--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It never occurred to me that she might…" description: "\"“It never occurred to me that she might travel from one man to the next to avoid being abandoned. Or to avoid being worshiped like a goddess, a worship..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c1/alan-lightman-2270_like-goddess_it-never-occurred-to-me-that-she-might-t_2325862.jpg" --- # It never occurred to me that she might travel from one man… ![“It never occurred to me that she might travel from one man to the next to avoid being abandoned. Or to avoid being worshiped like a goddess, a worship she both relished and despised.” quote by Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c1/alan-lightman-2270_like-goddess_it-never-occurred-to-me-that-she-might-t_2325862.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c1/alan-lightman-2270_like-goddess_it-never-occurred-to-me-that-she-might-t_2325862.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c1/alan-lightman-2270_like-goddess_it-never-occurred-to-me-that-she-might-t_2325862.jpg) > ““It never occurred to me that she might travel from one man to the next to avoid being abandoned. Or to avoid being worshiped like a goddess, a worship she both relished and despised.”” [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It explores the paradox of seeking freedom from abandonment by moving between relationships, while also fearing being idolized, highlighting complex human needs. **In simple terms:** Avoiding abandonment can lead to both freedom and new burdens. Key Takeaway Balance connection and autonomy. Themes relationships identity freedom Mood thoughtful introspective Type literary psychological When to use this quote - dating - career changes - artistic collaborations Key Concepts psychology existentialism social expectation Questions to Reflect On - What drives your relationship choices? - Can you be both independent and loved? A Different Perspective Seeking freedom may create new forms of dependence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Avoid Worshiped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avoid-worshiped-5576645/) [Goddess Worship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goddess-worship-3312187/) [Like Goddess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-goddess-250885/) [Relished Despised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relished-despised-5576643/) [Worshiped Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worshiped-like-5576644/) ## Related quotes > [“If it will give you any satisfaction in the end, I still care for you. Either there is no such thing as love, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/if-it-will-give-you-any-satisfaction-in-the-end-i-still-care-for-you/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [“Worship Me Like the Goddess I Am or There Will Be Some Serious Smiting." Jubilee”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-r-green/worship-me-like-the-goddess-i-am-or-there-will-be-some-serious/) [Simon R. Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-r-green/) > [“Look at you. You’re like a goddess.” Scarlett smiled at his compliment then reached down to squeeze her own tits. She heard every man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lola-newmar/look-at-you-you-re-like-a-goddess-scarlett-smiled-at-his-compliment/) [Lola Newmar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lola-newmar/) > [“ladies, don't be a woman of simple taste particularly in the way you look, or at least keep that to the minimum. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/ladies-don-t-be-a-woman-of-simple-taste-particularly-in-the-way-you/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [I hate niggas who act like they some goddess when they looking like a lab rat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/britney/i-hate-niggas-who-act-like-they-some-goddess-when-they-looking-like-a/) [Britney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/britney/) > [As long as I am on the sets I am like a goddess, goody-goody and nice. If there is something that upsets me or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kovai-sarala/as-long-as-i-am-on-the-sets-i-am-like-a-goddess-goody-goody-and-nice/) [Kovai Sarala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kovai-sarala/) > [“So damn beautiful. You look like a goddess. Like a warrior. Like you could slay me and you do. Just looking at you ruins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skye-warren/so-damn-beautiful-you-look-like-a-goddess-like-a-warrior-like-you/) [Skye Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skye-warren/) > [“You look like a goddess when you come, did you know that?" "I'm not a goddess." "Not a goddess. Not an angel. Not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-hart/you-look-like-a-goddess-when-you-come-did-you-know-that-i-m-not-a/) [Megan Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-hart/) > [It's a big thing in my music to highlight being human - being emotional and powerful, like a goddess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banks/it-s-a-big-thing-in-my-music-to-highlight-being-human-being-emotional/) [Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banks/) > [“Delivering the karma could be hard sometimes, but afterwards you really did feel like a goddess.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swan-huntley/delivering-the-karma-could-be-hard-sometimes-but-afterwards-you/) [Swan Huntley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swan-huntley/) > [“You make the planet sound like a goddess,” Rhea page100 chap 5 Endsong “She gave birth to you humans, all the creatures and plants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roslyn-renwick/you-make-the-planet-sound-like-a-goddess-rhea-page100-chap-5-endsong/) [Roslyn Renwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roslyn-renwick/) > [“It's beautiful," I said for what had to be the third time. "It's just awfully...elaborate." Lysander made a disgusted sound and threw up his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawkins/it-s-beautiful-i-said-for-what-had-to-be-the-third-time-it-s-just/) [Rachel Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawkins/) > [“Hell hath no fury like a goddess scorned”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-knox/hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-goddess-scorned/) [Bernard Knox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-knox/) > [ “\]Sardis often turning her thoughts here \] you like a goddess and in your song most of all she rejoiced. But now she is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/sardis-often-turning-her-thoughts-here-you-like-a-goddess-and-in-your/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) > [“You're like this...this goddess pretending to be human... And I don't know which one I love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/you-re-like-this-this-goddess-pretending-to-be-human-and-i-don-t-know/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) ## More by Alan Lightman > [“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Every reader gets something different from a book and every reader, in a sense, completes it in a different way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/every-reader-gets-something-different-from-a-book-and-every-reader-in/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > ["The Diagnosis" is by far my most ambitious book. I such great hopes for it... there was so much I wanted to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/the-diagnosis-is-by-far-my-most-ambitious-book-i-such-great-hopes-for/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [As long as God does not intervene in the contemporary universe in such a way as to violate physical laws, science has no way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/as-long-as-god-does-not-intervene-in-the-contemporary-universe-in/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Except for a God who sits down after the universe begins, all other gods conflict with the assumptions of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/except-for-a-god-who-sits-down-after-the-universe-begins-all-other/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Each person who gets stuck in time gets stuck alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/each-person-who-gets-stuck-in-time-gets-stuck-alone/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [A writer is someone who has a one-man tent in the desert and occasionally he sees the footprint of an other writer - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/a-writer-is-someone-who-has-a-one-man-tent-in-the-desert-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Time is a rigid, bonelike structure, extending infinitely ahead and behind, fossilizing the future as well as the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/time-is-a-rigid-bonelike-structure-extending-infinitely-ahead-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [For me, spirituality includes the belief in things larger than ourselves, an appreciation of nature and beauty, a sensitivity to the world, a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/for-me-spirituality-includes-the-belief-in-things-larger-than/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Writers are a loosely knit community - community is an overstated word. Writers don't see each other very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/writers-are-a-loosely-knit-community-community-is-an-overstated-word/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Imagine a world in which there is no time. Only images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/imagine-a-world-in-which-there-is-no-time-only-images/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Time is the clarity for seeing right and wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/time-is-the-clarity-for-seeing-right-and-wrong/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [In this world, time has three dimensions, like space. Just as an object may move in three perpendicular directions, corresponding to horizontal, vertical, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-time-has-three-dimensions-like-space-just-as-an-object/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [In this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time." "They do not keep clocks in their houses.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-there-are-two-times-there-is-mechanical-time-and-there/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) [Explore all 174 Alan Lightman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## More Like Goddess quotes > [“Worship Me Like the Goddess I Am or There Will Be Some Serious Smiting." Jubilee”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-r-green/worship-me-like-the-goddess-i-am-or-there-will-be-some-serious/) [Simon R. Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-r-green/) > [ “\]Sardis often turning her thoughts here \] you like a goddess and in your song most of all she rejoiced. But now she is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/sardis-often-turning-her-thoughts-here-you-like-a-goddess-and-in-your/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) > [“Hell hath no fury like a goddess scorned”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-knox/hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-goddess-scorned/) [Bernard Knox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-knox/) > [“It's beautiful," I said for what had to be the third time. "It's just awfully...elaborate." Lysander made a disgusted sound and threw up his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawkins/it-s-beautiful-i-said-for-what-had-to-be-the-third-time-it-s-just/) [Rachel Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawkins/) > [“You make the planet sound like a goddess,” Rhea page100 chap 5 Endsong “She gave birth to you humans, all the creatures and plants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roslyn-renwick/you-make-the-planet-sound-like-a-goddess-rhea-page100-chap-5-endsong/) [Roslyn Renwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roslyn-renwick/) > [“Delivering the karma could be hard sometimes, but afterwards you really did feel like a goddess.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swan-huntley/delivering-the-karma-could-be-hard-sometimes-but-afterwards-you/) [Swan Huntley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swan-huntley/) > [It's a big thing in my music to highlight being human - being emotional and powerful, like a goddess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banks/it-s-a-big-thing-in-my-music-to-highlight-being-human-being-emotional/) [Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banks/) > [“You look like a goddess when you come, did you know that?" "I'm not a goddess." "Not a goddess. Not an angel. Not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-hart/you-look-like-a-goddess-when-you-come-did-you-know-that-i-m-not-a/) [Megan Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-hart/) > [“So damn beautiful. You look like a goddess. Like a warrior. Like you could slay me and you do. Just looking at you ruins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skye-warren/so-damn-beautiful-you-look-like-a-goddess-like-a-warrior-like-you/) [Skye Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skye-warren/) > [As long as I am on the sets I am like a goddess, goody-goody and nice. If there is something that upsets me or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kovai-sarala/as-long-as-i-am-on-the-sets-i-am-like-a-goddess-goody-goody-and-nice/) [Kovai Sarala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kovai-sarala/) > [I hate niggas who act like they some goddess when they looking like a lab rat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/britney/i-hate-niggas-who-act-like-they-some-goddess-when-they-looking-like-a/) [Britney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/britney/) > [“ladies, don't be a woman of simple taste particularly in the way you look, or at least keep that to the minimum. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/ladies-don-t-be-a-woman-of-simple-taste-particularly-in-the-way-you/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [“Look at you. You’re like a goddess.” Scarlett smiled at his compliment then reached down to squeeze her own tits. She heard every man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lola-newmar/look-at-you-you-re-like-a-goddess-scarlett-smiled-at-his-compliment/) [Lola Newmar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lola-newmar/) > [“You're like this...this goddess pretending to be human... And I don't know which one I love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/you-re-like-this-this-goddess-pretending-to-be-human-and-i-don-t-know/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) > [“He smells like night-blooming flowers Crushed, juicy petals on the pillows His voice is full of ocean Humming like the surf He kneels before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/he-smells-like-night-blooming-flowers-crushed-juicy-petals-on-the/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) [Browse all 28 Like Goddess quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-goddess-250885/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It never occurred to me that she might travel from one man to the next to avoid being abandoned. 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