--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ah, Harry, we have to stumble through so…" description: "\"“Ah, Harry, we have to stumble through so much dirt and humbug before we reach home. And we have no one to guide us. Our only guide is our homesickness..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f6/hermann-hesse-130_homesickness_ah-harry-we-have-to-stumble-through-so-m_1704478.png" --- # Ah, Harry, we have to stumble through so much dirt and… ![“Ah, Harry, we have to stumble through so much dirt and humbug before we reach home. And we have no one to guide us. Our only guide is our homesickness.” quote by Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f6/hermann-hesse-130_homesickness_ah-harry-we-have-to-stumble-through-so-m_1704478.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f6/hermann-hesse-130_homesickness_ah-harry-we-have-to-stumble-through-so-m_1704478.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f6/hermann-hesse-130_homesickness_ah-harry-we-have-to-stumble-through-so-m_1704478.png) > ““Ah, Harry, we have to stumble through so much dirt and humbug before we reach home. And we have no one to guide us. Our only guide is our homesickness.”” [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is a messy journey with many false comforts; only longing for home guides us, though we lack clear direction. **In simple terms:** We stumble through confusion, guided only by homesickness. Key Takeaway Embrace the search for belonging. Themes journey confusion home guidance search Mood melancholic hopeful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - travel - career changes - personal growth - spiritual practice Key Concepts existentialism spiritual quest human longing Questions to Reflect On - What does “home” truly represent for you? - How can you find guidance without external maps? A Different Perspective Homesickness may idealize the past and hinder present action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ah Harry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ah-harry-1183998/) [Guide Homesickness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guide-homesickness-1183997/) [Harry Stumble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harry-stumble-1183996/) [Homesickness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homesickness/) [Reach Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reach-home-1183999/) ## Related quotes > [We have to stumble through so much dirt and humbug before we reach home. And we have no one to guide us. Our only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/we-have-to-stumble-through-so-much-dirt-and-humbug-before-we-reach/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [In order to reach home, where you have the guidance of cosmic insight, you must first depart from your present location. You cannot remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-howard/in-order-to-reach-home-where-you-have-the-guidance-of-cosmic-insight/) [Vernon Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-howard/) > [For outlandish creatures like us, on our way to a heart, a brain, and courage, Bethlehem is not the end of our journey but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/for-outlandish-creatures-like-us-on-our-way-to-a-heart-a-brain-and/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [“I crossed seas, mountains to reach the home of my loved one. Yet I crossed my limitation, the fact I thought before I might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simona-prilogan/i-crossed-seas-mountains-to-reach-the-home-of-my-loved-one-yet-i/) [Simona Prilogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simona-prilogan/) > [“You know that you will reach your home in My perfect timing: not one moment too soon or too late. Let the hope of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-young/you-know-that-you-will-reach-your-home-in-my-perfect-timing-not-one/) [Sarah Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-young/) > [“The conversations rests uneasily; one doesn't expect good-byes to be burdened by such trivialities. This is not how it is in the books, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mason/the-conversations-rests-uneasily-one-doesn-t-expect-good-byes-to-be/) [Daniel Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mason/) > [Home is the place you return to when you have finally lost your soul. Home is the place where life is born, not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-maitland/home-is-the-place-you-return-to-when-you-have-finally-lost-your-soul/) [Karen Maitland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-maitland/) > [It is a curious emotion, this certain homesickness I have in mind. With Americans, it is a national trait, as native to us as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/it-is-a-curious-emotion-this-certain-homesickness-i-have-in-mind-with/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“He wonders what it would be like to belong somewhere and never doubt it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-bishop/he-wonders-what-it-would-be-like-to-belong-somewhere-and-never-doubt/) [Stephanie Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-bishop/) > [“Give me homesickness. Flash. Give me nostalgic childhood yearnings. Flash.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/give-me-homesickness-flash-give-me-nostalgic-childhood-yearnings-flash/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [If they don't board and live by themselves, even in their second year they've got no lounge or kitchen table and it's a pretty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-nisbett/if-they-don-t-board-and-live-by-themselves-even-in-their-second-year/) [Trevor Nisbett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-nisbett/) > [Art schools are partly the villain here. (Never mind that I teach in them.) This generation of artists is the first to have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/art-schools-are-partly-the-villain-here-never-mind-that-i-teach-in/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [“She used to suffer these intense bouts of homesickness in her own bedroom. When she was very small, she would wake up tearing at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/she-used-to-suffer-these-intense-bouts-of-homesickness-in-her-own/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [Concepts, like individuals, have their histories and are just as incapable of withstanding the ravages of time as are individuals. But in and through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/concepts-like-individuals-have-their-histories-and-are-just-as/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [At first he thought he felt bad because he was afraid of leading an army, but it wasn't true. He knew he'd make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/at-first-he-thought-he-felt-bad-because-he-was-afraid-of-leading-an/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) ## More by Hermann Hesse > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Therefore, I see whatever exists as good, death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness, everything has to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/therefore-i-see-whatever-exists-as-good-death-is-to-me-like-life-sin/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [A home isn't just a roof over our heads. A home is a place where we feel loved and where we love others. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/a-home-isn-t-just-a-roof-over-our-heads-a-home-is-a-place-where-we/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Fortunately, like most children, I had learned what is most valuable, most indispensable for life before school years began, taught by apple trees, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/fortunately-like-most-children-i-had-learned-what-is-most-valuable/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“The mistaken and unhappy notion that a man is an enduring unity is known to you. It is also known to you that a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/the-mistaken-and-unhappy-notion-that-a-man-is-an-enduring-unity-is/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“... it would be better for our country and the world in general, if at least the few people who were capable of thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/it-would-be-better-for-our-country-and-the-world-in-general-if-at/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/the-bird-fights-its-way-out-of-the-egg-the-egg-is-the-world-who-would/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/everything-becomes-a-little-different-as-soon-as-it-is-spoken-out-loud/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it. But I think it is only important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/it-may-be-important-to-great-thinkers-to-examine-the-world-to-explain/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“..it is useless for you to build walls and dormitories and chapels and churches. Death looks through the window and laughs..”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/it-is-useless-for-you-to-build-walls-and-dormitories-and-chapels-and/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“When the world is at peace, when all things are tranquil and all men obey their superiors in all their courses, then music can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/when-the-world-is-at-peace-when-all-things-are-tranquil-and-all-men/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [A mere nothing suffices — and the lightning strikes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/a-mere-nothing-suffices-and-the-lightning-strikes/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“And if time is not real, then the dividing line that seems to lie between this world and eternity, between suffering and bliss, between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/and-if-time-is-not-real-then-the-dividing-line-that-seems-to-lie/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Beautiful was this world, looking at it thus, without searching, thus simply, thus childlike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/beautiful-was-this-world-looking-at-it-thus-without-searching-thus/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Were not the gods forms created like me and you, mortal, transient?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/were-not-the-gods-forms-created-like-me-and-you-mortal-transient/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) [Explore all 951 Hermann Hesse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) ## More Homesickness quotes > [At first he thought he felt bad because he was afraid of leading an army, but it wasn't true. He knew he'd make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/at-first-he-thought-he-felt-bad-because-he-was-afraid-of-leading-an/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Concepts, like individuals, have their histories and are just as incapable of withstanding the ravages of time as are individuals. But in and through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/concepts-like-individuals-have-their-histories-and-are-just-as/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“She used to suffer these intense bouts of homesickness in her own bedroom. When she was very small, she would wake up tearing at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/she-used-to-suffer-these-intense-bouts-of-homesickness-in-her-own/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [Art schools are partly the villain here. (Never mind that I teach in them.) This generation of artists is the first to have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/art-schools-are-partly-the-villain-here-never-mind-that-i-teach-in/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [If they don't board and live by themselves, even in their second year they've got no lounge or kitchen table and it's a pretty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-nisbett/if-they-don-t-board-and-live-by-themselves-even-in-their-second-year/) [Trevor Nisbett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-nisbett/) > [“Give me homesickness. Flash. Give me nostalgic childhood yearnings. Flash.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/give-me-homesickness-flash-give-me-nostalgic-childhood-yearnings-flash/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“He wonders what it would be like to belong somewhere and never doubt it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-bishop/he-wonders-what-it-would-be-like-to-belong-somewhere-and-never-doubt/) [Stephanie Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-bishop/) > [It is a curious emotion, this certain homesickness I have in mind. With Americans, it is a national trait, as native to us as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/it-is-a-curious-emotion-this-certain-homesickness-i-have-in-mind-with/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“…he will always live in a place he is not from. For a long time he thought that habit would counter this fact and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-bishop/he-will-always-live-in-a-place-he-is-not-from-for-a-long-time-he/) [Stephanie Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-bishop/) > [“The ex-pat's life with all its homesickness and loneliness and privileges and perks, with its dizzy ups and miserable downs, was certainly not ordinary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-keenan/the-ex-pat-s-life-with-all-its-homesickness-and-loneliness-and/) [Brigid Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-keenan/) > [The impulse for much writing is homesickness. You are trying to get back home, and in your writing you are invoking that home, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/the-impulse-for-much-writing-is-homesickness-you-are-trying-to-get/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Homesickness Standing under a million stars screaming up at them, PLEASE JUST TAKE ME HOME, with a voice rusty like the underside of boats,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-hewer/homesickness-standing-under-a-million-stars-screaming-up-at-them/) [Elisabeth Hewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-hewer/) > [Some people speak and sing and walk and sit and sleep and silence their homesickness, for a long time, and to no avail. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herta-m-ller/some-people-speak-and-sing-and-walk-and-sit-and-sleep-and-silence/) [Herta Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herta-m-ller/) > [Nothing is more often misdiagnosed than our homesickness for Heaven. We think that what we want is sex, drugs, alcohol, a new job, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-alcorn/nothing-is-more-often-misdiagnosed-than-our-homesickness-for-heaven/) [Randy Alcorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-alcorn/) > [The soul hardly ever realizes it, but whether he is a believer or not, his loneliness is really a homesickness for God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-van-zeller/the-soul-hardly-ever-realizes-it-but-whether-he-is-a-believer-or-not/) [Hubert Van Zeller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-van-zeller/) [Browse all 139 Homesickness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homesickness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Ah, Harry, we have to stumble through so much dirt and humbug before we reach home. And we have no one to guide us. Our only guide is our homesickness.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hermann Hesse" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/ah-harry-we-have-to-stumble-through-so-much-dirt-and-humbug-before-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Homesickness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/ah-harry-we-have-to-stumble-through-so-much-dirt-and-humbug-before-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f6/hermann-hesse-130_homesickness_ah-harry-we-have-to-stumble-through-so-m_1704478.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f6/hermann-hesse-130_homesickness_ah-harry-we-have-to-stumble-through-so-m_1704478.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f6/hermann-hesse-130_homesickness_ah-harry-we-have-to-stumble-through-so-m_1704478.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Ah, Harry, we have to stumble through so much dirt and humbug before we reach home. And we have no one to…” — Hermann Hesse", "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": "Hermann Hesse", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Ah, Harry, we have to stumble...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/ah-harry-we-have-to-stumble-through-so-much-dirt-and-humbug-before-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/ah-harry-we-have-to-stumble-through-so-much-dirt-and-humbug-before-we/#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 } } ] } ```