--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Those were her best days, although there…" description: "\"“Those were her best days, although there was always something feckless about her, something so slack and almost fearful in her too frequent smile, so ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/angela-carter-1237_best-day_those-were-her-best-days-although-there_2950569.jpg" --- # Those were her best days, although there was always… ![“Those were her best days, although there was always something feckless about her, something so slack and almost fearful in her too frequent smile, so that when you saw Mignon being happy, you always thought: "It can't last." She had the febrile gaiety of a being without a past, without a present…” quote by Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/angela-carter-1237_best-day_those-were-her-best-days-although-there_2950569.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/angela-carter-1237_best-day_those-were-her-best-days-although-there_2950569.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/angela-carter-1237_best-day_those-were-her-best-days-although-there_2950569.jpg) > ““Those were her best days, although there was always something feckless about her, something so slack and almost fearful in her too frequent smile, so that when you saw Mignon being happy, you always thought: "It can't last." She had the febrile gaiety of a being without a past, without a present, yet she existed thus, without memory or history, only because her past was too bleak to think of and her future too terrible to contemplate; she was the broken blossom of the present tense.”” [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. A woman’s fleeting joy is haunted by an awareness of impermanence and a bleak past, creating a fragile present. **In simple terms:** Joy feels fragile. Key Takeaway Embrace fleeting moments. Themes memory impermanence identity Mood melancholic poetic Type literary psychological When to use this quote - creative writing - therapy - self‑reflection - artistic analysis Key Concepts literature psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What does the “broken blossom” symbolize? - How do past traumas shape present joy? A Different Perspective May romanticize suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Best day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-day/) [Bleak Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bleak-think-4444598/) [Existed Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existed-memory-4444597/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Mignon Happy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mignon-happy-4444595/) [Past Bleak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-bleak-4444596/) [Past present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-present/) [Present tense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-tense/) [The present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/the-present/) ## Related quotes > [Without imagination and without love, life can be pretty bleak. I think having both will get you through the most dire of situations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiya-sircar/without-imagination-and-without-love-life-can-be-pretty-bleak-i-think/) [Tiya Sircar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiya-sircar/) > [Life is like a grammar lesson. You find the past perfect and the present tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/life-is-like-a-grammar-lesson-you-find-the-past-perfect-and-the/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“Like the wild beasts, she lives without a future. She inhabits only the present tense, a fugue of the continuous, a world of sensual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/like-the-wild-beasts-she-lives-without-a-future-she-inhabits-only-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wesley/when-i-was-young-i-was-sure-of-everything-in-a-few-years-having-been/) [John Wesley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wesley/) > [It's not about the past, and it's not about the future, its about taking this moment you're living in right now, and making it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashida-rowe/it-s-not-about-the-past-and-it-s-not-about-the-future-its-about/) [Rashida Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rashida-rowe/) > [“Past and future is determined by what is now…right now! This is why the present is a gift; the only one that ultimately matters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-f-hodge/past-and-future-is-determined-by-what-is-now-right-now-this-is-why/) [T.F. Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-f-hodge/) > [“MOTHER TIME: Life goes by so very fast, my dears, and taking the time to reflect, even once a year, slows things down. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-depiano/mother-time-life-goes-by-so-very-fast-my-dears-and-taking-the-time-to/) [Hillary DePiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-depiano/) > [People..aggressively defend their..views, because they identify themselves with their mind..once people dis-identify themselves from the mind, they then can express their feelings and views…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/people-aggressively-defend-their-views-because-they-identify/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Accept the past, manage the present and work really hard towards the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/accept-the-past-manage-the-present-and-work-really-hard-towards-the/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [Our actions of the past should not define who we are today. Our actions of today should help to define who we want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ash-sweeney/our-actions-of-the-past-should-not-define-who-we-are-today-our/) [Ash Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ash-sweeney/) > [I am utterly devoted to the present moment. Don't move into the past because that is memory; there is no relevant existence to your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/i-am-utterly-devoted-to-the-present-moment-don-t-move-into-the-past/) [OSHO](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [The gift is now… That is why we all call it the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cv-pillay/the-gift-is-now-that-is-why-we-all-call-it-the-present/) [Cv Pillay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cv-pillay/) > [Plant the Future. Care for the Present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/plant-the-future-care-for-the-present/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“The library is a whispering post. You don't need to take a book off a shelf to know there is a voice inside that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/the-library-is-a-whispering-post-you-don-t-need-to-take-a-book-off-a/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [Love is God. Let us be one with ourselves n look past the BS from the past..No need to overwork yourself for the future.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasari/love-is-god-let-us-be-one-with-ourselves-n-look-past-the-bs-from-the/) [Jasari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasari/) ## 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 Best day quotes > [The evening's the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/the-evening-s-the-best-part-of-the-day-you-ve-done-your-day-s-work/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [Got to say, dying would really wreck my best day. Been there, done that, and now that I think about it, Artemis forgot to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/got-to-say-dying-would-really-wreck-my-best-day-been-there-done-that/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Let us learn to accept and appreciate things now, and we'll find more happiness in every moment we live. Happiness comes when we stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/let-us-learn-to-accept-and-appreciate-things-now-and-we-ll-find-more/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [Looking back now, thinking about that moment in the lights, with my heart pounding, Oscar in my hand, all I can say is I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlee-matlin/looking-back-now-thinking-about-that-moment-in-the-lights-with-my/) [Marlee Matlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlee-matlin/) > [We want American families to feel more confident in life. We want the next generation to know that yes, the best days of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/we-want-american-families-to-feel-more-confident-in-life-we-want-the/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [The best day in your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. It is an amazing journey, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-best-day-in-your-life-is-the-one-on-which-you-decide-your-life-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Today is the best day I could ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-dees/today-is-the-best-day-i-could-ever-have/) [Rick Dees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-dees/) > [“It was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-was-one-of-the-best-days-of-my-life-a-day-during-which-i-lived-my/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Always be grateful that your worst day ever is still better, than the best day of someone else in the world”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ged-cusack/always-be-grateful-that-your-worst-day-ever-is-still-better-than-the/) [Ged Cusack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ged-cusack/) > [“One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/one-of-the-illusions-of-life-is-that-the-present-hour-is-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Light on its worst day will conquer darkness on its best day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/light-on-its-worst-day-will-conquer-darkness-on-its-best-day/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/to-be-nobody-but-yourself-in-a-world-which-is-doing-its-best-day-and/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [If fate is a shape-shifter, then loves is too. It can be, anyway, in its most dangerous form. It´s your best day and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/if-fate-is-a-shape-shifter-then-loves-is-too-it-can-be-anyway-in-its/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [I intend to make America strong again. I'm going to be the champion of the middle class, where I came from. If you make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsey-graham/i-intend-to-make-america-strong-again-i-m-going-to-be-the-champion-of/) [Lindsey Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsey-graham/) > [Can't wait for the day people regret all they have done to me, best day ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/can-t-wait-for-the-day-people-regret-all-they-have-done-to-me-best/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 496 Best day quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-day/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Those were her best days, although there was always something feckless about her, something so slack and almost fearful in her too frequent smile, so that when you saw Mignon being happy, you always thought: \"It can't last.\" She had the febrile gaiety of a being without a past, without a present, yet she existed thus, without memory or history, only because her past was too bleak to think of and her future too terrible to contemplate; she was the broken blossom of the present tense.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Angela Carter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/those-were-her-best-days-although-there-was-always-something-feckless/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Best day" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/those-were-her-best-days-although-there-was-always-something-feckless/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/angela-carter-1237_best-day_those-were-her-best-days-although-there_2950569.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/angela-carter-1237_best-day_those-were-her-best-days-although-there_2950569.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b14/angela-carter-1237_best-day_those-were-her-best-days-although-there_2950569.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Those were her best days, although there was always something feckless about her, something so slack and…” — 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": "“Those were her best days, although...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/those-were-her-best-days-although-there-was-always-something-feckless/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/those-were-her-best-days-although-there-was-always-something-feckless/#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 } } ] } ```