--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I remember holding her in my arms and…" description: "\"“I remember holding her in my arms and absolving God of meaninglessness.”\" — E.L. Doctorow" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/428/e-l-doctorow-2-10582_meaninglessness_i-remember-holding-her-in-my-arms-and-ab_178388.jpg" --- # I remember holding her in my arms and absolving God of… ![“I remember holding her in my arms and absolving God of meaninglessness.” quote by E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/428/e-l-doctorow-2-10582_meaninglessness_i-remember-holding-her-in-my-arms-and-ab_178388.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/428/e-l-doctorow-2-10582_meaninglessness_i-remember-holding-her-in-my-arms-and-ab_178388.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/428/e-l-doctorow-2-10582_meaninglessness_i-remember-holding-her-in-my-arms-and-ab_178388.jpg) > ““I remember holding her in my arms and absolving God of meaninglessness.”” [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) ## 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 finds comfort in intimacy, using it to deny existential emptiness and find meaning. **In simple terms:** Intimacy counters feelings of meaninglessness. Key Takeaway Find meaning through connection. Themes existentialism intimacy spirituality comfort meaning Mood contemplative intimate Type philosophical emotional When to use this quote - personal relationships - coping with nihilism - seeking purpose Key Concepts human connection philosophical reflection Questions to Reflect On - How does closeness affect your worldview? - Can love truly fill existential voids? A Different Perspective Intimacy may be temporary relief. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Meaninglessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaninglessness/) ## Related quotes > [“Do you think it’s easy for me? No, I don’t remember you. I don’t remember holding you or talking to you or falling in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwen-hayes/do-you-think-it-s-easy-for-me-no-i-don-t-remember-you-i-don-t/) [Gwen Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwen-hayes/) > [“She wiped her eye and pressed her lips together. “I sleep in your room. I’m fairly pathetic about it, really. I wear your T-shirts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwen-hayes/she-wiped-her-eye-and-pressed-her-lips-together-i-sleep-in-your-room/) [Gwen Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwen-hayes/) > [The day I met you was the day I wasn't myself instantly, I fall in love with your beautiful eyes, The way you talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/the-day-i-met-you-was-the-day-i-wasn-t-myself-instantly-i-fall-in/) Unkown > [Happiness is holding someone in your arms and knowing you hold the whole world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/happiness-is-holding-someone-in-your-arms-and-knowing-you-hold-the/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [“Yes, I was my father and I was my son, I asked myself questions and answered as best I could, I had it told…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/yes-i-was-my-father-and-i-was-my-son-i-asked-myself-questions-and/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“I loved the way he was holding my arms hostage as he stroked into me. I was being held down, but it made me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-loved-the-way-he-was-holding-my-arms-hostage-as-he-stroked-into-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Love could be risky—it could make one vulnerable. In the past, he’d never allowed another person into his life for fear it would weaken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberta-kagan/love-could-be-risky-it-could-make-one-vulnerable-in-the-past-he-d/) [Roberta Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberta-kagan/) > [I miss you in the morning when I wake up and you're not there. I miss you during the day, because I know how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-miss-you-in-the-morning-when-i-wake-up-and-you-re-not-there-i-miss/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What was she like?" I tell the truth. "She was my dream. She made me who I am, and holding her in my arms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/what-was-she-like-i-tell-the-truth-she-was-my-dream-she-made-me-who-i/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [They were like people who run to meet, holding out their arms, but their aim is wrong; they pass each other and keep running.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-tyler/they-were-like-people-who-run-to-meet-holding-out-their-arms-but/) [Anne Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-tyler/) > [It sounds super cliche, but my sister is 12 years younger than me, and I remember when I was there holding her in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacre-montgomery/it-sounds-super-cliche-but-my-sister-is-12-years-younger-than-me-and/) [Dacre Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacre-montgomery/) > [“Hunger is a blade that carves me I open my arms and pull the air in -big hug!- then poof, right through me, nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-george/hunger-is-a-blade-that-carves-me-i-open-my-arms-and-pull-the-air-in/) [Madeleine George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-george/) > [“Everyone stares as Andy slowly, slowly helps Noah stand. They don't really dance--they just hold each other, swaying from side to side, Noah's face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-harrington/everyone-stares-as-andy-slowly-slowly-helps-noah-stand-they-don-t/) [Hannah Harrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-harrington/) > [It's not about finding someone who won't fight with you or make you sad. It is about finding the person who will still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-not-about-finding-someone-who-won-t-fight-with-you-or-make-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I lay on her bed with my arms wrapped around her, wondering how on earth we'd managed to end up like this. I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malorie-blackman/i-lay-on-her-bed-with-my-arms-wrapped-around-her-wondering-how-on/) [Malorie Blackman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malorie-blackman/) ## More by E.L. Doctorow > [“I cite too the ordinary fears of mortality the inspection of a fast-growing mole on the side of the nose blood in the stool…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/i-cite-too-the-ordinary-fears-of-mortality-the-inspection-of-a-fast/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“And what if neutrinos in their uncountable multitudinous dark-matteredness gravitationally directing the universe . . . are the souls of the dead?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/and-what-if-neutrinos-in-their-uncountable-multitudinous-dark/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“It was as if God had decreed this characterless engagement of brainless forces as his answer to the human presumption.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/it-was-as-if-god-had-decreed-this-characterless-engagement-of/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“Treason the only crime defined in the Constitution. Tyranny as under the Stuart and Tudor kings characterized by the elimination of political dissent under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/treason-the-only-crime-defined-in-the-constitution-tyranny-as-under/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“Somehow he had catapulted himself beyond the world's value system. But this very fact lay upon him an awesome responsibility to maintain the illusions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/somehow-he-had-catapulted-himself-beyond-the-world-s-value-system-but/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“Emily supposed the modern world was fortunate in the progress of science. But she could not help but feel at this moment the impropriety…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/emily-supposed-the-modern-world-was-fortunate-in-the-progress-of/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“Father looked at her and she was beautiful in the way she had been as a girl. He did not realize the pleasure he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/father-looked-at-her-and-she-was-beautiful-in-the-way-she-had-been-as/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“Happiness consists of living in the dailiness of life and not knowing how happy you are. True happiness comes of not knowing you're happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/happiness-consists-of-living-in-the-dailiness-of-life-and-not-knowing/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“Grandmamma had been the last connection to our past. I had understood her as some referent moral authority to whom we paid no heed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/grandmamma-had-been-the-last-connection-to-our-past-i-had-understood/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“I asked this question: How can I think about my brain when it’s my brain doing the thinking? So is this brain pretending to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/i-asked-this-question-how-can-i-think-about-my-brain-when-it-s-my/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“She's some kind of Socialist-anarchist-anarcho-syndicalist-Communist. Unless you're one of them you can't tell exactly what any of them are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/she-s-some-kind-of-socialist-anarchist-anarcho-syndicalist-communist/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“I didn’t actually have to write a thing because the act of reading was my writing. I thought of myself as a writer for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/i-didn-t-actually-have-to-write-a-thing-because-the-act-of-reading/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“You're nothing more than a clever prostitute. You accepted the conditions in which you found yourself and you triumphed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/you-re-nothing-more-than-a-clever-prostitute-you-accepted-the/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“Writing teachers invariably tell students, write about what you know. That's, of course, what you have to do, but on the other hand, how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/writing-teachers-invariably-tell-students-write-about-what-you-know/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) > [“And now I will tell of the revels that went on for three nights and two days in the brothel on West Seventy-sixth Street…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/and-now-i-will-tell-of-the-revels-that-went-on-for-three-nights-and/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) [Explore all 64 E.L. Doctorow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) ## More Meaninglessness quotes > [“On one side it seems there is faith in a Creator-God - and at the same time, the rejection of his creation; and on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-schmemann/on-one-side-it-seems-there-is-faith-in-a-creator-god-and-at-the-same/) [Alexander Schmemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-schmemann/) > [“Garraty thought that memories were like a line drawn in the dirt. The further back you went the scuffier and harder to see that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bachman/garraty-thought-that-memories-were-like-a-line-drawn-in-the-dirt-the/) [Richard Bachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bachman/) > [“Anxiety, alienation, loneliness, emptiness, and meaninglessness are the fruits of living as an isolated subject admist a multitude of lifeless objects. Although our scope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-batchelor/anxiety-alienation-loneliness-emptiness-and-meaninglessness-are-the/) [Stephen Batchelor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-batchelor/) > [That is the most extreme form of nihilism: nothingness (the "meaningless") eternally!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/that-is-the-most-extreme-form-of-nihilism-nothingness-the-meaningless/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently assumed that it had not; and was able without any difficulty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/i-had-motives-for-not-wanting-the-world-to-have-a-meaning/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“To understand the people who often talk about the meaninglessness of life, walk amongst the ruins!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/to-understand-the-people-who-often-talk-about-the-meaninglessness-of/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“Your world is the world of coincidence, of meaninglessness. You choose the world that would have us as specks of dust, as mice in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-grodstein/your-world-is-the-world-of-coincidence-of-meaninglessness-you-choose/) [Lauren Grodstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-grodstein/) > [“I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; and consequently assumed that it had none, and was able without any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/i-had-motives-for-not-wanting-the-world-to-have-a-meaning-and/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Where are we headed? Are we not endlessly plunging —backwards, sideways, forwards, in all directions? Is there an up and a down anymore? Do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/where-are-we-headed-are-we-not-endlessly-plunging-backwards-sideways/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The wordlessness of depression is a galling experience. You can't phone your friends, writing an e-mail is beyond you, you can't put pen to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwyneth-lewis/the-wordlessness-of-depression-is-a-galling-experience-you-can-t/) [Gwyneth Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwyneth-lewis/) > [“As to the causation, of the feeling of meaningless, one may say, albeit in an oversimplifying way, that people have enough to live by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/as-to-the-causation-of-the-feeling-of-meaningless-one-may-say-albeit/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [“The more severely he struggles to hold on to the primal face-to-face relation with God, the more tenuous this becomes, until in the end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barrett/the-more-severely-he-struggles-to-hold-on-to-the-primal-face-to-face/) [William Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barrett/) > [“He lived a quiet existence where the future was easy to predict and the past was a cancer in remission. It was meaningful, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adelheid-manefeldt/he-lived-a-quiet-existence-where-the-future-was-easy-to-predict-and/) Adelheid Manefeldt > [The future of civilisation depends on our overcoming the meaninglessness and hopelessness that characterizes the thoughts of men today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/the-future-of-civilisation-depends-on-our-overcoming-the/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [It's their skins I'm peeling," she said. "The skins of the insipid scribblers, which I graft to the page, creating monsters of meaninglessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/it-s-their-skins-i-m-peeling-she-said-the-skins-of-the-insipid/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) [Browse all 176 Meaninglessness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaninglessness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I remember holding her in my arms and absolving God of meaninglessness.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "E.L. Doctorow" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/i-remember-holding-her-in-my-arms-and-absolving-god-of-meaninglessness/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Meaninglessness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/i-remember-holding-her-in-my-arms-and-absolving-god-of-meaninglessness/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/428/e-l-doctorow-2-10582_meaninglessness_i-remember-holding-her-in-my-arms-and-ab_178388.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/428/e-l-doctorow-2-10582_meaninglessness_i-remember-holding-her-in-my-arms-and-ab_178388.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/428/e-l-doctorow-2-10582_meaninglessness_i-remember-holding-her-in-my-arms-and-ab_178388.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I remember holding her in my arms and absolving God of meaninglessness.” — E.L. Doctorow", "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.L. Doctorow", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I remember holding her in my...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/i-remember-holding-her-in-my-arms-and-absolving-god-of-meaninglessness/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/i-remember-holding-her-in-my-arms-and-absolving-god-of-meaninglessness/#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 } } ] } ```