--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One can't build little white picket…" description: "\"One can't build little white picket fences to keep nightmares out.\" — Anne Sexton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/707/anne-sexton-645_dream_one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fenc_302728.png" --- # One can't build little white picket fences to keep… ![“One can't build little white picket fences to keep nightmares out.” quote by Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/707/anne-sexton-645_dream_one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fenc_302728.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/707/anne-sexton-645_dream_one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fenc_302728.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/707/anne-sexton-645_dream_one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fenc_302728.png) > “One can't build little white picket fences to keep nightmares out.” [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. Attempting to block fears with superficial barriers is futile; deeper issues remain. **In simple terms:** Fences can't keep nightmares out. Key Takeaway Address underlying fears directly. Themes fear psychology illusion vulnerability self‑reflection Mood melancholic introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - therapy sessions - personal journaling - creative writing - stress management Key Concepts existentialism mental health coping mechanisms Questions to Reflect On - What inner work can replace external fences? - How do you confront hidden anxieties? A Different Perspective Physical barriers may give false security. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Fences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fences/) [Nightmare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/) [Nightmares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmares/) [Picket fences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/picket-fences/) ## Related quotes > [Ever wonder why people are so determined to reach for white picket fences, supposed normalcy, a nuclear family? Well, try growing up without one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-eddy/ever-wonder-why-people-are-so-determined-to-reach-for-white-picket/) [Chuck Eddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-eddy/) > [I was trying my damnedest to lead a conventional life, for that was how I was brought up, and it was what my husband…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-was-trying-my-damnedest-to-lead-a-conventional-life-for-that-was/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I've always loved the drama and the creating of a role and performance and all that comes with that, but I then also kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-kidman/i-ve-always-loved-the-drama-and-the-creating-of-a-role-and/) [Nicole Kidman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-kidman/) > [“ONE CAN'T BUILD LITTLE WHITE PICKET FENCES TO KEEP NIGHTMARES OUT. -Anne Sexton”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-mccreight/one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fences-to-keep-nightmares-out-2/) [Kimberly McCreight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-mccreight/) > [“I want to picket white picket fences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-want-to-picket-white-picket-fences/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [All I wanted was a little piece of life, to be married, to have children… I was trying my damnedest to lead a conventional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/all-i-wanted-was-a-little-piece-of-life-to-be-married-to-have/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [It's all kind of a big illusion: the white picket fence and the perfect marriage and the kids. Check that box off, check that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-mclachlan/it-s-all-kind-of-a-big-illusion-the-white-picket-fence-and-the/) [Sarah McLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-mclachlan/) > [I can't give you the white picket fence, and if I did, you'd set it on fire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/i-can-t-give-you-the-white-picket-fence-and-if-i-did-you-d-set-it-on/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [I'm not white-picket-fence perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-klum/i-m-not-white-picket-fence-perfect/) [Heidi Klum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-klum/) > [And we carry onWhen our lives come undoneWe carry onCause there's promise in the morning sunWe carry onAs the dark surrenders to the dawnWe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-mcgraw/and-we-carry-onwhen-our-lives-come-undonewe-carry-oncause-there-s/) [Tim McGraw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-mcgraw/) > [My childhood was elegant homes, tree lined streets, the milkman, building backyard forts, droning airplanes, blue skies, picket fences, green grass, cherry trees. Middle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lynch/my-childhood-was-elegant-homes-tree-lined-streets-the-milkman/) [David Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lynch/) > [Whether the borders that divide us are picket fences or national boundaries, we are all neighbors in a global community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/whether-the-borders-that-divide-us-are-picket-fences-or-national/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [Safety is a fence, and fences are for sheep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/safety-is-a-fence-and-fences-are-for-sheep/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [In a world without fences, who needs Gates?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-mcnealy/in-a-world-without-fences-who-needs-gates/) [Scott McNealy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-mcnealy/) > [ For me, that was a hard scene \[in "Fences"\] to do twenty-something times, which (laughing), I counted. That was difficult, but once I did… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viola-davis/for-me-that-was-a-hard-scene-in-fences-to-do-twenty-something-times/) [Viola Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viola-davis/) ## 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 Dream quotes > [“Once we become sensitive to dreams, we discover that every dynamic in a dream is manifesting itself in some way in our practical lives”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-johnson/once-we-become-sensitive-to-dreams-we-discover-that-every-dynamic-in/) [Robert A. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-johnson/) > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [“Not that it matters, when you dream, there's no outside or in. Your mind is an unimaginable bloom. A willow catkin as big as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-shapero/not-that-it-matters-when-you-dream-there-s-no-outside-or-in-your-mind/) [Rich Shapero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-shapero/) > [Academically, I was never that interested. I skipped classes. My biggest dream was to have a coffee shop, but I had no idea how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-espinosa/academically-i-was-never-that-interested-i-skipped-classes-my-biggest/) [Daniel Espinosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-espinosa/) > [“As dreams are the healing songs from the wilderness of our unconscious - So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes are the healing dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-pendell/as-dreams-are-the-healing-songs-from-the-wilderness-of-our/) [Dale Pendell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-pendell/) > [Alone in a world, With millions of souls Walking in circles Trapped in their dreams unhealthy, unclean walking in circles, now do not disturb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-bennington/alone-in-a-world-with-millions-of-souls-walking-in-circles-trapped-in/) [Chester Bennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-bennington/) > [“Doing the work to transform your dreams into reality is like walking across the earth. It can be that hard, and it can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dragos-bratasanu/doing-the-work-to-transform-your-dreams-into-reality-is-like-walking/) [Dragos Bratasanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dragos-bratasanu/) > [As far as Im concerned, I didnt dream - ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-sturgeon/as-far-as-im-concerned-i-didnt-dream-ever/) [Theodore Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-sturgeon/) > [I have long felt that the way to keep children out of trouble is to keep them interested in things. Lecturing to children is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/i-have-long-felt-that-the-way-to-keep-children-out-of-trouble-is-to/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Sometimes life seems like a dream, especially when I look down and see that I forgot to put on my pants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/sometimes-life-seems-like-a-dream-especially-when-i-look-down-and-see/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [“I had a dream. I had an awesome dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-had-a-dream-i-had-an-awesome-dream/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“His dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/his-dream-must-have-seemed-so-close-that-he-could-hardly-fail-to/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) [Browse all 26,527 Dream quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One can't build little white picket fences to keep nightmares out.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anne Sexton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fences-to-keep-nightmares-out/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dream" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fences-to-keep-nightmares-out/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/707/anne-sexton-645_dream_one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fenc_302728.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/707/anne-sexton-645_dream_one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fenc_302728.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/707/anne-sexton-645_dream_one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fenc_302728.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One can't build little white picket fences to keep nightmares out.” — 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": "One can't build little white picket...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fences-to-keep-nightmares-out/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fences-to-keep-nightmares-out/#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 } } ] } ```