---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Not that it was beautiful, but that, in…"
description: "\"Not that it was beautiful, but that, in the end, there was a certain sense of order there; something worth learning in that narrow diary of my mind\" — ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f7/anne-sexton-645_beautiful_not-that-it-was-beautiful-but-that-in-th_401112.jpg"
---

#  Not that it was beautiful, but that, in the end, there was…

![“Not that it was beautiful, but that, in the end, there was a certain sense of order there; something worth learning in that narrow diary of my mind” quote by Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f7/anne-sexton-645_beautiful_not-that-it-was-beautiful-but-that-in-th_401112.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f7/anne-sexton-645_beautiful_not-that-it-was-beautiful-but-that-in-th_401112.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f7/anne-sexton-645_beautiful_not-that-it-was-beautiful-but-that-in-th_401112.jpg)

> “Not that it was beautiful, but that, in the end, there was a certain sense of order there; something worth learning in that narrow diary of my mind”

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Even in unpleasant experiences, a hidden order can be learned.

**In simple terms:** Find order in chaos.

Key Takeaway

Seek lessons in all experiences.

Themes

pain order learning

Mood

melancholic introspective

Type

poetic philosophical

When to use this quote

- therapy
- creative writing
- personal journaling
- grief processing

Key Concepts

existentialism psychology of memory

Questions to Reflect On

- What patterns have you noticed in difficult times?
- How does recognizing order affect healing?

A Different Perspective

Finding order may be subjective and not always helpful.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Diaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diaries/) [Diary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diary/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/)

## Related quotes

> [Let it not be death but completeness. Let love melt into memory and pain into songs. Let the flight through the sky end in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/let-it-not-be-death-but-completeness-let-love-melt-into-memory-and/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [Its the kind of love that doesnt signal the beginning of something beautiful, but rather the end of something that might have been beautiful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-the-kind-of-love-that-doesnt-signal-the-beginning-of-something/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Peace, my heart, let the time for the parting be sweet. Let it not be a death but completeness. Let love melt into memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/peace-my-heart-let-the-time-for-the-parting-be-sweet-let-it-not-be-a/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [If you have time to think of a beautiful end, then live beautifully until the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakata-gintoki/if-you-have-time-to-think-of-a-beautiful-end-then-live-beautifully/)

Sakata Gintoki

> [“Breaking is what makes us beautiful in the end if we are brave enough to put ourselves back together. And you—you are breathtaking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-martin/breaking-is-what-makes-us-beautiful-in-the-end-if-we-are-brave-enough/)

[E.E. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-martin/)

> [“I'll tell you how the sun rose A ribbon at a time... It's a living book, this life; it folds out in a million…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/i-ll-tell-you-how-the-sun-rose-a-ribbon-at-a-time-it-s-a-living-book/)

[Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/)

> [Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/safeguarding-the-rights-of-others-is-the-most-noble-and-beautiful-end/)

[Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/)

> [Nothing worth learning can ever be taught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/nothing-worth-learning-can-ever-be-taught/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

> [“What does it matter?" I shrugged. "It's interesting and anything thats interesting is worth learning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lance/what-does-it-matter-i-shrugged-it-s-interesting-and-anything-thats/)

[Amanda Lance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lance/)

> [In my life I have found two things of priceless worth - learning and loving. Nothing else - not fame, not power, not achievement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/in-my-life-i-have-found-two-things-of-priceless-worth-learning-and/)

[Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/)

> [Health is worth more than learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/health-is-worth-more-than-learning/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

> [Love is a lesson worth learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/love-is-a-lesson-worth-learning/)

[Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/)

> [“One line of the Bible is worth more than all the learning of men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-binning/one-line-of-the-bible-is-worth-more-than-all-the-learning-of-men/)

Hugh Binning

> [The only things worth learning are the things you learn after you know it all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman-2/the-only-things-worth-learning-are-the-things-you-learn-after-you/)

[Harry S Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman-2/)

> [Lisp is worth learning for the profound enlightenment experience you will have when you finally get it; that experience will make you a better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/lisp-is-worth-learning-for-the-profound-enlightenment-experience-you/)

[Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/)

## More by Anne Sexton

> [Blind with love, my daughter has cried nightly for horses, those long-necked marchers and churners that she has mastered, any and all, reigning them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/blind-with-love-my-daughter-has-cried-nightly-for-horses-those-long/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [I am crazy as hell, but I know it. And knowing it is a kind of sanity that makes the sickness worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-am-crazy-as-hell-but-i-know-it-and-knowing-it-is-a-kind-of-sanity/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [And what of the dead? They lie without shoes in the stone boats. They are more like stone than the sea would be if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/and-what-of-the-dead-they-lie-without-shoes-in-the-stone-boats-they/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [The Witch's Life" When I was a child there was an old woman in our neighborhood whom we called The Witch. All day she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/the-witch-s-life-when-i-was-a-child-there-was-an-old-woman-in-our/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [I have forgiven all the old actors for dying. A new one comes on with the same lines, like large white growths, in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-have-forgiven-all-the-old-actors-for-dying-a-new-one-comes-on-with/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [“From the Garden” Come, my beloved, consider the lilies. We are of little faith. We talk too much. Put your mouthful of words away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/from-the-garden-come-my-beloved-consider-the-lilies-we-are-of-little/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [Oh thumb, I want a drink it is dark, where are the big people, when will I get there...?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/oh-thumb-i-want-a-drink-it-is-dark-where-are-the-big-people-when-will/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [I want to kiss God on His nose and watch Him sneeze and so do you. Not out of disrespect. Out of pique. Out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-want-to-kiss-god-on-his-nose-and-watch-him-sneeze-and-so-do-you-not/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [I, in my brand new body, which was not a woman's yet, told the stars my questions and thought God could really see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-in-my-brand-new-body-which-was-not-a-woman-s-yet-told-the-stars-my/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [Father, you died once, salted down at fifty-nine, packed down like a big snow angel, wasn't that enough?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/father-you-died-once-salted-down-at-fifty-nine-packed-down-like-a-big/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [When I'm writing, I know I'm doing the thing I was born to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/when-i-m-writing-i-know-i-m-doing-the-thing-i-was-born-to-do/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [Cinderella and the prince lived, they say, happily ever after, like two dolls in a museum case never bothered by diapers or dust, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/cinderella-and-the-prince-lived-they-say-happily-ever-after-like-two/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [“Quite collected at cocktail parties, meanwhile in my head I'm undergoing open-heart surgery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/quite-collected-at-cocktail-parties-meanwhile-in-my-head-i-m/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [I cannot walk an inch / without trying to walk to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-cannot-walk-an-inch-without-trying-to-walk-to-god/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [Now that I have written many words, and let out so many loves, for so many, and been altogether what I always was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/now-that-i-have-written-many-words-and-let-out-so-many-loves-for-so/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

[Explore all 428 Anne Sexton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

## More Beautiful quotes

> [I received a beautiful welcome to the world of music. I want to give something back to the younger generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luciano-pavarotti/i-received-a-beautiful-welcome-to-the-world-of-music-i-want-to-give/)

[Luciano Pavarotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luciano-pavarotti/)

> [Being beautiful comes naturally!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-beautiful-comes-naturally/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. You are surrounded by nature - cats, dogs, birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/my-school-was-one-of-the-most-beautiful-places-a-child-can-grow-up-in/)

[Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/)

> [“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/)

> [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/)

[Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/)

> [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

> [You will never know just how beautiful you are to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-never-know-just-how-beautiful-you-are-to-me/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/)

[Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/)

> [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

> [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/)

[Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/)

> [Growing up in Iceland, it was very beautiful, very safe, but quite isolated. There was something about jazz music that had a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laufey/growing-up-in-iceland-it-was-very-beautiful-very-safe-but-quite/)

[Laufey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laufey/)

> [How could you feel worthless when God has honoured you by creating you and choosing you to be with Him, in this life and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/how-could-you-feel-worthless-when-god-has-honoured-you-by-creating/)

[Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/)

> [Sometimes it's about less is more. It's about the seed. Thinking about this gigantic tree that you think is so beautiful but it started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/sometimes-it-s-about-less-is-more-it-s-about-the-seed-thinking-about/)

[Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/)

> [God's Word does provide life lessons to teach us how to live. And it gives us beautiful poetry that gives voice to our human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-rothschild/god-s-word-does-provide-life-lessons-to-teach-us-how-to-live-and-it/)

[Jennifer Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-rothschild/)

[Browse all 17,976 Beautiful quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Not that it was beautiful, but that, in the end, there was a certain sense of order there; something worth learning in that narrow diary of my mind",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Anne Sexton"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/not-that-it-was-beautiful-but-that-in-the-end-there-was-a-certain/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Beautiful"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/not-that-it-was-beautiful-but-that-in-the-end-there-was-a-certain/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f7/anne-sexton-645_beautiful_not-that-it-was-beautiful-but-that-in-th_401112.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f7/anne-sexton-645_beautiful_not-that-it-was-beautiful-but-that-in-th_401112.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f7/anne-sexton-645_beautiful_not-that-it-was-beautiful-but-that-in-th_401112.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Not that it was beautiful, but that, in the end, there was a certain sense of order there; something worth…” — Anne Sexton",
                "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": "Anne Sexton",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Not that it was beautiful, but...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/not-that-it-was-beautiful-but-that-in-the-end-there-was-a-certain/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/not-that-it-was-beautiful-but-that-in-the-end-there-was-a-certain/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
