--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is impossible to think of Howard…" description: "\"It is impossible to think of Howard Hughes without seeing the apparently bottomless gulf between what we say we want and what we do want, between what ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/joan-didion-497_admire_it-is-impossible-to-think-of-howard-hugh_655461.jpg" --- # It is impossible to think of Howard Hughes without seeing… ![“It is impossible to think of Howard Hughes without seeing the apparently bottomless gulf between what we say we want and what we do want, between what we officially admire and secretly desire, between, in the largest sense, the people we marry and the people we love. In a nation which increasingly…” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/joan-didion-497_admire_it-is-impossible-to-think-of-howard-hugh_655461.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/joan-didion-497_admire_it-is-impossible-to-think-of-howard-hugh_655461.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/929/joan-didion-497_admire_it-is-impossible-to-think-of-howard-hugh_655461.jpg) > “It is impossible to think of Howard Hughes without seeing the apparently bottomless gulf between what we say we want and what we do want, between what we officially admire and secretly desire, between, in the largest sense, the people we marry and the people we love. In a nation which increasingly appears to prize social virtues, Howard Hughes remains not merely antisocial but grandly, brilliantly, surpassingly, asocial. He is the last private man, the dream we no longer admit.” [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Howard Hughes exemplifies the gap between public ideals and private desires, highlighting the complexity of human motivation. **In simple terms:** Public image vs private desire. Key Takeaway Recognize hidden motives. Themes identity desire social norms contradiction Mood analytical critical thought‑provoking Type sociological psychological When to use this quote - political analysis - personal relationships - media criticism Key Concepts Psychology sociology biography Questions to Reflect On - What hidden desires drive your actions? - How do societal expectations shape personal choices? A Different Perspective Idealizing a figure can obscure their flaws. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People We Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-we-love/) [Prize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prize/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [“A blanket could be used to suffocate our secret desires. And what do I secretly desire? 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Something about having his ex carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-betts/the-howard-hughes-thing-hadn-t-actually-sounded-like-such-a-bad-deal/) [Heidi Betts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-betts/) > [Do you know what writing a book is? It's sitting alone in a room for weeks without making contact with another human. I felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/do-you-know-what-writing-a-book-is-it-s-sitting-alone-in-a-room-for/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [I've been connected to the most culturally important albums of the past four years, the most influential artists of the past ten years. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/i-ve-been-connected-to-the-most-culturally-important-albums-of-the/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) ## More by Joan Didion > [To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-shift-the-structure-of-a-sentence-alters-the-meaning-of-that/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I work every day. Sometimes I don't accomplish anything every day, but if I don't work every day, I get depressed and get afraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-work-every-day-sometimes-i-don-t-accomplish-anything-every-day-but/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Style is character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/style-is-character/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [California is a place in which a boom mentality and a sense of Chekhovian loss meet in uneasy suspension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/california-is-a-place-in-which-a-boom-mentality-and-a-sense-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I went because I was interested in the alchemy of issues.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-went-because-i-was-interested-in-the-alchemy-of-issues/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Why did I write it down? 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I recognize it in myself - there is a basic indifference toward people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-m-not-very-interested-in-people-i-recognize-it-in-myself-there-is-a/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Was there ever in anyone's life span a point free in time, devoid of memory, a point when choice was any more than sum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/was-there-ever-in-anyone-s-life-span-a-point-free-in-time-devoid-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Research to date has shown that, like many other stressors, grief frequently leads to changes in the endocrine, immune, autonomic nervous, and cardiovascular systems;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/research-to-date-has-shown-that-like-many-other-stressors-grief/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“By the end of the week she was thinking constantly about where her body stopped and the air began about the exact point in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/by-the-end-of-the-week-she-was-thinking-constantly-about-where-her/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I just can't see the upside in this," I heard myself say by way of explanation. 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I was crazy about reading biographies. \[...\] I think biographies are very urgent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-read-so-ravenously-that-i-would-read-through-whole-categories-i-was/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [To those of us who remained committed mainly to the exploration of moral distinctions and ambiguities, the feminist analysis may have seemed a particularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-those-of-us-who-remained-committed-mainly-to-the-exploration-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Explore all 515 Joan Didion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ## More Admire quotes > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. 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