--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: there was not a tree on the place, only…" description: "\"there was not a tree on the place, only the horrible prickly pear bushes thrusting out their distorted arms as if exulting in their own nakedness.\" — E..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afa/ethel-m-dell-31866_arms_there-was-not-a-tree-on-the-place-only-t_2012203.png" --- # there was not a tree on the place, only the horrible… ![“there was not a tree on the place, only the horrible prickly pear bushes thrusting out their distorted arms as if exulting in their own nakedness.” quote by Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afa/ethel-m-dell-31866_arms_there-was-not-a-tree-on-the-place-only-t_2012203.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afa/ethel-m-dell-31866_arms_there-was-not-a-tree-on-the-place-only-t_2012203.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afa/ethel-m-dell-31866_arms_there-was-not-a-tree-on-the-place-only-t_2012203.png) > “there was not a tree on the place, only the horrible prickly pear bushes thrusting out their distorted arms as if exulting in their own nakedness.” [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A desolate landscape is portrayed with twisted, naked bushes that seem to revel in their starkness. **In simple terms:** Barren scene with exaggerated,. Key Takeaway Notice how environment mirrors emotional emptiness. Themes nature desolation perception beauty contrast Mood melancholic intense Type literary descriptive When to use this quote - writing description - visual art - environmental storytelling Key Concepts symbolism imagery existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What does the harsh setting reveal about the characters? - How does exaggeration affect mood? A Different Perspective The metaphor may over‑dramatize simple flora. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arms/) [Bushes Thrusting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bushes-thrusting-3598700/) [Exulting Nakedness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exulting-nakedness-3598701/) [Horrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrible/) [Horrible Prickly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrible-prickly-3598699/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Pear Bushes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pear-bushes-3598698/) [Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pears/) [Prickly Pear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prickly-pear-3598702/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trees/) ## Related quotes > [“Here we go round the prickly pear Prickly pear prickly pear Here we go round the prickly pear At five o’clock in the morning.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/here-we-go-round-the-prickly-pear-prickly-pear-prickly-pear-here-we/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“Joseph would reach out to me occasionally, the same way the desert blooms a flower every now and then. You get so used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/joseph-would-reach-out-to-me-occasionally-the-same-way-the-desert-2/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [I feel my brains, like a pear, to see if it's ripe; it will be exquisite by September.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/i-feel-my-brains-like-a-pear-to-see-if-it-s-ripe-it-will-be-exquisite/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [The raw fruits of the earth were made for human sustenance. Even the white tails of rabbits, according to some theologians, have a purpose,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-raw-fruits-of-the-earth-were-made-for-human-sustenance-even-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [A pear-tree planted nigh: 'Twas charg'd with fruit that made a goodly show, And hung with dangling pears was every bough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/a-pear-tree-planted-nigh-twas-charg-d-with-fruit-that-made-a-goodly/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Slice a pear and you will find that its flesh is incandescent white. It glows with inner light. Those who carry a knife and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/slice-a-pear-and-you-will-find-that-its-flesh-is-incandescent-white/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [I sink down into my body as into a swamp, fenland, where only I know the footing…. I’m a cloud, congealed around a central…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-sink-down-into-my-body-as-into-a-swamp-fenland-where-only-i-know/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [If music is frozen architecture, then the potpourri is frozen coffee-table gossip... Potpourri is the art of adding apples to pears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-schoenberg/if-music-is-frozen-architecture-then-the-potpourri-is-frozen-coffee/) [Arnold Schoenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-schoenberg/) > [The desert seems to be a brown wasteland of dry, prickly scrub whose only purpose is to serve as a setting for the majestic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/the-desert-seems-to-be-a-brown-wasteland-of-dry-prickly-scrub-whose/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [Of course you know him. Everyone knows a pear-shaped man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/of-course-you-know-him-everyone-knows-a-pear-shaped-man/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I could peel you like a pear and god himself would see the justice in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-hepburn/i-could-peel-you-like-a-pear-and-god-himself-would-see-the-justice-in/) [Katharine Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-hepburn/) > [After 19 years of experimenting, a thousand mistakes, over 400 books, at least 200 bad diets... and a partridge in a pear tree, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilu-henner/after-19-years-of-experimenting-a-thousand-mistakes-over-400-books-at/) [Marilu Henner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilu-henner/) > [The first idea, the first art piece I ever did, was when I was four. I cut the seed of a pear in half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ono/the-first-idea-the-first-art-piece-i-ever-did-was-when-i-was-four-i/) [Yoko Ono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ono/) > [The rose is a rose, And was always a rose. But now the theory goes That the apple's a rose, And the pear is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/the-rose-is-a-rose-and-was-always-a-rose-but-now-the-theory-goes-that/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [A scent that disturbs me and delights me. It smells like ripe pears, vetiver, a bit of violet and something else- something spicy almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-wells/a-scent-that-disturbs-me-and-delights-me-it-smells-like-ripe-pears/) [Rebecca Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-wells/) ## More by Ethel M. Dell > [“People's ways are all so different. It's rather infernal—trying to please everybody”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/people-s-ways-are-all-so-different-it-s-rather-infernal-trying-to/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [“Isn't it possible—sometime—to try to know too much? There is such a thing as looking too closely, mon ami. And then we pay the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/isn-t-it-possible-sometime-to-try-to-know-too-much-there-is-such-a/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [Death is the opening-and the closing-of a Door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/death-is-the-opening-and-the-closing-of-a-door/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [That's the worst of doctors. They are so keen about the body, but they don't study the soul at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/that-s-the-worst-of-doctors-they-are-so-keen-about-the-body-but-they/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [Quite a small spoke is enough to stop a wheel - even a mighty big wheel - if it's going too fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/quite-a-small-spoke-is-enough-to-stop-a-wheel-even-a-mighty-big-wheel/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [Promises were made for people who do not trust each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/promises-were-made-for-people-who-do-not-trust-each-other/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [I haven't hurt you ... if I have, it's the faithful wound of a friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/i-haven-t-hurt-you-if-i-have-it-s-the-faithful-wound-of-a-friend/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [“The gods have sent you a gift, and because you don't know what it is made of, you are going to pull it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/the-gods-have-sent-you-a-gift-and-because-you-don-t-know-what-it-is/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [What the world, social and political, concrete and mental, really needs is not new things, but the old things made new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/what-the-world-social-and-political-concrete-and-mental-really-needs/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [What we once fling away never comes again to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/what-we-once-fling-away-never-comes-again-to-us/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [we are all given the ingredients of happiness, but the mixing is left to ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/we-are-all-given-the-ingredients-of-happiness-but-the-mixing-is-left/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [People have a way of thinking that everything is finished when the very best of all may yet be in store.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/people-have-a-way-of-thinking-that-everything-is-finished-when-the/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [There is no such thing as time for those who are happy. For the others - there is nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/there-is-no-such-thing-as-time-for-those-who-are-happy-for-the-others/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [If you didn't sit with your head in the clouds so perpetually you wouldn't get so many shocks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/if-you-didn-t-sit-with-your-head-in-the-clouds-so-perpetually-you/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) > [I love humility in a woman. It's so rare. With man, of course, it is practically extinct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-m-dell/i-love-humility-in-a-woman-it-s-so-rare-with-man-of-course-it-is/) [Ethel M. Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) [Explore all 16 Ethel M. Dell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-m-dell/) ## More Arms quotes > [I genuinely did not expect more than half our nation to choose to walk away from our long-term allies into the arms of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-reade/i-genuinely-did-not-expect-more-than-half-our-nation-to-choose-to/) [Brian Reade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-reade/) > [I don't wear a watch because I want my arms to weigh the same. So if somebody asks me what time it is, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/i-don-t-wear-a-watch-because-i-want-my-arms-to-weigh-the-same-so-if/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [Preaching to the choir actually arms the choir with arguments and elevates the choir's discourse. There's a reason the right does it and does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-savage/preaching-to-the-choir-actually-arms-the-choir-with-arguments-and/) [Dan Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-savage/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Are we fighting?" I asked Morelli. "No. Were discussing." "Are you sure?" "Am I yelling?" Morelli asked. "Is my face purple? Are the cords…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/are-we-fighting-i-asked-morelli-no-were-discussing-are-you-sure-am-i/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [A home isn't just a roof over our heads. A home is a place where we feel loved and where we love others. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/a-home-isn-t-just-a-roof-over-our-heads-a-home-is-a-place-where-we/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Comerado, this is no book,Who touches this, touches a man,(Is it night? Are we here alone?)It is I you hold, and who holds you,I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/comerado-this-is-no-book-who-touches-this-touches-a-man-is-it-night/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Even the stove and the refrigerator looked human, I mean good human - they seemed to have arms and voices and they said, hang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/even-the-stove-and-the-refrigerator-looked-human-i-mean-good-human/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I separated the joints, the arm joints, the leg joints, and had to do two boilings. I think I used four boxes of Soilex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-dahmer/i-separated-the-joints-the-arm-joints-the-leg-joints-and-had-to-do/) [Jeffrey Dahmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-dahmer/) > [More courage is required to forgive than is required to take up arms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ramos-horta/more-courage-is-required-to-forgive-than-is-required-to-take-up-arms/) [Jose Ramos-Horta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ramos-horta/) > [It's been a long time since I asked anything of heaven, and my arms still haven't come down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/it-s-been-a-long-time-since-i-asked-anything-of-heaven-and-my-arms/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [With those who are willing to join, let us cooperate to reduce the burden of arms, to strengthen the structure of peace, to lift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-nixon/with-those-who-are-willing-to-join-let-us-cooperate-to-reduce-the/) [Richard M. Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-nixon/) > [How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms, by truth when it is attacked by lies, by faith when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/how-shall-freedom-be-defended-by-arms-when-it-is-attacked-by-arms-by/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [You don't have to say it out loud. I already know why you like me.' 'You do, huh?' 'Yep.' He wrapped his arms around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/you-don-t-have-to-say-it-out-loud-i-already-know-why-you-like-me-you/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [Another step had her backed up against the wall, and he braced his arms on both sides of her. "I'm beginning to look forward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johanna-lindsey/another-step-had-her-backed-up-against-the-wall-and-he-braced-his/) [Johanna Lindsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johanna-lindsey/) [Browse all 4,470 Arms quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arms/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "there was not a tree on the place, only the horrible prickly pear bushes thrusting out their distorted arms as if exulting in their own nakedness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ethel M. 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