--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It’s true that when we get caught in the…" description: "\"“It’s true that when we get caught in the spider’s web—between the first chance event and the second—we fantasize endlessly and are, at the same time, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cc/javier-mar-as-2874_spider_it-s-true-that-when-we-get-caught-in-the_2636025.png" --- # It’s true that when we get caught in the spider’s… ![“It’s true that when we get caught in the spider’s web—between the first chance event and the second—we fantasize endlessly and are, at the same time, willing to make do with the tiniest crumb, with hearing him—as if he were the time itself that exists between those two chance events—smelling him…” quote by Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cc/javier-mar-as-2874_spider_it-s-true-that-when-we-get-caught-in-the_2636025.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cc/javier-mar-as-2874_spider_it-s-true-that-when-we-get-caught-in-the_2636025.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cc/javier-mar-as-2874_spider_it-s-true-that-when-we-get-caught-in-the_2636025.png) > ““It’s true that when we get caught in the spider’s web—between the first chance event and the second—we fantasize endlessly and are, at the same time, willing to make do with the tiniest crumb, with hearing him—as if he were the time itself that exists between those two chance events—smelling him, glimpsing him, sensing his presence, knowing that he is still on our horizon, from which he has not entirely vanished, and that we cannot yet see, in the distance, the dust from his fleeing feet.”” [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Between chance events, we cling to fleeting hopes, sensing an elusive presence that may never fully materialize. **In simple terms:** We grasp at uncertain possibilities. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty with patience. Themes hope uncertainty existential longing Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - personal reflection - decision making under ambiguity Key Concepts philosophy of chance psychology of desire Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance hope and realism? - What does “the horizon” symbolize for you? A Different Perspective Clinging can hinder action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Spider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spider/) [Spider web](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spider-web/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Crawling across the barren ground, life was hard for the tiny colorless caterpillar. 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But for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-you-understand-how-there-could-be-any-writing-in-a-spider-s-web-oh/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[The Girl in the Spider's Web\] can't be anything other than a sequel, but a couple of books have been skipped, so it is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-knight/the-girl-in-the-spider-s-web-can-t-be-anything-other-than-a-sequel/) [Steven Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-knight/) > [“Kid, when will you learn.” “You’d be amazed the things I know.” “You might be able thrash your way out of a spider-web, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/kid-when-will-you-learn-you-d-be-amazed-the-things-i-know-you-might/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“The greatest artist and web-designer ever is indeed a spider!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/munia-khan/the-greatest-artist-and-web-designer-ever-is-indeed-a-spider/) [Munia Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/munia-khan/) > [“Simplicity! He is as simple as a spider's web.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-essex/simplicity-he-is-as-simple-as-a-spider-s-web/) [Karen Essex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-essex/) > [“Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/fiction-is-like-a-spider-s-web-attached-ever-so-lightly-perhaps-but-2/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Is there anything in the universe more beautiful and protective than the simple complexity of a spider's web?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/is-there-anything-in-the-universe-more-beautiful-and-protective-than/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [In the beginning, sin is like a thread of a spider's web. But in the end, it becomes like the cable of a ship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabbi-akiva/in-the-beginning-sin-is-like-a-thread-of-a-spider-s-web-but-in-the/) [Rabbi Akiva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabbi-akiva/) > [Best birthday gift I got from mylove. He Placing my hand on the spider's web He said: This is my trust in you.Do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/best-birthday-gift-i-got-from-mylove-he-placing-my-hand-on-the-spider/) Mak\_786 > [I liked teaching Henry James. When you look down at a Henry James novel from a helicopter height, you find an intricate spider web…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-vendler/i-liked-teaching-henry-james-when-you-look-down-at-a-henry-james/) [Helen Vendler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-vendler/) > [Emotional threads are woven like a spider web, gently, fast and everywhere. After a while they turn into a thin, but strong web, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruben-papian/emotional-threads-are-woven-like-a-spider-web-gently-fast-and/) [Ruben Papian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruben-papian/) > [Sometimes it looks like I'm dancing, but it's just that I walked into a spider web.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demetri-martin/sometimes-it-looks-like-i-m-dancing-but-it-s-just-that-i-walked-into/) [Demetri Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demetri-martin/) > [Just did a weeks worth of cardio after walking into a spider's web. . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-sutter/just-did-a-weeks-worth-of-cardio-after-walking-into-a-spider-s-web/) [Rick Sutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-sutter/) ## More by Javier Marías > [We all have to lead our own life, and we only have the one life, and the only people who can live life not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/we-all-have-to-lead-our-own-life-and-we-only-have-the-one-life-and/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“And we offer each other words of consolotation or distraction or encouragement when we see that one or the other of us is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/and-we-offer-each-other-words-of-consolotation-or-distraction-or/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“The principal and the most common problem at the beginning of any fairly conventional marriage is that regardless of the facilities for disengagement available…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/the-principal-and-the-most-common-problem-at-the-beginning-of-any/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“Jedan par, pomislih, koji zavisi i živi od svojih prepreka; jedan par koji će se rasturiti kad ih ne bude bilo, ako ga pre…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/jedan-par-pomislih-koji-zavisi-i-ivi-od-svojih-prepreka-jedan-par/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“I knew that Sundays in England aren't just ordinary dull Sundays, the same the world over, which demand that one simply tiptoe through without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-knew-that-sundays-in-england-aren-t-just-ordinary-dull-sundays-the/) [Javier Marias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“Everything can be ridiculous or tragic according to who is doing the telling or how they tell it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/everything-can-be-ridiculous-or-tragic-according-to-who-is-doing-the/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [Life is a very bad novelist. It is chaotic and ludicrous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/life-is-a-very-bad-novelist-it-is-chaotic-and-ludicrous/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“Writing novels allows the novelist to spend much of his time in a fictional world, which is really the only or at least the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/writing-novels-allows-the-novelist-to-spend-much-of-his-time-in-a/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“Everything that happens to us, everything that we say or hear, everything that we see with our own eyes or we articulate with our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/everything-that-happens-to-us-everything-that-we-say-or-hear/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“... los planes que uno se traza no son más que tentativas y pruebas, cartas que se van descubriendo y la mayoría de ellas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/los-planes-que-uno-se-traza-no-son-m-s-que-tentativas-y-pruebas/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“When the abuse is mutual, it dissolves of its own accord, the way it does in quarrels between brothers and sister when they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/when-the-abuse-is-mutual-it-dissolves-of-its-own-accord-the-way-it/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“Jeg ønsker å være der han er, og det eneste området hvor jeg vet at vi er sammen, er i fortiden, i det som…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/jeg-nsker-v-re-der-han-er-og-det-eneste-omr-det-hvor-jeg-vet-at-vi-er/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“I do believe that love is based in large measure on its anticipation and on its recollection. It is the feeling that requires the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-do-believe-that-love-is-based-in-large-measure-on-its-anticipation/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“... I had stayed still and let the days pass, which is the best way to allow things in the real world to dissolve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-had-stayed-still-and-let-the-days-pass-which-is-the-best-way-to/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [I have a tendency to want to understand everything people say and everything I hear, both at work and outside, even at a distance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-have-a-tendency-to-want-to-understand-everything-people-say-and/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) [Explore all 71 Javier Marías quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) ## More Spider quotes > [Note to self: If you do not know how to spell a big scary spiders name, DO NOT look it up on the internet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becky-eisele/note-to-self-if-you-do-not-know-how-to-spell-a-big-scary-spiders-name/) Becky Eisele > [I've driven Ferrari 488 GTB, the 488 Spider, the Mclaren 570s and 540c, the Bentley GT3R, GT Speed and V8s, Mercedes AMG GTs, Lamborghini…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-hirsch/i-ve-driven-ferrari-488-gtb-the-488-spider-the-mclaren-570s-and-540c/) [Alex Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-hirsch/) > [“And what if there are only spiders there, or something of that sort”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/and-what-if-there-are-only-spiders-there-or-something-of-that-sort/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“The old man stared at me with his bright green eyes. “You’re Gin Blanco, Genevieve Snow, and the Spider all rolled into one. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-estep/the-old-man-stared-at-me-with-his-bright-green-eyes-you-re-gin-blanco/) [Jennifer Estep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-estep/) > [“Better to be a mouse behind the wainscoting, nibbling at the wires. Better to be a spider, high up under the eaves, spinning its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/better-to-be-a-mouse-behind-the-wainscoting-nibbling-at-the-wires/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I wouldn't say that I was a Spider-Man super fan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-watts/i-wouldn-t-say-that-i-was-a-spider-man-super-fan/) [Jon Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-watts/) > [My biggest phobia is spiders. When I was in second grade, one of my classmates got bitten. That did it for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanna-white/my-biggest-phobia-is-spiders-when-i-was-in-second-grade-one-of-my/) [Vanna White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanna-white/) > [“Everything that surrounds us becomes part of us, it seeps into us with every experience of the flesh and of life and, like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/everything-that-surrounds-us-becomes-part-of-us-it-seeps-into-us-with/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [We belong to an age where apocalypse is our daily bread, coffee's black, and we know we're part of the abyss. Red Spider White…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/we-belong-to-an-age-where-apocalypse-is-our-daily-bread-coffee-s/) [Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/) > [“The faithful dog is kicked, and no matter how the spider weaves, he is never loved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/the-faithful-dog-is-kicked-and-no-matter-how-the-spider-weaves-he-is/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [“Holy gallnipper, how long till we hit the magic trail? It’s gloomier than my own funeral I here.” Camille adjusted the bag’s rope and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-frazier/holy-gallnipper-how-long-till-we-hit-the-magic-trail-it-s-gloomier/) [Angie Frazier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-frazier/) > [Woke up to find a dead spider lying next to me in bed. That's nice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taissa-farmiga/woke-up-to-find-a-dead-spider-lying-next-to-me-in-bed-that-s-nice/) [Taissa Farmiga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taissa-farmiga/) > [“Why do I hate spiders? Gods, who doesn't? What a stupid question.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/why-do-i-hate-spiders-gods-who-doesn-t-what-a-stupid-question/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [If any person examines by the microscope that part towards the extremity of the spider's body from whence its thread proceeds, he will observe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonie-van-leeuwenhoek/if-any-person-examines-by-the-microscope-that-part-towards-the/) [Antonie van Leeuwenhoek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonie-van-leeuwenhoek/) > [It was no mean trick doing the wiring with those mittens on. But I managed it and crawled out, batting spiders into the shadows.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bailey-white/it-was-no-mean-trick-doing-the-wiring-with-those-mittens-on-but-i/) [Bailey White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bailey-white/) [Browse all 419 Spider quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spider/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It’s true that when we get caught in the spider’s web—between the first chance event and the second—we fantasize endlessly and are, at the same time, willing to make do with the tiniest crumb, with hearing him—as if he were the time itself that exists between those two chance events—smelling him, glimpsing him, sensing his presence, knowing that he is still on our horizon, from which he has not entirely vanished, and that we cannot yet see, in the distance, the dust from his fleeing feet.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Javier Marías" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/it-s-true-that-when-we-get-caught-in-the-spider-s-web-between-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Spider" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/it-s-true-that-when-we-get-caught-in-the-spider-s-web-between-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cc/javier-mar-as-2874_spider_it-s-true-that-when-we-get-caught-in-the_2636025.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cc/javier-mar-as-2874_spider_it-s-true-that-when-we-get-caught-in-the_2636025.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cc/javier-mar-as-2874_spider_it-s-true-that-when-we-get-caught-in-the_2636025.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It’s true that when we get caught in the spider’s web—between the first chance event and the second—we…” — Javier Marías", "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": "Javier Marías", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It’s true that when we get...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/it-s-true-that-when-we-get-caught-in-the-spider-s-web-between-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/it-s-true-that-when-we-get-caught-in-the-spider-s-web-between-the/#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 } } ] } ```