---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She would give herself violently, then…"
description: "\"“She would give herself violently, then yawn at the wrongest moment. She would spend all one day cleaning up the flat, cooking, ironing. Then, pass the..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/john-fowles-816_doing-things_she-would-give-herself-violently-then-ya_749699.png"
---

#  She would give herself violently, then yawn at the…

![“She would give herself violently, then yawn at the wrongest moment. She would spend all one day cleaning up the flat, cooking, ironing. Then, pass the next three or four Boheminanly on the floor in front of the fire, reading Lear, women's magazines, a detective story, Hemingway. Not all at the…” quote by John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/john-fowles-816_doing-things_she-would-give-herself-violently-then-ya_749699.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/john-fowles-816_doing-things_she-would-give-herself-violently-then-ya_749699.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/john-fowles-816_doing-things_she-would-give-herself-violently-then-ya_749699.png)

> ““She would give herself violently, then yawn at the wrongest moment. She would spend all one day cleaning up the flat, cooking, ironing. Then, pass the next three or four Boheminanly on the floor in front of the fire, reading Lear, women's magazines, a detective story, Hemingway. Not all at the same time, but bits of all in the same afternoon. She liked doing things, and only then finding a reason for doing them.””

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The protagonist embraces varied, spontaneous activities, finding purpose only after acting, illustrating a restless, eclectic lifestyle.

**In simple terms:** She does many things, then discovers why.

Key Takeaway

Engage in diverse experiences to uncover purpose.

Themes

identity creativity restlessness purpose

Mood

curious introspective

Type

literary observational

When to use this quote

- daily routine
- creative pursuits
- personal growth

Key Concepts

eclecticism existentialism self‑discovery

Questions to Reflect On

- What small actions reveal your deeper motivations?
- How can varied experiences shape your identity?

A Different Perspective

Living without a clear purpose can feel chaotic.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Doing things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-things/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Liked Doing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liked-doing-622984/) [Story Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-hemingway-5834916/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Violently Yawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violently-yawn-5834914/) [Yawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yawn/) [Yawn Wrongest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yawn-wrongest-5834915/)

## Related quotes

> [I really liked doing a number of the projects and directors, and etc., etc., I knew about half-way through that I would never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-elfman/i-really-liked-doing-a-number-of-the-projects-and-directors-and-etc/)

[Danny Elfman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-elfman/)

> [I wanted to sing when I was little. That's what I liked doing. It didn't occur to me that you became famous or anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-ronstadt/i-wanted-to-sing-when-i-was-little-that-s-what-i-liked-doing-it-didn/)

[Linda Ronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-ronstadt/)

> [I liked doing live things, and with the Circus we had a live audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-idle/i-liked-doing-live-things-and-with-the-circus-we-had-a-live-audience/)

[Eric Idle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-idle/)

> [I was 28, and my mom was living with me. I had to decide. You have to claim it; you can't ask permission. After…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lea-salonga/i-was-28-and-my-mom-was-living-with-me-i-had-to-decide-you-have-to/)

[Lea Salonga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lea-salonga/)

> [I never wanted to be an actor. I got stuck in it and kind of liked what I was doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-garner/i-never-wanted-to-be-an-actor-i-got-stuck-in-it-and-kind-of-liked/)

[James Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-garner/)

> [Even in college I tended to get cast in the comedies more. It was what I liked doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-fischer/even-in-college-i-tended-to-get-cast-in-the-comedies-more-it-was-what/)

[Jenna Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-fischer/)

> [I never would just open a door and walk through, I had to bust it down for the hell of it. I just naturally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-ferber/i-never-would-just-open-a-door-and-walk-through-i-had-to-bust-it-down/)

[Edna Ferber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-ferber/)

> [“I was good with being alone, always liked it, but there's something about doing a job alone that you've always done with someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-was-good-with-being-alone-always-liked-it-but-there-s-something/)

[Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/)

> [I always liked doing all sorts of different things. As a kid growing up, I was always drawing and painting - always doing art.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-zombie/i-always-liked-doing-all-sorts-of-different-things-as-a-kid-growing/)

[Rob Zombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-zombie/)

> [I never wanted to be an actor until about three years ago when I realised it was what I liked doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-roberts/i-never-wanted-to-be-an-actor-until-about-three-years-ago-when-i/)

[Craig Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-roberts/)

> [I was working with my dad in construction and helping him build houses and all this stuff. I had to learn to do all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-correa/i-was-working-with-my-dad-in-construction-and-helping-him-build/)

[Carlos Correa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-correa/)

> [What I liked about doing a soundtrack is that it's almost the opposite of any kind of normal recording that a band does, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gane/what-i-liked-about-doing-a-soundtrack-is-that-it-s-almost-the/)

[Tim Gane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gane/)

> [ \[My mom\] put me in dance class when I was really young just as a thing to do and I loved it. I remember… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-hervey/my-mom-put-me-in-dance-class-when-i-was-really-young-just-as-a-thing/)

[Jillian Hervey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-hervey/)

> [I didn't have any inhibitions. I saw Elvis and Gene Vincent, and I thought, "Well, I can do this." And I liked doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-jagger/i-didn-t-have-any-inhibitions-i-saw-elvis-and-gene-vincent-and-i/)

[Mick Jagger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-jagger/)

> [In the mid-1980s to the early 1990s I was writing songs not because I particularly liked what I was doing, but because I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-numan/in-the-mid-1980s-to-the-early-1990s-i-was-writing-songs-not-because-i/)

[Gary Numan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-numan/)

## More by John Fowles

> [I am infinitely strange to myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/i-am-infinitely-strange-to-myself/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [I do not plan my fiction any more than I normally plan woodland walks; I follow the path that seems most promising at any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/i-do-not-plan-my-fiction-any-more-than-i-normally-plan-woodland-walks/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [“The sky is absolutely empty. Beautifully pure and empty. As if the architects and builders would live in all the houses they built! Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-sky-is-absolutely-empty-beautifully-pure-and-empty-as-if-the/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [“The evolution of human mentality has put us all in vitro now, behind the glass wall of our own ingenuity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-evolution-of-human-mentality-has-put-us-all-in-vitro-now-behind/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [Most marriages recognize this paradox: Passion destroys passion; we want what puts an end to wanting what we want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/most-marriages-recognize-this-paradox-passion-destroys-passion-we/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [That is the great distinction between the sexes. Men see objects, women see the relationships between objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/that-is-the-great-distinction-between-the-sexes-men-see-objects-women/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [The craving to risk death is our last great perversion. We come from night, we go into night. Why live in night?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-craving-to-risk-death-is-our-last-great-perversion-we-come-from/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [There is only one good definition of God: the freedom that allows other freedoms to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/there-is-only-one-good-definition-of-god-the-freedom-that-allows/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [They looked down on her; and she looked up through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/they-looked-down-on-her-and-she-looked-up-through-them/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [“Long afterwards I realized why some men, racing drivers and their like, become addicted to speed. There are those of us who never see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/long-afterwards-i-realized-why-some-men-racing-drivers-and-their-like/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [The best wines take the longest to mature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-best-wines-take-the-longest-to-mature/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [But however good you get at translating personality into line or paint it's no go if your personality isn't worth translating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/but-however-good-you-get-at-translating-personality-into-line-or/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [“Liking other people is an illusion we have to cherish in ourselves if we are to live in society. It”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/liking-other-people-is-an-illusion-we-have-to-cherish-in-ourselves-if/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [Do you know that every great thing in the history of art and every beautiful thing in life is actually what you call nasty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/do-you-know-that-every-great-thing-in-the-history-of-art-and-every/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

> [“Yet this distance, all those abysses unbridged and then unbridgeable by radio, television, cheap travel and the rest, was not wholly bad. People knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/yet-this-distance-all-those-abysses-unbridged-and-then-unbridgeable/)

[John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

[Explore all 341 John Fowles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/)

## More Doing things quotes

> [I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. Hollywood loves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-s-goyer/i-love-casting-against-type-and-doing-things-you-wouldn-t-expect/)

[David S. Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-s-goyer/)

> [Doing the right things is more important than doing things right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ko-wen-je/doing-the-right-things-is-more-important-than-doing-things-right/)

[Ko Wen-je](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ko-wen-je/)

> [“Standards are just the most accepted ways of doing things. They're usually unquestioned, not challenged, not the most efficient, and not the best way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-otton/standards-are-just-the-most-accepted-ways-of-doing-things-they-re/)

[Rick Otton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-otton/)

> [As opposed to getting into arguments about, well, these folks have been treated fairly so now we're going to be doing things that, very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/as-opposed-to-getting-into-arguments-about-well-these-folks-have-been/)

[Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/)

> [Either you let your life slip away by not doing the things you want to do, or you get up &amp; do them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-von-oech/either-you-let-your-life-slip-away-by-not-doing-the-things-you-want/)

[Roger von Oech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-von-oech/)

> [Life is all about doing things you like and being surrounded by people you like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-cassandra/life-is-all-about-doing-things-you-like-and-being-surrounded-by/)

[Regina Cassandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-cassandra/)

> [There are those that say, if you do the uncomfortable thing long enough, it will become comfortable. But we are really not encouragers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/there-are-those-that-say-if-you-do-the-uncomfortable-thing-long/)

[Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/)

> [I'm closer to being happy. I'm doing things that make me happy. In football I loved to practice and I loved to play, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-williams/i-m-closer-to-being-happy-i-m-doing-things-that-make-me-happy-in/)

[Ricky Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-williams/)

> [“If you aren't in love, Willow Vaughn, then my name isn't Miriam Brigham." Willow started out of her daydreaming and glanced up from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-mcpherren/if-you-aren-t-in-love-willow-vaughn-then-my-name-isn-t-miriam-brigham/)

[Charlotte McPherren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-mcpherren/)

> [The story being told in 'Star Wars' is a classic one. Every few hundred years, the story is retold because we have a tendency…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lucas/the-story-being-told-in-star-wars-is-a-classic-one-every-few-hundred/)

[George Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lucas/)

> [When you study history and look at every civilization that has grown up and died off, they all leave one remnant: a major sports…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-study-history-and-look-at-every-civilization-that-has-grown/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Well I think that what we're seeing now is that the people feel like they, the people in Congress don't have their consent to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ingraham/well-i-think-that-what-we-re-seeing-now-is-that-the-people-feel-like/)

[Laura Ingraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ingraham/)

> [It's sad that women characters have lost so much ground in popular movies. Didn't 'Thelma and Louise' prove that women want to see women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-quivers/it-s-sad-that-women-characters-have-lost-so-much-ground-in-popular/)

[Robin Quivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-quivers/)

> [I spent a lot of my life schlepping around New York with people not doing things for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-gibson/i-spent-a-lot-of-my-life-schlepping-around-new-york-with-people-not/)

[Debbie Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-gibson/)

> [This is your life do wat you love, and do it often. if you don't like something, change it. if you don't like your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amiea/this-is-your-life-do-wat-you-love-and-do-it-often-if-you-don-t-like/)

[Amiea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amiea/)

[Browse all 1,822 Doing things quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-things/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“She would give herself violently, then yawn at the wrongest moment. She would spend all one day cleaning up the flat, cooking, ironing. Then, pass the next three or four Boheminanly on the floor in front of the fire, reading Lear, women's magazines, a detective story, Hemingway. Not all at the same time, but bits of all in the same afternoon. She liked doing things, and only then finding a reason for doing them.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "John Fowles"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/she-would-give-herself-violently-then-yawn-at-the-wrongest-moment-she/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Doing things"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/she-would-give-herself-violently-then-yawn-at-the-wrongest-moment-she/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/john-fowles-816_doing-things_she-would-give-herself-violently-then-ya_749699.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/john-fowles-816_doing-things_she-would-give-herself-violently-then-ya_749699.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d1/john-fowles-816_doing-things_she-would-give-herself-violently-then-ya_749699.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“She would give herself violently, then yawn at the wrongest moment. She would spend all one day cleaning up…” — John Fowles",
                "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": "John Fowles",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“She would give herself violently, then...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/she-would-give-herself-violently-then-yawn-at-the-wrongest-moment-she/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/she-would-give-herself-violently-then-yawn-at-the-wrongest-moment-she/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
