--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What was this yearning, tearing at her…" description: "\"“What was this yearning, tearing at her insides like hunger and thirst? It couldn't be love. Love was warm and soft, like a bed of leaves. But this was..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/800/cornelia-funke-908_desire_what-was-this-yearning-tearing-at-her-in_1211966.png" --- # What was this yearning, tearing at her insides like hunger… ![“What was this yearning, tearing at her insides like hunger and thirst? It couldn't be love. Love was warm and soft, like a bed of leaves. But this was dark, like the shade under a poisonous shrub, and it was hungry. So hungry. It must have some other name, just as there couldn't be the same word…” quote by Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/800/cornelia-funke-908_desire_what-was-this-yearning-tearing-at-her-in_1211966.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/800/cornelia-funke-908_desire_what-was-this-yearning-tearing-at-her-in_1211966.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/800/cornelia-funke-908_desire_what-was-this-yearning-tearing-at-her-in_1211966.png) > ““What was this yearning, tearing at her insides like hunger and thirst? It couldn't be love. Love was warm and soft, like a bed of leaves. But this was dark, like the shade under a poisonous shrub, and it was hungry. So hungry. It must have some other name, just as there couldn't be the same word for life and death, or for moon and sun”” [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A deep, unnamed yearning is contrasted with love, suggesting a primal, possibly destructive desire beyond conventional emotion. **In simple terms:** A powerful, unknown longing exists. Key Takeaway Identify and understand your hidden drives. Themes desire identity conflict Mood introspective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - relationship turmoil - creative inspiration - personal growth - existential questioning Key Concepts psychology mythology Questions to Reflect On - What hidden longing drives you? - How does it differ from love? A Different Perspective The feeling may be harmful if unexamined. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Hunger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunger/) [Hunger Thirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunger-thirst/) [Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurt/) [Jealousy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jealousy/) [Life and death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-and-death/) [Like Hunger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-hunger-443720/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Moon and sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon-and-sun/) [Yearning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yearning/) [Yearning Tearing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yearning-tearing-3678449/) ## Related quotes > [The night walked down the sky with the moon in her hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-lawrence-knowles/the-night-walked-down-the-sky-with-the-moon-in-her-hand/) [Frederic Lawrence Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-lawrence-knowles/) > [“The moon and sun are travelers of a hundred generations. The years, coming and going, are wanderers too. Spending a lifetime adrift on boat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/the-moon-and-sun-are-travelers-of-a-hundred-generations-the-years/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [“Imagine that you are in your house—no—you are locked in your house, cannot get out. It is the dead of winter. The drifted snow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-stout/imagine-that-you-are-in-your-house-no-you-are-locked-in-your-house/) [Martha Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-stout/) > [On silver necklaces they strung The flowering stars, on crowns they hung The dragon-fire, in twisted wire They meshed the light of moon and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jrr-tolkien/on-silver-necklaces-they-strung-the-flowering-stars-on-crowns-they/) [JRR Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jrr-tolkien/) > [“Alas, wife, what are you saying?' 'Husband,' said she. 'If I can't order the moon and sun to rise, and have to look on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brothers-grimm/alas-wife-what-are-you-saying-husband-said-she-if-i-can-t-order-the/) [Brothers Grimm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brothers-grimm/) > [Just like moons and suns, With certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/just-like-moons-and-suns-with-certainty-of-tides-just-like-hopes/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [We need silence to be able to touch souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/we-need-silence-to-be-able-to-touch-souls/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud; Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun, And loathsome canker lies in sweetest bud. All men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/roses-have-thorns-and-silver-fountains-mud-clouds-and-eclipses-stain/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Note to academics: Aristarchus' track record of astronomical research would probably have guaranteed him tenure somewhere, if tenure had been invented. His stack of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/note-to-academics-aristarchus-track-record-of-astronomical-research/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Woman wants monogamy; Man delights in novelty. Love is woman's moon and sun; Man has other forms of fun. Woman lives but in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/woman-wants-monogamy-man-delights-in-novelty-love-is-woman-s-moon-and/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [“Far over the misty mountains cold To dungeons deep and caverns old We must away ere break of day To seek the pale enchanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/far-over-the-misty-mountains-cold-to-dungeons-deep-and-caverns-old-we/) [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [“And she forgot the stars, the moon, and sun/ And she forgot the blue above the trees,/ And she forgot the dells where waters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/and-she-forgot-the-stars-the-moon-and-sun-and-she-forgot-the-blue/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [The best pop songs are the ones that show that person's personality. It's harder to do those singles because the stars, moon and sun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo/the-best-pop-songs-are-the-ones-that-show-that-person-s-personality/) [MO](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo/) > [Strength and power are as different as moon and sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xuen/strength-and-power-are-as-different-as-moon-and-sun/) [Xuen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xuen/) > [“We march through snow and we march through rain With naught to lose and naught to gain Sun and moon and sun again One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-delena-white/we-march-through-snow-and-we-march-through-rain-with-naught-to-lose/) [Sarah Delena White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-delena-white/) ## More by Cornelia Funke > [ There was another reason \[she\] took her books whenever they went away. They were her home when she was somewhere strange. They were familiar… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/there-was-another-reason-she-took-her-books-whenever-they-went-away/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“A story is a labyrinth, it looks as if there were several ways to go, but only one is right, and there's a nasty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/a-story-is-a-labyrinth-it-looks-as-if-there-were-several-ways-to-go/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [He put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her full on the mouth. His skin was wet with rain. When she didn't pull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/he-put-his-hands-on-her-shoulders-and-kissed-her-full-on-the-mouth/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“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/) > [Don't let it worry you, not being able to speak,'Dustfinger had often told her. 'People tend not to listen anyway, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/don-t-let-it-worry-you-not-being-able-to-speak-dustfinger-had-often/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“And he will have a great aunt called Elinor who tells him there's a world not like this one. A world with neither fairies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/and-he-will-have-a-great-aunt-called-elinor-who-tells-him-there-s-a/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“Yes, Mo would come. Meggie could think of nothing else as Fenoglio led her away with him, his arm around her as if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/yes-mo-would-come-meggie-could-think-of-nothing-else-as-fenoglio-led/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [When it came to hiding, even Gwin had nothing to teach Dustfinger. A strange sense of curiosity had always driven him to explore the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/when-it-came-to-hiding-even-gwin-had-nothing-to-teach-dustfinger-a/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [Because fear kills everything," Mo had once told her. "Your mind, your heart, your imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/because-fear-kills-everything-mo-had-once-told-her-your-mind-your/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [Perhaps there's another, much larger story behind the printed one, a story that changes just as our own world does. And the letters on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/perhaps-there-s-another-much-larger-story-behind-the-printed-one-a/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [Mo could paint pictures in the empty air with his voice alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/mo-could-paint-pictures-in-the-empty-air-with-his-voice-alone/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [I remember the feeling. Whenever my father got so absorbed in a book that we might have been in visible I felt like taking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/i-remember-the-feeling-whenever-my-father-got-so-absorbed-in-a-book/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [I wish you luck,' she said, kissing him on the cheek. He still had the most beautiful eyes of any boy she'd ever seen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/i-wish-you-luck-she-said-kissing-him-on-the-cheek-he-still-had-the/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [Because by now Elinor had understood this, too: A longing for books was nothing compared with what you could feel for human beings. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/because-by-now-elinor-had-understood-this-too-a-longing-for-books-was/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [The night breathed through the apartment like a dark animal. The ticking of a clock. The groan of a floorboard as he slipped out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/the-night-breathed-through-the-apartment-like-a-dark-animal-the/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) [Explore all 286 Cornelia Funke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What was this yearning, tearing at her insides like hunger and thirst? It couldn't be love. Love was warm and soft, like a bed of leaves. But this was dark, like the shade under a poisonous shrub, and it was hungry. So hungry. It must have some other name, just as there couldn't be the same word for life and death, or for moon and sun”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornelia Funke" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/what-was-this-yearning-tearing-at-her-insides-like-hunger-and-thirst/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/what-was-this-yearning-tearing-at-her-insides-like-hunger-and-thirst/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/800/cornelia-funke-908_desire_what-was-this-yearning-tearing-at-her-in_1211966.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/800/cornelia-funke-908_desire_what-was-this-yearning-tearing-at-her-in_1211966.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/800/cornelia-funke-908_desire_what-was-this-yearning-tearing-at-her-in_1211966.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What was this yearning, tearing at her insides like hunger and thirst? It couldn't be love. Love was warm…” — Cornelia Funke", "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": "Cornelia Funke", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“What was this yearning, tearing at...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/what-was-this-yearning-tearing-at-her-insides-like-hunger-and-thirst/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/what-was-this-yearning-tearing-at-her-insides-like-hunger-and-thirst/#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 } } ] } ```