--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When, all at once, you find you have…" description: "\"When, all at once, you find you have something precious you only dimly suspected was to be yours, you almost wish it hadn't come so soon.\" — Kate Dougl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/739/kate-douglas-wiggin-17367_wish_when-all-at-once-you-find-you-have-somet_2864157.png" --- # When, all at once, you find you have something precious… ![“When, all at once, you find you have something precious you only dimly suspected was to be yours, you almost wish it hadn't come so soon.” quote by Kate Douglas Wiggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/739/kate-douglas-wiggin-17367_wish_when-all-at-once-you-find-you-have-somet_2864157.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/739/kate-douglas-wiggin-17367_wish_when-all-at-once-you-find-you-have-somet_2864157.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/739/kate-douglas-wiggin-17367_wish_when-all-at-once-you-find-you-have-somet_2864157.png) > “When, all at once, you find you have something precious you only dimly suspected was to be yours, you almost wish it hadn't come so soon.” [Kate Douglas Wiggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-douglas-wiggin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When you unexpectedly receive something precious, you may wish it hadn't arrived so soon. **In simple terms:** Unexpected gifts can feel overwhelming. Key Takeaway Accept gifts at their pace. Themes gift preciousness timing emotional response Mood empathetic thoughtful Type personal reflective When to use this quote - parenting - life milestones - gift‑giving occasions Key Concepts sudden responsibility unexpected blessings growth self‑acceptance Questions to Reflect On - How do you handle sudden blessings? - When is timing essential for acceptance? 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There comes a point when it becomes impossible to go back. -](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawson-s-creek/sometimes-i-wish-i-hadn-t-been-in-such-a-hurry-to-move-forward-there/) [Dawson's Creek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawson-s-creek/) > [“I wish we hadn’t kissed at all,” he snapped. “So do I, but we can’t unkiss, so we must deal with it as best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-wish-we-hadn-t-kissed-at-all-he-snapped-so-do-i-but-we-can-t-unkiss/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) ## More by Kate Douglas Wiggin > [If I haven't anything to write, I am just as anxious to 'take my pen in hand' as though I had a message to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-douglas-wiggin/if-i-haven-t-anything-to-write-i-am-just-as-anxious-to-take-my-pen-in/) [Kate Douglas Wiggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-douglas-wiggin/) > [“Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful World, With the wonderful water round you curled, And the wonderful grass upon your breast, World, you are beautifully drest!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-douglas-wiggin/great-wide-beautiful-wonderful-world-with-the-wonderful-water-round/) [Kate Douglas Wiggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-douglas-wiggin/) > [The old stage coach was rumbling along the dusty road that runs from Maplewood to Riverboro. 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I have thoughts that I never can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-douglas-wiggin/to-make-my-diary-a-little-different-i-am-going-to-call-it-a-thought/) [Kate Douglas Wiggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-douglas-wiggin/) > [There are certain narrow, umimaginative, and autocratic old people who seem to call out the most mischievous and sometimes the worst traits in children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-douglas-wiggin/there-are-certain-narrow-umimaginative-and-autocratic-old-people-who/) [Kate Douglas Wiggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-douglas-wiggin/) > [Never miss a joy in this world of trouble-that's my theory!… Happiness, like mercy,is twice blest: it blesses those most intimately associated with it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-douglas-wiggin/never-miss-a-joy-in-this-world-of-trouble-that-s-my-theory-happiness/) [Kate Douglas Wiggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-douglas-wiggin/) > [There are some who possess the magic touch, the infectious spirit of enthusiasm; who have the same effect as a beautiful morning that never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-douglas-wiggin/there-are-some-who-possess-the-magic-touch-the-infectious-spirit-of/) [Kate Douglas Wiggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-douglas-wiggin/) > [Why is it that the people with whom one loves to be silent are also the very ones with whom one loves to talk?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-douglas-wiggin/why-is-it-that-the-people-with-whom-one-loves-to-be-silent-are-also/) [Kate Douglas Wiggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-douglas-wiggin/) > [There is nothing so debilitating to a naturally weak sense of humor as selling tickets behind a grating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-douglas-wiggin/there-is-nothing-so-debilitating-to-a-naturally-weak-sense-of-humor/) [Kate Douglas Wiggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-douglas-wiggin/) > [It was not long after sunrise, and Stephen Waterman, fresh from his dip in the river, had scrambled up the hillside from the hut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-douglas-wiggin/it-was-not-long-after-sunrise-and-stephen-waterman-fresh-from-his-dip/) [Kate Douglas Wiggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-douglas-wiggin/) > [One cannot see callers, answer the telephone, go to luncheons or dinners, visit the dentist or shoemaker, address charitable organizations in or from a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-douglas-wiggin/one-cannot-see-callers-answer-the-telephone-go-to-luncheons-or/) [Kate Douglas Wiggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-douglas-wiggin/) [Explore all 36 Kate Douglas Wiggin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-douglas-wiggin/) ## More Wish quotes > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [I do wish you wouldn't argue with me when I'm knitting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-durrell/i-do-wish-you-wouldn-t-argue-with-me-when-i-m-knitting/) [Gerald Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-durrell/) > [“Wish in one hand, shit in the other, see which one fills up faster.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noelle-oxenhandler/wish-in-one-hand-shit-in-the-other-see-which-one-fills-up-faster/) Noelle Oxenhandler > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [I wish there was such a thing as reincarnation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evel-knievel/i-wish-there-was-such-a-thing-as-reincarnation/) [Evel Knievel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evel-knievel/) > [I wish it had been something as sexy as the old Joey Tribbiani, falling-down-an-elevator shaft. But no. It just faded out. I wasn't related…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-sears/i-wish-it-had-been-something-as-sexy-as-the-old-joey-tribbiani/) [Teddy Sears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-sears/) > [I wish that I had known back then that a mastery of process would lead to a product. Then I probably wouldn't have found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-george/i-wish-that-i-had-known-back-then-that-a-mastery-of-process-would/) [Elizabeth George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-george/) > [I am one of the people who just doesn't enjoy watching myself. I wish I could! I've seen 'Deadpool' three times; the third time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brianna-hildebrand/i-am-one-of-the-people-who-just-doesn-t-enjoy-watching-myself-i-wish/) [Brianna Hildebrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brianna-hildebrand/) > [This cold weather has set all the young Folks to providing Bedfellows. I have signed two or three Licences every Day \[as a Fairfax…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/this-cold-weather-has-set-all-the-young-folks-to-providing-bedfellows/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [Although it sounds very trite, I wish people were nice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobcat-goldthwait/although-it-sounds-very-trite-i-wish-people-were-nice/) [Bobcat Goldthwait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobcat-goldthwait/) > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I have read that I was a Bill Bradley type. I wish I was a Bradley. He was one of the best. 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