---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For each ecstatic instant We must an…"
description: "\"For each ecstatic instant We must an anguish pay In keen and quivering ratio To the ecstasy.\" — Emily Dickinson"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/emily-dickinson-310_anguish_for-each-ecstatic-instant-we-must-an-ang_182200.jpg"
---

#  For each ecstatic instant We must an anguish pay In keen…

![“For each ecstatic instant We must an anguish pay In keen and quivering ratio To the ecstasy.” quote by Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/emily-dickinson-310_anguish_for-each-ecstatic-instant-we-must-an-ang_182200.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/emily-dickinson-310_anguish_for-each-ecstatic-instant-we-must-an-ang_182200.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/emily-dickinson-310_anguish_for-each-ecstatic-instant-we-must-an-ang_182200.jpg)

> “For each ecstatic instant We must an anguish pay In keen and quivering ratio To the ecstasy.”

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Ecstatic moments are balanced by anguish; joy and suffering are interdependent and must be felt together.

**In simple terms:** Joy and pain come together in intense moments.

Key Takeaway

Accept both joy and pain as linked.

Themes

emotion balance spirituality

Mood

reflective poetic

Type

inspirational philosophical

When to use this quote

- personal reflection
- creative writing
- meditation

Key Concepts

dualism transcendence psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- What role does anguish play in joy?
- Can we separate ecstasy from suffering?

A Different Perspective

Focusing only on ecstasy ignores necessary growth.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) [Anguish Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish-pay-1944783/) [Ecstasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecstasy/) [Ecstatic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecstatic/) [Ecstatic Instant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecstatic-instant-1944782/) [Ecstatic love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecstatic-love/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Instant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instant/) [Instant Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instant-anguish-1944781/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) [Ratios](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ratios/)

## Related quotes

> [I physically need to make art. Art isn't just a hobby for me. It's not something that I like. It's an intense passion, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lacy/i-physically-need-to-make-art-art-isn-t-just-a-hobby-for-me-it-s-not/)

[Sarah Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lacy/)

> [Ecstatic Love is an ocean, and the Milky Way is a flake of foam floating on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/ecstatic-love-is-an-ocean-and-the-milky-way-is-a-flake-of-foam/)

[Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/)

> [Life has always taken place in a tumult without apparent cohesion, but it only finds its grandeur and its reality in ecstasy and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/life-has-always-taken-place-in-a-tumult-without-apparent-cohesion-but/)

[Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/)

> [Lenten practices of giving up pleasures are good reminders that the purpose of life is not pleasure. The purpose of life is to attain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/lenten-practices-of-giving-up-pleasures-are-good-reminders-that-the/)

[Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/)

> [Realization of God cannot be achieved without ecstatic love for Him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarada-devi/realization-of-god-cannot-be-achieved-without-ecstatic-love-for-him/)

[Sarada Devi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarada-devi/)

> [He who has really prayed to the Master, even once, has nothing to fear. By, praying to him constantly one gets ecstatic love (Prema…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarada-devi/he-who-has-really-prayed-to-the-master-even-once-has-nothing-to-fear/)

[Sarada Devi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarada-devi/)

> [When you are ecstatic and in love, you feel buoyant, you feel life, you feel like you are dancing in the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-anand/when-you-are-ecstatic-and-in-love-you-feel-buoyant-you-feel-life-you/)

[Margot Anand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-anand/)

> [My nominee for Best Picture of the year - maybe the best picture ever, because it's essentially made up of and is an ecstatic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/my-nominee-for-best-picture-of-the-year-maybe-the-best-picture-ever/)

[Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/)

> [Soon after you're dead - we're not sure how long - but not long, you'll be united with the most ecstatic love you've ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/soon-after-you-re-dead-we-re-not-sure-how-long-but-not-long-you-ll-be/)

[Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/)

> [“Then, like magic, the rain came, or we knew intuitively where to go and find a clear stream, or the hickory branch told us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hyatt/then-like-magic-the-rain-came-or-we-knew-intuitively-where-to-go-and/)

[Christopher Hyatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hyatt/)

> [“The dust of the feet of a devotee, the water that has washed the feet of a devotee, and the remnants of food left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahanidhi-swami/the-dust-of-the-feet-of-a-devotee-the-water-that-has-washed-the-feet/)

[Mahanidhi Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahanidhi-swami/)

> [“Since God knows created beings as the realizations of His will, it is not being itself but the ultimate will of God's love which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-zizoulas/since-god-knows-created-beings-as-the-realizations-of-his-will-it-is/)

[John D. Zizoulas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-zizoulas/)

> [The Heart is the Capital of the Mind— The Mind is a single State— The Heart and the Mind together make A single Continent—…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/the-heart-is-the-capital-of-the-mind-the-mind-is-a-single-state-the/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/the-soul-should-always-stand-ajar-ready-to-welcome-the-ecstatic/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/)

[Richard Doll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-doll/)

## More by Emily Dickinson

> [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [I could not prove the Years had feet-/Yet confident they run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/i-could-not-prove-the-years-had-feet-yet-confident-they-run/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [How softly summer shuts, without the creaking of a door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/how-softly-summer-shuts-without-the-creaking-of-a-door/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [“Could you tell me how to grow--or is it unconveyed--like Melody--or Witchcraft?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/could-you-tell-me-how-to-grow-or-is-it-unconveyed-like-melody-or/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [It might be lonelier Without the Loneliness - I’m so accustomed to my Fate - Perhaps the Other - Peace - Would interrupt the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/it-might-be-lonelier-without-the-loneliness-i-m-so-accustomed-to-my/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [“Inebriate of Air — am I — And Debauchee of Dew — Reeling — thro endless summer days — From Inns of Molten Blue —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/inebriate-of-air-am-i-and-debauchee-of-dew-reeling-thro-endless/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/luck-is-not-chance-it-s-toil-fortune-s-expensive-smile-is-earned/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [The abdication of Belief Makes the Behavior small- Better an ignis fatuus Than no illume at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/the-abdication-of-belief-makes-the-behavior-small-better-an-ignis/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [Longing is like a seed that wrestles in the ground](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/longing-is-like-a-seed-that-wrestles-in-the-ground/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [“He ate and drank the precious words, His spirit grew robust; He knew no more that he was poor, Nor that his frame was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/he-ate-and-drank-the-precious-words-his-spirit-grew-robust-he-knew-no/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [I SEE thee better in the dark, I do not need a light. The love of thee a prism be Excelling violet. I see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/i-see-thee-better-in-the-dark-i-do-not-need-a-light-the-love-of-thee/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [One step at a time is all it takes to get you there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/one-step-at-a-time-is-all-it-takes-to-get-you-there/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [“Whose fingers string the stalactite- Who counts the Wampum of the night”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/whose-fingers-string-the-stalactite-who-counts-the-wampum-of-the-night/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [My life closed twice before its close](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/my-life-closed-twice-before-its-close/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [Until you have loved, you cannot become yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/until-you-have-loved-you-cannot-become-yourself/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

[Explore all 692 Emily Dickinson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

## More Anguish quotes

> [“He put his forehead against hers. “Alannah, my heart is yours.” He said softly. “And yet, I must hand it over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-morin/he-put-his-forehead-against-hers-alannah-my-heart-is-yours-he-said/)

[B.C. Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-morin/)

> [Knowledge gives a wider choice and more anguish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-florman/knowledge-gives-a-wider-choice-and-more-anguish/)

[Samuel Florman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-florman/)

> [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/)

[Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/)

> [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/)

[Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/)

> [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/)

[Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/)

> [Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/being-human-we-would-expel-from-our-lives-physical-pain-and-mental/)

[Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/)

> [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/)

[e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/)

> [I saw my parents as gods whose every wish must be obeyed or I would suffer the penalty of anguish and guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/i-saw-my-parents-as-gods-whose-every-wish-must-be-obeyed-or-i-would/)

[Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/)

> [Every last cast is actually a first cast. The first cast and first chance to catch the next fish. The next time you anguish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/every-last-cast-is-actually-a-first-cast-the-first-cast-and-first/)

[Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/)

> [Journalism is an extraordinary and terrible privilege. Not by chance, if you are aware of it, does it consume you with a hundred feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/journalism-is-an-extraordinary-and-terrible-privilege-not-by-chance/)

[Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/)

> [I have discovered in my long life that there are many words and phrases which have more power than any spell of magick. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/i-have-discovered-in-my-long-life-that-there-are-many-words-and/)

[David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/)

> [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-marceau/i-have-designed-my-style-pantomimes-as-white-ink-drawings-on-black/)

[Marcel Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-marceau/)

> [So silently, peacefully, without hurry, without any tension, without any anguish, move into yourself instantly. It is urgent. Unless meditation becomes urgent to you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/so-silently-peacefully-without-hurry-without-any-tension-without-any/)

[Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/)

> [It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-bush/it-breaks-my-heart-to-think-about-a-family-weeping-over-the-loss-of-a/)

[George P. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-p-bush/)

[Browse all 570 Anguish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "For each ecstatic instant We must an anguish pay In keen and quivering ratio To the ecstasy.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Emily Dickinson"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/for-each-ecstatic-instant-we-must-an-anguish-pay-in-keen-and/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Anguish"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/for-each-ecstatic-instant-we-must-an-anguish-pay-in-keen-and/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/emily-dickinson-310_anguish_for-each-ecstatic-instant-we-must-an-ang_182200.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/emily-dickinson-310_anguish_for-each-ecstatic-instant-we-must-an-ang_182200.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/emily-dickinson-310_anguish_for-each-ecstatic-instant-we-must-an-ang_182200.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“For each ecstatic instant We must an anguish pay In keen and quivering ratio To the ecstasy.” — Emily Dickinson",
                "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": "Emily Dickinson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "For each ecstatic instant We must...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/for-each-ecstatic-instant-we-must-an-anguish-pay-in-keen-and/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/for-each-ecstatic-instant-we-must-an-anguish-pay-in-keen-and/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
