--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We do not truly speak except at a…" description: "\"We do not truly speak except at a distance. There is no word not severed.\" — Edmond Jabes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5b/edmond-jab-s-18829_detachment_we-do-not-truly-speak-except-at-a-distan_339892.png" --- # We do not truly speak except at a distance. There is no… ![“We do not truly speak except at a distance. There is no word not severed.” quote by Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5b/edmond-jab-s-18829_detachment_we-do-not-truly-speak-except-at-a-distan_339892.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5b/edmond-jab-s-18829_detachment_we-do-not-truly-speak-except-at-a-distan_339892.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5b/edmond-jab-s-18829_detachment_we-do-not-truly-speak-except-at-a-distan_339892.png) > “We do not truly speak except at a distance. There is no word not severed.” [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Communication is limited by distance; words lose meaning when far apart. **In simple terms:** Distance weakens communication. Key Takeaway Bridge gaps with clarity. Themes communication distance misunderstanding Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - long-distance relationships - remote work - diplomacy - family talks Key Concepts semantic loss psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can you convey nuance remotely? - What tools aid distant dialogue? A Different Perspective Some messages can still be clear despite distance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Detachment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detachment/) [Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Numbness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numbness/) ## Related quotes > [Everyone may speak truly, but to speak logically, prudently, and adequately is a talent few possess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/everyone-may-speak-truly-but-to-speak-logically-prudently-and/) [Michel De Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Do not wonder if the common people speak more truly than those above them: they speak more safely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/do-not-wonder-if-the-common-people-speak-more-truly-than-those-above/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [Every man may speak truly, but to speak methodically, prudently, and fully is a talent that few men have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/every-man-may-speak-truly-but-to-speak-methodically-prudently-and/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [I've been saying it at all our Senate Democratic retreats we need to speak to the heart, not in a manipulative way, not in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mazie-hirono/i-ve-been-saying-it-at-all-our-senate-democratic-retreats-we-need-to/) [Mazie Hirono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mazie-hirono/) > [I believe that you've created a metaphorical universe in which you can express your darkest fears. In one aspect, yes, I believe in ghosts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/i-believe-that-you-ve-created-a-metaphorical-universe-in-which-you/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [She’s never where she is,' I said. 'She’s only inside her head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/she-s-never-where-she-is-i-said-she-s-only-inside-her-head/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [Your numbness is something perhaps you cannot help. It is what the world has done to you. But your coldness. That is what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/your-numbness-is-something-perhaps-you-cannot-help-it-is-what-the/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [My main goal is to stay alive. To keep fooling myself into hanging around. To keep getting up every day. Right now I live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/my-main-goal-is-to-stay-alive-to-keep-fooling-myself-into-hanging/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [... when he kissed her, she received the kiss without returning it, her eyes wide open, not afraid, not a virgin's eyes, just flat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-brien/when-he-kissed-her-she-received-the-kiss-without-returning-it-her/) [Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) > [I was as hollow and empty as the spaces between stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/i-was-as-hollow-and-empty-as-the-spaces-between-stars/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [I felt a kind of numbness, an enervation, but more particularly an odd fragility - as if my body had actually become frail, hypersensitive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-styron/i-felt-a-kind-of-numbness-an-enervation-but-more-particularly-an-odd/) [William Styron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-styron/) > [Pain is always preferable to numbness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-anderson/pain-is-always-preferable-to-numbness/) [Scott Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-anderson/) > [I wanted to turn everything off, too. Just press a button - click - and shut myself down. Turn off my heart, turn off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brooks/i-wanted-to-turn-everything-off-too-just-press-a-button-click-and/) [Kevin Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brooks/) > [This morning I suddenly catch myself: I'm not there, I'm so lost in thought, I don't know what's going on around me. Can you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-kamienska/this-morning-i-suddenly-catch-myself-i-m-not-there-i-m-so-lost-in/) [Anna Kamienska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-kamienska/) > [You know, I think the people I feel saddest for are the ones who once knew what profoundness was, but who lost or became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/you-know-i-think-the-people-i-feel-saddest-for-are-the-ones-who-once/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) ## More by Edmond Jabes > [It is very hard to live with silence. The real silence is death and this is terrible. To approach this silence, it is necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/it-is-very-hard-to-live-with-silence-the-real-silence-is-death-and/) [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [For the writer, discovering the work he will write is both like a miracle and a wound, like the miracle of the wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/for-the-writer-discovering-the-work-he-will-write-is-both-like-a/) [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [By the light of our insistent truths we wander into death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/by-the-light-of-our-insistent-truths-we-wander-into-death/) [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [What is not grasped has all the chances to become real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/what-is-not-grasped-has-all-the-chances-to-become-real/) [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [My hands are full when you give me your hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/my-hands-are-full-when-you-give-me-your-hand/) [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [Only what touches us closely preoccupies us. We prepare in solitude to face it. (The Little Book of Unsuspected Subversion)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/only-what-touches-us-closely-preoccupies-us-we-prepare-in-solitude-to/) [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [Silence is no weakness of language. It is, on the contrary, its strength. It is the weakness of words not to know this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/silence-is-no-weakness-of-language-it-is-on-the-contrary-its-strength/) [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [The book is an unbearable totality. I write against a background of facets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/the-book-is-an-unbearable-totality-i-write-against-a-background-of/) [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [“In your loneliness, you hear the word from far away and then, in gratitude, look at it so closely that you cannot but drown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/in-your-loneliness-you-hear-the-word-from-far-away-and-then-in/) [Edmond Jabès](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [One wound is enough to feed the open wounds of the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/one-wound-is-enough-to-feed-the-open-wounds-of-the-sky/) [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [It is not certainty which is creative, but the uncertainty we are pledged to in our works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/it-is-not-certainty-which-is-creative-but-the-uncertainty-we-are/) [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [In the morning, you tear up the pages of your fever, but every word naturally leads you back to its color, its night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/in-the-morning-you-tear-up-the-pages-of-your-fever-but-every-word/) [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [“At an early age I found myself facing the incomprehensible, the unthinkable, death. Ever since, I have known nothing on this earth can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/at-an-early-age-i-found-myself-facing-the-incomprehensible-the/) [Edmond Jabès](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [As long as we are not chased from our words we have nothing to fear. As long as our utterances keep their sound we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/as-long-as-we-are-not-chased-from-our-words-we-have-nothing-to-fear/) [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) > [THE WRITER can get free of his writing only by using it, that is, by reading oneself. As if the aim of writing were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-jab-s/the-writer-can-get-free-of-his-writing-only-by-using-it-that-is-by/) [Edmond Jabes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) [Explore all 29 Edmond Jabes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-jab-s/) ## More Detachment quotes > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“Frequently, when I suggest to people that they detach from a person or problem, they recoil in horror. “Oh, no!” they say. “I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-beattie/frequently-when-i-suggest-to-people-that-they-detach-from-a-person-or/) [Melody Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-beattie/) > [“You need to belong to yourself, and let others belong to themselves too. You need to be free and detached from things and your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-eriksson/you-need-to-belong-to-yourself-and-let-others-belong-to-themselves/) [Charlotte Eriksson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-eriksson/) > [No one, it has been said, will ever look at the Moon in the same way again. More significantly can one say that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/no-one-it-has-been-said-will-ever-look-at-the-moon-in-the-same-way/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/the-appeal-of-the-spectrally-macabre-is-generally-narrow-because-it/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Plato dramatically puts the detachment of the philosopher from his time this way: to philosophize is to prepare to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-goldstein/plato-dramatically-puts-the-detachment-of-the-philosopher-from-his/) [Rebecca Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-goldstein/) > [“Subhuti, someone might fill innumerable worlds with the seven treasures and give all away in gifts of alms, but if any good man or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddh-rtha-gautama/subhuti-someone-might-fill-innumerable-worlds-with-the-seven/) [Siddhārtha Gautama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddh-rtha-gautama/) > [I sort of gave up on this whole human adventure a long time ago, divorced myself from it emotionally. It gives me an artistic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-sort-of-gave-up-on-this-whole-human-adventure-a-long-time-ago/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [In opposition to this detachment, he finds an image of man which contains within itself man's dreams, man's illness, man's redemption from the misery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/in-opposition-to-this-detachment-he-finds-an-image-of-man-which/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [Wandering, (is) considered as a state of detachment form every given point in space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-simmel/wandering-is-considered-as-a-state-of-detachment-form-every-given/) [Georg Simmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-simmel/) > [“To be a warrior a man has to be, first of all, and rightfully so, keenly aware of his own death. But to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/to-be-a-warrior-a-man-has-to-be-first-of-all-and-rightfully-so-keenly/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [I tore my right shoulder to pieces - three external tears, a labrum tear, and a detachment of the bicep tendon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-o-loughlin/i-tore-my-right-shoulder-to-pieces-three-external-tears-a-labrum-tear/) [Alex O'Loughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-o-loughlin/) > [What becomes decisive to a Justice's functioning on the Court in the large area within which his individuality moves is his general attitude toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/what-becomes-decisive-to-a-justice-s-functioning-on-the-court-in-the/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [Sometimes you'll see people give performances in comedy with an ironic detachment where they'll sort of be remarking on the character from outside of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-woods/sometimes-you-ll-see-people-give-performances-in-comedy-with-an/) [Zach Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-woods/) > [Yoga is an ancient discipline in which physical postures, breath practice, meditation, and philosophical study are tools for achieving liberation. In my interpretation, achieving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-yee/yoga-is-an-ancient-discipline-in-which-physical-postures-breath/) [Rodney Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-yee/) [Browse all 334 Detachment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detachment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We do not truly speak except at a distance. 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