--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do not cut lose from your longings - for…" description: "\"Do not cut lose from your longings - for what are we without our longings?\" — Amos Oz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/amos-oz-1478_cutting_do-not-cut-lose-from-your-longings-for-w_1977039.png" --- # Do not cut lose from your longings - for what are we… ![“Do not cut lose from your longings - for what are we without our longings?” quote by Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/amos-oz-1478_cutting_do-not-cut-lose-from-your-longings-for-w_1977039.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/amos-oz-1478_cutting_do-not-cut-lose-from-your-longings-for-w_1977039.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/amos-oz-1478_cutting_do-not-cut-lose-from-your-longings-for-w_1977039.png) > “Do not cut lose from your longings - for what are we without our longings?” [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Longings define our humanity; without them, we lose purpose and drive. **In simple terms:** Desires give life meaning. Key Takeaway Cultivate healthy aspirations. Themes longings purpose humanity Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career goals - creative pursuits - relationship desires - personal growth Key Concepts existentialism motivation Questions to Reflect On - What longings motivate you? - Are any of your longings harmful? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on longing may cause dissatisfaction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cut Lose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cut-lose-3353326/) [Cutting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cutting/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Longings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longings/) [Longings Longings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longings-longings-2628811/) [Lose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lose/) [Lose Longings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lose-longings-3353325/) [Loses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loses/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) ## Related quotes > [Paired opposites define your longings and those longings imprison you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/paired-opposites-define-your-longings-and-those-longings-imprison-you/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Never cut loose from your longings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/never-cut-loose-from-your-longings/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Don't be afraid to trust people just cut them off if they lose your trust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/don-t-be-afraid-to-trust-people-just-cut-them-off-if-they-lose-your/) [SONYA PARKER](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [How terrible it is to have no cares, no longings. I do not fit. I feel too deeply and want too much. As cages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/how-terrible-it-is-to-have-no-cares-no-longings-i-do-not-fit-i-feel/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [One of the greatest human longings is to be close to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-r-fischer/one-of-the-greatest-human-longings-is-to-be-close-to-someone/) [Kathleen R Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-r-fischer/) > [...all his longings came out as a kind of disdain for what he longed for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-hollinghurst/all-his-longings-came-out-as-a-kind-of-disdain-for-what-he-longed-for/) [Alan Hollinghurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-hollinghurst/) > [It is a time when one’s spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the past seems a storm-swept desolation, life a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-a-time-when-one-s-spirit-is-subdued-and-sad-one-knows-not-why/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Lonely Balcony The deterioration brought by weariness was visible. Its burden of abandonment can be perceived at a glance. The balcony ache with longings.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iqra-iqbal/lonely-balcony-the-deterioration-brought-by-weariness-was-visible-its/) [iqra iqbal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iqra-iqbal/) > [“You can learn a lot about the longings and generalized gender anxieties of an era by the kinds of fake women it dreams up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carina-chocano/you-can-learn-a-lot-about-the-longings-and-generalized-gender/) [Carina Chocano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carina-chocano/) > [“When I was in my early twenties I didn't have a need to rub together, back when my life was a series of wants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyne-o-connell/when-i-was-in-my-early-twenties-i-didn-t-have-a-need-to-rub-together/) [Tyne O'Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyne-o-connell/) > [“Increasingly, during those classes, longings had seized me, foreign, torrential aches that overran my heart. I wanted to know things, to become someone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/increasingly-during-those-classes-longings-had-seized-me-foreign/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“The longings of the human heart are changeable and elusive. The good fortune we enjoy today may not be appreciated until it has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mimi-baird/the-longings-of-the-human-heart-are-changeable-and-elusive-the-good/) [Mimi Baird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mimi-baird/) > [“Out of infinite longings rise finite deeds like weak fountains, falling back just in time and trembling. And yet, what otherwise remains silent, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/out-of-infinite-longings-rise-finite-deeds-like-weak-fountains/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [The life of woman is full of woe, Toiling on and on and on, With breaking heart, and tearful eyes, The secret longings that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-life-of-woman-is-full-of-woe-toiling-on-and-on-and-on-with/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) ## More by Amos Oz > [I find the family the most mysterious and fascinating institution in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/i-find-the-family-the-most-mysterious-and-fascinating-institution-in/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [“All the profits that Papa made by the sweat of his brow from his mill she extorted from him and spent the lot on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/all-the-profits-that-papa-made-by-the-sweat-of-his-brow-from-his-mill/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Nobody ever predicted, a week before President Sadat came to Jerusalem in 1977, that his arrival would be the beginning of a peace process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/nobody-ever-predicted-a-week-before-president-sadat-came-to-jerusalem/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Every country in the world should follow the example of President Trump and move the embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. But simultaneously, there should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/every-country-in-the-world-should-follow-the-example-of-president/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Actually, who hasn't been through the ghastly experience of sitting in front of a blank page, with its toothless mouth grinning at you: Go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/actually-who-hasn-t-been-through-the-ghastly-experience-of-sitting-in/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [I think loathing begets fanaticism, and in the end, loathing begets hatred and violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/i-think-loathing-begets-fanaticism-and-in-the-end-loathing-begets/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Literature is about telling stories. Now, the gift of literature is that, in some lucky cases, reading a novel or a story makes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/literature-is-about-telling-stories-now-the-gift-of-literature-is/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Very often, fanaticism begins at home. It begins inside the family. It begins with the urge to change our kin, to change our beloved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/very-often-fanaticism-begins-at-home-it-begins-inside-the-family-it/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [When I need to take a side, I write a newspaper article and I tell my government, "You should not do that, you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/when-i-need-to-take-a-side-i-write-a-newspaper-article-and-i-tell-my/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [We have to carry through to the next day and hope that we will be okay tomorrow as we are today and in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/we-have-to-carry-through-to-the-next-day-and-hope-that-we-will-be/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Trump is many things. He is pampered. He is an immature man. He is a teenager craving unconditional, endless love from everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/trump-is-many-things-he-is-pampered-he-is-an-immature-man-he-is-a/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [The only way to keep a dream, any dream at all, to keep a dream perfect and rosy and intact and unsullied is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/the-only-way-to-keep-a-dream-any-dream-at-all-to-keep-a-dream-perfect/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [“Judaism and Christianity, and Islam too, all drip honeyed words of love and mercy so long as they do not have access to handcuffs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/judaism-and-christianity-and-islam-too-all-drip-honeyed-words-of-love/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Never cut loose from your longings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/never-cut-loose-from-your-longings/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [If people are pro-Israel, they are pro-Israel one-hundred-and-twenty percent. If they are anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian, they tend to be pro-Palestinian one-hundred-and-twenty percent. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/if-people-are-pro-israel-they-are-pro-israel-one-hundred-and-twenty/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) [Explore all 223 Amos Oz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) ## More Cutting quotes > [“I locked the door and turned on the water to fill the tub. I made it so hot that I had to get in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-crandall/i-locked-the-door-and-turned-on-the-water-to-fill-the-tub-i-made-it/) [Susan Crandall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-crandall/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Since I worked with Danny Boyle before on Slumdog Millionaire, we have great success and everything. So, when I first got the script and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-rahman/since-i-worked-with-danny-boyle-before-on-slumdog-millionaire-we-have/) [A. R. Rahman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-rahman/) > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I didn't understand Southland Tales script at all! Is there a single word to describe it? Cacophony? It's celebrity meets pornography meets politics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-grant/i-didn-t-understand-southland-tales-script-at-all-is-there-a-single/) [Beth Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-grant/) > [Confidence comes from cutting yourself some slack.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-daly/confidence-comes-from-cutting-yourself-some-slack/) [Tess Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-daly/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. That's how they tried to cut off all my brothers in the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-ain-t-no-such-thing-as-black-muslims-that-s-how-they-tried-to/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [ We have no clear ideas of the agency of \[demonic\] spirits, nor is it necessary. The Scripture says little to satisfy our curiosity; but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-newton/we-have-no-clear-ideas-of-the-agency-of-demonic-spirits-nor-is-it/) [John Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-newton/) > [The child who ran weeping to you with a cut finger is now brought home, smiling gamely, with a broken collarbone and incredible contusions-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/the-child-who-ran-weeping-to-you-with-a-cut-finger-is-now-brought/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“I hate the way you talk to me And the way you cut your hair I hate the way you drive my car I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-hate-the-way-you-talk-to-me-and-the-way-you-cut-your-hair-i-hate/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [God holds each of us by a string. When we sin, we cut the string. But God ties it up again, making a knot.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/god-holds-each-of-us-by-a-string-when-we-sin-we-cut-the-string-but/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [What's the difference between obsolete and cutting edge? Obsolete works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/what-s-the-difference-between-obsolete-and-cutting-edge-obsolete-works/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. 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