--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once in a while it vanishes - in the…" description: "\"Once in a while it vanishes - in the sense that I become deaf to beauty for a week or two or three. This coming and going of the inner life - because t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c11/adam-zagajewski-25144_beauty_once-in-a-while-it-vanishes-in-the-sense_116601.png" --- # Once in a while it vanishes - in the sense that I become… ![“Once in a while it vanishes - in the sense that I become deaf to beauty for a week or two or three. This coming and going of the inner life - because this is what it is - is a curse and a blessing. I don't need to explain why it's a curse. A blessing because it brings about a movement, an energy…” quote by Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c11/adam-zagajewski-25144_beauty_once-in-a-while-it-vanishes-in-the-sense_116601.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c11/adam-zagajewski-25144_beauty_once-in-a-while-it-vanishes-in-the-sense_116601.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c11/adam-zagajewski-25144_beauty_once-in-a-while-it-vanishes-in-the-sense_116601.png) > “Once in a while it vanishes - in the sense that I become deaf to beauty for a week or two or three. This coming and going of the inner life - because this is what it is - is a curse and a blessing. I don't need to explain why it's a curse. A blessing because it brings about a movement, an energy which, when it peaks, creates a poem. Or a moment of happiness.” [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The inner life fluctuates between deafness to beauty and intense inspiration; these cycles, though painful, generate poetic energy and fleeting joy. **In simple terms:** Creative highs follow periods of numbness. Key Takeaway Contrast fuels artistic breakthroughs. Themes inner life beauty creativity emotion Mood melancholic hopeful Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - writer experiencing writer’s block then a sudden surge of ideas - artist feeling detached, then producing a masterpiece - musician enduring a creative slump before a breakthrough composition Key Concepts psychological rhythm aesthetic perception Practical Applications - Track emotional cycles to anticipate productive windows. Questions to Reflect On - How can you nurture the 'blessing' when it appears? - What strategies help navigate the 'curse' of numbness? A Different Perspective Relying on unpredictable cycles can lead to frustration; not all periods of numbness yield artistic output. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Blessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blessing/) [Curse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curse/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Inner life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inner-life/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Moment Of Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moment-of-happiness/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Moments of happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments-of-happiness/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Week](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/week/) ## Related quotes > [When I’m creating at the piano, I tend to feel happy; but - the eternal dilemma - how can we be happy amid the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nino-rota/when-i-m-creating-at-the-piano-i-tend-to-feel-happy-but-the-eternal/) Nino Rota > [Literature is always best when it is celebrating its subjects darkly. ... And because it is often by describing the thing lost - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-buford/literature-is-always-best-when-it-is-celebrating-its-subjects-darkly/) [Bill Buford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-buford/) > [A moment of happiness, you and I sitting on the verandah, apparently two, but one in soul, you and I. We feel the flowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/a-moment-of-happiness-you-and-i-sitting-on-the-verandah-apparently/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [I start thinking about the next movie before it's a success, so I can never have one moment of happiness or peace. I'm instantly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-apatow/i-start-thinking-about-the-next-movie-before-it-s-a-success-so-i-can/) [Judd Apatow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-apatow/) > [I've been thinking about happiness-how wrong it is ever to expect it to last or there to be a time of happiness. It's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-ve-been-thinking-about-happiness-how-wrong-it-is-ever-to-expect-it/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Suppose you are drinking a cup of tea. When you hold your cup, you may like to breathe in, to bring your mind back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/suppose-you-are-drinking-a-cup-of-tea-when-you-hold-your-cup-you-may/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [Basically, a human being is a social animal. So, if you create some short moment of happiness for people, you get deep satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/basically-a-human-being-is-a-social-animal-so-if-you-create-some/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Seize the moment of happiness... love and be loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/seize-the-moment-of-happiness-love-and-be-loved/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Every moment is a moment of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/every-moment-is-a-moment-of-happiness/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [A church in the land without the Spirit is rather a curse than a blessing. If you have not the Spirit of God, Christian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/a-church-in-the-land-without-the-spirit-is-rather-a-curse-than-a/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [All this is a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because it helps people establish what they value; they understand the sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/all-this-is-a-blessing-and-a-curse-it-s-a-blessing-because-it-helps/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [“There are a lot of bad things out there. Things the Hounds of Heaven were created to destroy." He trailed his finger down the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bree-despain/there-are-a-lot-of-bad-things-out-there-things-the-hounds-of-heaven/) [Bree Despain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bree-despain/) > [“...our free will could convert a curse into a blessing or a blessing into a curse...To transform a crisis into an opportunity was true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radhanath-swami/our-free-will-could-convert-a-curse-into-a-blessing-or-a-blessing/) [Radhanath Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radhanath-swami/) > [ Sometimes it \[music in my head\] is a curse, but it's also a blessing. It is a gift that I am completely grateful for.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prince/sometimes-it-music-in-my-head-is-a-curse-but-it-s-also-a-blessing-it/) [Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prince/) > [“the war seemed a curse. But now it's a blessing, because it brought you to me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-war-seemed-a-curse-but-now-it-s-a-blessing-because-it-brought-you/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## More by Adam Zagajewski > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [“But where do we find what's lasting? Where do the deathless things hide?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/but-where-do-we-find-what-s-lasting-where-do-the-deathless-things-hide/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [“Epithalamium Without silence there would be no music. Life paired is doubtless more difficult than solitary existence - just as a boat on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/epithalamium-without-silence-there-would-be-no-music-life-paired-is/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I drink from a small spring, / my thirst excedes the ocean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/i-drink-from-a-small-spring-my-thirst-excedes-the-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [“- Everything's finished. Riders gallop black horses, a tyrant composes a sentence of death with grammatical errors. Youth dissolves in a day; girls' faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/everything-s-finished-riders-gallop-black-horses-a-tyrant-composes-a/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [Gabriel Levin's book is a journey through time and through entrenched animosities of the Middle East. What's astonishing and refreshing is his ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/gabriel-levin-s-book-is-a-journey-through-time-and-through-entrenched/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [Read for yourselves, read for the sake of your inspiration, for the sweet turmoil in your lovely head. But also read against yourselves, read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/read-for-yourselves-read-for-the-sake-of-your-inspiration-for-the/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [Cities at daybreak are no one's, and have no names. And I, too, have no name, dawn, the stars growing pale, the train picking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/cities-at-daybreak-are-no-one-s-and-have-no-names-and-i-too-have-no/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [“Read for yourselves, read for the sake of your inspiration, for the sweet turmoil in your lovely head. But also read against yourselves, read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/read-for-yourselves-read-for-the-sake-of-your-inspiration-for-the-2/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [“I drink from a small spring, my thirst exceeds the ocean.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/i-drink-from-a-small-spring-my-thirst-exceeds-the-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [This day's nothingness as if from spite became a flame and scorched the lips of children and poets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/this-day-s-nothingness-as-if-from-spite-became-a-flame-and-scorched/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [Time takes life away and gives us memory, gold with flame, black with embers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/time-takes-life-away-and-gives-us-memory-gold-with-flame-black-with/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [“Try to praise the mutilated world. Remember June’s long days, and wild strawberries, drops of wine, the dew. The nettles that methodically overgrow the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/try-to-praise-the-mutilated-world-remember-june-s-long-days-and-wild/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [Human life and objects and trees vibrate with mysterious meanings, which can be deciphered like cuneiform writing. There exists a meaning, hidden from day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/human-life-and-objects-and-trees-vibrate-with-mysterious-meanings/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [In summer the empire of insects spreads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/in-summer-the-empire-of-insects-spreads/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) [Explore all 22 Adam Zagajewski quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) ## More Beauty quotes > [We do not want nowadays temples of worship and outward rites and ceremonies. What we really want is an Asram. We want a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-do-not-want-nowadays-temples-of-worship-and-outward-rites-and/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [To fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity, and still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tool/to-fathom-the-power-to-witness-the-beauty-to-bathe-in-the-fountain-to/) [Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tool/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [“We've all met people who are beautiful on the outside, however, when they open their mouths to speak, they have nothing of substance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/we-ve-all-met-people-who-are-beautiful-on-the-outside-however-when/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie/to-me-the-beauty-of-a-quilt-or-a-dress-lies-within-the-stitches-and/) [Natalie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie/) > [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [Call her beautiful a million times and she won't believe you. Call her ugly once, and she will never forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tumblr/call-her-beautiful-a-million-times-and-she-won-t-believe-you-call-her/) Tumblr > [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/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [“What about you? What do you do?” I needed to ask questions, draw him out. I needed to find out all the information I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-avery-ellison/what-about-you-what-do-you-do-i-needed-to-ask-questions-draw-him-out/) [Kate Avery Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-avery-ellison/) [Browse all 24,662 Beauty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once in a while it vanishes - in the sense that I become deaf to beauty for a week or two or three. This coming and going of the inner life - because this is what it is - is a curse and a blessing. I don't need to explain why it's a curse. A blessing because it brings about a movement, an energy which, when it peaks, creates a poem. Or a moment of happiness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Zagajewski" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/once-in-a-while-it-vanishes-in-the-sense-that-i-become-deaf-to-beauty/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beauty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/once-in-a-while-it-vanishes-in-the-sense-that-i-become-deaf-to-beauty/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c11/adam-zagajewski-25144_beauty_once-in-a-while-it-vanishes-in-the-sense_116601.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c11/adam-zagajewski-25144_beauty_once-in-a-while-it-vanishes-in-the-sense_116601.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c11/adam-zagajewski-25144_beauty_once-in-a-while-it-vanishes-in-the-sense_116601.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Once in a while it vanishes - in the sense that I become deaf to beauty for a week or two or three. This…” — Adam Zagajewski", "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": "Adam Zagajewski", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Once in a while it vanishes...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/once-in-a-while-it-vanishes-in-the-sense-that-i-become-deaf-to-beauty/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/once-in-a-while-it-vanishes-in-the-sense-that-i-become-deaf-to-beauty/#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 } } ] } ```