---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our birth is but a sleep and a…"
description: "\"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting...\" — William Wordsworth"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/041/william-wordsworth-403_birth_our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgettin_1449649.jpg"
---

#  Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting...

![“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting...” quote by William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/041/william-wordsworth-403_birth_our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgettin_1449649.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/041/william-wordsworth-403_birth_our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgettin_1449649.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/041/william-wordsworth-403_birth_our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgettin_1449649.jpg)

> “Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting...”

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

## 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 in innocence, but as we age we lose memory of our true nature.

**In simple terms:** Birth is like a forgotten sleep.

Key Takeaway

Remember your original self.

Themes

identity memory self-discovery

Mood

reflective melancholic

Type

poetic philosophical

When to use this quote

- personal growth
- spiritual practice
- creative work

Key Concepts

philosophy existentialism

Questions to Reflect On

- What aspects of your early self have you forgotten?
- How can you reconnect with that innocence?

A Different Perspective

Memory loss can hinder self-awareness.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Forgetting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgetting/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/)

## Related quotes

> [Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting. Not in entire forgetfulness, and not in utter nakedness, but trailing clouds of glory do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgetting-not-in-entire-forgetfulness/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgetting-the-soul-that-rises-with-us-2/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [The great majority gave no signs one way or the other; like birth, their death was a sleep and a forgetting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/the-great-majority-gave-no-signs-one-way-or-the-other-like-birth/)

[William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/)

> [“How much more than necessary do we spend in sleep, forgetting that the sleeping fox catches no poultry, and that there will be sleeping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/how-much-more-than-necessary-do-we-spend-in-sleep-forgetting-that-the/)

[Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/)

> [“Who was it said, ‘We forget because we must’? He was right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/who-was-it-said-we-forget-because-we-must-he-was-right/)

[L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/)

> [That feeling you get when you know you are forgetting something, but you don't know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-feeling-you-get-when-you-know-you-are-forgetting-something-but/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I will have spent my life trying to understand the function of remembering, which is not the opposite of forgetting, but rather its lining.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-marker/i-will-have-spent-my-life-trying-to-understand-the-function-of/)

[Chris Marker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-marker/)

> [Letting go of the past and beginning again, isn't forgetting the pain that was caused. It simply forgiving, moving on, living and loving again.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashida-rowe/letting-go-of-the-past-and-beginning-again-isn-t-forgetting-the-pain/)

[Rashida Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rashida-rowe/)

> [Stories set in the Culture in which Things Went Wrong tended to start with humans losing or forgetting or deliberately leaving behind their terminal.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/stories-set-in-the-culture-in-which-things-went-wrong-tended-to-start/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [You can't delete people out of your life . Forgetting them is hard and ignoring them doesn't work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-t-delete-people-out-of-your-life-forgetting-them-is-hard-and/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Those with a gift for action, for their part, often express contempt for those whose gifts are more reflective. Men of action like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/those-with-a-gift-for-action-for-their-part-often-express-contempt/)

[Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/)

> [“If you can't forgive and forget, then pick one and do it ...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-brault/if-you-can-t-forgive-and-forget-then-pick-one-and-do-it/)

James Brault

> [For some reason,we keep forgetting some of our experience. We look back but don't bring the value forward. We bring the anger, the upset.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/for-some-reason-we-keep-forgetting-some-of-our-experience-we-look/)

[Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/)

> [If you can't forgive and forget, pick only one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-brault/if-you-can-t-forgive-and-forget-pick-only-one/)

[Robert Brault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-brault/)

> [Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it. Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/forgetting-your-self-is-the-greatest-injury-all-the-calamities-flow/)

[Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/)

## More by William Wordsworth

> [Spade! Thou art a tool of honor in my hands. I press thee, through a yielding soil, with pride.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/spade-thou-art-a-tool-of-honor-in-my-hands-i-press-thee-through-a/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [Brothers all In honour, as in one community, Scholars and gentlemen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/brothers-all-in-honour-as-in-one-community-scholars-and-gentlemen/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [The eye— it cannot choose but see; we cannot bid the ear be still; our bodies feel, where'er they be, against or with our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/the-eye-it-cannot-choose-but-see-we-cannot-bid-the-ear-be-still-our/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [“Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know, Are a substantial world, both pure and good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/dreams-books-are-each-a-world-and-books-we-know-are-a-substantial/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [Now when the primrose makes a splendid show, And lilies face the March-winds in full blow, And humbler growths as moved with one desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/now-when-the-primrose-makes-a-splendid-show-and-lilies-face-the-march/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [“Where are your books? - that light bequeathed To beings else forlorn and blind! Up! up! and drink the spirit breathed From dead men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/where-are-your-books-that-light-bequeathed-to-beings-else-forlorn-and/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [Knowledge and increase of enduring joy From the great Nature that exists in works Of mighty Poets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/knowledge-and-increase-of-enduring-joy-from-the-great-nature-that/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [The common growth of Mother Earth Suffices me,-her tears, her mirth, Her humblest mirth and tears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/the-common-growth-of-mother-earth-suffices-me-her-tears-her-mirth-her/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [And he is oft the wisest manWho is not wise at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/and-he-is-oft-the-wisest-manwho-is-not-wise-at-all/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [The oldest man he seemed that ever wore grey hairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/the-oldest-man-he-seemed-that-ever-wore-grey-hairs/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [“She was a Phantom of delight When first she gleam'd upon my sight; A lovely Apparition, sent To be a moment's ornament: Her eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/she-was-a-phantom-of-delight-when-first-she-gleam-d-upon-my-sight-a/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [“If the time should ever come when what is now called science, thus familiarised to men, shall be ready to put on, as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/if-the-time-should-ever-come-when-what-is-now-called-science-thus/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [Truth takes no account of centuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/truth-takes-no-account-of-centuries/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [I have felt a presence that disturbs me with the joy of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime of something far more deeply interfused, whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/i-have-felt-a-presence-that-disturbs-me-with-the-joy-of-elevated/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [Like thoughts whose very sweetness yielded proof that they were born for immortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/like-thoughts-whose-very-sweetness-yielded-proof-that-they-were-born/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

[Explore all 587 William Wordsworth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

## More Birth quotes

> [“Conception is the beginning of human life. From the time that an ovum is fertilized a new life begins that is neither that of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declaration-on-procured-abortion-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith-1974/conception-is-the-beginning-of-human-life-from-the-time-that-an-ovum/)

Declaration on Procured Abortion Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 1974

> [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/)

[Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/)

> [The greatest mystery in life is not life itself, but death. Death is the culmination of life, the ultimate blossoming of life. In death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-greatest-mystery-in-life-is-not-life-itself-but-death-death-is/)

[Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/)

> [Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-delay/guns-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-juvenile-violence-the-causes/)

[Tom DeLay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-delay/)

> [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/)

[Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/)

> [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/)

[Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

> [It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. It was the Lord speaking to us all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-rivers/it-was-no-accident-no-coincidence-that-the-seasons-came-round-and/)

[Francine Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-rivers/)

> [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/)

[Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/)

> [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/)

[Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/)

> [Always keep the smile, because the smile is the beginning of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-imad/always-keep-the-smile-because-the-smile-is-the-beginning-of-love/)

Adam Imad

> [The wailing of the newborn infant is mingled with the dirge for the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/the-wailing-of-the-newborn-infant-is-mingled-with-the-dirge-for-the/)

[Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/)

> [I gave birth to most of them MC's... So when it comes around to the month of May, Send me your royalty check for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxanne-shante/i-gave-birth-to-most-of-them-mc-s-so-when-it-comes-around-to-the/)

Roxanne Shante

> [“A Beautiful verse takes birth when "U"n"I" VERSE.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajesh-walecha/a-beautiful-verse-takes-birth-when-u-n-i-verse/)

[Rajesh Walecha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajesh-walecha/)

> [“There is no born evil, only a corruptible canvas darkened by a formidable perpetrator.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yefon-isabelle/there-is-no-born-evil-only-a-corruptible-canvas-darkened-by-a/)

[Yefon Isabelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yefon-isabelle/)

> [I've always thought that the most extraordinary special effect you could do is to buy a child at the moment of its birth, sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/i-ve-always-thought-that-the-most-extraordinary-special-effect-you/)

[Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/)

[Browse all 6,183 Birth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting...",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "William Wordsworth"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgetting/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Birth"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgetting/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/041/william-wordsworth-403_birth_our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgettin_1449649.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/041/william-wordsworth-403_birth_our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgettin_1449649.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/041/william-wordsworth-403_birth_our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgettin_1449649.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting...” — William Wordsworth",
                "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 Wordsworth",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Our birth is but a sleep...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgetting/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgetting/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
