--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...I'm looking for the face I had, before…" description: "\"...I'm looking for the face I had, before the world was made...\" — William Butler Yeats" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/william-butler-yeats-350_face_i-m-looking-for-the-face-i-had-before-th_1464375.png" --- # ...I'm looking for the face I had, before the world was… ![“...I'm looking for the face I had, before the world was made...” quote by William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/william-butler-yeats-350_face_i-m-looking-for-the-face-i-had-before-th_1464375.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/william-butler-yeats-350_face_i-m-looking-for-the-face-i-had-before-th_1464375.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/william-butler-yeats-350_face_i-m-looking-for-the-face-i-had-before-th_1464375.png) > “...I'm looking for the face I had, before the world was made...” [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Yeats longs for a lost, authentic self before societal corruption took hold. **In simple terms:** He misses his former self before the world changed. Key Takeaway Seek authenticity beyond external influences. Themes identity nostalgia self‑discovery Mood melancholic hopeful Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - psychological counseling Key Concepts existentialism memory Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of yourself have been altered by society? - How can you reconnect with your original self? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [If I make the lashes dark And the eyes more bright And the lips more scarlet, Or ask if all be right From mirror…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/if-i-make-the-lashes-dark-and-the-eyes-more-bright-and-the-lips-more/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“But he had the kindest face in the world, with big, dark eyes and buzzed-cut brown hair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-c-stephens/but-he-had-the-kindest-face-in-the-world-with-big-dark-eyes-and/) [S.C. Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-c-stephens/) > [One face to the world, another at home - makes for misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-vanderbilt/one-face-to-the-world-another-at-home-makes-for-misery/) [Amy Vanderbilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-vanderbilt/) > [I guess I've always had a similar-looking face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-billingsley/i-guess-i-ve-always-had-a-similar-looking-face/) [Peter Billingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-billingsley/) > [Any woman can face the world alone, but why should we have to?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/any-woman-can-face-the-world-alone-but-why-should-we-have-to/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [“Face the world with firmness of faith.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/face-the-world-with-firmness-of-faith/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [The loveliest face in all the world will not please you if you see it suddenly eye to eye, at a distance of half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beerbohm/the-loveliest-face-in-all-the-world-will-not-please-you-if-you-see-it/) [Max Beerbohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beerbohm/) > [Face the pain, face the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/habeebah/face-the-pain-face-the-world/) [Habeebah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/habeebah/) > [We're all products of what we want to project to the world. Even people who don't spend any time, or think they don't, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-sherman/we-re-all-products-of-what-we-want-to-project-to-the-world-even/) [Cindy Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-sherman/) > [It's the face the world sees, the one you can change as many times as you want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/it-s-the-face-the-world-sees-the-one-you-can-change-as-many-times-as/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [“We have to face the world like it is before we can make it what it should be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-bledsoe/we-have-to-face-the-world-like-it-is-before-we-can-make-it-what-it/) [Alex Bledsoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-bledsoe/) > [The face you give the world tells the world how to treat you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/the-face-you-give-the-world-tells-the-world-how-to-treat-you/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [“When you hide your face from the world, you can't see the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/when-you-hide-your-face-from-the-world-you-can-t-see-the-world/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [What matters is the face you show the world, not the quaking mess behind it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-vincent/what-matters-is-the-face-you-show-the-world-not-the-quaking-mess/) [Rachel Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-vincent/) > [“She said, "Let's face it, the world isn't exactly waiting for girls like me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-pipher/she-said-let-s-face-it-the-world-isn-t-exactly-waiting-for-girls-like/) [Mary Pipher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-pipher/) ## More by William Butler Yeats > [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I would have touched it like a child But knew my finger could but have touched Cold stone and water. I grew wild, Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-would-have-touched-it-like-a-child-but-knew-my-finger-could-but/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [You know what the Englishman's idea of compromise is? He says, Some people say there is a God. Some people say there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/you-know-what-the-englishman-s-idea-of-compromise-is-he-says-some/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Beloved, let your eyes half close, and your heart beat Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast, Drowning love's lonely hour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/beloved-let-your-eyes-half-close-and-your-heart-beat-over-my-heart/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [That toil of growing up; The ignominy of boyhood; the distress Of boyhood changing into man; The unfinished man and his pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/that-toil-of-growing-up-the-ignominy-of-boyhood-the-distress-of/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I see a schoolboy when I think of him, With face and nose pressed to a sweet-shop window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-see-a-schoolboy-when-i-think-of-him-with-face-and-nose-pressed-to-a/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Only God, my dear, Could love you for yourself alone And not your yellow hair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/only-god-my-dear-could-love-you-for-yourself-alone-and-not-your/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [We can only begin to live when we conceive life as Tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-can-only-begin-to-live-when-we-conceive-life-as-tragedy/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I know that I shall meet my fate somewhere among the clouds above; those that I fight I do not hate, those that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-know-that-i-shall-meet-my-fate-somewhere-among-the-clouds-above/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Great literature has always been written in a like spirit, and is, indeed, the Forgiveness of Sin, and when we find it becoming the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/great-literature-has-always-been-written-in-a-like-spirit-and-is/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Where the wave of moonlight glosses The dim gray sands with light, Far off by furthest Rosses We foot it all the night, Weaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/where-the-wave-of-moonlight-glosses-the-dim-gray-sands-with-light-far/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [His element is so fine Being sharpened by his death, To drink from the wine-breath While our gross palates drink from the whole wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/his-element-is-so-fine-being-sharpened-by-his-death-to-drink-from-the/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [We poets would die of loneliness but for women, and we choose our men friends that we may have somebody to talk about women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-poets-would-die-of-loneliness-but-for-women-and-we-choose-our-men/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Love is created and preserved by intellectual analysis, for we love only that which is unique, and it belongs to contemplation, not to action,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/love-is-created-and-preserved-by-intellectual-analysis-for-we-love/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Who dreamed that beauty passes like a dream? For these red lips, with all their mournful pride, Mournful that no new wonder may betide,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/who-dreamed-that-beauty-passes-like-a-dream-for-these-red-lips-with/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) [Explore all 652 William Butler Yeats quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) ## More Face quotes > [I just feel like everybody stays on their phone nowadays. People will go to a party and everybody is on their phone, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/snow-tha-product/i-just-feel-like-everybody-stays-on-their-phone-nowadays-people-will/) [Snow Tha Product](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/snow-tha-product/) > [I plan on actually governing in a nonpartisan fashion because I think that 90% of the problems we face are nonpartisan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-e-james/i-plan-on-actually-governing-in-a-nonpartisan-fashion-because-i-think/) [John E. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-e-james/) > [“You think a few features scattered on your face make you plain? I am ugly to the core. All England knows it. And after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-dare/you-think-a-few-features-scattered-on-your-face-make-you-plain-i-am/) [Tessa Dare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-dare/) > [A face is too slight a foundation for happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wortley-montagu/a-face-is-too-slight-a-foundation-for-happiness/) [Mary Wortley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wortley-montagu/) > [There's nothing like the energy in a small comedy club room or a small theater when it's going really well. I can see everybody's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-carey/there-s-nothing-like-the-energy-in-a-small-comedy-club-room-or-a/) [Drew Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-carey/) > [God doesn't love me any more or less because I had some work done on my face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/god-doesn-t-love-me-any-more-or-less-because-i-had-some-work-done-on/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [We are lagging far behind comparable countries in overcoming the disadvantages Indigenous people face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-fraser/we-are-lagging-far-behind-comparable-countries-in-overcoming-the/) [Malcolm Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-fraser/) > [Growing up with a parent in the army, I saw firsthand the challenges our service members face when transitioning to new jobs after time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharice-davids/growing-up-with-a-parent-in-the-army-i-saw-firsthand-the-challenges/) [Sharice Davids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharice-davids/) > [“face your fears and live well”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane/face-your-fears-and-live-well/) [dane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane/) > [“Take care of your costume and your confidence will take care of itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/take-care-of-your-costume-and-your-confidence-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Fans would always want us to sign their sneakers. I'd hold the shoes up to my face and stick my nose in 'em and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marky-ramone/fans-would-always-want-us-to-sign-their-sneakers-i-d-hold-the-shoes/) [Marky Ramone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marky-ramone/) > [There is no other person on the face of this planet that I would rather sit and talk to than my wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-aames/there-is-no-other-person-on-the-face-of-this-planet-that-i-would/) [Willie Aames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-aames/) > [It's wonderful to see a young lady headbutt somebody and kick somebody's face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-regal/it-s-wonderful-to-see-a-young-lady-headbutt-somebody-and-kick/) [William Regal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-regal/) > [I'm doing my own thing.. GET OUT OF MY FACE!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-doing-my-own-thing-get-out-of-my-face/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The golf ball doesn't care about know how hard you're working, or how many hours you slept that night. It only matters, what speed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-hovland/the-golf-ball-doesn-t-care-about-know-how-hard-you-re-working-or-how/) [Viktor Hovland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-hovland/) Browse all 5,631 Face quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "...I'm looking for the face I had, before the world was made...", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Butler Yeats" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-m-looking-for-the-face-i-had-before-the-world-was-made/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Face" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-m-looking-for-the-face-i-had-before-the-world-was-made/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/william-butler-yeats-350_face_i-m-looking-for-the-face-i-had-before-th_1464375.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/william-butler-yeats-350_face_i-m-looking-for-the-face-i-had-before-th_1464375.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/william-butler-yeats-350_face_i-m-looking-for-the-face-i-had-before-th_1464375.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“...I'm looking for the face I had, before the world was made...” — William Butler Yeats", "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": "William Butler Yeats", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "...I'm looking for the face I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-m-looking-for-the-face-i-had-before-the-world-was-made/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-m-looking-for-the-face-i-had-before-the-world-was-made/#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 } } ] } ```