--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: By then I knew that everything good and…" description: "\"By then I knew that everything good and bad left an emptiness when it stopped. But if it was bad, the emptiness filled up by itself. If it was good you..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a46/ernest-hemingway-83_emptiness_by-then-i-knew-that-everything-good-and_1742698.jpg" --- # By then I knew that everything good and bad left an… ![“By then I knew that everything good and bad left an emptiness when it stopped. But if it was bad, the emptiness filled up by itself. If it was good you could only fill it by finding something better.” quote by Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a46/ernest-hemingway-83_emptiness_by-then-i-knew-that-everything-good-and_1742698.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a46/ernest-hemingway-83_emptiness_by-then-i-knew-that-everything-good-and_1742698.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a46/ernest-hemingway-83_emptiness_by-then-i-knew-that-everything-good-and_1742698.jpg) > “By then I knew that everything good and bad left an emptiness when it stopped. But if it was bad, the emptiness filled up by itself. If it was good you could only fill it by finding something better.” [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When experiences end, they leave a void; bad experiences self‑heal, while good ones demand new pursuits to fill the gap. **In simple terms:** Endings create emptiness; bad fades, good needs replacement. Key Takeaway Seek new meaning after success. Themes loss fulfillment growth Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career transition - relationship breakup - creative block - personal achievement Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What can you pursue to replace a recent success? - How do you cope with the void after a negative event? A Different Perspective Goodness can lead to dissatisfaction if not followed by deeper goals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-emptiness-1534146/) [Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) [Emptiness Filled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness-filled-1503559/) [Emptiness Stopped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness-stopped-1534147/) [Filled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/filled/) [Findings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/findings/) [Good and bad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-and-bad/) [Left Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-emptiness-1534148/) [Something better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/something-better/) ## Related quotes > [Revenge could steal a man's life until there was nothing left but emptiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-l-amour/revenge-could-steal-a-man-s-life-until-there-was-nothing-left-but/) [Louis L'Amour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-l-amour/) > [All I had left was emptiness, and that had rarely served me well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paritoshik-sharma/all-i-had-left-was-emptiness-and-that-had-rarely-served-me-well/) [Paritoshik Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paritoshik-sharma/) > [Enlightenment is a timeless void. It's an emptiness that's filled with the most excellent light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightenment-is-a-timeless-void-it-s-an-emptiness-that-s-filled-with/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“I am so lost in the lost road , I chose this on my own , I emptied all that I had , All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/binyamin-gulzar/i-am-so-lost-in-the-lost-road-i-chose-this-on-my-own-i-emptied-all/) [BinYamin Gulzar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/binyamin-gulzar/) > [“When I feel like shoveling in food, the emptiness can be filled only with love (April 2012, O Magazine)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/when-i-feel-like-shoveling-in-food-the-emptiness-can-be-filled-only/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“And no power on earth could tell whether their blankly indifferent eyes were shutters protecting hidden treasures at the bottom of shafts no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/and-no-power-on-earth-could-tell-whether-their-blankly-indifferent/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [What makes us afraid is our great freedom in the face of the emptiness that has still to be filled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-jaspers/what-makes-us-afraid-is-our-great-freedom-in-the-face-of-the/) [Karl Jaspers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-jaspers/) > [“Of this poetry I’m left with the emptiness of an endless secret”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-ungaretti/of-this-poetry-i-m-left-with-the-emptiness-of-an-endless-secret/) [Giuseppe Ungaretti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-ungaretti/) > [I've seen a lot of patriots and they all died just like anybody else if it hurt bad enough and once they were dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-ve-seen-a-lot-of-patriots-and-they-all-died-just-like-anybody-else/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [There is no left and right in writing. There is only good and bad writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-is-no-left-and-right-in-writing-there-is-only-good-and-bad/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [The only way of making money is for effort. The only time I've ever lost money is when I've purposely said, "I'm doing this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-stokes/the-only-way-of-making-money-is-for-effort-the-only-time-i-ve-ever/) [Kerry Stokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-stokes/) > [We are, finally, all wanderers in search of knowledge. Most of us hold the dream of becoming something better than we are, something larger,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-l-amour/we-are-finally-all-wanderers-in-search-of-knowledge-most-of-us-hold/) [Louis L'Amour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-l-amour/) > [In our culture, we grow up thinking that failure is a terrible thing, that it's a setback, or worse, the end. Often it turns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-schwarzenegger/in-our-culture-we-grow-up-thinking-that-failure-is-a-terrible-thing/) [Katherine Schwarzenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-schwarzenegger/) > [If you allow for the possibilities of something better, you move toward it instinctively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-j-fox/if-you-allow-for-the-possibilities-of-something-better-you-move/) [Michael J. Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-j-fox/) > [Rule number something or other -- never tell anybody anything unless you're going to get something better in return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/rule-number-something-or-other-never-tell-anybody-anything-unless-you/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) ## More by Ernest Hemingway > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“There was no wind, and, outside now of the warm air of the cave, heavy with smoke of both tobacco and charcoal, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-was-no-wind-and-outside-now-of-the-warm-air-of-the-cave-heavy/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“It was not brilliant bull-fighting. It was only perfect bull-fighting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-was-not-brilliant-bull-fighting-it-was-only-perfect-bull-fighting/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [One cat just leads to another. The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/one-cat-just-leads-to-another-the-place-is-so-damned-big-it-doesn-t/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Creation's probably overrated. After all, God made the world in only six days and rested on the seventh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/creation-s-probably-overrated-after-all-god-made-the-world-in-only/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“Viva my husband who was Mayor of this town”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/viva-my-husband-who-was-mayor-of-this-town/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“The earth gets tired of being exploited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-earth-gets-tired-of-being-exploited/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [What is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-good-after-and-what-is-immoral-is-what/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“We drove out along the coast road. There was the green of the headlands, the white, red-roofed villas, patches of forest, and the ocean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/we-drove-out-along-the-coast-road-there-was-the-green-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [As a Nobel Prize winner I cannot but regret that the award was never given to Mark Twain, nor to Henry James, speaking only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/as-a-nobel-prize-winner-i-cannot-but-regret-that-the-award-was-never/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Oh, darling, I've been so miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/oh-darling-i-ve-been-so-miserable/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write, and then I remember that it was always difficult,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-read-my-own-books-sometimes-to-cheer-me-when-it-is-hard-to-write/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“You find everything on earth at Harry's." "Yes, my Colonel. Except, possibly, happiness." "I'll damn well find happiness, too," the Colonel assured him. "Happiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-find-everything-on-earth-at-harry-s-yes-my-colonel-except/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“No. It's bad for me. Cole Porter wrote the words and the music. This knowledge that you're going mad for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/no-it-s-bad-for-me-cole-porter-wrote-the-words-and-the-music-this/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. The boy keeps me alive, he thought. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/everything-kills-everything-else-in-some-way-fishing-kills-me-exactly/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) [Explore all 1,464 Ernest Hemingway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## More Emptiness quotes > [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/go-into-emptiness-strike-voids-bypass-what-he-defends-hit-him-where/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“ Desolation would not be the proper word to describe his feelings now; it was more the sense of emptiness he imagined he might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shusaku-endo/desolation-would-not-be-the-proper-word-to-describe-his-feelings-now/) [Shusaku Endo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shusaku-endo/) > [“those of little merit would not even have doubts about this doctrine of emptiness. even suspicion that objects are empty wrecks the seeds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aryadeva/those-of-little-merit-would-not-even-have-doubts-about-this-doctrine/) [aryadeva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aryadeva/) > [Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/anyone-whose-goal-is-something-higher-must-expect-someday-to-suffer-2/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“I close my eyes and I let my body shut itself down and I let my mind wander. It wanders to a familiar place.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/i-close-my-eyes-and-i-let-my-body-shut-itself-down-and-i-let-my-mind/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/buddhist-words-such-as-compassion-and-emptiness-don-t-mean-much-until/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“Only the thirsty knows the real taste of water; only the lonely knows the real weight of emptiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/only-the-thirsty-knows-the-real-taste-of-water-only-the-lonely-knows/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [What I was trying to convey there was the kind of waste land that was left after the war. It was a bit like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-martin/what-i-was-trying-to-convey-there-was-the-kind-of-waste-land-that-was/) [George Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-martin/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [But what was there to say? Only that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/but-what-was-there-to-say-only-that-there-were-tears-only-that/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [I got this emptiness inside that got me fighting for approval because I missed out on my daddy saying, Way to Go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/i-got-this-emptiness-inside-that-got-me-fighting-for-approval-because/) [Lecrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [“As we see it, space is possible only when the primordial Being swallows emptiness. Space is born when the Being accepts emptiness, the Nonbeing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/as-we-see-it-space-is-possible-only-when-the-primordial-being/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) [Browse all 1,374 Emptiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "By then I knew that everything good and bad left an emptiness when it stopped. But if it was bad, the emptiness filled up by itself. 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