--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For the first time in her life she could…" description: "\"“For the first time in her life she could see perfectly well how a person arrived on that flight path: needing an alternative to the present so badly, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/404/barbara-kingsolver-200_doorway_for-the-first-time-in-her-life-she-could_927713.png" --- # For the first time in her life she could see perfectly… ![“For the first time in her life she could see perfectly well how a person arrived on that flight path: needing an alternative to the present so badly, the only doorway was a high window.” quote by Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/404/barbara-kingsolver-200_doorway_for-the-first-time-in-her-life-she-could_927713.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/404/barbara-kingsolver-200_doorway_for-the-first-time-in-her-life-she-could_927713.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/404/barbara-kingsolver-200_doorway_for-the-first-time-in-her-life-she-could_927713.png) > ““For the first time in her life she could see perfectly well how a person arrived on that flight path: needing an alternative to the present so badly, the only doorway was a high window.”” [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A person seeks escape from a stagnant present, seeing a high window as a metaphorical doorway to new possibilities. **In simple terms:** Desire for change drives people to seek new paths. Key Takeaway Embrace opportunities that open new horizons. Themes change escape possibility hope journey Mood hopeful reflective motivational Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - career change - relocation - creative projects - personal crisis Key Concepts metaphor personal growth environmental awareness Questions to Reflect On - What “high window” are you overlooking? - How do you turn vision into reality? A Different Perspective High windows may be illusory; change requires concrete action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“She adapted herself to the split-second rhythm of the New Yorker going to and from work. 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It is the same heat but from another room; it is the same sound but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/it-is-almost-another-kind-of-love-being-loved-it-is-the-same-heat-but/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [“Even after she was gone, he passed her place each day: something white in a high window - not a face, but the white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-brigley-thompson/even-after-she-was-gone-he-passed-her-place-each-day-something-white/) [Zoë Brigley (Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-brigley-thompson/) > [Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/now-i-m-starting-to-think-he-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-my-whole-life-he/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [After clearing 9 metres of the descending passage, in about the middle of the afternoon, we came upon a second sealed doorway, which was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-carter/after-clearing-9-metres-of-the-descending-passage-in-about-the-middle/) [Howard Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-carter/) > [“Meditation can be a doorway to mindfulness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-leigh-mercree/meditation-can-be-a-doorway-to-mindfulness/) [Amy Leigh Mercree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-leigh-mercree/) > [There's a part of 'Twin Peaks' that is sort of a hinged doorway to another, stranger place, if you can imagine such a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-frost/there-s-a-part-of-twin-peaks-that-is-sort-of-a-hinged-doorway-to/) [Mark Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-frost/) > [“Lord child you ain't nothing but a doorway. How many haints you count at your heels?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-bond/lord-child-you-ain-t-nothing-but-a-doorway-how-many-haints-you-count/) [Cynthia Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-bond/) > [I don't know if I'd want to be a Secret Service agent. In the movies, it's exciting and romantic and all that. Really, most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-quaid/i-don-t-know-if-i-d-want-to-be-a-secret-service-agent-in-the-movies/) [Dennis Quaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-quaid/) > [“I caught a bob of Rhys's throat as we cleared the final steps to the open doorway. ... And though his face was calm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/i-caught-a-bob-of-rhys-s-throat-as-we-cleared-the-final-steps-to-the/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [She was standing in the airport of Copenhagen, staring at a doorway, trying to figure out if it was (a) a bathroom and (b)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-johnson/she-was-standing-in-the-airport-of-copenhagen-staring-at-a-doorway/) [Maureen Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-johnson/) > [“I love you,” he says as he meets me in the doorway. “Just because you say it doesn’t make it true, you know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-randall/i-love-you-he-says-as-he-meets-me-in-the-doorway-just-because-you-say/) [Andrea Randall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-randall/) > [“The volume exploded when Travis appeared in a doorway across the room. He made his entrance, shirtless, relaxed and unaffected. He strolled into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/the-volume-exploded-when-travis-appeared-in-a-doorway-across-the-room/) [Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/) ## More by Barbara Kingsolver > [“Jesus was a more reliable backer, evidently, less likely to drink himself unconscious or get liver cancer. No wonder people chose Him as their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/jesus-was-a-more-reliable-backer-evidently-less-likely-to-drink/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/now-i-m-starting-to-think-he-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-my-whole-life-he/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Cooking is 80 percent confidence, a skill best acquired starting from when the apron strings wrap around you twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/cooking-is-80-percent-confidence-a-skill-best-acquired-starting-from/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“In Bobby Ogle's version of heaven everyone would wind up in one place, criminals and Muslims included.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/in-bobby-ogle-s-version-of-heaven-everyone-would-wind-up-in-one-place/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Weeds are job security for the gardener.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/weeds-are-job-security-for-the-gardener/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/it-s-what-you-do-that-makes-your-soul-not-the-other-way-around/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Lusa turned to Crys, her eyes shining. "That was a luna." Crys shrugged. "So?" "So? So what? You want it should sing, too?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/lusa-turned-to-crys-her-eyes-shining-that-was-a-luna-crys-shrugged-so/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [The strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/the-strength-of-motherhood-is-greater-than-natural-laws/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“An imperfectly remembered life is a useless treachery. Every day, more fragments of the past roll around heavily in the chambers of an empty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/an-imperfectly-remembered-life-is-a-useless-treachery-every-day-more/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Respecting the dignity of a spectacular food means enjoying it at its best. Europeans celebrate the short season of abundant asparagus as a form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/respecting-the-dignity-of-a-spectacular-food-means-enjoying-it-at-its/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Somehow it had come to pass that this man was her whole world, and she had failed to take his measure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/somehow-it-had-come-to-pass-that-this-man-was-her-whole-world-and-she/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [After 'The Poisonwood Bible' was published, several people believed that my parents were missionaries, which could not be further from the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/after-the-poisonwood-bible-was-published-several-people-believed-that/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [I can count all the ways in which being a mother has enriched my understanding of the world, of character, my sense of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-can-count-all-the-ways-in-which-being-a-mother-has-enriched-my/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [But we've all ended up giving body and soul to Africa, one way or another. Even Adah, who's becoming an expert in tropical epidemiology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/but-we-ve-all-ended-up-giving-body-and-soul-to-africa-one-way-or/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [If the Lord hasn't got a boyfriend lined up for me to marry, that's his business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/if-the-lord-hasn-t-got-a-boyfriend-lined-up-for-me-to-marry-that-s/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) [Explore all 939 Barbara Kingsolver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## More Doorway quotes > [Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/now-i-m-starting-to-think-he-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-my-whole-life-he/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“I love you,” he says as he meets me in the doorway. “Just because you say it doesn’t make it true, you know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-randall/i-love-you-he-says-as-he-meets-me-in-the-doorway-just-because-you-say/) [Andrea Randall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-randall/) > [She was standing in the airport of Copenhagen, staring at a doorway, trying to figure out if it was (a) a bathroom and (b)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-johnson/she-was-standing-in-the-airport-of-copenhagen-staring-at-a-doorway/) [Maureen Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-johnson/) > [“I caught a bob of Rhys's throat as we cleared the final steps to the open doorway. ... And though his face was calm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/i-caught-a-bob-of-rhys-s-throat-as-we-cleared-the-final-steps-to-the/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [I don't know if I'd want to be a Secret Service agent. In the movies, it's exciting and romantic and all that. Really, most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-quaid/i-don-t-know-if-i-d-want-to-be-a-secret-service-agent-in-the-movies/) [Dennis Quaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-quaid/) > [“Meditation can be a doorway to mindfulness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-leigh-mercree/meditation-can-be-a-doorway-to-mindfulness/) [Amy Leigh Mercree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-leigh-mercree/) > [After clearing 9 metres of the descending passage, in about the middle of the afternoon, we came upon a second sealed doorway, which was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-carter/after-clearing-9-metres-of-the-descending-passage-in-about-the-middle/) [Howard Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-carter/) > [“The volume exploded when Travis appeared in a doorway across the room. He made his entrance, shirtless, relaxed and unaffected. He strolled into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/the-volume-exploded-when-travis-appeared-in-a-doorway-across-the-room/) [Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/) > [There's a part of 'Twin Peaks' that is sort of a hinged doorway to another, stranger place, if you can imagine such a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-frost/there-s-a-part-of-twin-peaks-that-is-sort-of-a-hinged-doorway-to/) [Mark Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-frost/) > [“Lord child you ain't nothing but a doorway. How many haints you count at your heels?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-bond/lord-child-you-ain-t-nothing-but-a-doorway-how-many-haints-you-count/) [Cynthia Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-bond/) > [Imagination is the doorway you walk through into every future moment. Are you walking through doorways to pain or to joy?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/imagination-is-the-doorway-you-walk-through-into-every-future-moment/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [It's the simplest thing, a kiss. It's the doorway to everything else, you know? Promise, hope, a future with someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-the-simplest-thing-a-kiss-it-s-the-doorway-to-everything-else/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Success is not a doorway, it's a stairway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dottie-walters/success-is-not-a-doorway-it-s-a-stairway/) [Dottie Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dottie-walters/) > [At the time of death we walk through a doorway and our spirit, which is very thin, slides through into another world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/at-the-time-of-death-we-walk-through-a-doorway-and-our-spirit-which/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“wet with it. In that same moment the room beyond the doorway was”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-kernick/wet-with-it-in-that-same-moment-the-room-beyond-the-doorway-was/) [Simon Kernick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-kernick/) Browse all 140 Doorway quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For the first time in her life she could see perfectly well how a person arrived on that flight path: needing an alternative to the present so badly, the only doorway was a high window.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Barbara Kingsolver" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/for-the-first-time-in-her-life-she-could-see-perfectly-well-how-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Doorway" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/for-the-first-time-in-her-life-she-could-see-perfectly-well-how-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/404/barbara-kingsolver-200_doorway_for-the-first-time-in-her-life-she-could_927713.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/404/barbara-kingsolver-200_doorway_for-the-first-time-in-her-life-she-could_927713.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/404/barbara-kingsolver-200_doorway_for-the-first-time-in-her-life-she-could_927713.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For the first time in her life she could see perfectly well how a person arrived on that flight path…” — Barbara Kingsolver", "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": "Barbara Kingsolver", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“For the first time in her...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/for-the-first-time-in-her-life-she-could-see-perfectly-well-how-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/for-the-first-time-in-her-life-she-could-see-perfectly-well-how-a/#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 } } ] } ```