--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He lifts her breasts, which fit perfectly…" description: "\"He lifts her breasts, which fit perfectly into his hands, though he knows this is no promise that he gets to keep them. A million things you can't have..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3e/barbara-kingsolver-200_breasts_he-lifts-her-breasts-which-fit-perfectly_2317095.png" --- # He lifts her breasts, which fit perfectly into his hands… ![“He lifts her breasts, which fit perfectly into his hands, though he knows this is no promise that he gets to keep them. A million things you can't have will fit in a human hand.” quote by Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3e/barbara-kingsolver-200_breasts_he-lifts-her-breasts-which-fit-perfectly_2317095.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3e/barbara-kingsolver-200_breasts_he-lifts-her-breasts-which-fit-perfectly_2317095.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3e/barbara-kingsolver-200_breasts_he-lifts-her-breasts-which-fit-perfectly_2317095.png) > “He lifts her breasts, which fit perfectly into his hands, though he knows this is no promise that he gets to keep them. A million things you can't have will fit in a human hand.” [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. The quote reflects on desire and the illusion that tangible objects can satisfy deeper longings, yet they are fleeting and not guaranteed. **In simple terms:** Desire can be deceptive; ownership isn’t lasting. Key Takeaway Recognize that material gains may not fulfill deeper needs. Themes desire impermanence illusion attachment expectation Mood reflective melancholic thoughtful Type philosophical literary emotional When to use this quote - relationships - consumerism - personal growth - grief - spiritual practice Key Concepts existentialism psychology materialism Questions to Reflect On - What does “fit in a human hand” symbolize for you? - How do you differentiate between fleeting wants and lasting values? A Different Perspective The metaphor may overlook emotional complexities beyond physical possession. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Promise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promise/) ## Related quotes > [“Hand of human is the hand of god.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/hand-of-human-is-the-hand-of-god/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [The human hand is made complete by the addition of a baseball.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dickson/the-human-hand-is-made-complete-by-the-addition-of-a-baseball/) [Paul Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dickson/) > [The irregular and intimate quality of things made entirely by the human hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-irregular-and-intimate-quality-of-things-made-entirely-by-the/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“Perhaps nothing is so fraught with significance as the human hand, this oldest tool with which man has dug his way from savagery, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/perhaps-nothing-is-so-fraught-with-significance-as-the-human-hand-2/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [Actually I think CGI has the potential to equal or even surpass what the human hand can do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hayao-miyazaki/actually-i-think-cgi-has-the-potential-to-equal-or-even-surpass-what/) [Hayao Miyazaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hayao-miyazaki/) > [The most important innovation in medicine to come in the next 10 years: the power of the human hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/the-most-important-innovation-in-medicine-to-come-in-the-next-10/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [The human hand allows the mind to reveal itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/the-human-hand-allows-the-mind-to-reveal-itself/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [I believe in animal rights, and high among them is the right to the gentle stroke of a human hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/i-believe-in-animal-rights-and-high-among-them-is-the-right-to-the/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [“The human hand has an amazing quality that nothing else has: tremendous efficiency of strength and yet total gentleness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-schaeffer/the-human-hand-has-an-amazing-quality-that-nothing-else-has/) [francis schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-schaeffer/) > [Not without a shudder may the human hand reach into the mysterious urn of destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/not-without-a-shudder-may-the-human-hand-reach-into-the-mysterious/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Perhaps nothing is so fraught with significance as the human hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/perhaps-nothing-is-so-fraught-with-significance-as-the-human-hand/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [The beauty of my body is not measured by the size of the clothes it can fit into, but by the stories that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah/the-beauty-of-my-body-is-not-measured-by-the-size-of-the-clothes-it/) [Sarah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah/) > [The text moves like a small crustacean with compound eye and complex nervous system; throbbing, involuted, it becomes a parasite on a different body,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-brossard/the-text-moves-like-a-small-crustacean-with-compound-eye-and-complex/) [Nicole Brossard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-brossard/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) ## 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 Breasts quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Where shall the lover rest, Whom the fates sever From his true maiden's breast, Parted for ever? Where, through groves deep and high, Sounds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/where-shall-the-lover-rest-whom-the-fates-sever-from-his-true-maiden/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [The earth is like the breasts of a woman: useful as well as pleasing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-earth-is-like-the-breasts-of-a-woman-useful-as-well-as-pleasing/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I feel that between my experience and my mother's, breast cancer is a little bit like someone who lives next door. I know what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-nixon/i-feel-that-between-my-experience-and-my-mother-s-breast-cancer-is-a/) [Cynthia Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-nixon/) > [Poems come from ordinary experiences and objects, I think. Out of memory - a dress I lent my daughter on her way back to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/poems-come-from-ordinary-experiences-and-objects-i-think-out-of/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [Beloved, let your eyes half close, and your heart beat Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast, Drowning love's lonely hour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/beloved-let-your-eyes-half-close-and-your-heart-beat-over-my-heart/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Boasting and bravado may exist in the breast even of the coward, if he is successful through a mere lucky hit; but a just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/boasting-and-bravado-may-exist-in-the-breast-even-of-the-coward-if-he/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [The headline here is not that a woman exposed a breast. It is, rather, that a breast exposed a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-pitts/the-headline-here-is-not-that-a-woman-exposed-a-breast-it-is-rather/) [Leonard Pitts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-pitts/) > [With breast cancer, it's all about detection. You have to educate young women and encourage them to do everything they have to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-rancic/with-breast-cancer-it-s-all-about-detection-you-have-to-educate-young/) [Bill Rancic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-rancic/) > [We must not forget that what I mean by the conquest of the world by spiritual thought is the sending out of the life-giving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/we-must-not-forget-that-what-i-mean-by-the-conquest-of-the-world-by/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [The women I know who have gone through breast cancer still laugh a lot. They're not crying all day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/the-women-i-know-who-have-gone-through-breast-cancer-still-laugh-a/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [Having breast cancer is massive amounts of no fun,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ivins/having-breast-cancer-is-massive-amounts-of-no-fun/) [Molly Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ivins/) > [If a man is pictured chopping off a woman's breast, it only gets an R rating; but if, God forbid, a man is pictured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-struthers/if-a-man-is-pictured-chopping-off-a-woman-s-breast-it-only-gets-an-r/) Sally Struthers Browse all 1,224 Breasts quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He lifts her breasts, which fit perfectly into his hands, though he knows this is no promise that he gets to keep them. 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