--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape…" description: "\"Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence, from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature, appa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/boris-pasternak-1944_eloquence_oh-how-one-wishes-sometimes-to-escape-fr_1211375.png" --- # Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the… ![“Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence, from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature, apparently so inarticulate, or in the wordlessness of long, grinding labor, of sound sleep, of true music, or of a human understanding rendered…” quote by Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/boris-pasternak-1944_eloquence_oh-how-one-wishes-sometimes-to-escape-fr_1211375.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/boris-pasternak-1944_eloquence_oh-how-one-wishes-sometimes-to-escape-fr_1211375.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/boris-pasternak-1944_eloquence_oh-how-one-wishes-sometimes-to-escape-fr_1211375.png) > “Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence, from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature, apparently so inarticulate, or in the wordlessness of long, grinding labor, of sound sleep, of true music, or of a human understanding rendered speechless by emotion!” [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) ## 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 expresses a yearning to flee the emptiness of pretentious speech and find solace in raw, unarticulated experiences like nature, labor, sleep, music, or overwhelming emotion. **In simple terms:** Escape empty words for real, silent experiences. Key Takeaway Seek silence and authenticity. Themes nature authenticity escape emotion art Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - wandering in wilderness - manual work - deep sleep - listening to music - intense emotional moments Key Concepts existentialism romanticism sensory immersion Questions to Reflect On - What does true silence feel like? - How can we balance speech and silence? A Different Perspective Silence may also isolate and prevent meaningful communication. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dullness Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dullness-human-3672855/) [Eloquence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eloquence/) [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Escape Meaningless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/escape-meaningless-3672853/) [Human Eloquence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-eloquence-3672856/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Inarticulate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inarticulate/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Meaningless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningless/) [Meaningless Dullness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningless-dullness-3672854/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Phrases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phrases/) [Refuge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refuge/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Sound sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound-sleep/) [Speechless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speechless/) [Speechless Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speechless-emotion-3514512/) [Sublime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sublime/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [“Yurii Andreievich kept trying to get up and go. The commissar's naïveté embarrassed him, but the sly sophistication of the commandant and his aide—two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/yurii-andreievich-kept-trying-to-get-up-and-go-the-commissar-s-na-vet/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“How intense can be the longing to escape from the emptiness and dullness of human verbosity, to take refuge in nature, apparently so inarticulate,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/how-intense-can-be-the-longing-to-escape-from-the-emptiness-and/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“Leonardo da Vinci, was brought to the Vatican in 1513 by the new pope, Leo X, and given a list of commissions to create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-blech/leonardo-da-vinci-was-brought-to-the-vatican-in-1513-by-the-new-pope/) [Benjamin Blech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-blech/) > [“A preaching bush woke up Aloysius. 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Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee, That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down And steep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-sleep-o-gentle-sleep-nature-s-soft-nurse-how-have-i-frighted-thee/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Hang tight,” he said. “I’ll be right there.” Marlboro Man was right there, in less than five minutes. Once I determined the white pickup…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/hang-tight-he-said-i-ll-be-right-there-marlboro-man-was-right-there/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies Which busy care draws in the brains of men; Therefore thou sleep'st so sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thou-hast-no-figures-nor-no-fantasies-which-busy-care-draws-in-the-2/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“‎"The incapacity of sound sleep denotes a mind sorely wounded.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-brockden-brown/the-incapacity-of-sound-sleep-denotes-a-mind-sorely-wounded/) [Charles Brockden Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-brockden-brown/) > [I know only one thing. when i sleep, i know no fear, no, trouble no bliss. blessing on him who invented sleep. the common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-tarkovsky/i-know-only-one-thing-when-i-sleep-i-know-no-fear-no-trouble-no-bliss/) [Andrei Tarkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-tarkovsky/) > [“Today I awoke from a sound sleep with curses of joy on my lips, with gibberish on my tongue, repeating to myself like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/today-i-awoke-from-a-sound-sleep-with-curses-of-joy-on-my-lips-with/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [Money can help you to get medicines but not health. Money can help you to get soft pillows, but not sound sleep. Money can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sivananda/money-can-help-you-to-get-medicines-but-not-health-money-can-help-you/) [Sivananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sivananda/) > [“At day’s end I’m ready for sound sleep, For you, GOD, have put my life back together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-h-peterson/at-day-s-end-i-m-ready-for-sound-sleep-for-you-god-have-put-my-life/) [Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-h-peterson/) > [“She was in a sound sleep, Jude, dying of anxiety lest she should have caught a chill which might permanently injure her, was glad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/she-was-in-a-sound-sleep-jude-dying-of-anxiety-lest-she-should-have/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) ## More by Boris Pasternak > [“Happy are the downtrodden.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/happy-are-the-downtrodden/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“The saddest thing of all was that their party represented a deviation from the conditions of the time. 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All great, genuine art resembles and continues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/art-has-two-constant-two-unending-concerns-it-always-meditates-on/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [I think that if the beast who sleeps in man could be held down by threats of any kind, whether of jail or retribution,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-think-that-if-the-beast-who-sleeps-in-man-could-be-held-down-by/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [And so it turned out that only a life similar to the life of those around us, merging with it without a ripple, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/and-so-it-turned-out-that-only-a-life-similar-to-the-life-of-those/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [I come here to speak poetry. It will always be in the grass. It will also be necessary to bend down to hear it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-come-here-to-speak-poetry-it-will-always-be-in-the-grass-it-will/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“I'll stay with you a little, my unforgettable delight, for as long as my arms and my hands and my lips remember you. I'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-ll-stay-with-you-a-little-my-unforgettable-delight-for-as-long-as/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [If it's so painful to love and absorb electricity, how much more painful it is to be a woman, to be the electricity, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/if-it-s-so-painful-to-love-and-absorb-electricity-how-much-more/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [I don't like purely philosophical works. I think a little philosophy should be added to life and art by way of seasoning, but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/i-don-t-like-purely-philosophical-works-i-think-a-little-philosophy/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“But sometimes, to enable her to bear her life, she needed the accompaniment of an inward music and she could not always compose it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/but-sometimes-to-enable-her-to-bear-her-life-she-needed-the/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“We’ve been lucky. The autumn happened to be dry and warm. We managed to dig the potatoes before the rain and cold set in.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/we-ve-been-lucky-the-autumn-happened-to-be-dry-and-warm-we-managed-to/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [Departure beyond the borders of my country is for me equivalent to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/departure-beyond-the-borders-of-my-country-is-for-me-equivalent-to/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [“As he scribbled his odds and ends, he made a note reaffirming his belief that art always serves beauty, and beauty is delight in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/as-he-scribbled-his-odds-and-ends-he-made-a-note-reaffirming-his/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) [Explore all 189 Boris Pasternak quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) ## More Eloquence quotes > [There should be in eloquence that which is pleasing and that which is real; but that which is pleasing should itself be real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-should-be-in-eloquence-that-which-is-pleasing-and-that-which-is/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [Fie on the eloquence that leaves us craving itself, not things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/fie-on-the-eloquence-that-leaves-us-craving-itself-not-things/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [ \[T\]here are, at bottom, basically two ways to order social affairs, Coercively, through the mechanisms of the state - what we can call political… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-crane/t-here-are-at-bottom-basically-two-ways-to-order-social-affairs/) [Ed Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-crane/) > [Drudgery, calamity, exasperation, want, are instructors in eloquence and wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/drudgery-calamity-exasperation-want-are-instructors-in-eloquence-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Among all the valuable things of this world, the word is the most precious. For in the word one can find a light which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazrat-inayat-khan/among-all-the-valuable-things-of-this-world-the-word-is-the-most/) [Hazrat Inayat Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazrat-inayat-khan/) > [“Your goodness must have some edge to it -- else it is none.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/your-goodness-must-have-some-edge-to-it-else-it-is-none/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Forensics is eloquence and reduction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/forensics-is-eloquence-and-reduction/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“What is called eloquence in the forum is commonly found to be rhetoric in the study.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/what-is-called-eloquence-in-the-forum-is-commonly-found-to-be/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Eloquence is the appropriate organ of the highest personal energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/eloquence-is-the-appropriate-organ-of-the-highest-personal-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Philosophy may be dodged, eloquence cannot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-quinet/philosophy-may-be-dodged-eloquence-cannot/) [Edgar Quinet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-quinet/) > [Eloquence is a painting of thought; and thus those who, after having painted it, add something more, make a picture instead of a portrait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/eloquence-is-a-painting-of-thought-and-thus-those-who-after-having/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The notion of directing a film is the invention of critics - the whole eloquence of cinema is achieved in the editing room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-notion-of-directing-a-film-is-the-invention-of-critics-the-whole/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Your eloquence should be the servant of the ideas in your head. Your rule might be this: If a sentence, no matter how excellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/your-eloquence-should-be-the-servant-of-the-ideas-in-your-head-your/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Eloquence is relative. One can no more pronounce on the eloquence of any composition than the wholesomeness of a medicine, without knowing for whom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/eloquence-is-relative-one-can-no-more-pronounce-on-the-eloquence-of/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) > [ It is true that despite occasional gleams of Churchillian eloquence he \[Gen. Douglas MacArthur\] usually spoke poorly. He was far more effective in conversations… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/it-is-true-that-despite-occasional-gleams-of-churchillian-eloquence/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) [Browse all 439 Eloquence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eloquence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence, from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature, apparently so inarticulate, or in the wordlessness of long, grinding labor, of sound sleep, of true music, or of a human understanding rendered speechless by emotion!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Boris Pasternak" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/oh-how-one-wishes-sometimes-to-escape-from-the-meaningless-dullness/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eloquence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/oh-how-one-wishes-sometimes-to-escape-from-the-meaningless-dullness/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/boris-pasternak-1944_eloquence_oh-how-one-wishes-sometimes-to-escape-fr_1211375.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/boris-pasternak-1944_eloquence_oh-how-one-wishes-sometimes-to-escape-fr_1211375.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3a/boris-pasternak-1944_eloquence_oh-how-one-wishes-sometimes-to-escape-fr_1211375.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence, from all those…” — Boris Pasternak", "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": "Boris Pasternak", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Oh, how one wishes sometimes to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/oh-how-one-wishes-sometimes-to-escape-from-the-meaningless-dullness/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/oh-how-one-wishes-sometimes-to-escape-from-the-meaningless-dullness/#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 } } ] } ```