--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only absolute attainment is absolute…" description: "\"The only absolute attainment is absolute abandonment.\" — Gore Vidal" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/gore-vidal-466_abandonment_the-only-absolute-attainment-is-absolute_998087.jpg" --- # The only absolute attainment is absolute abandonment. ![“The only absolute attainment is absolute abandonment.” quote by Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/gore-vidal-466_abandonment_the-only-absolute-attainment-is-absolute_998087.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/gore-vidal-466_abandonment_the-only-absolute-attainment-is-absolute_998087.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/gore-vidal-466_abandonment_the-only-absolute-attainment-is-absolute_998087.jpg) > “The only absolute attainment is absolute abandonment.” [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True freedom comes from letting go of all attachments and expectations. **In simple terms:** Absolute freedom is letting go. Key Takeaway Release everything to be free. Themes freedom detachment philosophy Mood reflective philosophical Type literary thought‑provoking When to use this quote - spiritual practice - creative work - personal crisis Key Concepts existentialism nihilism self‑realization Questions to Reflect On - What would you abandon to feel freer? - Is total detachment realistic? A Different Perspective Letting go may cause loss of identity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abandonment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abandonment/) [Absolute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolute/) [Absolute Abandonment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolute-abandonment-2088102/) [Absolute Attainment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolute-attainment-2088104/) [Absolutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) [Attainment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attainment/) [Attainment Absolute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attainment-absolute-2088103/) ## Related quotes > [The spectacular sparkle of set-apart femininity is found through absolute abandonment to the Author of all true beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-ludy/the-spectacular-sparkle-of-set-apart-femininity-is-found-through/) [Leslie Ludy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-ludy/) > [“Lonely Balcony The deterioration brought by weariness was visible. Its burden of abandonment can be perceived at a glance. The balcony ache with longings.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iqra-iqbal/lonely-balcony-the-deterioration-brought-by-weariness-was-visible-its/) [iqra iqbal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iqra-iqbal/) > [Heartbreak has an archetypal core, all heartbroken individuals suffer from the same kind of torture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginette-paris/heartbreak-has-an-archetypal-core-all-heartbroken-individuals-suffer/) [Ginette Paris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginette-paris/) > [“The introduction to horrors so young impressed on me just how helpless and vulnerable I was. Parents are supposed to empower their children to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-enevoldsen/the-introduction-to-horrors-so-young-impressed-on-me-just-how/) [Christina Enevoldsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-enevoldsen/) > [“I am not so different in my history of abandonment from anyone else after all. We have all been split away from each other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/i-am-not-so-different-in-my-history-of-abandonment-from-anyone-else/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [The only thing worse than being abandoned, is not being worthy of an explanation. It hurts to let go... but the feeling you're falling..…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joryneville/the-only-thing-worse-than-being-abandoned-is-not-being-worthy-of-an/) [JoryNeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joryneville/) > [“When you give everything, you have nothing to lose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-mcgahan/when-you-give-everything-you-have-nothing-to-lose/) [Kate McGahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-mcgahan/) > [In our culture of constant access and nonstop media, nothing feels more like a curse from God than time in the wilderness. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-martin/in-our-culture-of-constant-access-and-nonstop-media-nothing-feels/) [Jonathan Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-martin/) > [“Abandonment is ugly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-moore/abandonment-is-ugly/) [Michelle Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-moore/) > [Judaism is absolutely incompatible with the abandonment of the Torah.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-schechter/judaism-is-absolutely-incompatible-with-the-abandonment-of-the-torah/) [Solomon Schechter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-schechter/) > [Modern societies accepted the treasures and the power offered them by science. But they have not accepted - they have scarcely even heard -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-monod/modern-societies-accepted-the-treasures-and-the-power-offered-them-by/) [Jacques Monod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-monod/) > [“Sometimes people walk away from love because it is so beautiful that it terrifies them. Sometimes they leave because the connection shines a bright…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-brown/sometimes-people-walk-away-from-love-because-it-is-so-beautiful-that/) [Jeff Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-brown/) > [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [I don't believe in fate or destiny. I believe in various degrees of hatred, paranoia, and abandonment. However much of that gets heaped upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-don-t-believe-in-fate-or-destiny-i-believe-in-various-degrees-of/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [If our faith in God is not the veriest sham, it demands, and will produce, the abandonment sometimes, the subordination always, of external helps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-maclaren/if-our-faith-in-god-is-not-the-veriest-sham-it-demands-and-will/) [Alexander MacLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-maclaren/) ## More by Gore Vidal > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Many people in the United States happen to believe that United States policy is wrong in Vietnam and the Vietcong are correct in wanting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/many-people-in-the-united-states-happen-to-believe-that-united-states/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“It is curious how little interested we are in the sexual desires of those who do not attract us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-little-interested-we-are-in-the-sexual-desires-of/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/style-is-knowing-who-you-are-what-you-want-to-say-and-not-giving-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The oligarchs think that the people are both dangerous and stupid. Their point is moot. But we do know that the oligarchs are a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-oligarchs-think-that-the-people-are-both-dangerous-and-stupid/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [It is curious how often one prefers his enemies to his friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-often-one-prefers-his-enemies-to-his-friends/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/as-societies-grow-decadent-the-language-grows-decadent-too-words-are/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Rome ... at its most decadent, had never thought of hiring an actor to go through the motions of being an emperor while the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/rome-at-its-most-decadent-had-never-thought-of-hiring-an-actor-to-go/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/history-is-nothing-but-gossip-about-the-past-with-the-hope-that-it/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Sex is a continuum. You go through different phases along life's way... and if you don't, you've been sort of cheated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/sex-is-a-continuum-you-go-through-different-phases-along-life-s-way/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/all-i-want-is-that-americans-still-be-able-to-read-the-alphabet-in-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I do not admire 'the people,' as such. No one really does. Their folk wisdom is usually false, their instincts predatory. Even their sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-do-not-admire-the-people-as-such-no-one-really-does-their-folk/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“One of the problems of a society as tightly controlled as ours is that we get so little information about what those of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/one-of-the-problems-of-a-society-as-tightly-controlled-as-ours-is/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) [Explore all 539 Gore Vidal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## More Abandonment quotes > [If our faith in God is not the veriest sham, it demands, and will produce, the abandonment sometimes, the subordination always, of external helps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-maclaren/if-our-faith-in-god-is-not-the-veriest-sham-it-demands-and-will/) [Alexander MacLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-maclaren/) > [I don't believe in fate or destiny. I believe in various degrees of hatred, paranoia, and abandonment. However much of that gets heaped upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-don-t-believe-in-fate-or-destiny-i-believe-in-various-degrees-of/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“Sometimes people walk away from love because it is so beautiful that it terrifies them. Sometimes they leave because the connection shines a bright…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-brown/sometimes-people-walk-away-from-love-because-it-is-so-beautiful-that/) [Jeff Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-brown/) > [Modern societies accepted the treasures and the power offered them by science. But they have not accepted - they have scarcely even heard -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-monod/modern-societies-accepted-the-treasures-and-the-power-offered-them-by/) [Jacques Monod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-monod/) > [Judaism is absolutely incompatible with the abandonment of the Torah.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-schechter/judaism-is-absolutely-incompatible-with-the-abandonment-of-the-torah/) [Solomon Schechter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-schechter/) > [“Abandonment is ugly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-moore/abandonment-is-ugly/) [Michelle Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-moore/) > [In our culture of constant access and nonstop media, nothing feels more like a curse from God than time in the wilderness. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-martin/in-our-culture-of-constant-access-and-nonstop-media-nothing-feels/) [Jonathan Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-martin/) > [“When you give everything, you have nothing to lose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-mcgahan/when-you-give-everything-you-have-nothing-to-lose/) [Kate McGahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-mcgahan/) > [The only thing worse than being abandoned, is not being worthy of an explanation. It hurts to let go... but the feeling you're falling..…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joryneville/the-only-thing-worse-than-being-abandoned-is-not-being-worthy-of-an/) [JoryNeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joryneville/) > [“I am not so different in my history of abandonment from anyone else after all. We have all been split away from each other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/i-am-not-so-different-in-my-history-of-abandonment-from-anyone-else/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [“The introduction to horrors so young impressed on me just how helpless and vulnerable I was. Parents are supposed to empower their children to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-enevoldsen/the-introduction-to-horrors-so-young-impressed-on-me-just-how/) [Christina Enevoldsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-enevoldsen/) > [Heartbreak has an archetypal core, all heartbroken individuals suffer from the same kind of torture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginette-paris/heartbreak-has-an-archetypal-core-all-heartbroken-individuals-suffer/) [Ginette Paris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginette-paris/) > [“Lonely Balcony The deterioration brought by weariness was visible. Its burden of abandonment can be perceived at a glance. The balcony ache with longings.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iqra-iqbal/lonely-balcony-the-deterioration-brought-by-weariness-was-visible-its/) [iqra iqbal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iqra-iqbal/) > [God causes us to promise in time of peace what He exacts from us in time of war; He enables us to make our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-marie-bouvier-de-la-motte-guyon/god-causes-us-to-promise-in-time-of-peace-what-he-exacts-from-us-in/) [Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanne-marie-bouvier-de-la-motte-guyon/) [Browse all 348 Abandonment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abandonment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The only absolute attainment is absolute abandonment.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gore Vidal" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-only-absolute-attainment-is-absolute-abandonment/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abandonment" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-only-absolute-attainment-is-absolute-abandonment/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/gore-vidal-466_abandonment_the-only-absolute-attainment-is-absolute_998087.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/gore-vidal-466_abandonment_the-only-absolute-attainment-is-absolute_998087.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/gore-vidal-466_abandonment_the-only-absolute-attainment-is-absolute_998087.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The only absolute attainment is absolute abandonment.” — Gore Vidal", "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": "Gore Vidal", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The only absolute attainment is absolute...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-only-absolute-attainment-is-absolute-abandonment/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-only-absolute-attainment-is-absolute-abandonment/#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 } } ] } ```