--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't keep from despairing. I let…" description: "\"I don't keep from despairing. I let myself despair. I just don't linger there for too long. There's too much to laugh about, two knuckleheads I have to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/emily-raboteau-38044_deserve_i-don-t-keep-from-despairing-i-let-mysel_292045.jpg" --- # I don't keep from despairing. I let myself despair. I just… ![“I don't keep from despairing. I let myself despair. I just don't linger there for too long. There's too much to laugh about, two knuckleheads I have to feed, and a lot of really excellent television to watch. I think the mess we're in deserves the full range of human feeling, from despair to its…” quote by Emily Raboteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/emily-raboteau-38044_deserve_i-don-t-keep-from-despairing-i-let-mysel_292045.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/emily-raboteau-38044_deserve_i-don-t-keep-from-despairing-i-let-mysel_292045.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/emily-raboteau-38044_deserve_i-don-t-keep-from-despairing-i-let-mysel_292045.jpg) > “I don't keep from despairing. I let myself despair. I just don't linger there for too long. There's too much to laugh about, two knuckleheads I have to feed, and a lot of really excellent television to watch. I think the mess we're in deserves the full range of human feeling, from despair to its opposite, which I would say is not hope, happiness, or peace, but freedom.” [Emily Raboteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-raboteau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author acknowledges despair but chooses to move quickly through it, finding humor, responsibility, and entertainment as anchors, and defines true freedom as the emotional spectrum beyond hope or peace. **In simple terms:** Accept despair briefly, then focus on humor, duty, and media; true freedom is feeling all emotions. Key Takeaway Embrace humor and responsibility to transcend despair. Themes humor responsibility emotional resilience Mood reflective hopeful lighthearted Type personal philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - parenting - watching TV - dealing with crisis - seeking joy - processing grief Key Concepts existential freedom psychological coping balance Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance genuine sorrow with levity? - What does freedom mean to you in difficult times? A Different Perspective Despair can become overwhelming if not managed; humor may not suit all situations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“She sighed. Ignatius, do you know what the opposite of love is? Hate, I said. Despair, Sister said. Despair is the opposite of love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-d-ambrosio/she-sighed-ignatius-do-you-know-what-the-opposite-of-love-is-hate-i/) [Charles D'Ambrosio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-d-ambrosio/) > [“Always love, always encourage, and never let despair get in the way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/super-star/always-love-always-encourage-and-never-let-despair-get-in-the-way/) Super Star > [“To All Children In Our World (Young & Old) Don't let your despair hold you down. Rise above it & grab the rainbows that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-pina/to-all-children-in-our-world-young-old-don-t-let-your-despair-hold/) [Timothy Pina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-pina/) > [“I will not seek it," the other replied. "It has been opened once and it is enough. And you -- are you sure that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/i-will-not-seek-it-the-other-replied-it-has-been-opened-once-and-it/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [Let no one despair, even though in the darkest night the last star of hope may disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/let-no-one-despair-even-though-in-the-darkest-night-the-last-star-of/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Don't let despair mutate your flesh Look at my twisted stumps of thought See the fingers, listen to the voice I am slowly becoming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/don-t-let-despair-mutate-your-flesh-look-at-my-twisted-stumps-of/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [Let there be no more war or bloodshed between Arabs and Israelis. Let there be no more suffering or denial of rights. Let there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anwar-sadat/let-there-be-no-more-war-or-bloodshed-between-arabs-and-israelis-let/) [Anwar Sadat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anwar-sadat/) > [Whoever has nothing to hope, let him despair of nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/whoever-has-nothing-to-hope-let-him-despair-of-nothing/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [If I place love above everything, it is because for me it is the most desperate, the most despairing state of affairs imaginable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-because-for-me-it-is-the-most/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“Once you believe that god is not a private property of anybody, you are on your way to becoming a new messiah. Maybe your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/once-you-believe-that-god-is-not-a-private-property-of-anybody-you/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [All my work shares a kind of balance between black comedy and sad and despairing melancholy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-mcdonagh/all-my-work-shares-a-kind-of-balance-between-black-comedy-and-sad-and/) [Martin McDonagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-mcdonagh/) > [I hope that the kind reader recognises this as a despairing attempt at humour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-springer/i-hope-that-the-kind-reader-recognises-this-as-a-despairing-attempt/) [Nancy Springer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-springer/) > [“A despairing arse will never produce a happy fart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frater-u-d/a-despairing-arse-will-never-produce-a-happy-fart/) Frater U.D > [First, I thought, almost despairing, This must crush my spirit now; Yet I bore it, and am bearing- Only do not ask me how.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/first-i-thought-almost-despairing-this-must-crush-my-spirit-now-yet-i/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [“An atheist is someone who is disappointed in his search of god. He is a man who strongly needed god but couldn't find him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/an-atheist-is-someone-who-is-disappointed-in-his-search-of-god-he-is/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) ## More by Emily Raboteau > [I felt saddened and confused to discover my favorite mural gone, but also hopeful that another one may be in the works. Street art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-raboteau/i-felt-saddened-and-confused-to-discover-my-favorite-mural-gone-but/) [Emily Raboteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-raboteau/) > [Your average white liberal might agree with social justice in principle, and yet live quite comfortably as a "winner" in a nation whose social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-raboteau/your-average-white-liberal-might-agree-with-social-justice-in/) [Emily Raboteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-raboteau/) > [Acknowledging the realities of structural and institutional racism is hard for conscionable white people. 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