--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Tragedy has been described as 'the…" description: "\"“Tragedy has been described as 'the conflict between desire and possibility.' Following this definition, is The Forgotten Garden a tragedy? If so, in w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa6/kate-morton-805_tragedies_tragedy-has-been-described-as-the-confli_2835479.png" --- # Tragedy has been described as 'the conflict between desire… ![“Tragedy has been described as 'the conflict between desire and possibility.' Following this definition, is The Forgotten Garden a tragedy? If so, in what way/s?” quote by Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa6/kate-morton-805_tragedies_tragedy-has-been-described-as-the-confli_2835479.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa6/kate-morton-805_tragedies_tragedy-has-been-described-as-the-confli_2835479.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa6/kate-morton-805_tragedies_tragedy-has-been-described-as-the-confli_2835479.png) > ““Tragedy has been described as 'the conflict between desire and possibility.' Following this definition, is The Forgotten Garden a tragedy? If so, in what way/s?”” [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Tragedy arises from the clash between desire and what is possible, shaping narrative outcomes. **In simple terms:** Desire vs. possibility creates tragedy. Key Takeaway Explore conflict in storytelling. Themes tragedy desire possibility Mood analytical inquisitive Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - reading - creative workshops - critical essays Key Concepts literary analysis philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How does this definition apply to other works? - Can desire be constructive? A Different Perspective Not all conflicts are tragic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conflict Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict-desire-1483423/) [Garden Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/garden-tragedy-3687713/) [Tragedies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedies/) [Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy/) [Tragedy Described](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy-described-3687715/) [Tragedy Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy-way-3687714/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [“Life is a tragedy, one way or another. What is certain is that you die.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/life-is-a-tragedy-one-way-or-another-what-is-certain-is-that-you-die/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [Everyone deals with tragedy in his own way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-knox/everyone-deals-with-tragedy-in-his-own-way/) [Amanda Knox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-knox/) > [Man's unique agony as a species consists in his perpetual conflict between the desire to stand out and the need to blend in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/man-s-unique-agony-as-a-species-consists-in-his-perpetual-conflict/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [Bad people...are in conflict with themselves; they desire one thing and will another, like the incontinent who choose harmful pleasures instead of what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/bad-people-are-in-conflict-with-themselves-they-desire-one-thing-and/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“Loneliness is the manifestation of the conflict between our desire for meaning and the absence of objective meaning from the universe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/loneliness-is-the-manifestation-of-the-conflict-between-our-desire/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [Tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict. They desire to fit in both at church and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-chan/tend-to-choose-what-is-popular-over-what-is-right-when-they-are-in/) [Francis Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-chan/) > [There are only two potential tragedies in life, and dying young isn't one of them. These are the two real tragedies: If you go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-powell/there-are-only-two-potential-tragedies-in-life-and-dying-young-isn-t/) [John Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-powell/) > [One of the tragedies of modern times is that people have come to believe that something said by someone in the past, perhaps for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/one-of-the-tragedies-of-modern-times-is-that-people-have-come-to/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/we-re-going-to-have-to-come-together-and-take-meaningful-action-to/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [“In a world plagued with commonplace tragedies, only one thing exists that truly has the power to save lives, and that is love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-goodrich/in-a-world-plagued-with-commonplace-tragedies-only-one-thing-exists/) [Richelle Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-goodrich/) > [When people say of their tragedies, 'I don't often think of it now,' what they mean is it has entered permanently into their thoughts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/when-people-say-of-their-tragedies-i-don-t-often-think-of-it-now-what/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [“It's a shame there has to be a tragedy before the best in people will finally shine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-a-shame-there-has-to-be-a-tragedy-before-the-best-in-people-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All suffering goes just as it came. So it is with the glories and tragedies of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/all-suffering-goes-just-as-it-came-so-it-is-with-the-glories-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [In Life Everyone Is Face With Tragedies,It's How We Respond That Defines Us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mzati-zapita/in-life-everyone-is-face-with-tragedies-it-s-how-we-respond-that/) [Mzati Zapita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mzati-zapita/) > [The greatest tragedies were written by the Greeks and Shakespeare...neither knew chocolate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-boynton/the-greatest-tragedies-were-written-by-the-greeks-and-shakespeare/) [Sandra Boynton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-boynton/) ## More by Kate Morton > [“Laurel wondered whether perhaps a person reached an age when so much was kept from them, so many details of life discussed and decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/laurel-wondered-whether-perhaps-a-person-reached-an-age-when-so-much/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“It hardly needs to be said: sooner or later secrets have a way of making themselves known.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-hardly-needs-to-be-said-sooner-or-later-secrets-have-a-way-of/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“Give someone more time and they'll appear to have done more with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/give-someone-more-time-and-they-ll-appear-to-have-done-more-with-it/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“It suddenly seemed to Laurel that all the absences in her own life, every loss and sadness, every nightmare in the dark, every unexplained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-suddenly-seemed-to-laurel-that-all-the-absences-in-her-own-life/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Rejection is a cancer, Edie. It eats away at a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/rejection-is-a-cancer-edie-it-eats-away-at-a-person/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“home is a magnet that lures back even its most abstracted children.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/home-is-a-magnet-that-lures-back-even-its-most-abstracted-children/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“tiempo tiene su peculiar manera de moldear a la gente de forma que ellos mismos ya no se reconocen,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/tiempo-tiene-su-peculiar-manera-de-moldear-a-la-gente-de-forma-que/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“I want to know how it feels to be altered by life”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/i-want-to-know-how-it-feels-to-be-altered-by-life/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“She'd opened the front cover and fallen inside the wonderful, frightening, magical illustrations. She'd wondered what it must feel like to escape the rigid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/she-d-opened-the-front-cover-and-fallen-inside-the-wonderful/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [It's special, grandparents and grandchldren. So much simpler. Is it always so, I wonder? I think perhaps it is. While one's child takes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-s-special-grandparents-and-grandchldren-so-much-simpler-is-it/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“... and I thought -not for the first time- what a true and simple pleasure it was, to be inside and sated when the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/and-i-thought-not-for-the-first-time-what-a-true-and-simple-pleasure/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“Nell was like a witch. Her long silvery hair rolled into a bun on the back of her head, the narrow wooden house on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/nell-was-like-a-witch-her-long-silvery-hair-rolled-into-a-bun-on-the/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Thinking of nothing. Trying to think of nothing. Thinking of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/thinking-of-nothing-trying-to-think-of-nothing-thinking-of-everything/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [There's a market for mysteries for adults. That feeling of opening a book and delving inside and not coming out until you've closed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/there-s-a-market-for-mysteries-for-adults-that-feeling-of-opening-a/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“I don’t have many friends, not the living, breathing sort at any rate. And I don’t mean that in a sad and lonely way;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/i-don-t-have-many-friends-not-the-living-breathing-sort-at-any-rate/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) [Explore all 334 Kate Morton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) ## More Tragedies quotes > [“Life flows swiftly by and sometimes through tragedies, but it keeps flowing on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-henderson/life-flows-swiftly-by-and-sometimes-through-tragedies-but-it-keeps/) [Dee Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-henderson/) > [The greatest tragedies were written by the Greeks and Shakespeare...neither knew chocolate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-boynton/the-greatest-tragedies-were-written-by-the-greeks-and-shakespeare/) [Sandra Boynton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-boynton/) > [In Life Everyone Is Face With Tragedies,It's How We Respond That Defines Us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mzati-zapita/in-life-everyone-is-face-with-tragedies-it-s-how-we-respond-that/) [Mzati Zapita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mzati-zapita/) > [“Tragedies of this world behave like the storms of the vast oceans! While you are inside this storm, let your mind stand upright like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/tragedies-of-this-world-behave-like-the-storms-of-the-vast-oceans/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“I wasn't offering her pity," Mrs. Caswell said impatiently. "Tragedies don't interest me, tragedies and heartbreaks are all alike, what matters is how a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-gilman/i-wasn-t-offering-her-pity-mrs-caswell-said-impatiently-tragedies-don/) [Dorothy Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-gilman/) > [The only things that move their hearts are tragedies that affect them personally or affect people close to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiroshi-yamamoto/the-only-things-that-move-their-hearts-are-tragedies-that-affect-them/) [Hiroshi Yamamoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiroshi-yamamoto/) > [All suffering goes just as it came. So it is with the glories and tragedies of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/all-suffering-goes-just-as-it-came-so-it-is-with-the-glories-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“It's a shame there has to be a tragedy before the best in people will finally shine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-a-shame-there-has-to-be-a-tragedy-before-the-best-in-people-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“That on any day you could pick there are thousands and thousands of little deaths, tiny tragedies, and that all of them matter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-beard/that-on-any-day-you-could-pick-there-are-thousands-and-thousands-of/) [Philip Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-beard/) > [“Some of the greatest tragedies of life are unrecognized oppurtunities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tonny-k-brown/some-of-the-greatest-tragedies-of-life-are-unrecognized-oppurtunities/) [Tonny K. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tonny-k-brown/) > [When people say of their tragedies, 'I don't often think of it now,' what they mean is it has entered permanently into their thoughts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/when-people-say-of-their-tragedies-i-don-t-often-think-of-it-now-what/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [All too frequently, the knee jerk reaction to tragedies by the media and chattering class is to move to restrict our rights... Our founding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-brat/all-too-frequently-the-knee-jerk-reaction-to-tragedies-by-the-media/) [Dave Brat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-brat/) > [“In a world plagued with commonplace tragedies, only one thing exists that truly has the power to save lives, and that is love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-goodrich/in-a-world-plagued-with-commonplace-tragedies-only-one-thing-exists/) [Richelle Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-goodrich/) > [We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/we-re-going-to-have-to-come-together-and-take-meaningful-action-to/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [There are parts of my life that are mine, my secrets, my hopes and dreams, my hurts and tragedies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-parts-of-my-life-that-are-mine-my-secrets-my-hopes-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 250 Tragedies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Tragedy has been described as 'the conflict between desire and possibility.' 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