--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You know, without my telling you, how…" description: "\"You know, without my telling you, how sometimes a word or name eludes you, and you seek it through running ghosts of shadow -- leaping at it, lying in ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/conrad-aiken-9766_branches_you-know-without-my-telling-you-how-some_2202134.jpg" --- # You know, without my telling you, how sometimes a word or… ![“You know, without my telling you, how sometimes a word or name eludes you, and you seek it through running ghosts of shadow -- leaping at it, lying in wait for it to spring upon it, spreading faint snares for it of sense or sound: until, of a sudden, as if in a phantom forest, you hear it, see it…” quote by Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/conrad-aiken-9766_branches_you-know-without-my-telling-you-how-some_2202134.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/conrad-aiken-9766_branches_you-know-without-my-telling-you-how-some_2202134.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/conrad-aiken-9766_branches_you-know-without-my-telling-you-how-some_2202134.jpg) > “You know, without my telling you, how sometimes a word or name eludes you, and you seek it through running ghosts of shadow -- leaping at it, lying in wait for it to spring upon it, spreading faint snares for it of sense or sound: until, of a sudden, as if in a phantom forest, you hear it, see it flash among the branches, and scarcely knowing how, suddenly have it.” [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The mind chases elusive words, and when they finally surface, it feels sudden and almost magical. **In simple terms:** Finding a forgotten word feels like a sudden flash of insight. Key Takeaway Trust your intuition when a word feels near. Themes creativity memory perception Mood curious reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - learning - problem solving - brainstorming Key Concepts cognitive retrieval psychological chase Questions to Reflect On - What strategies help you capture elusive ideas? - How does the feeling of sudden insight affect your confidence? A Different Perspective The chase can become frustrating and may distract from the main task. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Branches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/branches/) [Elude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elude/) [Elude you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elude-you/) [Flash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flash/) [Forests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forests/) [Ghost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost/) [Ghosts Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghosts-shadow-4842207/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Phantoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phantoms/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Scarcely Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scarcely-knowing-4842208/) [Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) [Snares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snares/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Sudden Phantom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sudden-phantom-4842209/) [Waiting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waiting/) [Word Eludes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-eludes-4842206/) ## Related quotes > [The theme you choose may change or simply elude you, but being your own story means you can always choose the tone. It also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/the-theme-you-choose-may-change-or-simply-elude-you-but-being-your/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Success is not something you pursue. What you pursue will elude you; it can be like trying to chase butterflies. Success is something you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/success-is-not-something-you-pursue-what-you-pursue-will-elude-you-it/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [Consider the sunlight. You may say that it is near, yet if you pursue it from world to world you will never catch it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huangbo-xiyun/consider-the-sunlight-you-may-say-that-it-is-near-yet-if-you-pursue/) [Huangbo Xiyun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huangbo-xiyun/) > [Never let hope elude you. That is life's biggest fumble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-zuppke/never-let-hope-elude-you-that-is-life-s-biggest-fumble/) [Robert Zuppke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-zuppke/) > [Sometimes something will come along, and it feels easy and sometimes you'll get 85 percent there on a song and the last 15 percent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephan-jenkins/sometimes-something-will-come-along-and-it-feels-easy-and-sometimes/) [Stephan Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephan-jenkins/) > [Do not stop trying just because perfection eludes you,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-k-s-iyengar/do-not-stop-trying-just-because-perfection-eludes-you/) [B.K.S. Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-k-s-iyengar/) > [Success is something you should never take into consideration: if you follow it it'll elude you. It's important to really love your work as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/success-is-something-you-should-never-take-into-consideration-if-you/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [To know what you want to say is not the best condition for writing a novel. Novels go happiest when you discover something you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/to-know-what-you-want-to-say-is-not-the-best-condition-for-writing-a/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Sometimes a scene can elude you, and then, you also learn that the small moments are really what you're after. A big broad moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-stoller/sometimes-a-scene-can-elude-you-and-then-you-also-learn-that-the/) [Nicholas Stoller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-stoller/) > [Beware of confining yourself to a particular belief and denying all else, for much good would elude you - indeed, the knowledge of reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-arabi/beware-of-confining-yourself-to-a-particular-belief-and-denying-all/) [Ibn Arabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-arabi/) > [When you SEEK HAPPINESS for yourself, it will always elude you. When you seek happiness for OTHERS, you will find it yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/when-you-seek-happiness-for-yourself-it-will-always-elude-you-when/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [“Think that it's fun, that you're guided, and that all is well. Think that there's time, that life is easy, and that the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-dooley/think-that-it-s-fun-that-you-re-guided-and-that-all-is-well-think/) [Mike Dooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-dooley/) > [If you consider an unsuccessful hunt to be a waste of time, then the true meaning of the chase eludes you all together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-bear/if-you-consider-an-unsuccessful-hunt-to-be-a-waste-of-time-then-the/) [Fred Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-bear/) > [The observation of human blindness and weakness is the result of all philosophy, and meets us at every turn, in spite of our endeavours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-observation-of-human-blindness-and-weakness-is-the-result-of-all/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [Even though fixed in time, a photograph evokes as much feeling as that which comes from music or dance. Whatever the mode - from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-gibson/even-though-fixed-in-time-a-photograph-evokes-as-much-feeling-as-that/) [Ralph Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-gibson/) ## More by Conrad Aiken > [It is moonlight. Alone in the silence I ascend my stairs once more, While waves remote in pale blue starlight Crash on a white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-is-moonlight-alone-in-the-silence-i-ascend-my-stairs-once-more/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [The truth--a hideous spectacle!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/the-truth-a-hideous-spectacle/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [“It was gentler here, softer, its seethe the quietest of whispers, as if, in deference to a drawing room, it had quite deliberately put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-was-gentler-here-softer-its-seethe-the-quietest-of-whispers-as-if/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [One cricket said to another - come, let us be ridiculous, and say love! love love love love love let us be absurd, woman,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/one-cricket-said-to-another-come-let-us-be-ridiculous-and-say-love/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [I began by doing book reviews on the typewriter and then went over to short stories on the machine, meanwhile sticking to pencil for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/i-began-by-doing-book-reviews-on-the-typewriter-and-then-went-over-to/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [“And the mist of snow, as he had foreseen, was still on it - a ghost of snow falling in the bright sunlight, softly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/and-the-mist-of-snow-as-he-had-foreseen-was-still-on-it-a-ghost-of/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [I think it's very useful to be insulated from your surrounds, because it gives you your inviolate privacy, without pressures, so that you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/i-think-it-s-very-useful-to-be-insulated-from-your-surrounds-because/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [Death is one dream out of another flowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/death-is-one-dream-out-of-another-flowing/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [The wind shrieks, the wind grieves; It dashes the leaves on walls, it whirls then again; And the enormous sleeper vaguely and stupidly dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/the-wind-shrieks-the-wind-grieves-it-dashes-the-leaves-on-walls-it/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [Death is never an ending, death is a change; Death is beautiful, for death is strange; Death is one dream out of another flowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/death-is-never-an-ending-death-is-a-change-death-is-beautiful-for/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [As poetry is the highest speech of man, it can not only accept and contain, but in the end express best everything in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/as-poetry-is-the-highest-speech-of-man-it-can-not-only-accept-and/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [Youth yearns to youth, full blood loves full blood only.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/youth-yearns-to-youth-full-blood-loves-full-blood-only/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [One is least sure of one's self, sometimes, when one is most positive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/one-is-least-sure-of-one-s-self-sometimes-when-one-is-most-positive/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [For in this walk, this voyage, it is yourself, the profound history of your 'self,' that now as always you encounter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/for-in-this-walk-this-voyage-it-is-yourself-the-profound-history-of/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [Life is the thing--the song of life-- The eager plow, the thirsty knife!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/life-is-the-thing-the-song-of-life-the-eager-plow-the-thirsty-knife/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) [Explore all 70 Conrad Aiken quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) ## More Branches quotes > [ \[States and the Federal government are\] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/states-and-the-federal-government-are-coordinate-departments-of-one/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [In our system of government, the judicial and legislative branches have different roles. Judges are not politicians. Judges must decide cases, not champion causes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orrin-hatch/in-our-system-of-government-the-judicial-and-legislative-branches/) [Orrin Hatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orrin-hatch/) > [The sugar maple is remarkable for its clean ankle. The groves of these trees looked like vast forest sheds, their branches stoppingshort at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-sugar-maple-is-remarkable-for-its-clean-ankle-the-groves-of-these/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Where is the subject that does not branch out into infinity? For every grain of sand is a mystery; so is every daisy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mountford/where-is-the-subject-that-does-not-branch-out-into-infinity-for-every/) [William Mountford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mountford/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Money is made at Christmas out of holly and mistletoe, but who save the vendors would greatly care if no green branch were procurable?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gissing/money-is-made-at-christmas-out-of-holly-and-mistletoe-but-who-save/) [George Gissing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gissing/) > [“The branches do not support the root. But the root supports the branches.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-branches-do-not-support-the-root-but-the-root-supports-the/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We're the only branch of government that explains itself in writing every time itmakes a decision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-white/we-re-the-only-branch-of-government-that-explains-itself-in-writing/) [Byron White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-white/) > [Certainly in the United States, you have a constituency in the form of the weapons laboratories, and you also have the branches of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/certainly-in-the-united-states-you-have-a-constituency-in-the-form-of/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [The impossibility of separating the nomenclature of a science from the science itself, is owing to this, that every branch of physical science must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-lavoisier/the-impossibility-of-separating-the-nomenclature-of-a-science-from/) [Antoine Lavoisier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-lavoisier/) > [ \[The judiciary is\] the least dangerous branch of our government. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-bickel/the-judiciary-is-the-least-dangerous-branch-of-our-government/) [Alexander Bickel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-bickel/) > [ For some unknown reason, this \[antiabortion\] branch of Christianity cherishes the unborn and hates the living person. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/for-some-unknown-reason-this-antiabortion-branch-of-christianity/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [ \[W\]ar is a question, under our constitution, not of Executive, but of Legislative cognizance. It belongs to Congress to say whether the Nation shall… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/w-ar-is-a-question-under-our-constitution-not-of-executive-but-of/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [The sky is now indelible ink, The branches reft asunder; But you and I we do not shrink; We love the lovely thunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/the-sky-is-now-indelible-ink-the-branches-reft-asunder-but-you-and-i/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [I have always wanted to branch off and become a fashion guru. I want to share my artistic views with the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-mclean/i-have-always-wanted-to-branch-off-and-become-a-fashion-guru-i-want/) [A. J. McLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-mclean/) [Browse all 1,228 Branches quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/branches/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You know, without my telling you, how sometimes a word or name eludes you, and you seek it through running ghosts of shadow -- leaping at it, lying in wait for it to spring upon it, spreading faint snares for it of sense or sound: until, of a sudden, as if in a phantom forest, you hear it, see it flash among the branches, and scarcely knowing how, suddenly have it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Conrad Aiken" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/you-know-without-my-telling-you-how-sometimes-a-word-or-name-eludes/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Branches" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/you-know-without-my-telling-you-how-sometimes-a-word-or-name-eludes/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/conrad-aiken-9766_branches_you-know-without-my-telling-you-how-some_2202134.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/conrad-aiken-9766_branches_you-know-without-my-telling-you-how-some_2202134.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/conrad-aiken-9766_branches_you-know-without-my-telling-you-how-some_2202134.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You know, without my telling you, how sometimes a word or name eludes you, and you seek it through running…” — Conrad Aiken", "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": "Conrad Aiken", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You know, without my telling you,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/you-know-without-my-telling-you-how-sometimes-a-word-or-name-eludes/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/you-know-without-my-telling-you-how-sometimes-a-word-or-name-eludes/#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 } } ] } ```