--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He’d wanted it to be about losing, about…" description: "\"“He’d wanted it to be about losing, about the things we’re born into loving and then lose.”\" — Garth Risk Hallberg" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/garth-risk-hallberg-7516_lose_he-d-wanted-it-to-be-about-losing-about_49720.jpg" --- # He’d wanted it to be about losing, about the things we’re… ![“He’d wanted it to be about losing, about the things we’re born into loving and then lose.” quote by Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/garth-risk-hallberg-7516_lose_he-d-wanted-it-to-be-about-losing-about_49720.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/garth-risk-hallberg-7516_lose_he-d-wanted-it-to-be-about-losing-about_49720.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/garth-risk-hallberg-7516_lose_he-d-wanted-it-to-be-about-losing-about_49720.jpg) > ““He’d wanted it to be about losing, about the things we’re born into loving and then lose.”” [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reflects on a desire to explore loss, especially of innate loves and inherent attachments, highlighting grief as a central human experience. **In simple terms:** Grief and loss of innate love Key Takeaway Loss shapes identity Themes Grief Identity Attachment Existentialism Mood Melancholic Reflective Somber Type Literary Philosophical Emotional When to use this quote - Narrative writing - Therapeutic counseling - Philosophical essay - Film script - Personal memoir Key Concepts Loss Love Birth Mortality Practical Applications - Exploring character depth - Designing grief-informed therapy Questions to Reflect On - What does losing what we are born into reveal about ourselves? - How can confronting loss deepen artistic expression? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Losing things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/losing-things/) ## Related quotes > [You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-never-lose-by-loving-you-always-lose-by-holding-back/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But I didn't really mind it because I knew that it takes getting everything you ever wanted and then losing it to know what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-del-rey/but-i-didn-t-really-mind-it-because-i-knew-that-it-takes-getting/) [Lana Del Rey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-del-rey/) > [it takes getting everything you ever wanted and then losing it, to know what true freedom is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-del-rey/it-takes-getting-everything-you-ever-wanted-and-then-losing-it-to/) [Lana Del Rey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-del-rey/) > [A year ago, you wanted to give up because we were losing, and now, you want to give up because we're winning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-althouse/a-year-ago-you-wanted-to-give-up-because-we-were-losing-and-now-you/) [Ann Althouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-althouse/) > [I once had a dreams of becoming a beautiful poet, but upon an unfortunate series of events some of those dreams dashed and divided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-del-rey/i-once-had-a-dreams-of-becoming-a-beautiful-poet-but-upon-an/) [Lana Del Rey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-del-rey/) > [If there's one thing I hate, it's losing. If there's two things I hate, it's losing and getting cancer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-there-s-one-thing-i-hate-it-s-losing-if-there-s-two-things-i-hate/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back. The heart will break... but broken live on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-de-angelis/you-never-lose-by-loving-you-always-lose-by-holding-back-the-heart/) [Barbara De Angelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-de-angelis/) > [You never lose by loving, you lose by holding back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-never-lose-by-loving-you-lose-by-holding-back/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You two just need to remember that you don’t lose by loving, you lose by holding back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taryn-plendl/you-two-just-need-to-remember-that-you-don-t-lose-by-loving-you-lose/) [Taryn Plendl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taryn-plendl/) > [We never lose by loving. We always lose by holding back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/we-never-lose-by-loving-we-always-lose-by-holding-back/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [You will never lose anything by loving but you will always lose by holding back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-never-lose-anything-by-loving-but-you-will-always-lose-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Inspite of loving someone else you should never lose yourself emotionally. If the love for someone else is pulling you from the love you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/psych101/inspite-of-loving-someone-else-you-should-never-lose-yourself/) Psych101 > [When any part of the Station is moved from its designated location to do a repair, we really risk losing things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunita-williams/when-any-part-of-the-station-is-moved-from-its-designated-location-to/) [Sunita Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunita-williams/) > [“She hated this place. Nothing made sense. Nothing worked as it was supposed to. She was supposed to be learning things as she went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-hated-this-place-nothing-made-sense-nothing-worked-as-it-was/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [“I had what, I wanted, it was with me, in the room, including the room itself. Was it possible that we hear that voice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-clarke/i-had-what-i-wanted-it-was-with-me-in-the-room-including-the-room/) [Brock Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-clarke/) ## More by Garth Risk Hallberg > [“Despite which, Charlie seems doomed to stumble around in the dark, clutching pieces of a puzzle he still can't see.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/despite-which-charlie-seems-doomed-to-stumble-around-in-the-dark/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“Though what could anyone really say these days with one hundred percent certainty?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/though-what-could-anyone-really-say-these-days-with-one-hundred/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“Detonations crash in from nearby like walls she's a void at the center of.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/detonations-crash-in-from-nearby-like-walls-she-s-a-void-at-the/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“Because if every moment of a life is present in every other, so is every old self you've ever tried to outrun. And then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/because-if-every-moment-of-a-life-is-present-in-every-other-so-is/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“Between the whiskers scraggling down his neck and the now-crooked glasses, he could have been the Black Allen Ginsberg.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/between-the-whiskers-scraggling-down-his-neck-and-the-now-crooked/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“But no, what interested him, psychologically speaking, was the sense of continuity itself, the mind's insistence that this was the same Regan he'd known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/but-no-what-interested-him-psychologically-speaking-was-the-sense-of/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“He lights a cigarette off a candle. These death-tubes, these little crutches or fuses: useful for getting through all sorts of things you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/he-lights-a-cigarette-off-a-candle-these-death-tubes-these-little/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“Truly unconditional love was suffocating, in that it took so little notice of who you actually were.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/truly-unconditional-love-was-suffocating-in-that-it-took-so-little/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“And so she remained, like everything that mattered to me then, secret—to be pursued in the woods by moonlight, when I was supposed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/and-so-she-remained-like-everything-that-mattered-to-me-then-secret/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“Now, though, there was a second part, an artifact of his recent illness, as if his melancholy had, in a universe adjacent to this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/now-though-there-was-a-second-part-an-artifact-of-his-recent-illness/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“Darkness just loosens the mask. Sharpens the mind's eye. Makes the color of a remembered pencil, or a tick of waxy red on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/darkness-just-loosens-the-mask-sharpens-the-mind-s-eye-makes-the/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“Daddy just repeated the word, internship . As an alibi, it was a thing of beauty: its overtones of responsibility, of upward aspiration, were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/daddy-just-repeated-the-word-internship-as-an-alibi-it-was-a-thing-of/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“For a moment, he thought he sensed, beneath the visible world, some blind infrastructure connecting the two of them, or the three of them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/for-a-moment-he-thought-he-sensed-beneath-the-visible-world-some/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“No one, in the end, made it out of this life alive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/no-one-in-the-end-made-it-out-of-this-life-alive/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [“He's moving with such purpose that William is scared he might just speed right off the rooftop, like the roadrunner from the cartoons. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/he-s-moving-with-such-purpose-that-william-is-scared-he-might-just/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) [Explore all 90 Garth Risk Hallberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) ## More Lose quotes > [If you take your eye off the ball or lose focus for even a minute you can lose a game against any team.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felipe-anderson/if-you-take-your-eye-off-the-ball-or-lose-focus-for-even-a-minute-you/) [Felipe Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felipe-anderson/) > [At the very beginning, I was a page at Letterman, and I freelanced for any place that would let me write any word. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-schwartz/at-the-very-beginning-i-was-a-page-at-letterman-and-i-freelanced-for/) [Ben Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-schwartz/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [Who wants a stylus. You have to get em and put em away, and you lose em. Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/who-wants-a-stylus-you-have-to-get-em-and-put-em-away-and-you-lose-em/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [I still have to unify my division and basically become the undefeated welterweight champion of the world. I can't lose. It is more added…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errol-spence-jr/i-still-have-to-unify-my-division-and-basically-become-the-undefeated/) [Errol Spence Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errol-spence-jr/) > [“Do you fear to lose me? Have I become so essential to you that you will treasure me always and never take me for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-dokey/do-you-fear-to-lose-me-have-i-become-so-essential-to-you-that-you/) [Cameron Dokey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-dokey/) > [When the dollar collapses, it's not doing it in a vacuum. If the dollar loses value, it's doing so relative to some other currency.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/when-the-dollar-collapses-it-s-not-doing-it-in-a-vacuum-if-the-dollar/) [Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/) > [Lose one friend, lose all friend, lose yourself. A little manifesto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uknown/lose-one-friend-lose-all-friend-lose-yourself-a-little-manifesto/) Uknown > [When you lose a person you love so much, surviving the loss is difficult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristiano-ronaldo/when-you-lose-a-person-you-love-so-much-surviving-the-loss-is/) [Cristiano Ronaldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristiano-ronaldo/) > [Win or lose or draw, you always go back and critique your performance and say you could have done things better. Even if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dustin-poirier/win-or-lose-or-draw-you-always-go-back-and-critique-your-performance/) [Dustin Poirier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dustin-poirier/) > [When You Lose Someone You Love, You Never Get Over It. You Just Get Used To It.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernajoy-vaal/when-you-lose-someone-you-love-you-never-get-over-it-you-just-get/) [Bernajoy Vaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernajoy-vaal/) > [Some lose yet gain, others gain and yet lose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-lose-yet-gain-others-gain-and-yet-lose/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's similar to basketball: when you go to different gyms and win or lose, you learn something new. So when kids get out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-iguodala/it-s-similar-to-basketball-when-you-go-to-different-gyms-and-win-or/) [Andre Iguodala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-iguodala/) > [To accomplish much you must first lose everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/che-guevara/to-accomplish-much-you-must-first-lose-everything/) [Che Guevara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/che-guevara/) > [Some things are sacred. Until you act like they're not. Then you lose them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/some-things-are-sacred-until-you-act-like-they-re-not-then-you-lose/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) Browse all 6,442 Lose quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He’d wanted it to be about losing, about the things we’re born into loving and then lose.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Garth Risk Hallberg" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/he-d-wanted-it-to-be-about-losing-about-the-things-we-re-born-into/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lose" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/he-d-wanted-it-to-be-about-losing-about-the-things-we-re-born-into/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/garth-risk-hallberg-7516_lose_he-d-wanted-it-to-be-about-losing-about_49720.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/garth-risk-hallberg-7516_lose_he-d-wanted-it-to-be-about-losing-about_49720.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16b/garth-risk-hallberg-7516_lose_he-d-wanted-it-to-be-about-losing-about_49720.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He’d wanted it to be about losing, about the things we’re born into loving and then lose.” — Garth Risk Hallberg", "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": "Garth Risk Hallberg", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“He’d wanted it to be about...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/he-d-wanted-it-to-be-about-losing-about-the-things-we-re-born-into/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/he-d-wanted-it-to-be-about-losing-about-the-things-we-re-born-into/#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 } } ] } ```