--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are times when personal experience…" description: "\"There are times when personal experience keeps us from reaching the mountain top and so we let it go because the weight of it is too heavy. And sometim..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/263/bell-hooks-464_desire_there-are-times-when-personal-experience_1776518.jpg" --- # There are times when personal experience keeps us from… ![“There are times when personal experience keeps us from reaching the mountain top and so we let it go because the weight of it is too heavy. And sometimes the mountain top is difficult to reach with all our resources, factual and confessional, so we are just there, collectively grasping, feeling…” quote by Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/263/bell-hooks-464_desire_there-are-times-when-personal-experience_1776518.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/263/bell-hooks-464_desire_there-are-times-when-personal-experience_1776518.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/263/bell-hooks-464_desire_there-are-times-when-personal-experience_1776518.jpg) > “There are times when personal experience keeps us from reaching the mountain top and so we let it go because the weight of it is too heavy. And sometimes the mountain top is difficult to reach with all our resources, factual and confessional, so we are just there, collectively grasping, feeling the limitations of knowledge, longing together, yearning for a way to reach that highest point. Even this yearning is a way to know.” [Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Personal limits and collective yearning shape our pursuit of higher understanding; the quest itself reveals knowledge. **In simple terms:** Limits and longing guide learning. Key Takeaway Embrace both struggle and hope in growth. Themes knowledge growth collective yearning limitations Mood inquisitive hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education reform - community activism - personal development Key Concepts epistemology social learning human aspiration Questions to Reflect On - What does the “mountain top” symbolize for you? - How can shared yearning foster collective action? A Different Perspective May romanticize struggle, ignoring practical constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Limitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitation/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Mountain top](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountain-top/) [Personal experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-experience/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Weight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weight/) [Yearning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yearning/) ## Related quotes > [I'd finally come to understand what it had been: a yearning for a way out, when actually what I had wanted to find was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/i-d-finally-come-to-understand-what-it-had-been-a-yearning-for-a-way/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [“Of course, heroin could be had there too, I thought. 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One must conquer, achieve, get to the top; one must know the end to be convinced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-leigh-mallory/how-to-get-the-best-of-it-all-one-must-conquer-achieve-get-to-the-top/) [George Leigh Mallory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-leigh-mallory/) > [One must conquer, achieve, get to the top; one must know the end to be convinced that one can win the end - to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-leigh-mallory/one-must-conquer-achieve-get-to-the-top-one-must-know-the-end-to-be/) [George Leigh Mallory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-leigh-mallory/) > [Doubly happy, however, is the man to whom lofty mountain tops are within reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/doubly-happy-however-is-the-man-to-whom-lofty-mountain-tops-are/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Traditional Chinese art looked at the Earth from a Confucian mountain top; Japanese art looked closely around screens; Italian Renaissance art surveyed conquered nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/traditional-chinese-art-looked-at-the-earth-from-a-confucian-mountain/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Every man needs to find a peak, a mountain top or a remote island of his own choosing that he reaches under his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-gerbault/every-man-needs-to-find-a-peak-a-mountain-top-or-a-remote-island-of/) Alain Gerbault > [Believing is a fine thing, but placing those beliefs into execution is a test of strength. Many are those who talk like the roar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/believing-is-a-fine-thing-but-placing-those-beliefs-into-execution-is/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Our reverence for the nobility of manhood will not be lessened by the knowledge that man is in substance and in structure, one with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/our-reverence-for-the-nobility-of-manhood-will-not-be-lessened-by-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Long, blue, spiky-edged shadows crept out across the snow-fields, while a rosy glow, at first scarce discernible, gradually deepened and suffused every mountain-top, flushing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/long-blue-spiky-edged-shadows-crept-out-across-the-snow-fields-while/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [It is good to be the possessor of some mountain-top experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-johns/it-is-good-to-be-the-possessor-of-some-mountain-top-experience/) Vernon Johns > [“Her. Her. Her. Future breezes implore me to stay. But I'm no future. I'm no past. Only ever contemporary of this path. I'll sacrifice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-z-danielewski/her-her-her-future-breezes-implore-me-to-stay-but-i-m-no-future-i-m/) [Mark Z. Danielewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-z-danielewski/) ## More by Bell Hooks > [Right now, for many Americans, class is being foregrounded like never before because of the economic situation. It doesn't mean that race doesn't matter,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/right-now-for-many-americans-class-is-being-foregrounded-like-never/) [Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [“Most folks believe we are hardwired biologically to long for sex but they do not believe we are hardwired to long for love. 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It's as if those words couldn't possibly speak to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/in-this-culture-the-phrase-black-woman-is-not-synonymous-with-tender/) [bell hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [It's interesting to look at all the aspects where everyday Americans, many of whom are not college educated, are thinking deeply now about our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/it-s-interesting-to-look-at-all-the-aspects-where-everyday-americans/) [Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [The true teacher is within us. 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However, praxis within any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/often-emphasis-on-identity-and-lifestyle-is-appealing-because-it/) [bell hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) [Explore all 541 Bell Hooks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [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/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. 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