--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She was using the water as she had used…" description: "\"“She was using the water as she had used the fruit earlier—to calm herself, to assure herself of the possibility of normality. Yet all the time she was..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f80/doris-lessing-501_frightened_she-was-using-the-water-as-she-had-used_31231.jpg" --- # She was using the water as she had used the fruit… ![“She was using the water as she had used the fruit earlier—to calm herself, to assure herself of the possibility of normality. Yet all the time she was thinking: I’m right off balance. I feel as if the atmosphere of this flat were being poisoned, as if a spirit of perverse and ugly spite were…” quote by Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f80/doris-lessing-501_frightened_she-was-using-the-water-as-she-had-used_31231.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f80/doris-lessing-501_frightened_she-was-using-the-water-as-she-had-used_31231.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f80/doris-lessing-501_frightened_she-was-using-the-water-as-she-had-used_31231.jpg) > ““She was using the water as she had used the fruit earlier—to calm herself, to assure herself of the possibility of normality. Yet all the time she was thinking: I’m right off balance. I feel as if the atmosphere of this flat were being poisoned, as if a spirit of perverse and ugly spite were everywhere. Yet it’s nonsense. The truth is, everything I’m thinking at the moment is wrong. I can feel it is…and yet I’m saving myself by this sort of thinking. Saving myself from what? She felt ill again, and frightened, as she had on the tube. She thought: I’ve got to stop it, I simply must—though she could not have said what she had to stop. I’ll go next door, she decided, and sit down, and—she did not finish the thought, but she had a mental image of a dry well, slowly filling up with water. Yes; that’s what’s wrong with me—I’m dry. I’m empty.”” [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator battles inner turmoil, using mundane actions to anchor herself while recognizing her thoughts are self‑defeating and she feels emotionally depleted. **In simple terms:** Self‑deception masks deep emptiness. Key Takeaway Awareness of self‑sabotage reveals hidden voids. Themes self‑analysis psychological distress illusion vs reality emptiness coping mechanisms Mood anxious reflective melancholic Type personal reflection psychological narrative When to use this quote - experiencing anxiety in a confined space - seeking calm through routine actions - recognizing self‑defeating thoughts - feeling emotionally drained during a crisis Key Concepts cognitive dissonance self‑preservation mental imagery emotional dryness Practical Applications - therapy focusing on thought patterns - mindfulness exercises to ground the body Questions to Reflect On - What does the dry well symbolize for you? - How might you break the cycle of self‑defeating thinking? A Different Perspective The narrator may be over‑introspecting, missing external factors that contribute to her distress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Felt Ill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-ill-427315/) [Frightened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frightened/) [Next door](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next-door/) [Saving Myself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saving-myself/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Thought Mental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-mental-427316/) [Tube Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tube-thought-427317/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [Philiosophers like Hume and Descartes and Hobbes saw things similarly. They thought that mental images and ideas were actually the same thing. 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I've been much happier unmarried than married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-do-not-think-that-marriage-is-one-of-my-talents-i-ve-been-much/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I haven't got the energy to write now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-haven-t-got-the-energy-to-write-now/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What really fascinates me is this need that is so strong now that if you read a work of the imagination you instantly have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-really-fascinates-me-is-this-need-that-is-so-strong-now-that-if/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“The charge that the United Nations are using bacteriological warfare in Korea cannot be dismissed merely because it would be insane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-charge-that-the-united-nations-are-using-bacteriological-warfare/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What I did have, which others perhaps didn't, was a capacity for sticking at it, which really is the point, not the talent at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-i-did-have-which-others-perhaps-didn-t-was-a-capacity-for/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [The human community is evolving... . We can survive anything you care to mention. We are supremely equipped to survive, to adapt and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-human-community-is-evolving-we-can-survive-anything-you-care-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [So love is rest? The cosy corner? The little nook? Sometimes it ought to be. Sometimes it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/so-love-is-rest-the-cosy-corner-the-little-nook-sometimes-it-ought-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [Living in a small town anywhere means preserving one's self behind a mask.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/living-in-a-small-town-anywhere-means-preserving-one-s-self-behind-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) [Explore all 508 Doris Lessing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## More Frightened quotes > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. 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I can't be the only one frightened when our houses of worship sound like they could take on Godzilla.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/megachurches-i-can-t-be-the-only-one-frightened-when-our-houses-of/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [No one seems to have learned, or can remember, the magic words that calm people when they are frightened or threatened: "I'm sorry; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-tavris/no-one-seems-to-have-learned-or-can-remember-the-magic-words-that/) [Carol Tavris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-tavris/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. I can think of some answers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/or-why-it-is-acceptable-to-train-fast-runners-and-high-jumpers-but/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [I can't help it when people are frightened," says Merricat. 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She thought: I’ve got to stop it, I simply must—though she could not have said what she had to stop. I’ll go next door, she decided, and sit down, and—she did not finish the thought, but she had a mental image of a dry well, slowly filling up with water. Yes; that’s what’s wrong with me—I’m dry. 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