--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Listen- all that she was then, all that…" description: "\"Listen- all that she was then, all that she is now, those gestures, everything I remember but won't or can't articulate anymore, the perfect words that..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/elliot-perlman-14111_able_listen-all-that-she-was-then-all-that-sh_611748.jpg" --- # Listen- all that she was then, all that she is now, those… ![“Listen- all that she was then, all that she is now, those gestures, everything I remember but won't or can't articulate anymore, the perfect words that are somehow made imperfect when used to describe her and all that should remain unsaid about her- it is all unsupported by reason. I know that…” quote by Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/elliot-perlman-14111_able_listen-all-that-she-was-then-all-that-sh_611748.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/elliot-perlman-14111_able_listen-all-that-she-was-then-all-that-sh_611748.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9d/elliot-perlman-14111_able_listen-all-that-she-was-then-all-that-sh_611748.jpg) > “Listen- all that she was then, all that she is now, those gestures, everything I remember but won't or can't articulate anymore, the perfect words that are somehow made imperfect when used to describe her and all that should remain unsaid about her- it is all unsupported by reason. I know that. But that enigmatic calm that attaches itself to people in the presence of reason- it's something from which I haven't been able to take comfort, not reliably, not since her.” [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reason can’t fully capture deep emotional memories; some feelings stay beyond words. **In simple terms:** Emotions often defy logical description. Key Takeaway Accept the limits of language. Themes memory emotion irrationality Mood melancholic introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - grieving - reflecting on past relationships - artistic creation Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - What emotions do you find hardest to articulate? - How do you honor what cannot be spoken? A Different Perspective Rational analysis may overlook subtle feelings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Calm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/) [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) [Enigmatic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enigmatic/) [Gestures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gestures/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) ## Related quotes > [“When one has an urge to say something but wouldn't quite know 'what' & 'how' .. it is better to let it remain unsaid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neena-verma/when-one-has-an-urge-to-say-something-but-wouldn-t-quite-know-what/) [Neena Verma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neena-verma/) > [The more articulate somebody is, the more suspicious I am of them. I like to feel that the important things remain unsaid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-day-lewis/the-more-articulate-somebody-is-the-more-suspicious-i-am-of-them-i/) [Daniel Day-Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-day-lewis/) > [“...words are always imperfect, words are just sounds we make with our mouths that point our minds to think of things that cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-e-coyote/words-are-always-imperfect-words-are-just-sounds-we-make-with-our/) Ivan E. Coyote > [Words are an imperfect medium for explaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celeste-ng/words-are-an-imperfect-medium-for-explaining/) [Celeste Ng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celeste-ng/) > [What passes for love is imperfect knowledge. Not knowing, initially, allows faithlessness to dress up as its opposite; casts the inarticulate as enigmatic, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/what-passes-for-love-is-imperfect-knowledge-not-knowing-initially/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [Tea ceremony is a way of worshipping the beautiful and the simple. All one's efforts are concentrated on trying to achieve perfection through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/tea-ceremony-is-a-way-of-worshipping-the-beautiful-and-the-simple-all/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Sometimes I think I am going mad. I live for days in the mystery and tears of things so that the commonest object, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-n-p-barbellion/sometimes-i-think-i-am-going-mad-i-live-for-days-in-the-mystery-and/) [W.N.P. Barbellion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-n-p-barbellion/) > [“The Rabbit started violently, dropped the white kid gloves and the fan, and scurried away into the darkness as hard as he could go.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/the-rabbit-started-violently-dropped-the-white-kid-gloves-and-the-fan/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [Most pioneers are at the mercy of doubt at the beginning, whether of their worth, of their theories, or of the whole enigmatic field…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/most-pioneers-are-at-the-mercy-of-doubt-at-the-beginning-whether-of/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The smudging makes the paintings a bit more complete. 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Would he miss me? Had I, in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/his-face-was-in-my-neck-and-he-was-breathing-hard-was-he-grieving-me/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Kate Bernheimer's fiction offers a unique and delicate gift, the tempting mirage of a grace that constantly escapes. The Complete Tales of Merry Gold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-millet/kate-bernheimer-s-fiction-offers-a-unique-and-delicate-gift-the/) [Lydia Millet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-millet/) > [ Content to me is very important, but I like it when \[the photograph\] is also enigmatic. If you don't know what it is you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gutmann/content-to-me-is-very-important-but-i-like-it-when-the-photograph-is/) John Gutmann ## More by Elliot Perlman > [You would love the way he sees you. He uses you as a weapon against himself and not merely because you did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-perlman/you-would-love-the-way-he-sees-you-he-uses-you-as-a-weapon-against/) [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) > [“...Simon and I by then were practicing to be apart, rehearsing together in the same room and often in the same conversation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-perlman/simon-and-i-by-then-were-practicing-to-be-apart-rehearsing-together/) [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) > [“When the words dance privately for you, it is possible to feel not alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-perlman/when-the-words-dance-privately-for-you-it-is-possible-to-feel-not/) [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) > [“Madeline, my wife, never used to wear a watch. She does now, I am told. 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Maybe she didn't at first, or maybe she had forgotten that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-perlman/i-asked-her-where-she-got-her-toughness-she-pretended-she-didn-t/) [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) > [“He uses you as a weapon against himself and not merely because you did. He sits in his car at traffic lights on his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-perlman/he-uses-you-as-a-weapon-against-himself-and-not-merely-because-you/) [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) > [At difficult times of my life, books have been an incredible comfort. When I was 12, I changed schools and my parents split up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-perlman/at-difficult-times-of-my-life-books-have-been-an-incredible-comfort/) [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) > [Why did I start with them? Why do any of us choose one company over another as an employer? The money? At the beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-perlman/why-did-i-start-with-them-why-do-any-of-us-choose-one-company-over/) [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) > [It's like the smell of burned toast. You made the toast. You looked forward to it. You even enjoyed making it, but it burned.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-perlman/it-s-like-the-smell-of-burned-toast-you-made-the-toast-you-looked/) [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) > [You know you're in love with somebody when you wake up next to them, comfortable despite your breath smelling like the week-old water at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-perlman/you-know-you-re-in-love-with-somebody-when-you-wake-up-next-to-them/) [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) > [ \[Memory\] visits when it is hungry, not when you are. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-perlman/memory-visits-when-it-is-hungry-not-when-you-are/) [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) > [I'll be happy if I can gain even the smallest place inside the literary imagination of U.S. readers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-perlman/i-ll-be-happy-if-i-can-gain-even-the-smallest-place-inside-the/) [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) > [I hold him to my chest. My love for him is the only unequivocally good thing I know is always there inside of me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-perlman/i-hold-him-to-my-chest-my-love-for-him-is-the-only-unequivocally-good/) [Elliot Perlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) [Explore all 46 Elliot Perlman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-perlman/) ## More Able 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/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. 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