--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If a night-moth were to concentrate its…" description: "\"If a night-moth were to concentrate its will on flying to a star or some equally unattainable object, it wouldn't succeed. Only, it wouldn't even try i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/hermann-hesse-130_achieve_if-a-night-moth-were-to-concentrate-its_1162463.jpg" --- # If a night-moth were to concentrate its will on flying to… ![“If a night-moth were to concentrate its will on flying to a star or some equally unattainable object, it wouldn't succeed. Only, it wouldn't even try in the first place. A moth confines its search to what has sense and value for it, what it needs, what is indispensable to its life... if I imagined…” quote by Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/hermann-hesse-130_achieve_if-a-night-moth-were-to-concentrate-its_1162463.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/hermann-hesse-130_achieve_if-a-night-moth-were-to-concentrate-its_1162463.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/hermann-hesse-130_achieve_if-a-night-moth-were-to-concentrate-its_1162463.jpg) > “If a night-moth were to concentrate its will on flying to a star or some equally unattainable object, it wouldn't succeed. Only, it wouldn't even try in the first place. A moth confines its search to what has sense and value for it, what it needs, what is indispensable to its life... if I imagined that I wanted under all circumstances to get to the North Pole, then to achieve it I would have to desire it strongly enough that my whole being was ruled by it. But if I were to decide to will that the pastor should stop wearing his glasses, it would be useless. That would be making a game of it.” [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. True desire must align with one’s essential nature; futile wishes lack the necessary inner drive to manifest. **In simple terms:** Wishes must match core needs to work. Key Takeaway Focus on goals that truly matter. Themes purpose will alignment limits Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career choices - personal growth - relationship boundaries - spiritual quests Key Concepts existentialism psychology motivation Questions to Reflect On - What goals truly serve your essential self? - How do you differentiate meaningful desires from trivial whims? A Different Perspective Desiring the impossible without genuine need leads to frustration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Achieve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/achieve/) [Circumstances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circumstances/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [First place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-place/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Flying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flying/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Glasses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glasses/) [Indispensable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indispensable/) [Moth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moth/) [Moth Confines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moth-confines-3334635/) [Moths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moths/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Night Moth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night-moth-3334636/) [North pole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/north-pole/) [Object Wouldn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/object-wouldn-3334637/) [Pastor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pastor/) [Place Moth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/place-moth-3334638/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Unattainable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unattainable/) [Useless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useless/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [My idea was to chose an object that wouldn't attract me, either by its beauty or by its ugliness. 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'She meant that your allegiance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-harris/vanessa-called-me-moth-but-charissa-told-me-i-hadn-t-declared-my-true/) [Joanne Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-harris/) > [You are the light in the dark room, and I am the moth that cant resist it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naye-naye/you-are-the-light-in-the-dark-room-and-i-am-the-moth-that-cant-resist/) [Naye-Naye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naye-naye/) > [There was a moth in there, and it still had its wings crumpled up, and it was just starting to pump its wings up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurel-clark/there-was-a-moth-in-there-and-it-still-had-its-wings-crumpled-up-and/) [Laurel Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurel-clark/) > [“...like a moth lost in dawn's light.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gis-le-pineau/like-a-moth-lost-in-dawn-s-light/) [Gisèle Pineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gis-le-pineau/) > [“A beetle will chase after an opening of light, while a cockroach will scatter at a crack of it. How are we different from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/a-beetle-will-chase-after-an-opening-of-light-while-a-cockroach-will/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [As a moth gnaws a garment, so doth envy consume a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-john-chrysostom/as-a-moth-gnaws-a-garment-so-doth-envy-consume-a-man/) [Saint John Chrysostom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-john-chrysostom/) > [“Fear can make a moth seem the size of a bull elephant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-richards/fear-can-make-a-moth-seem-the-size-of-a-bull-elephant/) [Stephen Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-richards/) > [Pleasure's a Moth, that sleeps by day And dances by false glare at night; But Joy's a Butterfly, that loves To spread its wings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-davies/pleasure-s-a-moth-that-sleeps-by-day-and-dances-by-false-glare-at/) [W. H. 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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 Achieve quotes > [I always say there are two things to be successful. 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