--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Karen, her elbows folded on the…" description: "\"“Karen, her elbows folded on the deck-rail, wanted to share with someone her pleasure in being alone: this is the paradox of any happy solitude.”\" — El..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/elizabeth-bowen-1197_karen_karen-her-elbows-folded-on-the-deck-rail_1274247.png" --- # Karen, her elbows folded on the deck-rail, wanted to share… ![“Karen, her elbows folded on the deck-rail, wanted to share with someone her pleasure in being alone: this is the paradox of any happy solitude.” quote by Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/elizabeth-bowen-1197_karen_karen-her-elbows-folded-on-the-deck-rail_1274247.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/elizabeth-bowen-1197_karen_karen-her-elbows-folded-on-the-deck-rail_1274247.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/elizabeth-bowen-1197_karen_karen-her-elbows-folded-on-the-deck-rail_1274247.png) > ““Karen, her elbows folded on the deck-rail, wanted to share with someone her pleasure in being alone: this is the paradox of any happy solitude.”” [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Solitude can be joyful yet paradoxical, revealing both peace and longing. **In simple terms:** Happy alone moments can feel both comforting and contradictory. Key Takeaway Embrace the complexity of being alone. Themes solitude joy paradox Mood contemplative melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - vacation retreats - creative writing - personal reflection - mindfulness retreats Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does happy solitude look like for you? - How do you avoid loneliness while enjoying alone time? A Different Perspective Alone time may lead to isolation if not balanced. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Elbows Folded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elbows-folded-4095359/) [Happy Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy-solitude-2151495/) [Karen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/karen/) [Karen Elbows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/karen-elbows-4095358/) [Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude/) [Solitude-as-a-choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude-as-a-choice-173730/) [Solo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solo/) [Solo travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solo-travel/) [Solo-traveler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solo-traveler-173746/) ## Related quotes > [“Until recently, it was considered that only losers, who obviously have zero friends in the whole wide world, are forced by their wretched fate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-angelova/until-recently-it-was-considered-that-only-losers-who-obviously-have/) [Maria Angelova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-angelova/) > [Karen, her elbows folded on the deck-rail, wanted to share with someone the pleasure in being alone: this is the paradox of any happy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/karen-her-elbows-folded-on-the-deck-rail-wanted-to-share-with-someone-2/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [“We can combat existential anguish – the unbearable lightness of our being – in a variety of ways. 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The tourist experience is superficial and glancing. The traveler develops a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-conover/what-i-m-getting-at-is-like-the-distinction-between-tourist-and-a/) [Ted Conover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-conover/) > [My solo travels in Paris have brought many perfect hours of being alone but not a moment of loneliness. People who depend on other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-o-hagan/my-solo-travels-in-paris-have-brought-many-perfect-hours-of-being/) [Andrew O'Hagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-o-hagan/) > [“Feeling lonely? Wish you had a special someone to help fill the void? Reconsider your definition of romance, reconnect to your passions and be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-greenlee/feeling-lonely-wish-you-had-a-special-someone-to-help-fill-the-void/) [Gina Greenlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-greenlee/) > [“When you're (traveling) with someone else, you share each discovery, but when you are alone, you have to carry each experience with you like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/when-you-re-traveling-with-someone-else-you-share-each-discovery-but/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) ## More by Elizabeth Bowen > [Temperamentally, the writer exists on happenings, on contacts, conflicts, action and reaction, speed, pressure, tension. Were he acontemplative purely, he would not write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/temperamentally-the-writer-exists-on-happenings-on-contacts-conflicts/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [“Are you really an orphan? Yes, I am, said Portia a shade shortly. Are you? No, not at present, but I suppose it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/are-you-really-an-orphan-yes-i-am-said-portia-a-shade-shortly-are-you/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [It is not our exalted feelings, it is our sentiments that build the necessary home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/it-is-not-our-exalted-feelings-it-is-our-sentiments-that-build-the/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [Every love has a poetic relevance of its own; each love brings to light only what to it is relevant. 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My breasts can always tell when it's going to rain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mean-girls/it-s-like-i-have-espn-or-something-my-breasts-can-always-tell-when-it/) [Mean Girls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mean-girls/) > [Karen and I were both born in New Haven, Conn. We enjoyed the same music and always seemed to know what the other was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-carpenter/karen-and-i-were-both-born-in-new-haven-conn-we-enjoyed-the-same/) [Richard Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-carpenter/) > [Oh my God, Karen.. you can't just ask people why they're white.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen/oh-my-god-karen-you-can-t-just-ask-people-why-they-re-white/) [Gretchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen/) > [“What Karen wants to do - needs to do - is cry, but she can't. Here, alone, when she could howl, beat the sofa…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-rayner/what-karen-wants-to-do-needs-to-do-is-cry-but-she-can-t-here-alone/) [Sarah Rayner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-rayner/) > [Karen will never die. Max Mutchnick, one of the creators of the show, has always maintained that Karen is a bat who balls up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-mullally/karen-will-never-die-max-mutchnick-one-of-the-creators-of-the-show/) [Megan Mullally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-mullally/) > [I can understand everybody associates me with Karen, but beyond that, I think after time passes and a few years go by, that sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-mullally/i-can-understand-everybody-associates-me-with-karen-but-beyond-that-i/) [Megan Mullally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-mullally/) > [“Good guys are either taken or gay”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clamp/good-guys-are-either-taken-or-gay/) [CLAMP](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clamp/) > [Tum mano Na Mano hm yaad karenge tum sMJho na sMJho huM aitbaR krege kya kre ya Rishta hi kuch esa he tum Msg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/tum-mano-na-mano-hm-yaad-karenge-tum-smjho-na-smjho-hum-aitbar-krege/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Mutt, Poo-Poo, and Karen”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-watson/mutt-poo-poo-and-karen/) [Tom Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-watson/) > [Karen was always the more visible part of the group, which was fine, but I think anyone who knows anything about music will know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-carpenter/karen-was-always-the-more-visible-part-of-the-group-which-was-fine/) [Richard Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-carpenter/) > [“Karen told me about an old woman who was the last surviving inhabitant of one of the Hermit Islands. She was the only one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerzy-kosi-ski/karen-told-me-about-an-old-woman-who-was-the-last-surviving/) [Jerzy Kosiński](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerzy-kosi-ski/) > [“Now that Karen has been resurrected, I can travel beyond the black mirror. I can discover who I have lost with the floating hearts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholaus-patnaude/now-that-karen-has-been-resurrected-i-can-travel-beyond-the-black/) [Nicholaus Patnaude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholaus-patnaude/) > [“Karen, she's a silver sun. 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' - Caroline”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-rose/i-ve-sweated-and-grunted-and-pushed-myself-until-i-thought-it-would/) [Karen Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-rose/) [Browse all 34 Karen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/karen/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Karen, her elbows folded on the deck-rail, wanted to share with someone her pleasure in being alone: this is the paradox of any happy solitude.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Bowen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/karen-her-elbows-folded-on-the-deck-rail-wanted-to-share-with-someone/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Karen" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/karen-her-elbows-folded-on-the-deck-rail-wanted-to-share-with-someone/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/elizabeth-bowen-1197_karen_karen-her-elbows-folded-on-the-deck-rail_1274247.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/elizabeth-bowen-1197_karen_karen-her-elbows-folded-on-the-deck-rail_1274247.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/605/elizabeth-bowen-1197_karen_karen-her-elbows-folded-on-the-deck-rail_1274247.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Karen, her elbows folded on the deck-rail, wanted to share with someone her pleasure in being alone: this is…” — Elizabeth Bowen", "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": "Elizabeth Bowen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Karen, her elbows folded on the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/karen-her-elbows-folded-on-the-deck-rail-wanted-to-share-with-someone/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/karen-her-elbows-folded-on-the-deck-rail-wanted-to-share-with-someone/#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 } } ] } ```