--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Alberta felt her face grow old and…" description: "\"“Alberta felt her face grow old and shrivelled at her own words. She was a shadow already, half old, distressing, comic. Something happened from year t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e1/cora-sandel-31039_bad-dream_alberta-felt-her-face-grow-old-and-shriv_711472.jpg" --- # Alberta felt her face grow old and shrivelled at her own… ![“Alberta felt her face grow old and shrivelled at her own words. She was a shadow already, half old, distressing, comic. Something happened from year to year, suspicion became knowledge, bad dreams reality. A weariness crept over her, more intense and pervasive than any she had known before. It sat…” quote by Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e1/cora-sandel-31039_bad-dream_alberta-felt-her-face-grow-old-and-shriv_711472.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e1/cora-sandel-31039_bad-dream_alberta-felt-her-face-grow-old-and-shriv_711472.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e1/cora-sandel-31039_bad-dream_alberta-felt-her-face-grow-old-and-shriv_711472.jpg) > ““Alberta felt her face grow old and shrivelled at her own words. She was a shadow already, half old, distressing, comic. Something happened from year to year, suspicion became knowledge, bad dreams reality. A weariness crept over her, more intense and pervasive than any she had known before. It sat in her back, sapping her strength. She sank down into it as if it were an abyss, sank inwards into gaping emptiness.”” [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage describes a woman's deepening sense of aging, fatigue, and existential emptiness as she confronts her own words and memories. **In simple terms:** She feels old, tired, and empty. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and address inner weariness. Themes aging existential dread identity fatigue emptiness Mood melancholic reflective Type literary descriptive When to use this quote - midlife crisis - creative burnout - grief processing - self‑reflection Key Concepts psychology literary realism mortality Questions to Reflect On - What does the abyss represent for you? - How can one reclaim vitality amid weariness? A Different Perspective The narrative may romanticize suffering, overlooking resilience and recovery. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-dream/) [Bad dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-dreams/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Grow Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grow-old/) [Weariness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weariness/) ## Related quotes > [“Sometimes Alberta felt as if there were a conspiracy against her, as if the whole world were in agreement not to say a word.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/sometimes-alberta-felt-as-if-there-were-a-conspiracy-against-her-as/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [So Mo began filling the silence with words. He lured them out of the pages as if they had only been waiting for his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/so-mo-began-filling-the-silence-with-words-he-lured-them-out-of-the/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“And you?” Brigan said. “You seem to do a lot of nighttime rambling.” “I have bad dreams.” “Dreams of pretend terrors? Or things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/and-you-brigan-said-you-seem-to-do-a-lot-of-nighttime-rambling-i-have/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [If you change your bed on Friday the 13th, you will see bad dreams throughout the night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-change-your-bed-on-friday-the-13th-you-will-see-bad-dreams/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Lights come and go in the night sky. Men, troubled at last by the things they build, may toss in their sleep and dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/lights-come-and-go-in-the-night-sky-men-troubled-at-last-by-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“… we have bad dreams because our brain is trying to protect us… If we can figure out a way to beat the imaginary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-poblocki/we-have-bad-dreams-because-our-brain-is-trying-to-protect-us-if-we/) Dan Poblocki > [“I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me, I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-don-t-trust-nobody-and-nobody-trusts-me-i-ll-be-the-actress/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [I have read a great deal about what animals dream, but none of it has ever really satisfied me. I believe they dream exactly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cleveland-amory/i-have-read-a-great-deal-about-what-animals-dream-but-none-of-it-has/) [Cleveland Amory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cleveland-amory/) > [I suppose when the things that give you bad dreams live inside you, there's no point in trying to stop them. They're going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-dokey/i-suppose-when-the-things-that-give-you-bad-dreams-live-inside-you/) [Cameron Dokey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-dokey/) > [“By now you must have guessed: I come from another planet. But I will never say to you, Take me to your leaders. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/by-now-you-must-have-guessed-i-come-from-another-planet-but-i-will/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [When you are having bad dreams, turn your pillow over. The good dreams are on the other side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohit/when-you-are-having-bad-dreams-turn-your-pillow-over-the-good-dreams/) [Rohit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohit/) > [“I only have two kinds of dreams: the bad and the terrible. Bad dreams I can cope with. They're just nightmares, and they end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-only-have-two-kinds-of-dreams-the-bad-and-the-terrible-bad-dreams-i/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I hate having bad dreams about the people I love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-hate-having-bad-dreams-about-the-people-i-love/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Don't let what's happened spoil your life; it doesn't have to. If help is offered, take it if you want it. But in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-3/don-t-let-what-s-happened-spoil-your-life-it-doesn-t-have-to-if-help/) P D James > [“The only bad dreams are those not worth chasing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-bad-dreams-are-those-not-worth-chasing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Cora Sandel > [“Alberta had always had many forms of idling. She frittered away her time with virtuosity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/alberta-had-always-had-many-forms-of-idling-she-frittered-away-her/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“Alberta was back again. Back to it all, to all that was warped and desultory, to the lies and evasions and small, hidden irons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/alberta-was-back-again-back-to-it-all-to-all-that-was-warped-and/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“Old repressed antipathy stirred in her. She had a rooted fear of rooms full of objects. They weighed on down and held one there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/old-repressed-antipathy-stirred-in-her-she-had-a-rooted-fear-of-rooms/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“There was something she should have experienced, something besides this. There was a path somewhere that she could not find. It was and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/there-was-something-she-should-have-experienced-something-besides/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“She had some kind of foolish and unreasonable notion that the more doggedly she stood, the more would she placate certain mysterious powers which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/she-had-some-kind-of-foolish-and-unreasonable-notion-that-the-more/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“One was always met by a gust of greyness and narrow circumstances.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/one-was-always-met-by-a-gust-of-greyness-and-narrow-circumstances/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“Sometimes Alberta felt as if there were a conspiracy against her, as if the whole world were in agreement not to say a word.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/sometimes-alberta-felt-as-if-there-were-a-conspiracy-against-her-as/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“For a moment they all stood silent. The departure of this autumn ship gave rise to many different thoughts. Something came out of hiding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/for-a-moment-they-all-stood-silent-the-departure-of-this-autumn-ship/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“She laced up her shoes and put on her coat, bracing herself as she got ready to leave, trying to find that feeling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/she-laced-up-her-shoes-and-put-on-her-coat-bracing-herself-as-she-got/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“The truth was Alberta only knew what she did not want. She had no idea what she did want. And not knowing brought unrest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/the-truth-was-alberta-only-knew-what-she-did-not-want-she-had-no-idea/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“It placed its finger roughly on sore places.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/it-placed-its-finger-roughly-on-sore-places/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“It was not altogether easy when one's daughters were too gifted, it really wasn't. Mrs. Lossius nodded in the direction of Harriet, who, well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/it-was-not-altogether-easy-when-one-s-daughters-were-too-gifted-it/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“One morning there was newly fallen snow in the mountains. It lay halfway down them, and a raw cold, naked and biting, set in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/one-morning-there-was-newly-fallen-snow-in-the-mountains-it-lay/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“But Alberta sat there wretchedly. God knows who put the words into her mouth. They were not her own. They were foreign to her,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/but-alberta-sat-there-wretchedly-god-knows-who-put-the-words-into-her/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) > [“Jacob was to travel second class. This alone was inexpressibly tragic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-sandel/jacob-was-to-travel-second-class-this-alone-was-inexpressibly-tragic/) [Cora Sandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) [Explore all 17 Cora Sandel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-sandel/) ## More Bad dream quotes > [“The other day Nan said, 'Nothing can ever be quite the same for any of us again.' It made me feel rebellious. Why shouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/the-other-day-nan-said-nothing-can-ever-be-quite-the-same-for-any-of/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“For a moment Dustfinger felt as if he had never been away- as if he had simply had a bad dream, and the memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/for-a-moment-dustfinger-felt-as-if-he-had-never-been-away-as-if-he/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“Ben and Freda were happy for Cindy. She had recovered from the horrible abuses she had suffered the previous year. Her last bad dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shafter-bailey/ben-and-freda-were-happy-for-cindy-she-had-recovered-from-the/) [Shafter Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shafter-bailey/) > [“The only bad dreams are those not worth chasing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-bad-dreams-are-those-not-worth-chasing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is perhaps best regarded as a bad dream between two awakenings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/life-is-perhaps-best-regarded-as-a-bad-dream-between-two-awakenings/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [The past was like a bad dream; the future was all happy holiday as I moved Southwards week by week, easily, lazily, lingering as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-grahame/the-past-was-like-a-bad-dream-the-future-was-all-happy-holiday-as-i/) [Kenneth Grahame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-grahame/) > [I pray that fear would just be a dream, a bad dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anastasia-blanchard/i-pray-that-fear-would-just-be-a-dream-a-bad-dream/) [Anastasia Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anastasia-blanchard/) > [“Don't let what's happened spoil your life; it doesn't have to. If help is offered, take it if you want it. But in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-3/don-t-let-what-s-happened-spoil-your-life-it-doesn-t-have-to-if-help/) P D James > [“Tina thought about the idea of how much a person could take. People only survived because they turned the real into the surreal. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-trope/tina-thought-about-the-idea-of-how-much-a-person-could-take-people/) [Nicole Trope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-trope/) > [I hate having bad dreams about the people I love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-hate-having-bad-dreams-about-the-people-i-love/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I only have two kinds of dreams: the bad and the terrible. Bad dreams I can cope with. They're just nightmares, and they end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-only-have-two-kinds-of-dreams-the-bad-and-the-terrible-bad-dreams-i/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [When you are having bad dreams, turn your pillow over. The good dreams are on the other side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohit/when-you-are-having-bad-dreams-turn-your-pillow-over-the-good-dreams/) [Rohit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohit/) > [“By now you must have guessed: I come from another planet. But I will never say to you, Take me to your leaders. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/by-now-you-must-have-guessed-i-come-from-another-planet-but-i-will/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Sometimes life begins like a bad dream and ends up like a kid's fairytale. The kind our grandmothers used to tell us about sitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-kakalopoulou/sometimes-life-begins-like-a-bad-dream-and-ends-up-like-a-kid-s/) [Georgia Kakalopoulou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-kakalopoulou/) > [Close your eyes and pretend it's all a bad dream. That's how I get by. -Jack Sparrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirates-of-the-caribbean/close-your-eyes-and-pretend-it-s-all-a-bad-dream-that-s-how-i-get-by/) Pirates Of The Caribbean [Browse all 257 Bad dream quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-dream/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Alberta felt her face grow old and shrivelled at her own words. She was a shadow already, half old, distressing, comic. Something happened from year to year, suspicion became knowledge, bad dreams reality. A weariness crept over her, more intense and pervasive than any she had known before. 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