--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Despair itself if it goes on long enough…" description: "\"Despair itself if it goes on long enough, can become a kind of sanctuary in which one settles down and feels at ease.\" — Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec6/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_despair_despair-itself-if-it-goes-on-long-enough_2050105.png" --- # Despair itself if it goes on long enough, can become a… ![“Despair itself if it goes on long enough, can become a kind of sanctuary in which one settles down and feels at ease.” quote by Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec6/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_despair_despair-itself-if-it-goes-on-long-enough_2050105.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec6/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_despair_despair-itself-if-it-goes-on-long-enough_2050105.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec6/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_despair_despair-itself-if-it-goes-on-long-enough_2050105.png) > “Despair itself if it goes on long enough, can become a kind of sanctuary in which one settles down and feels at ease.” [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Extended despair can paradoxically become a comforting refuge where one feels settled, highlighting the dual nature of suffering. **In simple terms:** Long despair may feel like a safe haven. Key Takeaway Recognize when suffering becomes stagnation. Themes philosophy psychology existence comfort Mood melancholic thoughtful Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - therapy - creative writing - mindfulness practice - support groups Key Concepts sanctuary paradox mental health Questions to Reflect On - When does comfort become harmful? - How to transition out of despair? A Different Perspective Risk of romanticizing unhealthy states. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Sanctuary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sanctuary/) [Settling down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/settling-down/) ## Related quotes > [Anybody who feels at ease in the world today is a fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hutchins/anybody-who-feels-at-ease-in-the-world-today-is-a-fool/) [Robert M. Hutchins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-hutchins/) > [Taxes are a barbaric remnant of ancient times in which early farmers, tied to the land, no longer able to roam freely, unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/taxes-are-a-barbaric-remnant-of-ancient-times-in-which-early-farmers/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Meditation is the calm in the chaos, the fastest way to settle down and get in touch with the stillness within.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-karan/meditation-is-the-calm-in-the-chaos-the-fastest-way-to-settle-down/) [Donna Karan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-karan/) > [Men in general are too material and do not make enough human contacts. If we search for the fundamentals which actually motivate us we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-s-jordan/men-in-general-are-too-material-and-do-not-make-enough-human-contacts/) Edward S. Jordan > [If I became lost in the multiverse, exploring infinite parallel dimensions, my only criterion for settling down somewhere would be whether or not I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-pratt/if-i-became-lost-in-the-multiverse-exploring-infinite-parallel/) [Tim Pratt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-pratt/) > [Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place, but there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-is-excitement-that-has-found-a-settling-down-place-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have had a hard time settling on one medium and feel like a dilettante at times, taking up one medium and then wanting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-johnson/i-have-had-a-hard-time-settling-on-one-medium-and-feel-like-a/) [Nancy Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-johnson/) > [The more I think about it, the more I realize that schools are just factories for turning out robots, that's all. They get you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/the-more-i-think-about-it-the-more-i-realize-that-schools-are-just/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [Tell you what," I said. "After the testing after the Demon Days, when things settle down -" "Things won't settle down." "- I'm going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/tell-you-what-i-said-after-the-testing-after-the-demon-days-when/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [I could settle down into a state of equable low spirits, and resign myself to coffee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-could-settle-down-into-a-state-of-equable-low-spirits-and-resign/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Some say that I should settle down, go slower and not push so hard, so quickly for such transformational change. To them, I say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-spitzer/some-say-that-i-should-settle-down-go-slower-and-not-push-so-hard-so/) [Eliot Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-spitzer/) > [Old Flossie settle down on the other side of What-the-Dickens and dragged some handiwork out of a sack. She armed herself with two thorns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/old-flossie-settle-down-on-the-other-side-of-what-the-dickens-and/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [You see, this heart, won't settle down; just like a child, running, scared, from a clown. Demi Lovato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demi-lovato/you-see-this-heart-won-t-settle-down-just-like-a-child-running-scared/) [Demi Lovato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demi-lovato/) > [Dogs seek attention from you. But by paying them that attention when they want it, you're reinforcing the bad or hyperactive or anxious behavior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-millan/dogs-seek-attention-from-you-but-by-paying-them-that-attention-when/) [Cesar Millan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-millan/) > [One day I may commit to a city and settle down and do the restaurant thing - when I'm ready and however and whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-kish/one-day-i-may-commit-to-a-city-and-settle-down-and-do-the-restaurant/) Kristen Kish ## More by Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve > [Most celebrated men live in a condition of prostitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/most-celebrated-men-live-in-a-condition-of-prostitution/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [What signifies the ladder, provided one rise and attain the end?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/what-signifies-the-ladder-provided-one-rise-and-attain-the-end/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [“Nothing is more painful to me than the disdain with which people treat second-rate authors, as if there were room only for the first-raters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/nothing-is-more-painful-to-me-than-the-disdain-with-which-people/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [One is always of his age and especially he who least appears so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/one-is-always-of-his-age-and-especially-he-who-least-appears-so/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [“Tell me who loves, who admires you, and I will tell you who you are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/tell-me-who-loves-who-admires-you-and-i-will-tell-you-who-you-are/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [The nearest approach to the infallible in literary judgment is represented in the colossal work of the teacher of all these three \[Edmund Gosse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/the-nearest-approach-to-the-infallible-in-literary-judgment-is/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [Since it is necessary to have enemies, let us endeavour to have those who do us honour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/since-it-is-necessary-to-have-enemies-let-us-endeavour-to-have-those/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [If you want to succeed, limit yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/if-you-want-to-succeed-limit-yourself/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [If I had a device, it would be the true, the true only, leaving the beautiful and the good to settle matters afterwards as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/if-i-had-a-device-it-would-be-the-true-the-true-only-leaving-the/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [In most men there exists a poet who died young, whom the man survived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/in-most-men-there-exists-a-poet-who-died-young-whom-the-man-survived/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [A philosophical thought has probably not attained all its sharpness and all its illumination until it is expressed in French.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/a-philosophical-thought-has-probably-not-attained-all-its-sharpness/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [The greatest of all French critics, and possibly the greatest European critic since Aristotle .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/the-greatest-of-all-french-critics-and-possibly-the-greatest-european/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [There are people whose clocks stop at a certain point in their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/there-are-people-whose-clocks-stop-at-a-certain-point-in-their-lives/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [Nature wants us to enjoy life to the full and die without giving it a second thought; Christianity wants the opposite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/nature-wants-us-to-enjoy-life-to-the-full-and-die-without-giving-it-a/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [With everyone born human, a poet - an artist - is born, who dies young and who is survived by an adult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/with-everyone-born-human-a-poet-an-artist-is-born-who-dies-young-and/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) [Explore all 17 Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) ## More Despair quotes > [“As ofttimes as it rains on my little spot of earth, you'd think I'd grow accustomed to the gloom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/as-ofttimes-as-it-rains-on-my-little-spot-of-earth-you-d-think-i-d/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“She searched her mind for a single day when it had felt good to be alive. There must have been one, surely?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-abbott/she-searched-her-mind-for-a-single-day-when-it-had-felt-good-to-be/) [Rachel Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-abbott/) > [“Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/men-circle-like-bees-around-honey-buzzing-to-communicate-their-sexual/) [Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [Your spirit is the part of you that seeks meaning and purpose. It's the part drawn to hope, that will not give in to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/your-spirit-is-the-part-of-you-that-seeks-meaning-and-purpose-it-s/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [My God, whose son, as on this night, took on Him the form of man, and for man vouchsafed to suffer and bleed, controls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-god-whose-son-as-on-this-night-took-on-him-the-form-of-man-and-for/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The skin and shell of things Though fair are not Thy wish nor prayer but got My meer despair of wings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-vaughan/the-skin-and-shell-of-things-though-fair-are-not-thy-wish-nor-prayer/) [Henry Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-vaughan/) > [“A fine setting for a fit of despair,” it occurred to him, “if I were only standing here by accident instead of design.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/a-fine-setting-for-a-fit-of-despair-it-occurred-to-him-if-i-were-only/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Enough for this bow & arrow. It caused me nothing but sorrow. No need for another tomorrow. In your heart, I will never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louaiq8/enough-for-this-bow-arrow-it-caused-me-nothing-but-sorrow-no-need-for/) Louaiq8 > [True repentance never leads to despair. Its leads home. It leads to grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/true-repentance-never-leads-to-despair-its-leads-home-it-leads-to/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [Do not consider despair as a thick and high wall standing on your way; it is just a darkness and you can still walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/do-not-consider-despair-as-a-thick-and-high-wall-standing-on-your-way/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [A speculative despair is unpardonable where it our duty to act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-speculative-despair-is-unpardonable-where-it-our-duty-to-act/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I have noticed that there is no dissatisfaction like that of the rich. Feed a man, clothe him, put him in a good house,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-have-noticed-that-there-is-no-dissatisfaction-like-that-of-the-rich/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Browse all 3,181 Despair quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Despair itself if it goes on long enough, can become a kind of sanctuary in which one settles down and feels at ease.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/despair-itself-if-it-goes-on-long-enough-can-become-a-kind-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Despair" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/despair-itself-if-it-goes-on-long-enough-can-become-a-kind-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec6/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_despair_despair-itself-if-it-goes-on-long-enough_2050105.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec6/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_despair_despair-itself-if-it-goes-on-long-enough_2050105.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec6/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_despair_despair-itself-if-it-goes-on-long-enough_2050105.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Despair itself if it goes on long enough, can become a kind of sanctuary in which one settles down and feels…” — Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve", "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": "Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Despair itself if it goes on...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/despair-itself-if-it-goes-on-long-enough-can-become-a-kind-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/despair-itself-if-it-goes-on-long-enough-can-become-a-kind-of/#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 } } ] } ```