-enjoy-then-others-will-be-joyful/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [A million years of evolution, Eric said bitterly, and what are we? Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. Overhead the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/flute-notes-from-a-reedy-pond-now-coldness-comes-sifting-down-layer/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The most saddening thing is to admit that I am not in love. I can only love (if that means self denial - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-most-saddening-thing-is-to-admit-that-i-am-not-in-love-i-can-only/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Explore all 1,098 Sylvia Plath quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## More Last year quotes > [I'd be very controversial if I said why, and I don't do controversial anymore. That's too passé. So last year. Being controversial is boring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-i-a/i-d-be-very-controversial-if-i-said-why-and-i-don-t-do-controversial/) [M.I.A](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-i-a/) > [There were times last year when people looked at the scoreboard and thought my batting average was the temperature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buck-martinez/there-were-times-last-year-when-people-looked-at-the-scoreboard-and/) [Buck Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buck-martinez/) > [I never really look at it past one year. I look at last year and my whole goal is to be a better player…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trent-williams/i-never-really-look-at-it-past-one-year-i-look-at-last-year-and-my/) [Trent Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trent-williams/) > [Memories seem to surface in no particular order, with no time attached. Yesterday can seem as distant as last year. My life now consists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-olsson/memories-seem-to-surface-in-no-particular-order-with-no-time-attached/) [Linda Olsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-olsson/) > [So, in the last year, the whole cast sued for release from our contracts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-rettig/so-in-the-last-year-the-whole-cast-sued-for-release-from-our-contracts/) [Tommy Rettig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-rettig/) > [ \[Fighting for equality for women\] that's what my mission has been for the last years. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-broadwell/fighting-for-equality-for-women-that-s-what-my-mission-has-been-for/) [Paula Broadwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-broadwell/) > [We have reached the point where we can lose a game or two and not drop out of sight in the rankings. I've been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lavell-edwards/we-have-reached-the-point-where-we-can-lose-a-game-or-two-and-not/) [LaVell Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lavell-edwards/) > [Well, as you know, General Motors does not make hybrids. Ford only made 4,000 hybrids last year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-markey/well-as-you-know-general-motors-does-not-make-hybrids-ford-only-made/) [Ed Markey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-markey/) > [“The arbutus is now open everywhere in the woods and groves. How pleasant it is to meet the same flowers year after year! If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-fenimore-cooper/the-arbutus-is-now-open-everywhere-in-the-woods-and-groves-how/) [Susan Fenimore Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-fenimore-cooper/) > [Astrology is knocking at the gates of our universities: A Tübingen professor has switched over to astrology and a course on astrology was given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/astrology-is-knocking-at-the-gates-of-our-universities-a-t-bingen/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The terrorists who committed the 2003 Istanbul attacks were locals, that is, Turks. And when filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered in the Netherlands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-schily/the-terrorists-who-committed-the-2003-istanbul-attacks-were-locals/) [Otto Schily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-schily/) > [“Leonardo believed his research had the potential to convert millions to a more spiritual life. Last year he categorically proved the existence of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/leonardo-believed-his-research-had-the-potential-to-convert-millions/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [As our initial click fraud research study showed last year, there is an obvious problem in the online advertising world. The challenge is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flint-mcglaughlin/as-our-initial-click-fraud-research-study-showed-last-year-there-is/) [Flint McGlaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flint-mcglaughlin/) > [From '86 until the summer of last year, wherever I went, people would say, You would have made a great James Bond! Weren't you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brosnan/from-86-until-the-summer-of-last-year-wherever-i-went-people-would/) [Pierce Brosnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brosnan/) > [With the absence of a flu vaccination last year, I did not take a flu shot; but there is still some immunity that carries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/with-the-absence-of-a-flu-vaccination-last-year-i-did-not-take-a-flu/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 1,393 Last year quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/last-year/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I act and react, and suddenly I wonder, ‘Where is the girl that I was last year? Two years ago? 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