--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I tried. But I feel that I haven't given…" description: "\"I tried. But I feel that I haven't given utterance to the thousandth part of what lies within me. When I go to the grave I can say as others have said,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ced/victor-hugo-32_alleys_i-tried-but-i-feel-that-i-haven-t-given_2785827.jpg" --- # I tried. But I feel that I haven't given utterance to the… ![“I tried. But I feel that I haven't given utterance to the thousandth part of what lies within me. When I go to the grave I can say as others have said, "I have finished my day's work." But I cannot say, "I have finished my life." My day's work will begin again the next morning. The tomb is not a…” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ced/victor-hugo-32_alleys_i-tried-but-i-feel-that-i-haven-t-given_2785827.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ced/victor-hugo-32_alleys_i-tried-but-i-feel-that-i-haven-t-given_2785827.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ced/victor-hugo-32_alleys_i-tried-but-i-feel-that-i-haven-t-given_2785827.jpg) > “I tried. But I feel that I haven't given utterance to the thousandth part of what lies within me. When I go to the grave I can say as others have said, "I have finished my day's work." But I cannot say, "I have finished my life." My day's work will begin again the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes on the twilight, but opens on the dawn.” [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reflects on life's unfinished nature, seeing death as a transition rather than an end, and emphasizes continual purpose beyond a single day. **In simple terms:** Life never truly ends; death is a passage. Key Takeaway Embrace each day as part of a larger journey. Themes mortality purpose continuity Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily work - life planning - grief processing - legacy building Key Concepts existentialism transcendence Questions to Reflect On - How do you view death in your life purpose? - What daily actions give your life meaning? A Different Perspective The metaphor may overlook those who view death as final. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Begin again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/begin-again/) [Blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind/) [Dawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dawn/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Twilight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twilight/) ## Related quotes > [My day's work will begin again the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/my-day-s-work-will-begin-again-the-next-morning-the-tomb-is-not-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Men pass my grave, and say, "'Twere well to sleep, Like such an one, amid the uncaring dead!" How should they know the vigils…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccrae/men-pass-my-grave-and-say-twere-well-to-sleep-like-such-an-one-amid/) [John McCrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccrae/) > [“All our lives we sweat and save Building for a shallow grave Must be something else we say Somehow to defend this place Everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/all-our-lives-we-sweat-and-save-building-for-a-shallow-grave-must-be/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [“Ah, are you digging on my grave, My loved one? -- planting rue?" -- "No: yesterday he went to wed One of the brightest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/ah-are-you-digging-on-my-grave-my-loved-one-planting-rue-no-yesterday/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they say its over we'll just say I love you. when they say it's finished we'll just keep on building](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-they-say-its-over-we-ll-just-say-i-love-you-when-they-say-it-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What's wrong with this world is, it's not finished yet. 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On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/without-at-all-invalidating-what-we-have-just-said-we-believe-that-a/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Brothers, he who dies here dies in the radiance of the future, and we are entering a tomb all flooded with the dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/brothers-he-who-dies-here-dies-in-the-radiance-of-the-future-and-we/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [The tomb is not a blind alley: it is a thoroughfare. It closes on the twilight. It opens on the dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-tomb-is-not-a-blind-alley-it-is-a-thoroughfare-it-closes-on-the/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“This exists. It can be seen. It can be touched. These in pace, these dungeons, these iron hinges, these necklets, that lofty peep-hole on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/this-exists-it-can-be-seen-it-can-be-touched-these-in-pace-these/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Begin: To have commenced is half the deed. Half yet remains; Begin again on this and thou wilt finish all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/decimius-magnus-ausonius/begin-to-have-commenced-is-half-the-deed-half-yet-remains-begin-again/) [Decimius Magnus Ausonius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/decimius-magnus-ausonius/) ## More by Victor Hugo > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“There is still a certain grace in a dead festival. It has been happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-is-still-a-certain-grace-in-a-dead-festival-it-has-been-happy/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“First I loved women, then animals, and now I love stones. 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She did not know whether it was good or evil, beneficent or dangerous, necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/loving-in-ignorance-she-loved-with-all-the-more-passion-she-did-not/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/laughter-is-the-sun-that-drives-winter-from-the-human-face/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Our joys have shadows. The perfect smile belongs to God alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/our-joys-have-shadows-the-perfect-smile-belongs-to-god-alone/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“When those we love are in question, our prudence invents every sort of madness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/when-those-we-love-are-in-question-our-prudence-invents-every-sort-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Love is a fault; so be it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/love-is-a-fault-so-be-it/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) [Explore all 2,181 Victor Hugo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## More Alleys quotes > [Dashiell Hammett took murder out of theVenetian vase and dropped it into the alley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/dashiell-hammett-took-murder-out-of-thevenetian-vase-and-dropped-it/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [She glances back before stepping into the alley, and she catches her grandfather looking at her the way he does sometimes--as if she's already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/she-glances-back-before-stepping-into-the-alley-and-she-catches-her/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) > [Victim disarmament types are sick, sick people, who'd rather see a woman raped in an alley and strangled with her own pantyhose than see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/victim-disarmament-types-are-sick-sick-people-who-d-rather-see-a/) [L. 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The part \[of Roxie in Let It Shine\] was right up my alley. Plus, the thought of playing a rock… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coco-jones/singing-dancing-and-acting-the-part-of-roxie-in-let-it-shine-was/) [Coco Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coco-jones/) > [The trees grew too thickly, and their trunks were too big for any healthy New England wood. There was too much silence in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/the-trees-grew-too-thickly-and-their-trunks-were-too-big-for-any/) [H. P. 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