--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The act of longing for something will…" description: "\"The act of longing for something will always be more intense than the requiting of it.\" — Gail Godwin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39f/gail-godwin-13566_intense_the-act-of-longing-for-something-will-al_1197502.jpg" --- # The act of longing for something will always be more… ![“The act of longing for something will always be more intense than the requiting of it.” quote by Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39f/gail-godwin-13566_intense_the-act-of-longing-for-something-will-al_1197502.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39f/gail-godwin-13566_intense_the-act-of-longing-for-something-will-al_1197502.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39f/gail-godwin-13566_intense_the-act-of-longing-for-something-will-al_1197502.jpg) > “The act of longing for something will always be more intense than the requiting of it.” [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desire for something feels more intense than actually obtaining it, highlighting yearning’s power. **In simple terms:** Longing feels stronger than fulfillment. Key Takeaway Recognize and manage expectations of desire. Themes desire longing expectation Mood thoughtful melancholic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - relationship goals - career aspirations - personal growth Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What does your longing reveal about your deeper needs? - How can you find contentment beyond acquisition? A Different Perspective Achieving goals may not satisfy the underlying longing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Intense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intense/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) ## Related quotes > [“It is a longing so intense that it creates what it desires, it cannot endure any touch of correction; it is, as I say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/it-is-a-longing-so-intense-that-it-creates-what-it-desires-it-cannot/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [I don't know how you say good-bye to whom and what you love. I don't know a painless way to do it, don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wiess/i-don-t-know-how-you-say-good-bye-to-whom-and-what-you-love-i-don-t/) [Laura Wiess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wiess/) > [I was sad to leave Europe in 1890, after my student days in Germany... But then, once back in New York, I experienced an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-stieglitz/i-was-sad-to-leave-europe-in-1890-after-my-student-days-in-germany/) [Alfred Stieglitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-stieglitz/) > [Nostalgia is the aching realization that you can't go back again. The longing, no matter how intense, can never be met.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul-jr/nostalgia-is-the-aching-realization-that-you-can-t-go-back-again-the/) [R. C. Sproul, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul-jr/) > [Coolidge expressed his "sympathy with the deep and intense longing which finds such fine expression in the Jewish National Homeland in Palestine."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/coolidge-expressed-his-sympathy-with-the-deep-and-intense-longing/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [I have but shadowed forth my intense longing to lose myself in the Eternal and become merely a lump of clay in the Potter's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-but-shadowed-forth-my-intense-longing-to-lose-myself-in-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We fell silent and all joking ceased. We gazed mutely into each other's eyes and an intense longing for the fullest avowal of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-chopin/we-fell-silent-and-all-joking-ceased-we-gazed-mutely-into-each-other/) [Frederic Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-chopin/) > [If we really face our sadness, we find it speaks with the voice of our deepest longing. And if we face it a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kingsley/if-we-really-face-our-sadness-we-find-it-speaks-with-the-voice-of-our/) Peter Kingsley > [To show a longing for anything that one cannot have, for instance, is not a clever position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/to-show-a-longing-for-anything-that-one-cannot-have-for-instance-is/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [I can negate everything of that part of me that lives on vague nostalgias, except this desire for unity, this longing to solve, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-can-negate-everything-of-that-part-of-me-that-lives-on-vague/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Longing is like a seed that wrestles in the ground](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/longing-is-like-a-seed-that-wrestles-in-the-ground/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [It (taking photographs) is all about longingwithout longing-no pictures at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anders-petersen/it-taking-photographs-is-all-about-longingwithout-longing-no-pictures/) [Anders Petersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anders-petersen/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) ## More by Gail Godwin > [“I contemplated how I was going to get through the rest of the day and felt the onset of a terror I thought I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/i-contemplated-how-i-was-going-to-get-through-the-rest-of-the-day-and/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [“People commit thousands of small suicides every day that go unnoticed”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/people-commit-thousands-of-small-suicides-every-day-that-go-unnoticed/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [There are two kinds of people. One kind, you can just tell by looking at them at what point they congealed into their final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-one-kind-you-can-just-tell-by-looking/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [Something's your vocation if it keeps making more of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/something-s-your-vocation-if-it-keeps-making-more-of-you/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [None of us suddenly becomes something overnight. The preparations have been in the making for lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/none-of-us-suddenly-becomes-something-overnight-the-preparations-have/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [The best antidote I have found is to yearn for something. As long as you yearn, you can't congeal: There is a forward motion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/the-best-antidote-i-have-found-is-to-yearn-for-something-as-long-as/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [“Other people don’t exist when you’re not with them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/other-people-don-t-exist-when-you-re-not-with-them/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [I read constantly. If I don't have a good book, I'm beside myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/i-read-constantly-if-i-don-t-have-a-good-book-i-m-beside-myself/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [Dreams say what they mean, but they don't say it in daytime language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/dreams-say-what-they-mean-but-they-don-t-say-it-in-daytime-language/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [The characters that I create are parts of myself and I send them on little missions to find out what I don’t know yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/the-characters-that-i-create-are-parts-of-myself-and-i-send-them-on/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [During the act of writing I have told myself something that I didn't know I knew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/during-the-act-of-writing-i-have-told-myself-something-that-i-didn-t/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [“Yes, if you believed in words, if you lived by words, you had better be careful which words you say and how you say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/yes-if-you-believed-in-words-if-you-lived-by-words-you-had-better-be/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [I'm always aware that I risk being taken for a neurasthenic prima donna when I explain to someone who wants 'just a little' of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/i-m-always-aware-that-i-risk-being-taken-for-a-neurasthenic-prima/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [I believe that with enough practice and good faith, you can learn to recognize when the work is achieved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/i-believe-that-with-enough-practice-and-good-faith-you-can-learn-to/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [If there is such a thing as sin in this world, I think it must be shutting oneself up against hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/if-there-is-such-a-thing-as-sin-in-this-world-i-think-it-must-be/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) [Explore all 50 Gail Godwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) ## More Intense quotes > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Love could be fractured and serve different purposes, and that intense love could be divided, between people just as easily as between moments of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-davies/love-could-be-fractured-and-serve-different-purposes-and-that-intense/) [Luke Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-davies/) > [I'm afraid I'm just too intense to have soft ideas, you know, about what to read when you're trying to pass the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/i-m-afraid-i-m-just-too-intense-to-have-soft-ideas-you-know-about/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [I have an intense dislike of doctrines, because you will always end up eating your words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yotam-ottolenghi/i-have-an-intense-dislike-of-doctrines-because-you-will-always-end-up/) [Yotam Ottolenghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yotam-ottolenghi/) > [Talent is the gift plus the passion - a desire to succeed so intense that no force on earth can stop it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-simon/talent-is-the-gift-plus-the-passion-a-desire-to-succeed-so-intense/) [Neil Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-simon/) > [Gun control laws don't work. What is worse, they act perversely. While legitimate users of firearms encounter intense regulation, scrutiny and bureaucratic control, illicit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-d-polsby/gun-control-laws-don-t-work-what-is-worse-they-act-perversely-while/) Daniel D. Polsby > [“What do you want?" "You." His voice was soft, low. His eyes were intense and watchful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-grant/what-do-you-want-you-his-voice-was-soft-low-his-eyes-were-intense-and/) [Donna Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-grant/) > [I do enjoy intense, bloodthirsty action, but I like to blend and cross genres. I don't want to be too predictable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-marshall/i-do-enjoy-intense-bloodthirsty-action-but-i-like-to-blend-and-cross/) [Neil Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-marshall/) > [Not harder than it should be, no. We're about the business, we're about the work. It's all about the work, always. We have fun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-fuqua/not-harder-than-it-should-be-no-we-re-about-the-business-we-re-about/) [Antoine Fuqua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-fuqua/) > [I guess I strike people as very serious, or very intense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deidre-hall/i-guess-i-strike-people-as-very-serious-or-very-intense/) [Deidre Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deidre-hall/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Lilah growled low in her throat, grabbed his shirt with both hands, and hauled him toward her. Into a kiss that was fierce and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-maberry/lilah-growled-low-in-her-throat-grabbed-his-shirt-with-both-hands-and/) [Jonathan Maberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-maberry/) > [It was a very intense and stressful situation. There was playing in the Johnny-pump (an opened fire hydrant) and the ice-cream man coming around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/it-was-a-very-intense-and-stressful-situation-there-was-playing-in/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [I was not wounded in any part of my body, but I had never experienced such intense pain, such a ripping of the nerves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-was-not-wounded-in-any-part-of-my-body-but-i-had-never-experienced/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [Greatness by nature includes a power, but not a will to power. ... The great man, whether we comprehend him in the most intense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/greatness-by-nature-includes-a-power-but-not-a-will-to-power-the/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) [Browse all 2,072 Intense quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intense/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The act of longing for something will always be more intense than the requiting of it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gail Godwin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/the-act-of-longing-for-something-will-always-be-more-intense-than-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Intense" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/the-act-of-longing-for-something-will-always-be-more-intense-than-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39f/gail-godwin-13566_intense_the-act-of-longing-for-something-will-al_1197502.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39f/gail-godwin-13566_intense_the-act-of-longing-for-something-will-al_1197502.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39f/gail-godwin-13566_intense_the-act-of-longing-for-something-will-al_1197502.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The act of longing for something will always be more intense than the requiting of it.” — Gail Godwin", "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": "Gail Godwin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The act of longing for something...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/the-act-of-longing-for-something-will-always-be-more-intense-than-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/the-act-of-longing-for-something-will-always-be-more-intense-than-the/#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 } } ] } ```