--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Seek not my heart; the beasts have eaten it" description: "\"“Seek not my heart; the beasts have eaten it”\" — Charles Baudelaire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1d/charles-baudelaire-473_animals_seek-not-my-heart-the-beasts-have-eaten_2011184.jpg" --- # Seek not my heart; the beasts have eaten it ![“Seek not my heart; the beasts have eaten it” quote by Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1d/charles-baudelaire-473_animals_seek-not-my-heart-the-beasts-have-eaten_2011184.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1d/charles-baudelaire-473_animals_seek-not-my-heart-the-beasts-have-eaten_2011184.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1d/charles-baudelaire-473_animals_seek-not-my-heart-the-beasts-have-eaten_2011184.jpg) > ““Seek not my heart; the beasts have eaten it”” [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The heart is consumed, leaving nothing for love; a warning against emotional emptiness. **In simple terms:** Heart consumed, love lost. Key Takeaway Guard your emotional core. Themes love emptiness warning Mood melancholic poetic Type literary emotional When to use this quote - relationship counseling - self‑reflection - art analysis - mental health Key Concepts poetry symbolism despair Questions to Reflect On - What empties your heart? - How can you protect emotional health? A Different Perspective May overlook resilience after loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Beasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beasts/) [Beasts Eaten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beasts-eaten-1781185/) [Eaten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eaten/) [Heart Beasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart-beasts-3592825/) [Seek Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seek-heart-363163/) ## Related quotes > [My heart is lost; the beasts have eaten it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/my-heart-is-lost-the-beasts-have-eaten-it/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Ne cherchez plus mon coeur; les be" tes l'ont mange . Don't search any further for my heart; wild beasts ate it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/ne-cherchez-plus-mon-coeur-les-be-tes-l-ont-mange-don-t-search-any/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“Seek to get to the heart of the matter, because regardless of how hard it has become, everyone still breathing has one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-d-blackwell/seek-to-get-to-the-heart-of-the-matter-because-regardless-of-how-hard/) [Hope D. Blackwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-d-blackwell/) > [“When I really want to hear from God, but He seems silent, I sometimes find I want to disengage from my normal spiritual activities.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysa-terkeurst/when-i-really-want-to-hear-from-god-but-he-seems-silent-i-sometimes/) [Lysa TerKeurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysa-terkeurst/) > [Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of Himself. Ask and seek and you heart will grow big enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/prayer-enlarges-the-heart-until-it-is-capable-of-containing-god-s-2/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [“Much can be accomplished if you seek a heart of wisdom and walk diligently with God each and every day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-george/much-can-be-accomplished-if-you-seek-a-heart-of-wisdom-and-walk/) [Elizabeth George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-george/) > [“You want to know the meaning of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/you-want-to-know-the-meaning-of-death-but-how-shall-you-find-it/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [I seek a place that can never be destroyed, one that is pure, and that fadeth not away, and it is laid up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/i-seek-a-place-that-can-never-be-destroyed-one-that-is-pure-and-that/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [She did know that the journey to happiness was laborious and strewn with seeds of suffering. She guessed that it was probably a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lurlene-mcdaniel/she-did-know-that-the-journey-to-happiness-was-laborious-and-strewn/) [Lurlene McDaniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lurlene-mcdaniel/) > [“And after years of hearing the heart-cry of women, I am convinced beyond a doubt of this: God wants to be loved. He wants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eldredge/and-after-years-of-hearing-the-heart-cry-of-women-i-am-convinced/) [John Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eldredge/) > [“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer. 29: 13).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrystal-evans-hurst/you-will-seek-me-and-find-me-when-you-seek-me-with-all-your-heart-jer/) [Chrystal Evans Hurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrystal-evans-hurst/) > [You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-would-know-the-secret-of-death-but-how-shall-you-find-it-unless/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I seek you. I long for you. I seek with all my heart. In this world of sin, We need a saviour. "Seek and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-holdsworth/i-seek-you-i-long-for-you-i-seek-with-all-my-heart-in-this-world-of/) [David Holdsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-holdsworth/) > [“When you’re here, an i in the Ocean, you’re no longer waiting for something to happen or to change. When you’re here you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-pierre-weill/when-you-re-here-an-i-in-the-ocean-you-re-no-longer-waiting-for/) [Jean-Pierre Weill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-pierre-weill/) > [“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. JEREMIAH 29:13”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stormie-omartian/you-will-seek-me-and-find-me-when-you-seek-me-with-all-your-heart/) [Stormie Omartian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stormie-omartian/) ## More by Charles Baudelaire > [Who would dare assign to art the sterile function of imitating nature?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/who-would-dare-assign-to-art-the-sterile-function-of-imitating-nature/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”—Charles Baudelaire “The second greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-greatest-trick-the-devil-ever-pulled-was-convincing-the-world-he/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“This life is a hospital in which each patient is possessed by the desire to change beds. One wants to suffer in front of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/this-life-is-a-hospital-in-which-each-patient-is-possessed-by-the/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [There is no such thing as a long piece of work, except one that you dare not start.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-long-piece-of-work-except-one-that-you/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [But the true voyagers are only those who leave Just to be leaving; hearts light, like balloons, They never turn aside from their fatality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/but-the-true-voyagers-are-only-those-who-leave-just-to-be-leaving/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Amer savoir, celui qu'on tire du voyage! Bitter is the knowledge gained in travelling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/amer-savoir-celui-qu-on-tire-du-voyage-bitter-is-the-knowledge-gained/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“Car je cherche le vide, el le noir, el le nu!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/car-je-cherche-le-vide-el-le-noir-el-le-nu/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“I can barely conceive a type of beauty in which there is no melancholy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/i-can-barely-conceive-a-type-of-beauty-in-which-there-is-no-melancholy/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [The vices of man, as full of horror as one might suppose them to be, contain the proof (if in nothing else but their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-vices-of-man-as-full-of-horror-as-one-might-suppose-them-to-be/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Multitude, solitude: equal and interchangeable terms for the active and prolific poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/multitude-solitude-equal-and-interchangeable-terms-for-the-active-and/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Any healthy man can go without food for two days - but not without poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/any-healthy-man-can-go-without-food-for-two-days-but-not-without/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Drink wine, drink poetry, drink virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/drink-wine-drink-poetry-drink-virtue/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Man loves man so much that when he flees the city, it is still to seek the crowd, that is, to rebuild the city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/man-loves-man-so-much-that-when-he-flees-the-city-it-is-still-to-seek/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“—But why is she weeping? She, the perfect beauty, Who could put at her feet the conquered human race, What secret malady gnaws at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/but-why-is-she-weeping-she-the-perfect-beauty-who-could-put-at-her/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) [Explore all 454 Charles Baudelaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) ## More Animals quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/it-s-a-small-thing-to-help-one-animal-but-to-that-one-animal-it-s-a/) [Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/all-these-creatures-spend-their-time-explaining-realizing-happily/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [We're not very dangerous animals; we don't have a horn like a rhino or quills like a porcupine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/we-re-not-very-dangerous-animals-we-don-t-have-a-horn-like-a-rhino-or/) [Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/) > [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [“Plenty of animals had pets, but few were more devoted than the mouse, who owned a baby corn snake—“A rescue snake, she’d be quick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/plenty-of-animals-had-pets-but-few-were-more-devoted-than-the-mouse/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) > [No creature can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/no-creature-can-attain-a-higher-grade-of-nature-without-ceasing-to/) [Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/) > [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/) [Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/) [Browse all 6,813 Animals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Seek not my heart; the beasts have eaten it”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Baudelaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/seek-not-my-heart-the-beasts-have-eaten-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animals" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/seek-not-my-heart-the-beasts-have-eaten-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1d/charles-baudelaire-473_animals_seek-not-my-heart-the-beasts-have-eaten_2011184.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1d/charles-baudelaire-473_animals_seek-not-my-heart-the-beasts-have-eaten_2011184.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1d/charles-baudelaire-473_animals_seek-not-my-heart-the-beasts-have-eaten_2011184.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Seek not my heart; the beasts have eaten it” — Charles Baudelaire", "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 Baudelaire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Seek not my heart; the beasts...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/seek-not-my-heart-the-beasts-have-eaten-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/seek-not-my-heart-the-beasts-have-eaten-it/#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 } } ] } ```