--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It seemed to me that I should have a…" description: "\"It seemed to me that I should have a desk, even though I had no real need for a desk. I was afraid that if I had no desk in my room my life would seem ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/e-b-white-1448_desk_it-seemed-to-me-that-i-should-have-a-des_542092.jpg" --- # It seemed to me that I should have a desk, even though I… ![“It seemed to me that I should have a desk, even though I had no real need for a desk. I was afraid that if I had no desk in my room my life would seem too haphazard.” quote by E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/e-b-white-1448_desk_it-seemed-to-me-that-i-should-have-a-des_542092.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/e-b-white-1448_desk_it-seemed-to-me-that-i-should-have-a-des_542092.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/e-b-white-1448_desk_it-seemed-to-me-that-i-should-have-a-des_542092.jpg) > “It seemed to me that I should have a desk, even though I had no real need for a desk. I was afraid that if I had no desk in my room my life would seem too haphazard.” [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The desire for a desk symbolizes a need for structure to counteract feelings of chaos and uncertainty in life. **In simple terms:** A desk represents order to calm chaos. Key Takeaway Create personal order to reduce anxiety. Themes order control anxiety routine environment Mood thoughtful practical calm Type essay advice reflective When to use this quote - home office setup - daily planning - decluttering - time management Key Concepts psychology minimalism habit formation Questions to Reflect On - What simple changes bring calm? - Does physical order reflect mental clarity? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on material order may ignore deeper emotional needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afraid Desk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afraid-desk-4530271/) [Desk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desk/) [Desk Afraid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desk-afraid-4530272/) [Desk Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desk-real-4530274/) [Desks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desks/) [Haphazard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/haphazard/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Need Desk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-desk-4530273/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Rooms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rooms/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Should have](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should-have/) ## Related quotes > [Deathlessness should be arrived at in a... haphazard fashion. Loving fame as much as any man, we shall carve our initials in the shell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/deathlessness-should-be-arrived-at-in-a-haphazard-fashion-loving-fame/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [The range of genre that we is very diverse, which makes for a fun and multi-dimensional show, but creating something that flows, depending on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-burton/the-range-of-genre-that-we-is-very-diverse-which-makes-for-a-fun-and/) [Sarah Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-burton/) > [“In the search for meaning we must not forget that the gods (or God, for that matter) are a concept of the human mind;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-the-search-for-meaning-we-must-not-forget-that-the-gods-or-god-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The country is laid out in a haphazard, sloppy fashion, offensive to the tidy, organized mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-brien/the-country-is-laid-out-in-a-haphazard-sloppy-fashion-offensive-to/) [Alan Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-brien/) > [Thee might observe incidentally that if the state paid for child-bearing it might and ought to require a medical certificate that the parents were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/thee-might-observe-incidentally-that-if-the-state-paid-for-child/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Poetry contains nothing haphazard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-empson/poetry-contains-nothing-haphazard/) [William Empson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-empson/) > [I've been a little haphazard about how nude I get, and the only thing that keeps me from getting anxious about it is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-dunham/i-ve-been-a-little-haphazard-about-how-nude-i-get-and-the-only-thing/) [Lena Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-dunham/) > [Trump is not haphazard. Trump has the ability to improvise at a rally or go off the prompter at some point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/trump-is-not-haphazard-trump-has-the-ability-to-improvise-at-a-rally/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [I believe that the community's duty to education is, therefore, its paramount moral duty. By law and punishment, by social agitation and discussion, society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/i-believe-that-the-community-s-duty-to-education-is-therefore-its/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [But amid much elegance and precision, the details of life and the Universe also exhibit haphazard, jury-rigged arrangements and much poor planning. What shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/but-amid-much-elegance-and-precision-the-details-of-life-and-the/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [These days I keep a journal, so I'm constantly sketching down my thoughts, or lines that come to me...ideas for songs. And then when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-difranco/these-days-i-keep-a-journal-so-i-m-constantly-sketching-down-my/) [Ani DiFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-difranco/) > [If you dread the thought of wasted time in meetings, chances are that your team members feel the same way. Team members are also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-zwilling/if-you-dread-the-thought-of-wasted-time-in-meetings-chances-are-that/) [Martin Zwilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-zwilling/) > [Friendships do not grow up in any carefully tended and contemplated fashion… They begin haphazard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/friendships-do-not-grow-up-in-any-carefully-tended-and-contemplated/) [Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/) > [Improvisation is terribly haphazard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-ornstein/improvisation-is-terribly-haphazard/) [Leo Ornstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-ornstein/) ## More by E. B. White > [Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/writing-is-an-act-of-faith-not-a-trick-of-grammar/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [“To hear, in the short space of one week, a Scottish terrier booed by an audience and President Roosevelt criticized by Charles Lindbergh was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/to-hear-in-the-short-space-of-one-week-a-scottish-terrier-booed-by-an/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [The sea answers all questions, and always in the same way; for when you read in the papers the interminable discussions and the bickering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-sea-answers-all-questions-and-always-in-the-same-way-for-when-you/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [New York blends the gift of privacy with the excitement of participation; and better than most dense communities it succeeds in insulating the individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/new-york-blends-the-gift-of-privacy-with-the-excitement-of/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [The terror of the atom age is not the violence of the new power but the speed of man's adjustment to it, the speed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-terror-of-the-atom-age-is-not-the-violence-of-the-new-power-but/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [When my wife's Aunt Caroline was in her nineties, she lived with us, and she once remarked: 'Remembrance is sufficient of the beauty we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/when-my-wife-s-aunt-caroline-was-in-her-nineties-she-lived-with-us/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/sailors-have-an-expression-about-the-weather-they-say-the-weather-is/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [Anyone who writes down to children is simply wasting his time. You have to write up, not down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/anyone-who-writes-down-to-children-is-simply-wasting-his-time-you/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [A writer should concern himself with whatever absorbs his fancy, stirs his heart, and unlimbers his typewriter. ... A writer has the duty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/a-writer-should-concern-himself-with-whatever-absorbs-his-fancy-stirs/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [Every morning I awake torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/every-morning-i-awake-torn-between-a-desire-to-save-the-world-and-an/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [I seldom went to bed before two or three o'clock in the morning, on the theory that if anything of interest were to happen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/i-seldom-went-to-bed-before-two-or-three-o-clock-in-the-morning-on/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [Necessity first mothered invention. Now invention has little ones of her own, and they look just like grandma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/necessity-first-mothered-invention-now-invention-has-little-ones-of/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [The bonus is really one of the great give-aways in business enterprise. It is the annual salve applied to the conscience of the rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-bonus-is-really-one-of-the-great-give-aways-in-business/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [There's no limit to how complicated things can get, on account of one thing always leading to another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/there-s-no-limit-to-how-complicated-things-can-get-on-account-of-one/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [The critic leaves at curtain fall To find, in starting to review it, He scarcely saw the play at all For starting to review…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-critic-leaves-at-curtain-fall-to-find-in-starting-to-review-it-he/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) [Explore all 240 E. B. White quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) ## More Desk quotes > [“Yes, when I get big and have my own home, no plush chairs and lace curtains for me. And no rubber plants. I'll have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-smith/yes-when-i-get-big-and-have-my-own-home-no-plush-chairs-and-lace/) [Betty Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-smith/) > [Ireland starts for me with the end of 'The Dead,' which my father read to me from his desk in his basement office in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jeremiah-sullivan/ireland-starts-for-me-with-the-end-of-the-dead-which-my-father-read/) [John Jeremiah Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jeremiah-sullivan/) > [I write at a desk. I have a room of my own where I can have my computer. I write in there, usually directly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-bunting/i-write-at-a-desk-i-have-a-room-of-my-own-where-i-can-have-my/) [Eve Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-bunting/) > [When somebody was looking in my locker, it was like going in my desk. Somebody happened to be looking in my locker when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-bonilla/when-somebody-was-looking-in-my-locker-it-was-like-going-in-my-desk/) [Bobby Bonilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-bonilla/) > [When you hear of somebody named Goldberg, you think of a guy sitting behind a desk investing your money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-goldberg/when-you-hear-of-somebody-named-goldberg-you-think-of-a-guy-sitting/) [Bill Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-goldberg/) > [I didn't want to spend my life behind a desk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gilpin/i-didn-t-want-to-spend-my-life-behind-a-desk/) [John Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gilpin/) > [I've always had a picture of the White House and it would always sit right in front of my desk. Whenever I was having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-grisham/i-ve-always-had-a-picture-of-the-white-house-and-it-would-always-sit/) [Stephanie Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-grisham/) > [A handwritten Declaration of Independence was on my bedroom wall and the Founding Fathers were above my desk in college.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-auchincloss/a-handwritten-declaration-of-independence-was-on-my-bedroom-wall-and/) [Jake Auchincloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-auchincloss/) > [“I’d much rather watch people do what they do than talk to them across a desk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcphee/i-d-much-rather-watch-people-do-what-they-do-than-talk-to-them-across/) [John McPhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcphee/) > [“At least the tears on my desk wipe away the dust that's covered this place”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-boddie/at-least-the-tears-on-my-desk-wipe-away-the-dust-that-s-covered-this/) [Andrew Boddie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-boddie/) > [If I still had my legs, I would be in line for a battalion command, and instead, I'm flying a desk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-duckworth/if-i-still-had-my-legs-i-would-be-in-line-for-a-battalion-command-and/) [Tammy Duckworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-duckworth/) > [We are able to use technology to make it clear that someone's car is available or a room in a home is accessible; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-gansky/we-are-able-to-use-technology-to-make-it-clear-that-someone-s-car-is/) [Lisa Gansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-gansky/) > [I can only write new words at my desk, the one I've owned for 25 years. When we moved to our new house I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-berry/i-can-only-write-new-words-at-my-desk-the-one-i-ve-owned-for-25-years/) [Steve Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-berry/) > [Most people dream a dream when they are asleep. But to be a writer, you have to dream while you are awake, intentionally. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/most-people-dream-a-dream-when-they-are-asleep-but-to-be-a-writer-you/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If you look at my desk... it's profoundly disorganised - which is why I can work on search.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lars-rasmussen/if-you-look-at-my-desk-it-s-profoundly-disorganised-which-is-why-i/) [Lars Rasmussen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lars-rasmussen/) [Browse all 258 Desk quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desk/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It seemed to me that I should have a desk, even though I had no real need for a desk. I was afraid that if I had no desk in my room my life would seem too haphazard.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "E. B. White" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/it-seemed-to-me-that-i-should-have-a-desk-even-though-i-had-no-real/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desk" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/it-seemed-to-me-that-i-should-have-a-desk-even-though-i-had-no-real/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/e-b-white-1448_desk_it-seemed-to-me-that-i-should-have-a-des_542092.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/e-b-white-1448_desk_it-seemed-to-me-that-i-should-have-a-des_542092.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/e-b-white-1448_desk_it-seemed-to-me-that-i-should-have-a-des_542092.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It seemed to me that I should have a desk, even though I had no real need for a desk. I was afraid that if I…” — E. B. White", "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": "E. B. White", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It seemed to me that I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/it-seemed-to-me-that-i-should-have-a-desk-even-though-i-had-no-real/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/it-seemed-to-me-that-i-should-have-a-desk-even-though-i-had-no-real/#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 } } ] } ```