--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With a certain frustration I knew I spoke…" description: "\"“With a certain frustration I knew I spoke too soon, too urgently. I wanted to get out of the way the things I knew to say, wanted to say, the things I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/denis-johnson-2135_frustration_with-a-certain-frustration-i-knew-i-spok_2851984.png" --- # With a certain frustration I knew I spoke too soon, too… ![“With a certain frustration I knew I spoke too soon, too urgently. I wanted to get out of the way the things I knew to say, wanted to say, the things I'd been thinking, all in the hope of moving into the unforeseen.” quote by Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/denis-johnson-2135_frustration_with-a-certain-frustration-i-knew-i-spok_2851984.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/denis-johnson-2135_frustration_with-a-certain-frustration-i-knew-i-spok_2851984.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/denis-johnson-2135_frustration_with-a-certain-frustration-i-knew-i-spok_2851984.png) > ““With a certain frustration I knew I spoke too soon, too urgently. I wanted to get out of the way the things I knew to say, wanted to say, the things I'd been thinking, all in the hope of moving into the unforeseen.”” [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Frustration can cause premature expression; letting go allows unexpected possibilities. **In simple terms:** Frustration hinders; release opens new paths. Key Takeaway Pause before speaking; embrace uncertainty. Themes communication uncertainty growth Mood reflective thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - conflict resolution - creative brainstorming - personal reflection Key Concepts psychology literature Questions to Reflect On - When have you spoken too soon? - How can you create space for new ideas? A Different Perspective Too much hesitation can stall progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Frustration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frustration/) [Frustration Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frustration-knew-3800615/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Knew Spoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knew-spoke-2453201/) [Soon Urgently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soon-urgently-3800616/) [Spoke Soon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spoke-soon-3800614/) [Thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts/) [Unforeseen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unforeseen/) [Wanted Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted-say/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) ## Related quotes > [“Now she knew, and spoke it, answering him in kind with cool self-possession, fully cognizant of what the admission could mean. “The fleshly sword,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-roberson/now-she-knew-and-spoke-it-answering-him-in-kind-with-cool-self/) [Jennifer Roberson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-roberson/) > [“It is as if I knew you before we spoke Do our hearts know something we don't? 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Study of the planets, the Sun, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-spitzer/astronomy-may-be-revolutionized-more-than-any-other-field-of-science/) [Lyman Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-spitzer/) > [He had not yet lived long enough to have discovered that nothing is more close at hand then the impossible, and that what must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-had-not-yet-lived-long-enough-to-have-discovered-that-nothing-is/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [But too often the goal of the planners is a universal gray state of health corresponding to absence of disease rather than to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-dubos/but-too-often-the-goal-of-the-planners-is-a-universal-gray-state-of/) [Rene Dubos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-dubos/) > [“How do you calculate upon the unforeseen? It seems to be an art of recognizing the role of the unforeseen, of keeping your balance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/how-do-you-calculate-upon-the-unforeseen-it-seems-to-be-an-art-of/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [Italians are great improvisers. If something unforeseen happens, they throw up their hands, and they adjust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-von-sydow/italians-are-great-improvisers-if-something-unforeseen-happens-they/) [Max von Sydow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-von-sydow/) ## More by Denis Johnson > [“You’ve never felt good. Your suffering protects you. Pain is the ransom you have gladly paid not to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/you-ve-never-felt-good-your-suffering-protects-you-pain-is-the-ransom/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“He had laid his head back until his scalp had contacted his spine, that far back, and opened his throat, and a sound rose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/he-had-laid-his-head-back-until-his-scalp-had-contacted-his-spine/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“Everything is arranged," John Robertson told me. Thank God." I forgot to mention that we appear to have one small problem," he said. Okay..."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/everything-is-arranged-john-robertson-told-me-thank-god-i-forgot-to/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [Before this moment I'd lived as a mind. Body, heart, soul, intellect, so we care ourselves into parts. 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It's like the ocean. You can just build a boat and take off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/i-really-enjoy-writing-novels-it-s-like-the-ocean-you-can-just-build/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“Who said it? – probably Confucius – “I can’t beat a sculpture from a stone with a sledgehammer; I can’t free the soul of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/who-said-it-probably-confucius-i-can-t-beat-a-sculpture-from-a-stone/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“A bus came. I climbed aboard and sat on the plastic seat while the things of our city turned in the windows like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/a-bus-came-i-climbed-aboard-and-sat-on-the-plastic-seat-while-the/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [I knew every raindrop by its name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/i-knew-every-raindrop-by-its-name/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“To find the people who've became truly sane, seek among those who've managed to do without sanity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/to-find-the-people-who-ve-became-truly-sane-seek-among-those-who-ve/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“eventually these encounters forced him to acknowledge the reality of fate, and the truth inherent in things of the imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/eventually-these-encounters-forced-him-to-acknowledge-the-reality-of/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) [Explore all 183 Denis Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) ## More Frustration 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/) > [Its a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. 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Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [Having people around you that are honest with you, and having a team around you that can actually track and communicate where things are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muneshine/having-people-around-you-that-are-honest-with-you-and-having-a-team/) [Muneshine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muneshine/) > [frustration, complication and misery are available in abundance, but so is God's grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/frustration-complication-and-misery-are-available-in-abundance-but-so/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [When the darkness is seen as a necessary prelude to the creative light, one is less likely to ascribe frustration to personal inadequacy or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/when-the-darkness-is-seen-as-a-necessary-prelude-to-the-creative/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [ \[Hazel\] hissed in frustration. 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