--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's the kind of story we learn over and…" description: "\"“It's the kind of story we learn over and over again about everything in the world: your life starts out as a wild open frontier that you explore until..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/wendy-mcclure-34188_aging_it-s-the-kind-of-story-we-learn-over-and_3004658.jpg" --- # It's the kind of story we learn over and over again about… ![“It's the kind of story we learn over and over again about everything in the world: your life starts out as a wild open frontier that you explore until the forces of time or history or civilization or nature intervene, and then suddenly it's all gone, it all weathers and falls down and gets built…” quote by Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/wendy-mcclure-34188_aging_it-s-the-kind-of-story-we-learn-over-and_3004658.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/wendy-mcclure-34188_aging_it-s-the-kind-of-story-we-learn-over-and_3004658.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/wendy-mcclure-34188_aging_it-s-the-kind-of-story-we-learn-over-and_3004658.jpg) > ““It's the kind of story we learn over and over again about everything in the world: your life starts out as a wild open frontier that you explore until the forces of time or history or civilization or nature intervene, and then suddenly it's all gone, it all weathers and falls down and gets built over; everyone dies or moves away or becomes a grainy photograph, and yes, at some point you just get fat and fall off a streetcar. Progress--it dumps you on your aging and gigantic ass!”” [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life begins as an open frontier, but time erodes everything, leaving only remnants. **In simple terms:** Life starts free, then time erodes it. Key Takeaway Embrace impermanence and act now. Themes impermanence time mortality Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal planning - legacy building - mindfulness practice Key Concepts existentialism philosophy of history Questions to Reflect On - What does the “frontier” mean to you? - How do you find meaning amid impermanence? A Different Perspective Focusing on decay may cause anxiety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Aging Gigantic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging-gigantic-4787467/) [Civilization Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization-nature-775571/) [Dumps Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dumps-aging-4787468/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Story Learn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-learn-775997/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I know I'm never going to probably see the Taj Mahal or, you know, climb Mt. Everest, but I can still maybe influence peoples'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/i-know-i-m-never-going-to-probably-see-the-taj-mahal-or-you-know/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [By God's design, I believe our hearts and minds are shaped by Story. It's how we learn. It's how we make sense of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-curtis-higgs/by-god-s-design-i-believe-our-hearts-and-minds-are-shaped-by-story-it/) [Liz Curtis Higgs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-curtis-higgs/) > [You can't divorce civilization from nature - we totally depend on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/you-can-t-divorce-civilization-from-nature-we-totally-depend-on-it/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [We as a culture are forgetting that we are actually natural organisms and that we have this very, very deep connection and contact with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/we-as-a-culture-are-forgetting-that-we-are-actually-natural-organisms/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [Early in my career I discovered that there was something really special about photographing at night that places your mind on the surface of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-balog/early-in-my-career-i-discovered-that-there-was-something-really/) [James Balog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-balog/) > [Our insatiable drive to rummage deep beneath the surface of the earth is a willful expansion of our dysfunctional civilization into Nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/our-insatiable-drive-to-rummage-deep-beneath-the-surface-of-the-earth/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [The elderly have so much to offer. They're our link with history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cusack/the-elderly-have-so-much-to-offer-they-re-our-link-with-history/) [John Cusack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cusack/) > [All the dangers in our world are like a blessed wake up call. They tell us to live life NOW... not tomorrow, not when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/all-the-dangers-in-our-world-are-like-a-blessed-wake-up-call-they/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [So often do you see collegians enter life with high resolve and lofty purpose and then watch them shrink and shrink to sordid, selfish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/so-often-do-you-see-collegians-enter-life-with-high-resolve-and-lofty/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [The more I produce, the less I am certain. On the road along which the artist walks, night falls ever more densely. Finally, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-more-i-produce-the-less-i-am-certain-on-the-road-along-which-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayer-of-an-anonymous-abbess-lord-thou-knowest-better-than-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We'll never be as young as we are tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-ll-never-be-as-young-as-we-are-tonight/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-vilsack/in-the-past-40-years-the-united-states-lost-more-than-a-million/) [Tom Vilsack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-vilsack/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) ## More by Wendy McClure > [“The fact that Nellie wasn't any one person but rather a composite of three of the real Laura's antagonists' worst traits makes her even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mcclure/the-fact-that-nellie-wasn-t-any-one-person-but-rather-a-composite-of/) [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) > [“I hate the thought that I'm just some kind of Russian nesting doll with the big outside and inevitably, rattling around under all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mcclure/i-hate-the-thought-that-i-m-just-some-kind-of-russian-nesting-doll/) [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) > [“It didn't feel like the last night of anything anymore, just that the world went on and would follow us home”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mcclure/it-didn-t-feel-like-the-last-night-of-anything-anymore-just-that-the/) [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) > [“...subtitled it 'Everything you Always Wanted to Know About Driving Out to Remote Locations in the Upper Midwest to Find your Childhood Imaginary Friend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mcclure/subtitled-it-everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-driving-out/) [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) > [“For me, reading that scene never fails to bring on a brief, scalding instant of recognition in recalling exactly what it was like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mcclure/for-me-reading-that-scene-never-fails-to-bring-on-a-brief-scalding/) [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) > [“...but Lake Pepin might be best known to most of the world as the place where, more than a hundred and thirty years ago,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mcclure/but-lake-pepin-might-be-best-known-to-most-of-the-world-as-the-place/) [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) > [“If being a girl is a frontier all its own, what is the manifest destiny?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mcclure/if-being-a-girl-is-a-frontier-all-its-own-what-is-the-manifest-destiny/) [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) > [“From everything that I'd read, End Timers were waiting for the collapse of civilization the way fans of the Twilight series awaited the trailer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mcclure/from-everything-that-i-d-read-end-timers-were-waiting-for-the/) [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) > [“I do realize how this all sounds. I realize that in this account of my journey to the Little House on the Prairie, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mcclure/i-do-realize-how-this-all-sounds-i-realize-that-in-this-account-of-my/) [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) > [“The little room was full of ordinary things that had already become precious, that I couldn't help but want to have again, to feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mcclure/the-little-room-was-full-of-ordinary-things-that-had-already-become/) [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) > [“I found the world of the Little House books to be so much less confusing, not just because it was "simpler," as plenty of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mcclure/i-found-the-world-of-the-little-house-books-to-be-so-much-less/) [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) > [“Sometimes, Laura World wasn't a realm of log cabins or prairies, it was a way of being. Really, a way of being happy. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mcclure/sometimes-laura-world-wasn-t-a-realm-of-log-cabins-or-prairies-it-was/) [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) > [“But there was no final firestorm, just a long night of negotiations where we tried to get our old selves back, to disown who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mcclure/but-there-was-no-final-firestorm-just-a-long-night-of-negotiations/) [Wendy McClure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) [Explore all 14 Wendy McClure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mcclure/) ## More Aging quotes > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-vilsack/in-the-past-40-years-the-united-states-lost-more-than-a-million/) [Tom Vilsack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-vilsack/) > [We'll never be as young as we are tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-ll-never-be-as-young-as-we-are-tonight/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayer-of-an-anonymous-abbess-lord-thou-knowest-better-than-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The more I produce, the less I am certain. On the road along which the artist walks, night falls ever more densely. Finally, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-more-i-produce-the-less-i-am-certain-on-the-road-along-which-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [So often do you see collegians enter life with high resolve and lofty purpose and then watch them shrink and shrink to sordid, selfish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/so-often-do-you-see-collegians-enter-life-with-high-resolve-and-lofty/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [All the dangers in our world are like a blessed wake up call. They tell us to live life NOW... not tomorrow, not when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/all-the-dangers-in-our-world-are-like-a-blessed-wake-up-call-they/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [“You could see the signs of female aging as diseased, especially if you had a vested interest in making women too see them your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/you-could-see-the-signs-of-female-aging-as-diseased-especially-if-you/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“It takes maturity to be able to laugh like a child again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moffat-machingura/it-takes-maturity-to-be-able-to-laugh-like-a-child-again/) [Moffat Machingura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moffat-machingura/) > [Seek ye counsel of the aged for their eyes have looked on the faces of the years and their ears have hardened to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/seek-ye-counsel-of-the-aged-for-their-eyes-have-looked-on-the-faces/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Growing old-it's not nice, but it's interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/growing-old-it-s-not-nice-but-it-s-interesting/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [Anything is possible in the life of a man if he lives long enough. Even maturity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howell-raines/anything-is-possible-in-the-life-of-a-man-if-he-lives-long-enough/) [Howell Raines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howell-raines/) > [I just want to be Patty McCormack. I want to spend every year aging the way she has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-varney/i-just-want-to-be-patty-mccormack-i-want-to-spend-every-year-aging/) [Janet Varney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-varney/) > [Maturity is reached the day we don't need to be lied to about anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-yerby/maturity-is-reached-the-day-we-don-t-need-to-be-lied-to-about-anything/) [Frank Yerby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-yerby/) [Browse all 2,792 Aging quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It's the kind of story we learn over and over again about everything in the world: your life starts out as a wild open frontier that you explore until the forces of time or history or civilization or nature intervene, and then suddenly it's all gone, it all weathers and falls down and gets built over; everyone dies or moves away or becomes a grainy photograph, and yes, at some point you just get fat and fall off a streetcar. 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