--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had the brief notion that his heart…" description: "\"I had the brief notion that his heart, pressed flat as a flower, crimson and thin as tissue paper, lay in this file. It was a very thin one.\" — Angela ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/angela-carter-1237_crimson_i-had-the-brief-notion-that-his-heart-pr_2644283.jpg" --- # I had the brief notion that his heart, pressed flat as a… ![“I had the brief notion that his heart, pressed flat as a flower, crimson and thin as tissue paper, lay in this file. It was a very thin one.” quote by Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/angela-carter-1237_crimson_i-had-the-brief-notion-that-his-heart-pr_2644283.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/angela-carter-1237_crimson_i-had-the-brief-notion-that-his-heart-pr_2644283.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/angela-carter-1237_crimson_i-had-the-brief-notion-that-his-heart-pr_2644283.jpg) > “I had the brief notion that his heart, pressed flat as a flower, crimson and thin as tissue paper, lay in this file. It was a very thin one.” [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator imagines a delicate, fragile heart, likening it to a thin flower, suggesting vulnerability and intimacy. **In simple terms:** Heart is fragile and intimate. Key Takeaway Cherish delicate emotional connections. Themes vulnerability intimacy imagery Mood poetic introspective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - writing - therapy - relationship counseling Key Concepts symbolism poetic metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How do you protect a fragile heart? - What does this imagery reveal about emotional openness? A Different Perspective Over‑idealizing fragility can cause pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crimson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crimson/) [Crimson Tissue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crimson-tissue-2296248/) [Flats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flats/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Heart Pressed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart-pressed-924109/) [Notion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notion/) [Notion Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notion-heart-2296247/) [Paper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paper/) [Paper Lay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paper-lay-359140/) [Tissue paper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tissue-paper/) [Tissues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tissues/) ## Related quotes > [“Three sheets of notebook paper lay on the ground—colorful red pages with purple lines and blue stars in the corners.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-chick/three-sheets-of-notebook-paper-lay-on-the-ground-colorful-red-pages/) [Bryan Chick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-chick/) > [You can try the lyrics off this paper before I lay em' but you wont take the sting out the words before I say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eminem/you-can-try-the-lyrics-off-this-paper-before-i-lay-em-but-you-wont/) [Eminem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eminem/) > [“What is Aunt Margaret made of? Bird bones and tissue paper, spun glass and straw.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/what-is-aunt-margaret-made-of-bird-bones-and-tissue-paper-spun-glass/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“Then she broke down and cried onto the flowery wrapping paper. Melanie put her arms around the poor, thin body. What is Aunt Margaret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/then-she-broke-down-and-cried-onto-the-flowery-wrapping-paper-melanie/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“Can I touch you?” His lashes closed, resting on the tops of his tanned, sculpted cheeks as his smile grew broad. “You don’t have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-kage/can-i-touch-you-his-lashes-closed-resting-on-the-tops-of-his-tanned/) [Linda Kage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-kage/) > [With Woods arms wrapped around me and the beat of his heart pressed against my chest, I knew he would hold me steady. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbi-glines/with-woods-arms-wrapped-around-me-and-the-beat-of-his-heart-pressed/) [Abbi Glines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbi-glines/) > [“She did not move, except now and then to put up her hand and dry the moisture which collected slowly under her eyelids. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-oliphant/she-did-not-move-except-now-and-then-to-put-up-her-hand-and-dry-the/) [Margaret Oliphant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-oliphant/) > [“When there is fear,he will have his pen clasp it high,whence for him,the wonders of night give light,where he lies behind his own familiar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nithin-purple/when-there-is-fear-he-will-have-his-pen-clasp-it-high-whence-for-him/) [Nithin Purple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nithin-purple/) > [“He explained to me that the reason he put his hand over my heart,” he pressed his palm to his chest, “was to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-j-greene/he-explained-to-me-that-the-reason-he-put-his-hand-over-my-heart-he/) [Amanda J. Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-j-greene/) > [“Alec isn't worried. He isn't bothered by his actions or who he hurts." She came closer, her long blond hair curling around her neck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronie-kendig/alec-isn-t-worried-he-isn-t-bothered-by-his-actions-or-who-he-hurts/) [Ronie Kendig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronie-kendig/) > [“My mind is filled.' 'With what?' she whispered. 'You. All the time. You.' He sighed. 'Daisy has taken up residence here.' Yet it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-callihan/my-mind-is-filled-with-what-she-whispered-you-all-the-time-you-he/) [Kristen Callihan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-callihan/) > [With that, the poignant charm vanished. Inside the fifth machine, all was rampant malignity. Deformed flowers thrust monstrous horned tusks and trumpets ending in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/with-that-the-poignant-charm-vanished-inside-the-fifth-machine-all/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back to hit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-rutherford/it-was-almost-as-incredible-as-if-you-fired-a-15-inch-shell-at-a/) [Ernest Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-rutherford/) > [“Although 'jumping to conclusions' is an expression, rather than an activity, it is as dangerous as jumping off a cliff, jumping in front of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemony-snicket/although-jumping-to-conclusions-is-an-expression-rather-than-an/) [Lemony Snicket](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemony-snicket/) > [“You know, sometimes marriage is iron. Sometimes it’s tissue paper. And I think the times it’s tissue paper are when you need to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/you-know-sometimes-marriage-is-iron-sometimes-it-s-tissue-paper-and-i/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) ## More by Angela Carter > [He was a lovely man in many ways. But he kept on insisting on forgiving me when there was nothing to forgive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/he-was-a-lovely-man-in-many-ways-but-he-kept-on-insisting-on/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/reading-a-book-is-like-re-writing-it-for-yourself/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Losing their names, these things underwent a process of uncreation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/losing-their-names-these-things-underwent-a-process-of-uncreation/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [I know that whenever a group of women are gathered together, the grandmother always makes a phantom appearance, hovering above them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-know-that-whenever-a-group-of-women-are-gathered-together-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“She herself is a haunted house. She does not possess herself; her ancestors sometimes come and peer out of the window of her eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/she-herself-is-a-haunted-house-she-does-not-possess-herself-her/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Hollywood... was the place where the United States perpetrated itself as a universal dream and put the dream into mass production.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/hollywood-was-the-place-where-the-united-states-perpetrated-itself-as/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Is not this whole world an illusion? And yet it fools everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/is-not-this-whole-world-an-illusion-and-yet-it-fools-everybody/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [My paternal grandmother would not light a fire on the Sabbath and piled all Sunday's washing-up in a bucket, to be dealt with on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/my-paternal-grandmother-would-not-light-a-fire-on-the-sabbath-and/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths of these cults gives woman emotional satisfaction,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/mother-goddesses-are-just-as-silly-a-notion-as-father-gods-if-a/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Out of the frying pan into the fire! What is marriage but prostitution to one man instead of many? No different!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire-what-is-marriage-but-prostitution/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [And each stroke of his tongue ripped off skin after successive skin, all the skins of a life in the world, and left behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/and-each-stroke-of-his-tongue-ripped-off-skin-after-successive-skin/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [In a secular age, an authentic miracle must purport to be a hoax, in order to gain credit in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/in-a-secular-age-an-authentic-miracle-must-purport-to-be-a-hoax-in/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [We do not go to bed in single pairs; even if we choose not to refer to them, we still drag there with us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/we-do-not-go-to-bed-in-single-pairs-even-if-we-choose-not-to-refer-to/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [I see her as a series of marvellous shapes formed at random in the kaleidoscope of desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-see-her-as-a-series-of-marvellous-shapes-formed-at-random-in-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“Women do not normally fuck in the active sense. They are fucked in the passive tense and hence automatically fucked-up, done over, undone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/women-do-not-normally-fuck-in-the-active-sense-they-are-fucked-in-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) [Explore all 263 Angela Carter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) ## More Crimson quotes > [Bright reds - scarlet, pillar-box red, crimson or cherry - are very cheerful and youthful. There is certainly a red for everyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-dior/bright-reds-scarlet-pillar-box-red-crimson-or-cherry-are-very/) [Christian Dior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-dior/) > [Cookbooks, it should be stressed, do not belong in the kitchen at all. We keep them there for the sake of appearances; occasionally, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/cookbooks-it-should-be-stressed-do-not-belong-in-the-kitchen-at-all/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [So if big enough droplets fell far enough fast enough, someone floating right near the metallic hydrogen layer inside Jupiter maybe, just maybe, could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-kean/so-if-big-enough-droplets-fell-far-enough-fast-enough-someone/) [Sam Kean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-kean/) > [It is the sense of unfamiliar envelopment that is impressive, whether in the living grays of hoarfrost, the crimson of the heavens at sunset,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-j-phillips/it-is-the-sense-of-unfamiliar-envelopment-that-is-impressive-whether/) [Walter J. Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-j-phillips/) > ['Crimson' is written in a very particular style, and it's very precise in the way it graduates into a gothic romance. The souls that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-del-toro/crimson-is-written-in-a-very-particular-style-and-it-s-very-precise/) [Guillermo del Toro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-del-toro/) > [There were crimson roses on the bench; they looked like splashes of blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/there-were-crimson-roses-on-the-bench-they-looked-like-splashes-of/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [Touring with King Crimson wasn't a lot of fun for me. I had a lot of equipment, and when I was in improvised music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-muir/touring-with-king-crimson-wasn-t-a-lot-of-fun-for-me-i-had-a-lot-of/) [Jamie Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-muir/) > [Pop just didn't have enough substance for me. All this nyah-nyah-nyah, you know, 'Paper Tiger' and 'Hold the Ladder, James' and 'Crimson and Clover.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregg-allman/pop-just-didn-t-have-enough-substance-for-me-all-this-nyah-nyah-nyah/) [Gregg Allman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregg-allman/) > [“Crimson the cuts in the carcass, Fast falls the foe, Dauntless devout defender, Bravest of boys . . .’ Not really a boy anymore,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/crimson-the-cuts-in-the-carcass-fast-falls-the-foe-dauntless-devout/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I'll plant and water, sow and weed, Till not an inch of earth shows brown, And take a vow of each small seed To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-nesbit/i-ll-plant-and-water-sow-and-weed-till-not-an-inch-of-earth-shows/) [E. Nesbit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-nesbit/) > [We thread our way through a moving forest of ice-cream cones and crimson thighs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dominique-bauby/we-thread-our-way-through-a-moving-forest-of-ice-cream-cones-and/) [Jean-Dominique Bauby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dominique-bauby/) > [The seasons alter: hoary-headed frosts Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-seasons-alter-hoary-headed-frosts-fall-in-the-fresh-lap-of-the/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Alaska and Montana are not in the south but they definitely form part of the crimson tide of red states where Republicans are dominant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-williams/alaska-and-montana-are-not-in-the-south-but-they-definitely-form-part/) [Juan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-williams/) > [The Sick Rose O Rose, thou art sick. The invisible worm That flies in the night In the howling storm Has found out thy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-sick-rose-o-rose-thou-art-sick-the-invisible-worm-that-flies-in/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [“crimson and clover”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-hamilton/crimson-and-clover/) [Grant Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-hamilton/) [Browse all 150 Crimson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crimson/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I had the brief notion that his heart, pressed flat as a flower, crimson and thin as tissue paper, lay in this file. It was a very thin one.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Angela Carter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-had-the-brief-notion-that-his-heart-pressed-flat-as-a-flower/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crimson" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-had-the-brief-notion-that-his-heart-pressed-flat-as-a-flower/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/angela-carter-1237_crimson_i-had-the-brief-notion-that-his-heart-pr_2644283.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/angela-carter-1237_crimson_i-had-the-brief-notion-that-his-heart-pr_2644283.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/angela-carter-1237_crimson_i-had-the-brief-notion-that-his-heart-pr_2644283.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I had the brief notion that his heart, pressed flat as a flower, crimson and thin as tissue paper, lay in…” — Angela Carter", "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": "Angela Carter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I had the brief notion that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-had-the-brief-notion-that-his-heart-pressed-flat-as-a-flower/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-had-the-brief-notion-that-his-heart-pressed-flat-as-a-flower/#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 } } ] } ```