--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Here, or nowhere, is the thing we seek." description: "\"Here, or nowhere, is the thing we seek.\" — Horace" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/horace-172_quote_here-or-nowhere-is-the-thing-we-seek-183_1830468.jpg" --- # Here, or nowhere, is the thing we seek. ![“Here, or nowhere, is the thing we seek.” quote by Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/horace-172_quote_here-or-nowhere-is-the-thing-we-seek-183_1830468.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/horace-172_quote_here-or-nowhere-is-the-thing-we-seek-183_1830468.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/horace-172_quote_here-or-nowhere-is-the-thing-we-seek-183_1830468.jpg) > “Here, or nowhere, is the thing we seek.” [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote expresses the paradox of searching for something that may be absent or present, highlighting the uncertainty of desire. **In simple terms:** We seek something that may not exist. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty and keep searching. Themes philosophy uncertainty desire Mood reflective thoughtful Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal goals - research - spiritual quest - creative projects Key Concepts Existentialism paradox Questions to Reflect On - What do you truly seek? - How do you handle the possibility of not finding it? A Different Perspective The quote may overlook that sometimes the search itself creates the thing sought. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [What win I, if I gain the thing I seek? A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy. Who buys a minute's mirth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/what-win-i-if-i-gain-the-thing-i-seek-a-dream-a-breath-a-froth-of/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Inspiration is not the thing which can be seek, its right within you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ujas-soni/inspiration-is-not-the-thing-which-can-be-seek-its-right-within-you/) Ujas Soni > [If four of you are playing hide and seek you'll only ever find the other three. For you are already right here. So what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rasheed-ogunlaru/if-four-of-you-are-playing-hide-and-seek-you-ll-only-ever-find-the/) [Rasheed Ogunlaru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rasheed-ogunlaru/) > [“There's an unwritten law of the universe which assures that the thing you seek will always be found in the last place you look.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/there-s-an-unwritten-law-of-the-universe-which-assures-that-the-thing/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“If four of you are playing hide and seek you will only every find the other three. For you are already here. So what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rasheed-ogunlaru/if-four-of-you-are-playing-hide-and-seek-you-will-only-every-find-the/) [Rasheed Ogunlaru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rasheed-ogunlaru/) > [Celebrity, to me, is not a thing to seek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aidan-quinn/celebrity-to-me-is-not-a-thing-to-seek/) [Aidan Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aidan-quinn/) > [When you are at one with the world, you often find that the thing you seek is seeking you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-f-haanel/when-you-are-at-one-with-the-world-you-often-find-that-the-thing-you/) [Charles F. Haanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-f-haanel/) > [Much is wanting to those who seek or covet much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/much-is-wanting-to-those-who-seek-or-covet-much/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Those who seek for much are left in want of much. Happy is he to whom God has given, with sparing hand, as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/those-who-seek-for-much-are-left-in-want-of-much-happy-is-he-to-whom/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [If politicians did care about their constituents, they would work harder to seek out people like me. They don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-hart/if-politicians-did-care-about-their-constituents-they-would-work/) [Carl Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-hart/) > [There are reasons people seek escape in books, and one of those reasons is that the boundary of what can happen is beyond what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/there-are-reasons-people-seek-escape-in-books-and-one-of-those/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [To seek yourself in this world is to be lost; and to be humble is to be exalted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/to-seek-yourself-in-this-world-is-to-be-lost-and-to-be-humble-is-to/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. JEREMIAH 29:13”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stormie-omartian/you-will-seek-me-and-find-me-when-you-seek-me-with-all-your-heart/) [Stormie Omartian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stormie-omartian/) > [Human beings seek community, and permanent openness is hard to sustain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/human-beings-seek-community-and-permanent-openness-is-hard-to-sustain/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) Coheed and Cambria ## More by Horace > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“Finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis. (To action little, less to words inclinded.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/finxerunt-animi-raro-et-perpauca-loquentis-to-action-little-less-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by drinkers of water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-verse-can-give-pleasure-for-long-nor-last-that-is-written-by/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Fate with impartial hand turns out the doom of high and low; her capacious urn is constantly shaking the names of all mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/fate-with-impartial-hand-turns-out-the-doom-of-high-and-low-her/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [A word, once sent abroad, flies irrevocably.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/a-word-once-sent-abroad-flies-irrevocably/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“Natales grate numeras? (Do you count your birthdays with gratitude?)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/natales-grate-numeras-do-you-count-your-birthdays-with-gratitude/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [ In a moment comes either death or joyful victory. \[Lat., Horae Momento cita mors venit aut victoria laeta.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/in-a-moment-comes-either-death-or-joyful-victory-lat-horae-momento/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - It is a sweet and becoming thing to die for ones country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/dulce-et-decorum-est-pro-patria-mori-it-is-a-sweet-and-becoming-thing/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [ Neither men, nor gods, nor booksellers' shelves permit ordinary poets to exist. \[Lat., Mediocribus esse poetis Non homines, non di, non concessere columnae.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/neither-men-nor-gods-nor-booksellers-shelves-permit-ordinary-poets-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Don't yield to that alluring witch, laziness, or else be prepared to surrender all that you have won in your better moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/don-t-yield-to-that-alluring-witch-laziness-or-else-be-prepared-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Avoid inquisitive persons, for they are sure to be gossips, their ears are open to hear, but they will not keep what is entrusted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/avoid-inquisitive-persons-for-they-are-sure-to-be-gossips-their-ears/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she still will hurry back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/you-may-drive-out-nature-with-a-pitchfork-yet-she-still-will-hurry/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [There is a proper measure in all things, certain limits beyond which and short of which right is not to be found. Who so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/there-is-a-proper-measure-in-all-things-certain-limits-beyond-which/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Never despair while under the guidance and auspices of Teucer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/never-despair-while-under-the-guidance-and-auspices-of-teucer/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Alas, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, nor will piety give any stay to wrinkles and pressing old age and untamable death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/alas-postumus-the-fleeting-years-slip-by-nor-will-piety-give-any-stay/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) [Explore all 1,000 Horace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) ## More Seek quotes > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) Coheed and Cambria > [Human beings seek community, and permanent openness is hard to sustain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/human-beings-seek-community-and-permanent-openness-is-hard-to-sustain/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. JEREMIAH 29:13”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stormie-omartian/you-will-seek-me-and-find-me-when-you-seek-me-with-all-your-heart/) [Stormie Omartian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stormie-omartian/) > [To seek yourself in this world is to be lost; and to be humble is to be exalted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/to-seek-yourself-in-this-world-is-to-be-lost-and-to-be-humble-is-to/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [There are reasons people seek escape in books, and one of those reasons is that the boundary of what can happen is beyond what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/there-are-reasons-people-seek-escape-in-books-and-one-of-those/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [If politicians did care about their constituents, they would work harder to seek out people like me. They don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-hart/if-politicians-did-care-about-their-constituents-they-would-work/) [Carl Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-hart/) > [“A spark of every fire we seek is already within us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/a-spark-of-every-fire-we-seek-is-already-within-us/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [“If you were to stare at this box of matches, you could extract entire worlds out of it. If you search for tastes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witold-gombrowicz/if-you-were-to-stare-at-this-box-of-matches-you-could-extract-entire/) [Witold Gombrowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witold-gombrowicz/) > [“Adolescents tend to seek love where they can find it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/adolescents-tend-to-seek-love-where-they-can-find-it/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [Many people, men in particular, just can't not be active. I guess our minds demand that we seek other challenges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-west/many-people-men-in-particular-just-can-t-not-be-active-i-guess-our/) [Jerry West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-west/) > [Iraq's enemies will continue to seek opportunities to pursue their objectives, but make no mistake: Our military forces here, and those of the Iraqi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-austin/iraq-s-enemies-will-continue-to-seek-opportunities-to-pursue-their/) [Lloyd Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-austin/) > [“To find, you have to seek. If you have lost your life direction, you probably won't find it between drinks at the local bar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-matthews/to-find-you-have-to-seek-if-you-have-lost-your-life-direction-you/) [Andrew Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-matthews/) > [The Human Rights Act is not a terrorists' charter. It enables ordinary citizens to seek redress when the government breaches fundamental freedoms enshrined in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-thornberry/the-human-rights-act-is-not-a-terrorists-charter-it-enables-ordinary/) [Emily Thornberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-thornberry/) > [“I go to seek a Great Perhaps. That's why I'm going. So I don't have to wait until I die to start seeking a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-go-to-seek-a-great-perhaps-that-s-why-i-m-going-so-i-don-t-have-to/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Seek ye first the good things of the mind, and the rest shall be provided or its loss shall not be felt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-francis-bacon/seek-ye-first-the-good-things-of-the-mind-and-the-rest-shall-be/) [Sir Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-francis-bacon/) Browse all 1,228 Seek quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Here, or nowhere, is the thing we seek.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Horace" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/here-or-nowhere-is-the-thing-we-seek/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Seek" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/here-or-nowhere-is-the-thing-we-seek/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/horace-172_quote_here-or-nowhere-is-the-thing-we-seek-183_1830468.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/horace-172_quote_here-or-nowhere-is-the-thing-we-seek-183_1830468.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/horace-172_quote_here-or-nowhere-is-the-thing-we-seek-183_1830468.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Here, or nowhere, is the thing we seek.” — Horace", "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": "Horace", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Here, or nowhere, is the thing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/here-or-nowhere-is-the-thing-we-seek/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/here-or-nowhere-is-the-thing-we-seek/#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 } } ] } ```