--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sometimes I try my hand at turning out…" description: "\"Sometimes I try my hand at turning out small profundities and uncertain short stories, but I always end up with just one single word: God.\" — Etty Hill..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/etty-hillesum-9002_ends_sometimes-i-try-my-hand-at-turning-out-s_1056613.jpg" --- # Sometimes I try my hand at turning out small profundities… ![“Sometimes I try my hand at turning out small profundities and uncertain short stories, but I always end up with just one single word: God.” quote by Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/etty-hillesum-9002_ends_sometimes-i-try-my-hand-at-turning-out-s_1056613.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/etty-hillesum-9002_ends_sometimes-i-try-my-hand-at-turning-out-s_1056613.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/etty-hillesum-9002_ends_sometimes-i-try-my-hand-at-turning-out-s_1056613.jpg) > “Sometimes I try my hand at turning out small profundities and uncertain short stories, but I always end up with just one single word: God.” [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer attempts creative expression but feels reduced to a single, overwhelming concept. **In simple terms:** Creative attempts collapse into a single divine focus. Key Takeaway Embrace the depth of simplicity. Themes creativity spirituality self‑reflection Mood introspective contemplative Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - writing - personal journaling - artistic blocks - spiritual seeking Key Concepts existentialism theology Questions to Reflect On - What does “God” represent in your creative process? - How can you honor both depth and breadth? A Different Perspective May overlook the richness of nuanced expression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Just one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-one/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Profundities Uncertain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profundities-uncertain-2557428/) [Profundity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profundity/) [Short](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short/) [Short stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-stories/) [Short story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-story/) [Single word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-word/) [Small Profundities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-profundities-2557427/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Uncertain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncertain/) [Word God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-god/) ## Related quotes > [“You can’t change a single word. What is tensile strength? It is that all the components are working together. I repeat: You can’t change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/you-can-t-change-a-single-word-what-is-tensile-strength-it-is-that/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [The amount of chiaroscuro an idea harbors is the only index of its profundity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/the-amount-of-chiaroscuro-an-idea-harbors-is-the-only-index-of-its/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [A man's profundity may keep him from opening on a first interview, and his caution on a second; but I should suspect his emptiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/a-man-s-profundity-may-keep-him-from-opening-on-a-first-interview-and/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [The discipline of suffering, of great suffering- do you not know that only this discipline has created all enhancements of man so far? That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-discipline-of-suffering-of-great-suffering-do-you-not-know-that-2/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Relaxing with something as familiar as loneliness is good discipline for realizing the profundity of the unresolved moments of our lives. We are cheating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/relaxing-with-something-as-familiar-as-loneliness-is-good-discipline/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [In one sense what may pass between the pope and myself may be trivialities. In another sense the fact of talking trivialities is itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-fisher/in-one-sense-what-may-pass-between-the-pope-and-myself-may-be/) [Geoffrey Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-fisher/) > [You can't learn pathos or profundity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/you-can-t-learn-pathos-or-profundity/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [Could truth perhaps be a woman who has reasons for not permitting her reasons to be seen? Could her name perhaps be--to speak Greek--Baubo?...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/could-truth-perhaps-be-a-woman-who-has-reasons-for-not-permitting-her/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Jazz music celebrates life! Human life; the range of it, the absurdity of it, the ignorance of it, the greatness of it, the intelligence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wynton-marsalis/jazz-music-celebrates-life-human-life-the-range-of-it-the-absurdity/) [Wynton Marsalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wynton-marsalis/) > [I'm glad that so many of Donald Pease's unique and revealing insights on Dr. Seuss--observations he shared with me on camera with an effusiveness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-lamothe/i-m-glad-that-so-many-of-donald-pease-s-unique-and-revealing-insights/) [Ron Lamothe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-lamothe/) > [Above all you must illumine your own soul with its profundities and its shallows, and its vanities and its generosities, and say what your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/above-all-you-must-illumine-your-own-soul-with-its-profundities-and/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I think there's as much profundity and wisdom in Shakespeare, more so in fact, than those in the Bible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-coogan/i-think-there-s-as-much-profundity-and-wisdom-in-shakespeare-more-so/) [Steve Coogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-coogan/) > [In peace there is profundity from which the highest respect arises from respect comes power and command therefore observe peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akkineni-nagarjuna/in-peace-there-is-profundity-from-which-the-highest-respect-arises/) [Akkineni Nagarjuna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akkineni-nagarjuna/) > [The public easily confuses him who fishes in troubled waters with him who draws up water from the depths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-public-easily-confuses-him-who-fishes-in-troubled-waters-with-him/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [At first there is nothing, then there is a profound nothingness, after that a blue profundity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/at-first-there-is-nothing-then-there-is-a-profound-nothingness-after/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) ## More by Etty Hillesum > [A large group of us were crowded into the Gestapo hall, and at that moment the circumstances of all our lives were the same.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/a-large-group-of-us-were-crowded-into-the-gestapo-hall-and-at-that/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [Every word born of an inner necessity - writing must never be anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/every-word-born-of-an-inner-necessity-writing-must-never-be-anything/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [That fear of missing out on things makes you miss out on everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/that-fear-of-missing-out-on-things-makes-you-miss-out-on-everything/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [There are moments when I feel like giving up or giving in, but I soon rally again and do my duty as I see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/there-are-moments-when-i-feel-like-giving-up-or-giving-in-but-i-soon/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [Here, beside this great black surface that is my desk, I feel as though I am on a desert island.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/here-beside-this-great-black-surface-that-is-my-desk-i-feel-as-though/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [The externals are simply so many props; everything we need is within us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/the-externals-are-simply-so-many-props-everything-we-need-is-within-us/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [If one finds the strength to deal with small things, one finds it to deal with the large ones as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/if-one-finds-the-strength-to-deal-with-small-things-one-finds-it-to/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [All disasters stem from us. Why is there a war? Perhaps because now and then I might be inclined to snap at my neighbour.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/all-disasters-stem-from-us-why-is-there-a-war-perhaps-because-now-and/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/sometimes-the-most-important-thing-in-a-whole-day-is-the-rest-we-take/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [We human beings cause monstrous conditions, but precisely because we cause them we soon learn to adapt ourselves to them. Only if we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/we-human-beings-cause-monstrous-conditions-but-precisely-because-we/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [Despite everything, life is full of beauty and meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/despite-everything-life-is-full-of-beauty-and-meaning/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [Sometimes my day is crammed full of people and talk and yet I have the feeling of living in utter peace and quiet. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/sometimes-my-day-is-crammed-full-of-people-and-talk-and-yet-i-have/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [To live fully, outwardly and inwardly, not to ignore the external reality for the sake of the inner life, or the reverse, that's quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/to-live-fully-outwardly-and-inwardly-not-to-ignore-the-external/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [If one burdens the future with one's worries, it cannot grow organically. I am filled with confidence, not that I shall succeed in worldly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/if-one-burdens-the-future-with-one-s-worries-it-cannot-grow/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) > [We have to fight them daily, like fleas, those many small worries about the morrow, for they sap our energies. We make mental provisions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/we-have-to-fight-them-daily-like-fleas-those-many-small-worries-about/) [Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) [Explore all 62 Etty Hillesum quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/) ## More Ends quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [The end is nothing; the road is all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-end-is-nothing-the-road-is-all/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [Bush reiterated his stand to conservatives opposing his decision on stem cell research. He said today he believes life begins at conception and ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/bush-reiterated-his-stand-to-conservatives-opposing-his-decision-on/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Dating someone on the opposite end of the happy spectrum teaches you an incredible amount of patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pine/dating-someone-on-the-opposite-end-of-the-happy-spectrum-teaches-you/) [Chris Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pine/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Sometimes it's just enough for me to have the idea. I don't need to see it through to the end. When it actually happens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/sometimes-it-s-just-enough-for-me-to-have-the-idea-i-don-t-need-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [At the end of night, before you close your eyes, be content with what you've done and be proud of who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-almond/at-the-end-of-night-before-you-close-your-eyes-be-content-with-what/) [Steve Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-almond/) > [it is the brevity of life which makes it tolerable; its experiences have value because they have an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/it-is-the-brevity-of-life-which-makes-it-tolerable-its-experiences/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. 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