--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Besides that, his secret - and principal…" description: "\"“Besides that, his secret - and principal - reason for retiring was to devote himself entirely to his idée fixe, his collection which was becoming ever..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47c/georges-rodenbach-9570_clock_besides-that-his-secret-and-principal-re_1238392.jpg" --- # Besides that, his secret - and principal - reason for… ![“Besides that, his secret - and principal - reason for retiring was to devote himself entirely to his idée fixe, his collection which was becoming ever larger and more complicated. Van Hulle's concern was no longer simply to have beautiful clocks or rare timepieces; his feelings for them were not…” quote by Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47c/georges-rodenbach-9570_clock_besides-that-his-secret-and-principal-re_1238392.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47c/georges-rodenbach-9570_clock_besides-that-his-secret-and-principal-re_1238392.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47c/georges-rodenbach-9570_clock_besides-that-his-secret-and-principal-re_1238392.jpg) > ““Besides that, his secret - and principal - reason for retiring was to devote himself entirely to his idée fixe, his collection which was becoming ever larger and more complicated. Van Hulle's concern was no longer simply to have beautiful clocks or rare timepieces; his feelings for them were not simply those one has for inanimate objects. True, their outward appearance was still important, their craftsmanship, their mechanisms, heir value as works of art, but the fact that he had collected so many was for a different reason entirely. It was a result of his strange preoccupation with the exact time. It was no longer enough for him that they were interesting. He was irritated by the differences in time they showed. Above all when they struck the hours and the quarters. One, very old, was deranged and got confused in keeping count of the passage of time, which it had been doing for so long. Others were behind, little Empire clocks with children's voices almost, as if they had not quite grown up. In short, the clocks were always at variance. They seemed to be running after each other, calling out, getting lost, looking for each other at all the changing crossroads of time.”” [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The collector obsessively pursues clocks not for their beauty but to master and reconcile the chaotic nature of time itself. **In simple terms:** He collects clocks to control time. Key Takeaway Seek harmony with time, not just objects. Themes obsession time collecting control artistic appreciation Mood melancholic introspective curious Type literary philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal reflection - museum curation - historical research - creative writing Key Concepts philosophy of time psychology of compulsion aesthetic value Questions to Reflect On - What does your obsession reveal about your relationship with time? - Can control over time ever be truly achieved? A Different Perspective His fixation may blind him to the clocks’ intrinsic beauty and broader significance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) [Getting lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/getting-lost/) [Outward appearance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outward-appearance/) [Passage of time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passage-of-time/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Oh the joy of an idée fixe! The contentment of a life taken up some ideal, any ideal! A gentle trap to catch the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/oh-the-joy-of-an-id-e-fixe-the-contentment-of-a-life-taken-up-some/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“The only man who is truly happy is a man who has an idée fixe. It takes up his every minute, fills any empty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/the-only-man-who-is-truly-happy-is-a-man-who-has-an-id-e-fixe-it/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) ## More by Georges Rodenbach > [“Mevr. Cadzand feared for her son who, with his responsive nature, as sensitive as a hothouse plant, was more exposed. Fortunately religion is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/mevr-cadzand-feared-for-her-son-who-with-his-responsive-nature-as/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“A great melancholy was hanging in the air, giving their love a more languid, more tender feeling. It was like the love one feels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/a-great-melancholy-was-hanging-in-the-air-giving-their-love-a-more/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“Oh, the sudden change of perspective brought about by travel and absence! How different everything was here: the people in the streets, the houses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/oh-the-sudden-change-of-perspective-brought-about-by-travel-and/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“All lovers desire solitude in order to possess each other more completely. They create for each other a new universe inhabited by the two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/all-lovers-desire-solitude-in-order-to-possess-each-other-more/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“Now Borluut was seeing it from close to. And to its very end, it seemed, from the way the line of the horizon merged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/now-borluut-was-seeing-it-from-close-to-and-to-its-very-end-it-seemed/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“He felt alone, prey to the tedium, to the dreariness of time, especially at the approach of twilight which, during those late-autumn days, came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/he-felt-alone-prey-to-the-tedium-to-the-dreariness-of-time-especially/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [Can there be anything more sad than a girl dying on the day of her first communion, in her new dress. A little bride…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/can-there-be-anything-more-sad-than-a-girl-dying-on-the-day-of-her/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“Dead towns are the Cathedrals of Silence. They, too, have their gargoyles, singular figures, exaggerated, dubious, set in high profile. They stand out from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/dead-towns-are-the-cathedrals-of-silence-they-too-have-their/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“Is it not strange how quickly one can become detached from everything? How empty life appears when one is close to death!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/is-it-not-strange-how-quickly-one-can-become-detached-from-everything/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“(We) fell out of love with life for having learnt too much of death. ("At School")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/we-fell-out-of-love-with-life-for-having-learnt-too-much-of-death-at/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“Does it not sometimes happen in life that our actions are solely for an enemy, so as to stand up to him, to confound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/does-it-not-sometimes-happen-in-life-that-our-actions-are-solely-for/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“That is the way it is, we always fall in love because of a detail, a nuance. It is a marker we set up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/that-is-the-way-it-is-we-always-fall-in-love-because-of-a-detail-a/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“In Bruges he had carried out a work which was anonymous and brought no glory, but was seen as admirable once it had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/in-bruges-he-had-carried-out-a-work-which-was-anonymous-and-brought/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“—that exquisite sensual pleasure of collectors, who are a tactile species—”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/that-exquisite-sensual-pleasure-of-collectors-who-are-a-tactile/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [“The widower reviewed his past in a sunless light which was intensified by the greyness of the November twilight, whilst the bells subtly impregnated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/the-widower-reviewed-his-past-in-a-sunless-light-which-was/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) [Explore all 70 Georges Rodenbach quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) ## More Clock quotes > [Even Einstein had to rely for his time on his clock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/even-einstein-had-to-rely-for-his-time-on-his-clock/) [Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/) > [“Time was never neutral and often felt dangerous. 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I can see things that once happened,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-rayner/time-is-to-put-it-in-its-most-impressive-and-some-might-say-poncy/) [Jacqueline Rayner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-rayner/) > [Time travel offends our sense of cause and effect - but maybe the universe doesn't insist on cause and effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/time-travel-offends-our-sense-of-cause-and-effect-but-maybe-the/) [Edward M. Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/) > [My only aim is to clock a time that everyone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hima-das/my-only-aim-is-to-clock-a-time-that-everyone-remembers/) [Hima Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hima-das/) > [Time.The greatest creator, and the worst destroyer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/levi-keely/time-the-greatest-creator-and-the-worst-destroyer/) Levi Keely > [Steven Spielberg seems to have wanted to be a director from 13. He put his dog in a certain position and made him eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-brooks/steven-spielberg-seems-to-have-wanted-to-be-a-director-from-13-he-put/) [Albert Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-brooks/) > [No life goes past so swiftly as an eventless one, no clock spins like a clock whose days are all alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/no-life-goes-past-so-swiftly-as-an-eventless-one-no-clock-spins-like/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Those who stop marketing to save money are like those who stop a clock to save time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/those-who-stop-marketing-to-save-money-are-like-those-who-stop-a/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [Time is the nervous system of narration, whether factual or fictive. If it gets confused some of the minutiae of human nature are certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenway-wescott/time-is-the-nervous-system-of-narration-whether-factual-or-fictive-if/) [Glenway Wescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenway-wescott/) > [I don't know if it's just me or everyone, but the whole vibe with skiing is not so much thriving on competition against others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/picabo-street/i-don-t-know-if-it-s-just-me-or-everyone-but-the-whole-vibe-with/) [Picabo Street](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/picabo-street/) > [Time goes on, even when yer not looking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/time-goes-on-even-when-yer-not-looking/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [CLOCK, n. A machine of great moral value to man, allaying his concern for the future by reminding him what a lot of time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/clock-n-a-machine-of-great-moral-value-to-man-allaying-his-concern/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) [Browse all 2,738 Clock quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Besides that, his secret - and principal - reason for retiring was to devote himself entirely to his idée fixe, his collection which was becoming ever larger and more complicated. Van Hulle's concern was no longer simply to have beautiful clocks or rare timepieces; his feelings for them were not simply those one has for inanimate objects. True, their outward appearance was still important, their craftsmanship, their mechanisms, heir value as works of art, but the fact that he had collected so many was for a different reason entirely. It was a result of his strange preoccupation with the exact time. It was no longer enough for him that they were interesting. He was irritated by the differences in time they showed. Above all when they struck the hours and the quarters. One, very old, was deranged and got confused in keeping count of the passage of time, which it had been doing for so long. Others were behind, little Empire clocks with children's voices almost, as if they had not quite grown up. In short, the clocks were always at variance. 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