--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: At great periods you have always felt…" description: "\"At great periods you have always felt, deep within you, the temptation to commit suicide. You gave yourself to it, breached your own defenses. You were..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/560/cesare-pavese-1924_children_at-great-periods-you-have-always-felt-de_1006857.jpg" --- # At great periods you have always felt, deep within you… ![“At great periods you have always felt, deep within you, the temptation to commit suicide. You gave yourself to it, breached your own defenses. You were a child. The idea of suicide was a protest against life; by dying, you would escape this longing for death.” quote by Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/560/cesare-pavese-1924_children_at-great-periods-you-have-always-felt-de_1006857.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/560/cesare-pavese-1924_children_at-great-periods-you-have-always-felt-de_1006857.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/560/cesare-pavese-1924_children_at-great-periods-you-have-always-felt-de_1006857.jpg) > “At great periods you have always felt, deep within you, the temptation to commit suicide. You gave yourself to it, breached your own defenses. You were a child. The idea of suicide was a protest against life; by dying, you would escape this longing for death.” [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker describes an inner, recurring urge toward self-destruction, seen as a protest against life's burdens, especially in youth. **In simple terms:** A deep urge to die as a rebellion against life. Key Takeaway Recognize and address hidden despair early. Themes despair rebellion mental health youth existential crisis Mood somber reflective Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - adolescence - therapy sessions - creative crises - family conflict Key Concepts existential protest self‑destruction psychological conflict Questions to Reflect On - What unmet needs fuel such urges? - How can supportive environments reduce self‑destructive thoughts? A Different Perspective Suicide urges can be symptoms of treatable mental illness, not inevitable choices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Longing for death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing-for-death/) [Protest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protest/) [Suicide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suicide/) [Temptation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temptation/) ## Related quotes > [I lose hope when the desire for life awakens within me; but I regain it whenever the longing for death comes upon me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustaw-herling-grudzinski/i-lose-hope-when-the-desire-for-life-awakens-within-me-but-i-regain/) [Gustaw Herling-Grudzinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustaw-herling-grudzinski/) > [“extremes mean borders beyond which life ends…and a passion for extremism is a veiled longing for death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/extremes-mean-borders-beyond-which-life-ends-and-a-passion-for/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [I had never seen a woman in such despair before. 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In some ways, it had been in the back of my mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-thompson/i-don-t-know-when-the-idea-of-suicide-first-occurred-to-me-in-some/) [Tracy Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-thompson/) > [I can't relate to the idea of suicide. I guess I'm just one of those people that is always optimistic and upbeat. But one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/i-can-t-relate-to-the-idea-of-suicide-i-guess-i-m-just-one-of-those/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) ## More by Cesare Pavese > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [In the mental disturbance and effort of writing, what sustains you is the certainty that on every page there is something left unsaid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/in-the-mental-disturbance-and-effort-of-writing-what-sustains-you-is/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Why does a man who is truly in love insist that this relationship must continue and be "lifelong"? 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All the rest is misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/there-is-only-one-pleasure-that-of-being-alive-all-the-rest-is-misery/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [But here's the worst part: the trick to life lies in hiding from those we hold most dear how much they mean to is;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/but-here-s-the-worst-part-the-trick-to-life-lies-in-hiding-from-those/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/traveling-is-a-brutality-it-forces-you-to-trust-strangers-and-to-lose/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [“Meanwhile we arrived at our lane and the sight of the olive tree rubbed me the wrong way. I began to see that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/meanwhile-we-arrived-at-our-lane-and-the-sight-of-the-olive-tree/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi. (Death will come and it will have your eyes.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/verr-la-morte-e-avr-i-tuoi-occhi-death-will-come-and-it-will-have/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [All our "most sacred affections " are merely prosaic habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/all-our-most-sacred-affections-are-merely-prosaic-habit/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [There comes a day when, for someone who has persecuted us, we feel only indifference, a weariness at his stupidity. Then we forgive him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/there-comes-a-day-when-for-someone-who-has-persecuted-us-we-feel-only/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [A consoling thought: what matters is not what we do, but the spirit in which we do it. 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