--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She is older than the rocks among which…" description: "\"She is older than the rocks among which she sits; like the vampire, she has been dead many times, and learned the secrets of the grave; and has been a ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b7/walter-pater-9808_dead-man_she-is-older-than-the-rocks-among-which_2244107.jpg" --- # She is older than the rocks among which she sits; like the… ![“She is older than the rocks among which she sits; like the vampire, she has been dead many times, and learned the secrets of the grave; and has been a diver in deep seas, and keeps their fallen day about her; and trafficked for strange webs with Eastern merchants, and, as Leda, was the mother of…” quote by Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b7/walter-pater-9808_dead-man_she-is-older-than-the-rocks-among-which_2244107.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b7/walter-pater-9808_dead-man_she-is-older-than-the-rocks-among-which_2244107.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b7/walter-pater-9808_dead-man_she-is-older-than-the-rocks-among-which_2244107.jpg) > “She is older than the rocks among which she sits; like the vampire, she has been dead many times, and learned the secrets of the grave; and has been a diver in deep seas, and keeps their fallen day about her; and trafficked for strange webs with Eastern merchants, and, as Leda, was the mother of Helen of Troy, and, as Saint Anne, the mother of Mary; and all this has been to her but as the sound of lyres and flutes, and lives only in the delicacy with which it has molded the changing lineaments, and tinged the eyelids and the hands.” [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A portrayal of a timeless, resilient woman shaped by countless experiences and mythic archetypes. **In simple terms:** A woman shaped by many lives and myths. Key Takeaway Embrace the depth of your history. Themes mythology resilience identity history art Mood reflective poetic melancholic Type literary philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - literary analysis Key Concepts Archetype symbolism intertextuality feminine mystique Questions to Reflect On - What myths influence your self‑image? - How does history shape identity? A Different Perspective The metaphor may obscure concrete meaning for some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anne Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anne-mother-4053094/) [Dead man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-man/) [Deep sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deep-sea/) [Delicacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delicacy/) [Eastern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eastern/) [Eyelids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyelids/) [Fallen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fallen/) [Flutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flutes/) [Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/graves/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Helen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helen/) [Helen of troy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helen-of-troy/) [Helen Troy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helen-troy-1029409/) [Leda Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leda-mother-5100034/) [Mary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mary/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Mother Helen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother-helen-5100035/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/) [Saint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saint/) [Saint Anne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saint-anne-222861/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Vampire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vampire/) ## Related quotes > [“Helen of Troy Does Counter Dancing The world is full of women who'd tell me I should be ashamed of myself if they had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/helen-of-troy-does-counter-dancing-the-world-is-full-of-women-who-d/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Enough wars have been started over this face. My face. My curse—and my mother’s curse, and her mother’s curse, and so on all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/enough-wars-have-been-started-over-this-face-my-face-my-curse-and-my/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [“Helen of Troy's face started the Trojan war. Stupid as it is, Never forget the true power of your womanhood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sahndra-fon-dufe/helen-of-troy-s-face-started-the-trojan-war-stupid-as-it-is-never/) [Sahndra Fon Dufe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sahndra-fon-dufe/) > [Move over, Helen of Troy; Jenny Trout is going to wage a war on good health and fit bodies!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-armintrout/move-over-helen-of-troy-jenny-trout-is-going-to-wage-a-war-on-good/) [Jennifer Armintrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-armintrout/) > [If Helen of Troy could have been seen eating peppermints out of a paper bag, it is highly probable that her admirers would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/if-helen-of-troy-could-have-been-seen-eating-peppermints-out-of-a/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [“But here Billy Chope arrived to demand what the 'ell Sam Cardew was doing with his gal. Now Sam was ever readier for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-morrison/but-here-billy-chope-arrived-to-demand-what-the-ell-sam-cardew-was/) [Arthur Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-morrison/) > [I think Helen of Troy must have been pretty hot. She got two countries going crazy for 10 years over her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-quinn/i-think-helen-of-troy-must-have-been-pretty-hot-she-got-two-countries/) [Colin Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-quinn/) > [As soon as men began to write, they made Helen of Troy their subject; for close on three thousand years she has been both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bettany-hughes/as-soon-as-men-began-to-write-they-made-helen-of-troy-their-subject/) [Bettany Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bettany-hughes/) > [“But she’s only a woman!” The watch captain shook his head again. “So was Helen of Troy, sir. Look what she started.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-downie/but-she-s-only-a-woman-the-watch-captain-shook-his-head-again-so-was/) [Ruth Downie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-downie/) > [“First of all, there is no need to patronize me by implying that I'm Helen of Troy when it's clear that I'm no beauty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/first-of-all-there-is-no-need-to-patronize-me-by-implying-that-i-m/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [Helen of Troy, a hooker from Upstate New York. Never got a dinner!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-buttons/helen-of-troy-a-hooker-from-upstate-new-york-never-got-a-dinner/) [Red Buttons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-buttons/) > [“Helen of Troy, Venus rising from the sea, the females of the kardashian tribe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kallista-dane/helen-of-troy-venus-rising-from-the-sea-the-females-of-the-kardashian/) [Kallista Dane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kallista-dane/) > [I'm called Anne because my mother, who was devout, prayed to St. Anne every day of her pregnancy with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-murray/i-m-called-anne-because-my-mother-who-was-devout-prayed-to-st-anne/) [Anne Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-murray/) > [“Leonardo had also been wrestling with the question of why the sky appears blue, and around that time he had correctly concluded that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/leonardo-had-also-been-wrestling-with-the-question-of-why-the-sky/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [My parents, Mary Agnes Smith and Rowland Smith, both had to work since their early teens, she in the holiday boarding house of her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-smith/my-parents-mary-agnes-smith-and-rowland-smith-both-had-to-work-since/) [Michael Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-smith/) ## More by Walter Pater > [A counted number of pulses only is given to us of a variegated, dramatic life. How may we see in them all that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/a-counted-number-of-pulses-only-is-given-to-us-of-a-variegated/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [What we have to do is to be forever curiously testing new opinions and courting new impressions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/what-we-have-to-do-is-to-be-forever-curiously-testing-new-opinions/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [One of the most beautiful passages of Rousseau is that in the sixth book of Confessions, where he describes the awakening in him of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/one-of-the-most-beautiful-passages-of-rousseau-is-that-in-the-sixth/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [For art comes to you proposing frankly to give nothing but the highest quality to your moments as they pass, and simply for those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/for-art-comes-to-you-proposing-frankly-to-give-nothing-but-the/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [Every moment some form grows perfect in hand or face; some tone on the hills or the sea is choicer than the rest; some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/every-moment-some-form-grows-perfect-in-hand-or-face-some-tone-on-the/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [Not to discriminate every moment some passionate attitude in those about us, and in the very brilliancy of their gifts some tragic dividing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/not-to-discriminate-every-moment-some-passionate-attitude-in-those/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [A certain strangeness, something of the blossoming of the aloe, is indeed an element in all true works of art: that they shall excite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/a-certain-strangeness-something-of-the-blossoming-of-the-aloe-is/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [“The younger, certainly, had to the full that charm of a constitutional freshness of aspect which may defy for a long time extravagant or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/the-younger-certainly-had-to-the-full-that-charm-of-a-constitutional/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [Books are a refuge, a sort of cloistral refuge, from the vulgarities of the actual world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/books-are-a-refuge-a-sort-of-cloistral-refuge-from-the-vulgarities-of/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [The base of all artistic genius is the power of conceiving humanity in a new, striking, rejoicing way, of putting a happy world ofits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/the-base-of-all-artistic-genius-is-the-power-of-conceiving-humanity/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [“art is self-sufficient and need serve no moral or political purpose”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/art-is-self-sufficient-and-need-serve-no-moral-or-political-purpose/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [In a sense it might even be said that our failure is to form habits: for, after all, habit is relative to a stereotyped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/in-a-sense-it-might-even-be-said-that-our-failure-is-to-form-habits/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [“The essence of humanism is that belief of which he seems never to have doubted, that nothing which has ever interested living men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/the-essence-of-humanism-is-that-belief-of-which-he-seems-never-to/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [A very intimate sense of the expressiveness of outward things, which ponders, listens, penetrates, where the earlier, less developed consciousness passed lightly by, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/a-very-intimate-sense-of-the-expressiveness-of-outward-things-which/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [That sense of a life in natural objects, which in most poetry is but a rhetorical artifice, was, then, in Wordsworth the assertion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/that-sense-of-a-life-in-natural-objects-which-in-most-poetry-is-but-a/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) [Explore all 69 Walter Pater quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) ## More Dead man quotes > [Those old hypocrites. They talk about killing witches but the Good Book’s full of magic. Turning the Nile to blood and parting the Red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/those-old-hypocrites-they-talk-about-killing-witches-but-the-good/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [“A thousand times a coward and not once a dead man”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suad-amiry/a-thousand-times-a-coward-and-not-once-a-dead-man/) [Suad Amiry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suad-amiry/) > [“I cocked my eyebrow at her. "Are you kidding me, Clare?" I indicated to the dead man on the broken pine table. "There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-morgan/i-cocked-my-eyebrow-at-her-are-you-kidding-me-clare-i-indicated-to/) [Elizabeth Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-morgan/) > [Silvio, I gotta go, find out something only dead men know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/silvio-i-gotta-go-find-out-something-only-dead-men-know/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I think I probably have the philosophy of a poor man. You know, like maybe I'd steal the pennies off a dead man's eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cassavetes/i-think-i-probably-have-the-philosophy-of-a-poor-man-you-know-like/) [John Cassavetes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cassavetes/) > [“Dead man, listen well. The Great Keep is not like the Otherworld. The Great Keep has many names. To the Norse it is Valhalla,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/dead-man-listen-well-the-great-keep-is-not-like-the-otherworld-the/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [Dead men tell no tales, Mary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dead-men-tell-no-tales-mary/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“what i really need is a dead man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-himes/what-i-really-need-is-a-dead-man/) [Chester Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-himes/) > [And he that will this health deny, down among the dead men let him lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dyer/and-he-that-will-this-health-deny-down-among-the-dead-men-let-him-lie/) [John Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dyer/) > [“Death Valley is the perfect flesh-grilling device, the Foreman Grill in Mother Nature’s cupboard. It’s a big, shimmering sea of salt ringed by mountains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-mcdougall/death-valley-is-the-perfect-flesh-grilling-device-the-foreman-grill/) [Christopher McDougall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-mcdougall/) > [We're here for such a short period of time. Live like you're already dead, man. Have a good time. Do your best. Let it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-bridges/we-re-here-for-such-a-short-period-of-time-live-like-you-re-already/) [Jeff Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-bridges/) > [For my own part, I would rather be in company with a dead man than with an absent one; for if the dead man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-my-own-part-i-would-rather-be-in-company-with-a-dead-man-than/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Victor ignored him and reached inside the dead man’s jacket, searching unsuccessfully for a wallet. He went to take the man’s radio receiver, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wood/victor-ignored-him-and-reached-inside-the-dead-man-s-jacket-searching/) [Tom Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wood/) > [“People had always amazed him, he began. But they amazed him more since the sickness. For as long as the two of them had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/people-had-always-amazed-him-he-began-but-they-amazed-him-more-since/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [How can so much beauty hide such a bruised and steely heart, and why must I love him, why must I lean in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/how-can-so-much-beauty-hide-such-a-bruised-and-steely-heart-and-why/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 490 Dead man quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-man/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "She is older than the rocks among which she sits; like the vampire, she has been dead many times, and learned the secrets of the grave; and has been a diver in deep seas, and keeps their fallen day about her; and trafficked for strange webs with Eastern merchants, and, as Leda, was the mother of Helen of Troy, and, as Saint Anne, the mother of Mary; and all this has been to her but as the sound of lyres and flutes, and lives only in the delicacy with which it has molded the changing lineaments, and tinged the eyelids and the hands.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Walter Pater" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/she-is-older-than-the-rocks-among-which-she-sits-like-the-vampire-she/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dead man" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/she-is-older-than-the-rocks-among-which-she-sits-like-the-vampire-she/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b7/walter-pater-9808_dead-man_she-is-older-than-the-rocks-among-which_2244107.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b7/walter-pater-9808_dead-man_she-is-older-than-the-rocks-among-which_2244107.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b7/walter-pater-9808_dead-man_she-is-older-than-the-rocks-among-which_2244107.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She is older than the rocks among which she sits; like the vampire, she has been dead many times, and…” — Walter Pater", "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": "Walter Pater", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "She is older than the rocks...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/she-is-older-than-the-rocks-among-which-she-sits-like-the-vampire-she/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/she-is-older-than-the-rocks-among-which-she-sits-like-the-vampire-she/#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 } } ] } ```