--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Step by step she lived over every instant…" description: "\"“Step by step she lived over every instant of the time she had been with Robert... She recalled his words, his looks. How few and meager they had been ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff1/kate-chopin-2624_selfish-love_step-by-step-she-lived-over-every-instan_2095637.jpg" --- # Step by step she lived over every instant of the time she… ![“Step by step she lived over every instant of the time she had been with Robert... She recalled his words, his looks. How few and meager they had been for her hungry heart! ... She wondered when he would come back. He had not said he would come back. She had been with him had heard his voice and…” quote by Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff1/kate-chopin-2624_selfish-love_step-by-step-she-lived-over-every-instan_2095637.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff1/kate-chopin-2624_selfish-love_step-by-step-she-lived-over-every-instan_2095637.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff1/kate-chopin-2624_selfish-love_step-by-step-she-lived-over-every-instan_2095637.jpg) > ““Step by step she lived over every instant of the time she had been with Robert... She recalled his words, his looks. How few and meager they had been for her hungry heart! ... She wondered when he would come back. He had not said he would come back. She had been with him had heard his voice and touched his hand. But some way he had seemed nearer to her off there in Mexico.”” [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She reflects on fleeting intimacy and longing, realizing the uncertainty of love and the emptiness of unfulfilled promises. **In simple terms:** She feels longing and uncertainty about a past lover. Key Takeaway Embrace present moments despite uncertainty. Themes loneliness longing memory uncertainty Mood melancholic reflective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - reflecting on past relationships - writing about love - processing heartbreak Key Concepts romantic yearning impermanence Questions to Reflect On - What does she truly seek in love? - How can she find fulfillment beyond his return? A Different Perspective The quote romantic idealizes the lover, ignoring personal agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Heard Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heard-voice/) [Heart Wondered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart-wondered-1124636/) [Recalled Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recalled-words-4163146/) [Robert Recalled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/robert-recalled-4163145/) [Selfish love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfish-love/) [Step By Step](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/step-by-step/) [Step Lived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/step-lived-4163147/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“How in the hell could you have given me your heart?” I wondered aloud. “Because you’re the one who taught it to beat again.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cambria-hebert/how-in-the-hell-could-you-have-given-me-your-heart-i-wondered-aloud/) [Cambria Hebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cambria-hebert/) > [For the first time, I saw what was in his heart, and I wondered if he might ever want to look deep enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-donnelly/for-the-first-time-i-saw-what-was-in-his-heart-and-i-wondered-if-he/) [Jennifer Donnelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-donnelly/) > [“He would love her if she were a wolf that tore out his heart. And he wondered what that said about love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/he-would-love-her-if-she-were-a-wolf-that-tore-out-his-heart-and-he/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“Then they disposed of her. Says so right in the records: ‘disposed.’ Gassed her with achlys-9, put her in an oven, pumped her ash…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brown/then-they-disposed-of-her-says-so-right-in-the-records-disposed/) [Pierce Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brown/) > [To join two things together there must be nothing between them or there cannot be a perfect fusion. 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Such a love is barter, for there is exchange of love and devotion in return…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-my-love-is-without-sacrifice-it-is-selfish-such-a-love-is-barter/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The hardest lesson you will ever learn will be to love yourself. But you can do it. There will always be days when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-k-excerpt/the-hardest-lesson-you-will-ever-learn-will-be-to-love-yourself-but/) [M.K. excerpt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-k-excerpt/) > [Love is I rather be poor and in the gutters than rich and with out you Love is selfish Love is hope love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gracesel-balangue-collado/love-is-i-rather-be-poor-and-in-the-gutters-than-rich-and-with-out/) [Gracesel Balangue Collado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gracesel-balangue-collado/) > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) ## More by Kate Chopin > [“If ever a fusion of two human beings into one has been accomplished on this sphere it was surely their union.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/if-ever-a-fusion-of-two-human-beings-into-one-has-been-accomplished/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [She wanted something to happen - something, anything: she did not know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/she-wanted-something-to-happen-something-anything-she-did-not-know/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“His manner invited easy confidence. The preliminary stage of becoming acquainted was one which he always endeavored to ignore when a pretty and engaging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/his-manner-invited-easy-confidence-the-preliminary-stage-of-becoming/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“The trouble is," sighed the Doctor, grasping her meaning intuitively, "that youth is given up to illusions. It seems to be a provision of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-trouble-is-sighed-the-doctor-grasping-her-meaning-intuitively/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why,--when it did not seem worthwhile to be glad or sorry, to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/there-were-days-when-she-was-unhappy-she-did-not-know-why-when-it-did/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-bird-that-would-soar-above-the-level-plain-of-tradition-and/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [It is greater than the stars - that moving procession of human energy; greater than the palpitating earth and the things growing thereon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/it-is-greater-than-the-stars-that-moving-procession-of-human-energy/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“Some people are born with a vital and responsive energy. It not only enables them to keep abreast of the times; it qualifies them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/some-people-are-born-with-a-vital-and-responsive-energy-it-not-only/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“The stillest hour of the night had come, the hour before dawn, when the world seems to hold its breath. The moon hung low,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-stillest-hour-of-the-night-had-come-the-hour-before-dawn-when-the/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [The city atmosphere certainly has improved her. Some way she doesn't seem like the same woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-city-atmosphere-certainly-has-improved-her-some-way-she-doesn-t/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“Robert's going had some way taken the brightness, the color, the meaning out of everything. The conditions of her life were in no way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/robert-s-going-had-some-way-taken-the-brightness-the-color-the/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/spring-days-and-summer-days-and-all-sorts-of-days-that-would-be-her/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“Do you suppose a woman knows why she loves? Does she select?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/do-you-suppose-a-woman-knows-why-she-loves-does-she-select/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“I hope you won't completely forget me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/i-hope-you-won-t-completely-forget-me/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [I'm going to pull myself together for a while and think-try to determine what character of a woman I am; for, candidly, I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/i-m-going-to-pull-myself-together-for-a-while-and-think-try-to/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) [Explore all 157 Kate Chopin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) ## More Selfish love quotes > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [Love is I rather be poor and in the gutters than rich and with out you Love is selfish Love is hope love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gracesel-balangue-collado/love-is-i-rather-be-poor-and-in-the-gutters-than-rich-and-with-out/) [Gracesel Balangue Collado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gracesel-balangue-collado/) > [“The hardest lesson you will ever learn will be to love yourself. But you can do it. There will always be days when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-k-excerpt/the-hardest-lesson-you-will-ever-learn-will-be-to-love-yourself-but/) [M.K. excerpt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-k-excerpt/) > [If my love is without sacrifice, it is selfish. Such a love is barter, for there is exchange of love and devotion in return…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-my-love-is-without-sacrifice-it-is-selfish-such-a-love-is-barter/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Its not selfish to love yourself,take care yourself and to make your happiness a priority.its necessary..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-not-selfish-to-love-yourself-take-care-yourself-and-to-make-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Love is selfish yet a selfless feeling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heenashree-khandelwal/love-is-selfish-yet-a-selfless-feeling/) [Heenashree Khandelwal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heenashree-khandelwal/) > [It's no selfish to love yourself , take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority…it's necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/it-s-no-selfish-to-love-yourself-take-care-of-yourself-and-to-make/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [I don't see anything wrong with telling someone that you are selfish with their love and that you can't stand sharing them with anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vic-fuentes/i-don-t-see-anything-wrong-with-telling-someone-that-you-are-selfish/) [Vic Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vic-fuentes/) > [“After years of selfish lovers, my preference for pleasuring as opposed to being pleasured had unsettled her at first but as brief fumbles had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bayswater/after-years-of-selfish-lovers-my-preference-for-pleasuring-as-opposed/) [Michael Bayswater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bayswater/) > [I used to love you I still do So Selfish I love the old you The you that didnt shoot drugs ...The you that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-used-to-love-you-i-still-do-so-selfish-i-love-the-old-you-the-you/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [To join two things together there must be nothing between them or there cannot be a perfect fusion. Now realize that this is how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/to-join-two-things-together-there-must-be-nothing-between-them-or/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [“Then they disposed of her. 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Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-carson-2/) > [Sometimes becomes necessary to be selfish for your love if you do not have heart goes crazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/sometimes-becomes-necessary-to-be-selfish-for-your-love-if-you-do-not/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) [Browse all 42 Selfish love quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfish-love/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Step by step she lived over every instant of the time she had been with Robert... She recalled his words, his looks. How few and meager they had been for her hungry heart! ... She wondered when he would come back. He had not said he would come back. She had been with him had heard his voice and touched his hand. 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