---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ... She was as beautiful and lost as a…"
description: "\"“... She was as beautiful and lost as a landlocked mermaid.”\" — Emma Straub"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad7/emma-straub-16325_quote_she-was-as-beautiful-and-lost-as-a-landl_1136925.jpg"
---

#  ... She was as beautiful and lost as a landlocked mermaid.

![“... She was as beautiful and lost as a landlocked mermaid.” quote by Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad7/emma-straub-16325_quote_she-was-as-beautiful-and-lost-as-a-landl_1136925.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad7/emma-straub-16325_quote_she-was-as-beautiful-and-lost-as-a-landl_1136925.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad7/emma-straub-16325_quote_she-was-as-beautiful-and-lost-as-a-landl_1136925.jpg)

> ““... She was as beautiful and lost as a landlocked mermaid.””

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

## About This Quote

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

A beautiful, lost soul feels trapped like a mermaid confined to land.

**In simple terms:** She feels beautiful yet lost.

Key Takeaway

Seek freedom beyond constraints.

Themes

identity loss beauty

Mood

melancholic poetic

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- relationships
- career transitions
- creative pursuits

Key Concepts

existentialism self discovery

Questions to Reflect On

- What does being 'lost' feel like?
- How can you find purpose?

A Different Perspective

Beauty alone doesn't guarantee fulfillment.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Mermaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mermaid/)

## Related quotes

> [And as we live our lives we discover - drawing toward us the thin threads attached to each - what has been lost. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/and-as-we-live-our-lives-we-discover-drawing-toward-us-the-thin/)

[Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/)

> [“The skies bend, the time stops, the lanes move and the fires dance, It can mean only one thing that I am with you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faraaz-kazi/the-skies-bend-the-time-stops-the-lanes-move-and-the-fires-dance-it/)

[Faraaz Kazi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faraaz-kazi/)

> [“The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-chaplin/the-way-of-life-can-be-free-and-beautiful-but-we-have-lost-the-way/)

[Charles Chaplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-chaplin/)

> [“Jenna is the kind of beautiful that I can get lost in. Lost from all the fucked-up-ness in my head. She’s the kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-montes/jenna-is-the-kind-of-beautiful-that-i-can-get-lost-in-lost-from-all/)

[E.L. Montes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-montes/)

> [“She’s amazing and beautiful and everything I lost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annika-martin/she-s-amazing-and-beautiful-and-everything-i-lost/)

[Annika Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annika-martin/)

> [“Truly landlocked people know they are. Know the occasional Bitter Creek or Powder River that runs through Wyoming; that the large tidy Salt Lake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/truly-landlocked-people-know-they-are-know-the-occasional-bitter/)

[Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/)

> [I've always had a deep connection with the ocean, and could never see myself landlocked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-leone/i-ve-always-had-a-deep-connection-with-the-ocean-and-could-never-see/)

[Brad Leone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-leone/)

> [A good conscience is a port which is landlocked on every side, where no winds can possibly invade. There a man may not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/a-good-conscience-is-a-port-which-is-landlocked-on-every-side-where/)

[John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/)

> [In landlocked developing countries, geographical barriers to markets are unnecessarily accompanied by virtual ones: their e-connectivity rates are among the world's lowest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arancha-gonzalez/in-landlocked-developing-countries-geographical-barriers-to-markets/)

[Arancha Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arancha-gonzalez/)

> [“Truly landlocked people know they are. Know the occasional Bitter Creek or Powder River that runs through Wyoming; that the large tidy Salt Lake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/truly-landlocked-people-know-they-are-know-the-occasional-bitter-2/)

[Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/)

> [I grew up in Ireland, and the ocean was never more than an arm's length away. As lovely as the mountains are and as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roma-downey/i-grew-up-in-ireland-and-the-ocean-was-never-more-than-an-arm-s/)

[Roma Downey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roma-downey/)

> [Rwanda is a landlocked country, but it hasn't stopped developing. They built a high-end tourism industry around the mountain gorillas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-zoellick/rwanda-is-a-landlocked-country-but-it-hasn-t-stopped-developing-they/)

[Robert Zoellick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-zoellick/)

> [Magic Sandra’s seen a leprechaun, Eddie touched a troll, Laurie danced with witches once, Charlie found some goblins gold. Donald heard a mermaid sing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shel-silverstein/magic-sandra-s-seen-a-leprechaun-eddie-touched-a-troll-laurie-danced/)

[Shel Silverstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shel-silverstein/)

> [Old ladies in wheelchairs with blankets over their legs, I don't think so...retired mermaids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-jones/old-ladies-in-wheelchairs-with-blankets-over-their-legs-i-don-t-think/)

[Milton Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-jones/)

> [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/)

[Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/)

## More by Emma Straub

> [“Now whenever Franny or Jim spoke to someone who kept a car in Manhattan, they reacted with quiet horror, like people who’d been subjected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/now-whenever-franny-or-jim-spoke-to-someone-who-kept-a-car-in/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“There was nothing in life harder or more important than agreeing every morning to stay the course, to go back to your forgotten self…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/there-was-nothing-in-life-harder-or-more-important-than-agreeing/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“Having a daughter whose company he actually enjoyed was one of Jim’s favorite accomplishments. The odds were against you, in all matters of family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/having-a-daughter-whose-company-he-actually-enjoyed-was-one-of-jim-s/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“Once Charles arrived, Franny would start laughing the way she had when she was twenty-four, and the rest of them could start setting one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/once-charles-arrived-franny-would-start-laughing-the-way-she-had-when/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“Teenagers and younger children did not need to sit in business class, let alone first—that was Franny’s philosophy. The extra room was for people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/teenagers-and-younger-children-did-not-need-to-sit-in-business-class/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“What were parents anyway, except two people who had once thought they were the smartest people in the world? They were a delusional species,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/what-were-parents-anyway-except-two-people-who-had-once-thought-they/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“It's a rental," I said, realizing when I said it that our house was the only rental on the block. Maybe something unseemly had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/it-s-a-rental-i-said-realizing-when-i-said-it-that-our-house-was-the/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“Timing was everything—that was more and more obvious the older you got, when you finally understood that the universe wasn’t held together in any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/timing-was-everything-that-was-more-and-more-obvious-the-older-you/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“to be a hypocrite or a liar? Jim wasn’t”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/to-be-a-hypocrite-or-a-liar-jim-wasn-t/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“Elizabeth was happy in her marriage, she really was. It was just that sometimes she thought about all the experiences she’d never gotten to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/elizabeth-was-happy-in-her-marriage-she-really-was-it-was-just-that/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“It was crazy, what young people believed was possible, what so many earnest twenty-three-year-olds took for granted about the rest of their lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/it-was-crazy-what-young-people-believed-was-possible-what-so-many/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“...all she wanted was a button she could push to pause her age, just for a little while, a few years, while she got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/all-she-wanted-was-a-button-she-could-push-to-pause-her-age-just-for/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“No on thought that they would be anything more or less than perfectly fine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/no-on-thought-that-they-would-be-anything-more-or-less-than-perfectly/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“That was what love was, though, wasn't it? Holding each other's misery as close as your own?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/that-was-what-love-was-though-wasn-t-it-holding-each-other-s-misery/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

> [“A good swimming pool could do that—make the rest of the world seem impossibly insignificant, as far away as the surface of the moon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/a-good-swimming-pool-could-do-that-make-the-rest-of-the-world-seem/)

[Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

[Explore all 40 Emma Straub quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/)

## More Mermaid quotes

> [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/)

[Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/)

> [Old ladies in wheelchairs with blankets over their legs, I don't think so...retired mermaids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-jones/old-ladies-in-wheelchairs-with-blankets-over-their-legs-i-don-t-think/)

[Milton Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-jones/)

> [Magic Sandra’s seen a leprechaun, Eddie touched a troll, Laurie danced with witches once, Charlie found some goblins gold. Donald heard a mermaid sing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shel-silverstein/magic-sandra-s-seen-a-leprechaun-eddie-touched-a-troll-laurie-danced/)

[Shel Silverstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shel-silverstein/)

> [“He looked steadily in my eyes, and held my hand affectionally. “Narissa, let me take you away to a world that you have never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keira-d-skye/he-looked-steadily-in-my-eyes-and-held-my-hand-affectionally-narissa/)

[Keira D. Skye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keira-d-skye/)

> [“Human?' The girl cocked her head the other way. I caught a glimpse of pink gills under her chin. 'My sisters told me stories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-kagawa/human-the-girl-cocked-her-head-the-other-way-i-caught-a-glimpse-of/)

[Julie Kagawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-kagawa/)

> [I would wanna be a mermaid, but I think I'm a little bit more of a unicorn, because I'm like a little bit more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-lively/i-would-wanna-be-a-mermaid-but-i-think-i-m-a-little-bit-more-of-a/)

[Blake Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-lively/)

> [I'm so sick of mermaid dresses, trains, borrowed bling-bling, and a pose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-leon-talley/i-m-so-sick-of-mermaid-dresses-trains-borrowed-bling-bling-and-a-pose/)

[Andre Leon Talley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-leon-talley/)

> [The other day when we were reading The Little Mermaid again, at the part where it says that only human souls can go up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ekaterina-gordeeva/the-other-day-when-we-were-reading-the-little-mermaid-again-at-the/)

[Ekaterina Gordeeva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ekaterina-gordeeva/)

> [“You'll do fine." "What, you're psychic now?" "Didn't you know?" he asks seriously. "Must be an aftereffect of the bond.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tera-lynn-childs/you-ll-do-fine-what-you-re-psychic-now-didn-t-you-know-he-asks/)

[Tera Lynn Childs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tera-lynn-childs/)

> [“She swore vengeance on all men with dark hearts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-papademetriou/she-swore-vengeance-on-all-men-with-dark-hearts/)

[Lisa Papademetriou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-papademetriou/)

> [“Fable of the Mermaid and the Drunks" All those men were there inside, when she came in totally naked. They had been drinking: they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/fable-of-the-mermaid-and-the-drunks-all-those-men-were-there-inside/)

[Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/)

> [Managing a league club is like making love to a mermaid... you should always be aiming for a top half finish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-holloway/managing-a-league-club-is-like-making-love-to-a-mermaid-you-should/)

[Ian Holloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-holloway/)

> [“And then I cried a flood of tears as if I really were a mermaid who had absorbed too much sea into herself. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/and-then-i-cried-a-flood-of-tears-as-if-i-really-were-a-mermaid-who/)

[Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/)

> [Oh love, rose made wet by mermaids and foams, fire that dances and climbs up the invisible stairs and awakens the blood in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/oh-love-rose-made-wet-by-mermaids-and-foams-fire-that-dances-and/)

[Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/)

> [I was in Love with a Mermaid and She knew it: But yet she abandoned me at the Seashore with storms and whirlwind threatening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogunsakin-ayobami-ayorinde/i-was-in-love-with-a-mermaid-and-she-knew-it-but-yet-she-abandoned-me/)

Ogunsakin Ayobami Ayorinde

[Browse all 278 Mermaid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mermaid/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“... She was as beautiful and lost as a landlocked mermaid.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Emma Straub"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/she-was-as-beautiful-and-lost-as-a-landlocked-mermaid/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Mermaid"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/she-was-as-beautiful-and-lost-as-a-landlocked-mermaid/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad7/emma-straub-16325_quote_she-was-as-beautiful-and-lost-as-a-landl_1136925.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad7/emma-straub-16325_quote_she-was-as-beautiful-and-lost-as-a-landl_1136925.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad7/emma-straub-16325_quote_she-was-as-beautiful-and-lost-as-a-landl_1136925.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“... She was as beautiful and lost as a landlocked mermaid.” — Emma Straub",
                "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": "Emma Straub",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“... She was as beautiful and...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/she-was-as-beautiful-and-lost-as-a-landlocked-mermaid/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/she-was-as-beautiful-and-lost-as-a-landlocked-mermaid/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
