--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Only, I wonder—the thing one's so certain…" description: "\"“Only, I wonder—the thing one's so certain of in advance: can it ever make one's heart beat as wildly?”\" — Edith Wharton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/edith-wharton-512_certain_only-i-wonder-the-thing-one-s-so-certain_1506253.png" --- # Only, I wonder—the thing one's so certain of in advance… ![“Only, I wonder—the thing one's so certain of in advance: can it ever make one's heart beat as wildly?” quote by Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/edith-wharton-512_certain_only-i-wonder-the-thing-one-s-so-certain_1506253.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/edith-wharton-512_certain_only-i-wonder-the-thing-one-s-so-certain_1506253.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7e/edith-wharton-512_certain_only-i-wonder-the-thing-one-s-so-certain_1506253.png) > ““Only, I wonder—the thing one's so certain of in advance: can it ever make one's heart beat as wildly?”” [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He questions whether anticipation can truly excite the heart. **In simple terms:** Wonder if anticipation truly excites. Key Takeaway Explore how expectations shape emotions. Themes anticipation emotion expectation Mood contemplative poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - courtship - creative projects - personal goals Key Concepts psychology romantic longing Questions to Reflect On - What fuels your anticipation? - How do you manage unmet expectations? A Different Perspective Excessive anticipation can lead to disappointment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Heart beat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart-beat/) [Thing Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-certain-705925/) [Wildly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wildly/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) ## Related quotes > [Had Elizabeth Bennet known how wildly Darcy's heart beat for her, 'Pride and Prejudice' would barely have made it into a short story. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariella-frostrup/had-elizabeth-bennet-known-how-wildly-darcy-s-heart-beat-for-her/) [Mariella Frostrup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariella-frostrup/) > [It's one thing to be certain, but you can be certain and you can be wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-one-thing-to-be-certain-but-you-can-be-certain-and-you-can-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The difference is that these young people take it for granted that they're going to get whatever they want, and that we almost always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-difference-is-that-these-young-people-take-it-for-granted-that/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“But one thing was for certain: something would happen next. Something always did. Especially when you live the life of a spy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-bode/but-one-thing-was-for-certain-something-would-happen-next-something/) [Maya Bode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-bode/) > [One thing is certain in life. Just when things are going well, soon afterward they are certain to go wrong. It's just the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryce-courtenay/one-thing-is-certain-in-life-just-when-things-are-going-well-soon/) [Bryce Courtenay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryce-courtenay/) > [“Maybe that had been his plan all along, or maybe not. But one thing's for certain- now that I had said it, it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/maybe-that-had-been-his-plan-all-along-or-maybe-not-but-one-thing-s/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [Apart from death and taxes, the one thing that's certain in this life is that I'll never be a fashion icon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-dickinson/apart-from-death-and-taxes-the-one-thing-that-s-certain-in-this-life/) [Bruce Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-dickinson/) > [I love being certain. I mean I really love being certain.The only thing certain in life is uncertainty. 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The musical will never be the same as it was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-prince/one-thing-is-certain-we-can-t-go-back-the-musical-will-never-be-the/) [Harold Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-prince/) > [\*\*No matter how much we like and care for a person if we are uncertain of our position, there will be a point when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uknown/no-matter-how-much-we-like-and-care-for-a-person-if-we-are-uncertain/) [UKNOWN](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uknown/) > [The only thing we can be certain of in this life is that we can be certain of nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-only-thing-we-can-be-certain-of-in-this-life-is-that-we-can-be/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) ## More by Edith Wharton > [“Suddenly the air was full of that deep clangor of bells which periodically covers Rome with a roof of silver.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/suddenly-the-air-was-full-of-that-deep-clangor-of-bells-which/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Untrained human nature was not frank and innocent; it was full of the twists and defences of an instinctive guile. And he felt himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/untrained-human-nature-was-not-frank-and-innocent-it-was-full-of-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“High Pasture Come up--come up: in the dim vale below The autumn mist muffles the fading trees, But on this keen hill-pasture, though the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/high-pasture-come-up-come-up-in-the-dim-vale-below-the-autumn-mist/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Two ways to be a light for all, is to be a flaming candle or the mirror that reflects it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/two-ways-to-be-a-light-for-all-is-to-be-a-flaming-candle-or-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“... no treasure-house of Atreus was ever as rich as a well-stored memory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/no-treasure-house-of-atreus-was-ever-as-rich-as-a-well-stored-memory/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“...the endless labour of rolling human stupidity up the steep hill of understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-endless-labour-of-rolling-human-stupidity-up-the-steep-hill-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of-the-other-marriages-about/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-real-loneliness-is-living-among-all-these-kind-people-who-only/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [With a shiver of foreboding he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/with-a-shiver-of-foreboding-he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Life is the saddest thing there is, next to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-the-saddest-thing-there-is-next-to-death/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/a-classic-is-classic-not-because-it-conforms-to-certain-structural/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [There is too much sour grapes for my taste in the present American attitude. The time to denounce the bankers was when we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/there-is-too-much-sour-grapes-for-my-taste-in-the-present-american/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“But in a few years more perhaps there may be; for, deep within us as the ghost instinct lurks, I seem to see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/but-in-a-few-years-more-perhaps-there-may-be-for-deep-within-us-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Dialogue in fiction should be reserved for the culminating moments and regarded as the spray into which the great wave of narrative breaks in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/dialogue-in-fiction-should-be-reserved-for-the-culminating-moments/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“These Americans, under their forthcoming manner, their surface-gush, as some might call it, have an odd reticence about what goes on underneath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/these-americans-under-their-forthcoming-manner-their-surface-gush-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) [Explore all 504 Edith Wharton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## More Certain quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. 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