--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life was taking its vengeance on me, and…" description: "\"“Life was taking its vengeance on me, and that vengeance consisted merely in coming back, nothing more. Every case of madness involves something coming..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbd/clarice-lispector-1401_destruction_life-was-taking-its-vengeance-on-me-and_3032990.jpg" --- # Life was taking its vengeance on me, and that vengeance… ![“Life was taking its vengeance on me, and that vengeance consisted merely in coming back, nothing more. Every case of madness involves something coming back. People who are possessed are not possessed by something that just comes but instead by something that comes back. Sometimes life comes back…” quote by Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbd/clarice-lispector-1401_destruction_life-was-taking-its-vengeance-on-me-and_3032990.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbd/clarice-lispector-1401_destruction_life-was-taking-its-vengeance-on-me-and_3032990.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbd/clarice-lispector-1401_destruction_life-was-taking-its-vengeance-on-me-and_3032990.jpg) > ““Life was taking its vengeance on me, and that vengeance consisted merely in coming back, nothing more. Every case of madness involves something coming back. People who are possessed are not possessed by something that just comes but instead by something that comes back. Sometimes life comes back. If in me everything crumbled before that power, it is not because that power was itself necessarily an overwhelming one: it in fact had only to come, since it had already become too full-flowing a force to be controlled or contained - when it appeared it overran everything. And then, like after a flood, there floated a wardrobe, a person, a loose window, three suitcases. And that seemed like Hell to me, that destruction of layers and layers of human archaeology.”” [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life’s hardships return repeatedly, overwhelming us like a flood, revealing hidden layers of our humanity and forcing confrontation with inner chaos. **In simple terms:** Problems keep coming back, overwhelming and exposing us. Key Takeaway Embrace cycles of challenge as growth opportunities. Themes resilience recurrence inner turmoil Mood intense philosophical Type literary existential When to use this quote - crisis management - therapy - creative writing - spiritual practice Key Concepts flood metaphor psychic return Questions to Reflect On - How do you respond when past issues resurface? - What hidden aspects emerge after a crisis? A Different Perspective The “vengeance” may be self‑inflicted, not external. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madness/) [Repression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repression/) [Vengeance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vengeance/) ## Related quotes > [I know very few young people, but it seems to me that they are all possessed with an almost fatal hunger for permanence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/i-know-very-few-young-people-but-it-seems-to-me-that-they-are-all/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [When the body of the people is possessed of the supreme power, it is called a democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-the-body-of-the-people-is-possessed-of-the-supreme-power-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Movie people are possessed by demons, but a very low form of demons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/movie-people-are-possessed-by-demons-but-a-very-low-form-of-demons/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [A people... who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/a-people-who-are-possessed-of-the-spirit-of-commerce-who-see-and-who/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [The traits I picked from my conversation with Captain Gopinath was his honesty. He was completely possessed at each stage by what he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sudha-kongara/the-traits-i-picked-from-my-conversation-with-captain-gopinath-was/) [Sudha Kongara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sudha-kongara/) > [Possessing what we still were unpossessed by, Possessed by what we now no more possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/possessing-what-we-still-were-unpossessed-by-possessed-by-what-we-now/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [Oh, she doesn't belong to anybody now,' he said, and suddenly I saw her for what she was - a piece of refuse waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/oh-she-doesn-t-belong-to-anybody-now-he-said-and-suddenly-i-saw-her/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“When something is finished, it cannot be possessed. Nothing can be possessed but the struggle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/when-something-is-finished-it-cannot-be-possessed-nothing-can-be/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [To possess money is very well; it may be a valuable servant; to be possessed by it is to be possessed by the devil,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tryon-edwards/to-possess-money-is-very-well-it-may-be-a-valuable-servant-to-be/) [Tryon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tryon-edwards/) > [A just society is not one built on fear or repression or vengeance or exclusion, but one built on love. Love for our families.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-legend/a-just-society-is-not-one-built-on-fear-or-repression-or-vengeance-or/) [John Legend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-legend/) > [“Life was taking its vengeance on me, and that vengeance consisted merely in coming back, nothing more. Every case of madness involves something coming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/life-was-taking-its-vengeance-on-me-and-that-vengeance-consisted/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“What you give away in life always comes back to you in one way or other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudy-harris/what-you-give-away-in-life-always-comes-back-to-you-in-one-way-or/) Trudy Harris > [“when my mother was pregnant with her second child i was four i pointed at her swollen belly confused at how my mother had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupi-kaur/when-my-mother-was-pregnant-with-her-second-child-i-was-four-i/) [Rupi Kaur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupi-kaur/) > [“This life is just a bootcamp, to test and toughen us, to prepare us for the next life of service in some great adventure.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/this-life-is-just-a-bootcamp-to-test-and-toughen-us-to-prepare-us-for/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Life comes from death. To the degree that I can live in the death of Jesus - to that degree I can channel God's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-giglio/life-comes-from-death-to-the-degree-that-i-can-live-in-the-death-of/) [Louie Giglio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-giglio/) ## More by Clarice Lispector > [“I find it hard to believe that I shall die. Because I'm bubbling in cold freshness. My life will be very long because each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/i-find-it-hard-to-believe-that-i-shall-die-because-i-m-bubbling-in/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“We shall be inhuman - as humankind's greatest conquest. To be is to be beyond the human. To be a human being doesn't do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/we-shall-be-inhuman-as-humankind-s-greatest-conquest-to-be-is-to-be/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [The only truth is that I live. Sincerely, I live. Who am I? Well, that's a bit much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/the-only-truth-is-that-i-live-sincerely-i-live-who-am-i-well-that-s-a/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [Brazil is where I have to be, where I have my roots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/brazil-is-where-i-have-to-be-where-i-have-my-roots/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“her short stories read like perfect songs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/her-short-stories-read-like-perfect-songs/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“Between two musical notes there exists another note, between two facts there exists another fact, between two grains of sand, no matter how close…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/between-two-musical-notes-there-exists-another-note-between-two-facts/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [I' is merely one of the world's instantaneous spasms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/i-is-merely-one-of-the-world-s-instantaneous-spasms/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“It isn't for us that cows' milk comes forth, but we drink it. Flowers weren't made for us to look at or for us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/it-isn-t-for-us-that-cows-milk-comes-forth-but-we-drink-it-flowers/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [To think is an act. To feel is a fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/to-think-is-an-act-to-feel-is-a-fact/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [Love is now, is always. All that is missing is the coup de grâce- which is called passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/love-is-now-is-always-all-that-is-missing-is-the-coup-de-gr-ce-which/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [What I want is to live of that initial and primordial something that was what made some things reach the point of aspiring to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/what-i-want-is-to-live-of-that-initial-and-primordial-something-that/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“I see that the wardrobe looks penetrable because it has a door. But when I open it, I see that penetration has been put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/i-see-that-the-wardrobe-looks-penetrable-because-it-has-a-door-but/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“I knew that cockroaches could go more than a month without food or water. And they could even survive on wood for food. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/i-knew-that-cockroaches-could-go-more-than-a-month-without-food-or/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“Beatitude starts in the moment when the act of thinking has freed itself from the necessity of form. Beatitude starts at the moment when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/beatitude-starts-in-the-moment-when-the-act-of-thinking-has-freed/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [“Beyond thought I reach a state. I refuse to divide it up into words - and what I cannot and do not want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/beyond-thought-i-reach-a-state-i-refuse-to-divide-it-up-into-words/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) [Explore all 196 Clarice Lispector quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) ## More Destruction quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Perhaps the greatest and least visible form of impoverishment caused by the Corporate State is the destruction of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/perhaps-the-greatest-and-least-visible-form-of-impoverishment-caused/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hundreds of millions of human beings on our planet increasingly suffer from unemployment, poverty, hunger, and the destruction of their families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-kung/hundreds-of-millions-of-human-beings-on-our-planet-increasingly/) [Hans Kung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-kung/) > [Away with you, water, destruction of wine!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/away-with-you-water-destruction-of-wine/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [ No visiting angel, or explorer from another planet, could have guessed that this bland orb \[Earth\] teemed with vermin, with world-mastering, self-torturing, incipiently angelic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/no-visiting-angel-or-explorer-from-another-planet-could-have-guessed/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-far-as-i-know-the-question-of-whether-and-how-it-could-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is there some lesson on how to be friends? 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