--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nostalgia is not for the God who is…" description: "\"“Nostalgia is not for the God who is missing to us, it is a nostalgia for ourselves, for we do not sustain ourselves; we miss our impossible grandeur -..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35d/clarice-lispector-1401_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-not-for-the-god-who-is-miss_596653.jpg" --- # Nostalgia is not for the God who is missing to us, it is a… ![“Nostalgia is not for the God who is missing to us, it is a nostalgia for ourselves, for we do not sustain ourselves; we miss our impossible grandeur - my unreachable nowness is my paradise lost.” quote by Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35d/clarice-lispector-1401_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-not-for-the-god-who-is-miss_596653.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35d/clarice-lispector-1401_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-not-for-the-god-who-is-miss_596653.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35d/clarice-lispector-1401_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-not-for-the-god-who-is-miss_596653.jpg) > ““Nostalgia is not for the God who is missing to us, it is a nostalgia for ourselves, for we do not sustain ourselves; we miss our impossible grandeur - my unreachable nowness is my paradise lost.”” [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. We long for an idealized self that we cannot maintain, feeling loss of our own greatness and identity. **In simple terms:** We miss a perfect version of ourselves. Key Takeaway Accept imperfection and nurture present self. Themes identity longing self‑acceptance Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - personal growth - creative work - relationship counseling - grief processing Key Concepts existentialism nostalgia self‑idealization Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of yourself are you idealizing? - How can you honor your past without clinging? A Different Perspective Idealizing the past can hinder present fulfillment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [God Missing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-missing-1228697/) [Missing Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/missing-nostalgia-4872536/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Nostalgia God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia-god-4872535/) [Nostalgia Sustain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia-sustain-4872537/) [Paradise Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradise-lost/) ## Related quotes > [“Life is a puzzle and God is always the missing piece.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-a-puzzle-and-god-is-always-the-missing-piece/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you say, Well, OK, I don't believe in God. There's no evidence of God, then you're missing the stars in the sky and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/if-you-say-well-ok-i-don-t-believe-in-god-there-s-no-evidence-of-god/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [We cannot attain the presence of God. We're already totally in the presence of God. What's missing is awareness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brenner/we-cannot-attain-the-presence-of-god-we-re-already-totally-in-the/) [David Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brenner/) > [“I want you to remember that in life you will encounter some very tough times, but you can find your strength in God. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krickett-carpenter/i-want-you-to-remember-that-in-life-you-will-encounter-some-very/) [Krickett Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krickett-carpenter/) > [I wear my heart up on my sleeve so my soul's exposed. And I carry this disease, the weight of the holy ghost. God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/falling-in-reverse/i-wear-my-heart-up-on-my-sleeve-so-my-soul-s-exposed-and-i-carry-this/) [Falling In Reverse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/falling-in-reverse/) > [“Let us then consider it certain and firmly established that the soul can do without anything except the Word of God and that where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/let-us-then-consider-it-certain-and-firmly-established-that-the-soul/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [God must be missing an angel, are your dad from space?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/god-must-be-missing-an-angel-are-your-dad-from-space/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“And then it came to him. He had been wrong about everything. God was missing. He had never been here. And if He had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-michael-hurley/and-then-it-came-to-him-he-had-been-wrong-about-everything-god-was/) [Andrew Michael Hurley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-michael-hurley/) > [In the dictionary of the Devil, the word God is always missing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/in-the-dictionary-of-the-devil-the-word-god-is-always-missing/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [The ocean seemed like a sea of Eden. But now we are facing paradise lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-earle/the-ocean-seemed-like-a-sea-of-eden-but-now-we-are-facing-paradise/) [Sylvia Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-earle/) > [You will most appreciate 'Freddy and Fredericka' if you are familiar with the story of the Fall, the Good Hermit, 'Tom Jones,' 'Huckleberry Finn,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/you-will-most-appreciate-freddy-and-fredericka-if-you-are-familiar/) [Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/) > [“It is so simple and easy to hate and so grueling and hard to love, when the emotional “love forever”- revelation has become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/it-is-so-simple-and-easy-to-hate-and-so-grueling-and-hard-to-love/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [I don't despise 'Don Quixote,' but it is a book I don't... get. I'll have to come back it. Maybe there'll be a gateway…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-oyeyemi/i-don-t-despise-don-quixote-but-it-is-a-book-i-don-t-get-i-ll-have-to/) [Helen Oyeyemi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-oyeyemi/) > [Formerly Milton's Paradise Lost had been my chief favourite, and in my excursions during the voyage of the Beagle, when I could take only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/formerly-milton-s-paradise-lost-had-been-my-chief-favourite-and-in-my/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [“Milton argued, in 1649, after the execution of Charles I, that a people 'free by nature' had a right to overthrow a tyrant; a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-carter/milton-argued-in-1649-after-the-execution-of-charles-i-that-a-people/) [Ronald Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-carter/) ## 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 Nostalgia quotes > [Nostalgia keeps dissolving the ironic narratives in which I have contained my past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/nostalgia-keeps-dissolving-the-ironic-narratives-in-which-i-have/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“When I was alive, I aimed to be a student not of longing but of light.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/when-i-was-alive-i-aimed-to-be-a-student-not-of-longing-but-of-light/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“I don't want to break my memories with you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arzum-uzun/i-don-t-want-to-break-my-memories-with-you/) [Arzum Uzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arzum-uzun/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [“Not very long ago I was driving with my husband on the back roads of Grey County, which is to the north and east…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/not-very-long-ago-i-was-driving-with-my-husband-on-the-back-roads-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Can you miss someone you haven’t seen for longer than you knew them? Maybe we rue the time not the person.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-rothschild/can-you-miss-someone-you-haven-t-seen-for-longer-than-you-knew-them/) [Hannah Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-rothschild/) > [A vacation is like love - anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort, and remembered with nostalgia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/a-vacation-is-like-love-anticipated-with-pleasure-experienced-with/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Any time gone by was better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/any-time-gone-by-was-better/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Let us not burthen our remembrance with A heaviness that's gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-us-not-burthen-our-remembrance-with-a-heaviness-that-s-gone/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Some things in this world just ain't meant to be, not in the times we want 'em to, and the heart has to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/some-things-in-this-world-just-ain-t-meant-to-be-not-in-the-times-we/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [For me, growing up in hip-hop culture, it's all about having the next style, the new fashion, the new way to express yourself, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/el-p/for-me-growing-up-in-hip-hop-culture-it-s-all-about-having-the-next/) [El-P](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/el-p/) > [“Out of infinite longings rise finite deeds like weak fountains, falling back just in time and trembling. And yet, what otherwise remains silent, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/out-of-infinite-longings-rise-finite-deeds-like-weak-fountains/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) [Browse all 2,425 Nostalgia quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Nostalgia is not for the God who is missing to us, it is a nostalgia for ourselves, for we do not sustain ourselves; we miss our impossible grandeur - my unreachable nowness is my paradise lost.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Clarice Lispector" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/nostalgia-is-not-for-the-god-who-is-missing-to-us-it-is-a-nostalgia/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Nostalgia" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/nostalgia-is-not-for-the-god-who-is-missing-to-us-it-is-a-nostalgia/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35d/clarice-lispector-1401_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-not-for-the-god-who-is-miss_596653.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35d/clarice-lispector-1401_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-not-for-the-god-who-is-miss_596653.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35d/clarice-lispector-1401_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-not-for-the-god-who-is-miss_596653.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nostalgia is not for the God who is missing to us, it is a nostalgia for ourselves, for we do not sustain…” — Clarice Lispector", "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": "Clarice Lispector", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Nostalgia is not for the God...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/nostalgia-is-not-for-the-god-who-is-missing-to-us-it-is-a-nostalgia/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/nostalgia-is-not-for-the-god-who-is-missing-to-us-it-is-a-nostalgia/#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 } } ] } ```