--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I remember, in hot floods, the way he…" description: "\"I remember, in hot floods, the way he slept, still as death, with his face washed flat, stony as a carved tomb and exquisite. His weakness and his rave..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77e/katherine-dunn-2693_beautiful_i-remember-in-hot-floods-the-way-he-slep_1592965.png" --- # I remember, in hot floods, the way he slept, still as… ![“I remember, in hot floods, the way he slept, still as death, with his face washed flat, stony as a carved tomb and exquisite. His weakness and his ravening bitter needs were terrible, and beautiful, and irresistible as an earthquake. He scalded or smothered anyone he needed, but his needing and…” quote by Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77e/katherine-dunn-2693_beautiful_i-remember-in-hot-floods-the-way-he-slep_1592965.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77e/katherine-dunn-2693_beautiful_i-remember-in-hot-floods-the-way-he-slep_1592965.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77e/katherine-dunn-2693_beautiful_i-remember-in-hot-floods-the-way-he-slep_1592965.png) > “I remember, in hot floods, the way he slept, still as death, with his face washed flat, stony as a carved tomb and exquisite. His weakness and his ravening bitter needs were terrible, and beautiful, and irresistible as an earthquake. He scalded or smothered anyone he needed, but his needing and the hurt that it caused me were the most life I have ever had. Remember what a poor thing I have always been and forgive me.” [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage depicts a paradoxical lover whose intense, destructive desire is both terrifying and captivating, leaving the speaker feeling both wounded and alive. **In simple terms:** A lover can be both harmful and essential. Key Takeaway Embrace the pain that fuels growth. Themes love destruction paradox vulnerability intensity Mood conflicted passionate melancholic Type literary emotional psychological When to use this quote - romantic relationships - toxic partnerships - personal healing - self‑reflection Key Concepts psychology addiction emotional dependency Questions to Reflect On - Do you accept the pain that makes you feel alive? - How can you protect yourself while craving such intensity? A Different Perspective The intensity may become unsustainable, leading to lasting damage. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Bitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitter/) [Caused Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caused-life-3678059/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Earthquakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earthquakes/) [Exquisite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exquisite/) [Exquisite Weakness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exquisite-weakness-5543786/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Flats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flats/) [Flood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flood/) [Forgive me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgive-me/) [Forgiving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiving/) [Hot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hot/) [Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurt/) [Irresistible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irresistible/) [Life Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-remember/) [Needed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needed/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Scalded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scalded-1170477/) [Scalded Smothered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scalded-smothered-6041278/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Terrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrible/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Weakness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakness/) ## Related quotes > [“Dear daughter, I won't try to call my feeling for Arty love. Call it focus. My focus on Art was an ailment, noncommunicable, and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/dear-daughter-i-won-t-try-to-call-my-feeling-for-arty-love-call-it/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [It's a complicated thing, knowing how much pain my father caused in my life and the lives of others whom I love, yet still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-solo/it-s-a-complicated-thing-knowing-how-much-pain-my-father-caused-in-my/) [Hope Solo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-solo/) > [Without death there would be no awareness of life, and the recurring selection and renewal that has caused life's progress would be ended.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/without-death-there-would-be-no-awareness-of-life-and-the-recurring/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) > [“Eyes sparkling with blue open and stare a scalded soul at me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poppet/eyes-sparkling-with-blue-open-and-stare-a-scalded-soul-at-me/) [Poppet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poppet/) > [The scalded head feares cold water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/the-scalded-head-feares-cold-water/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [Then he kissed her, not just a brush of lips as she'd done, but a kiss a kiss that scalded her tongue. The tree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-marr/then-he-kissed-her-not-just-a-brush-of-lips-as-she-d-done-but-a-kiss/) [Melissa Marr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-marr/) > [“I feel scalded inside. Like, third-degree burns. But no one can see them. (Fliss talking about her divorce.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-kinsella/i-feel-scalded-inside-like-third-degree-burns-but-no-one-can-see-them/) [Sophie Kinsella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-kinsella/) > [Scalded cats fear even cold water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-fuller/scalded-cats-fear-even-cold-water/) [Thomas Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-fuller/) > [I think what is probably hard for people to imagine is how wrapped up the 17 years' work on Harry Potter is with what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/i-think-what-is-probably-hard-for-people-to-imagine-is-how-wrapped-up/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [“I don't care about the good grades in school, I'm not afraid of failures. All I want is to do what I want because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-ricafort/i-don-t-care-about-the-good-grades-in-school-i-m-not-afraid-of/) [Evan Ricafort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-ricafort/) > [“There are years and years of my life I can’t remember a thing about. A family member will say, “Remember the time \[insert significant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/there-are-years-and-years-of-my-life-i-can-t-remember-a-thing-about-a/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“You think you will never forget any of this, you will remember it always just the way it was. But you can't remember it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/you-think-you-will-never-forget-any-of-this-you-will-remember-it/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The purpose of life is to remember.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/the-purpose-of-life-is-to-remember/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [Sometimes people come in and out of our lives for a reason. It is the people that taught you something valuable about life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-moores/sometimes-people-come-in-and-out-of-our-lives-for-a-reason-it-is-the/) [Sarah Moores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-moores/) > [No matter where are you going to be in your darkest hours or days in life, remember ; I will find you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewshy/no-matter-where-are-you-going-to-be-in-your-darkest-hours-or-days-in/) [Ewshy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewshy/) ## More by Katherine Dunn > [Though 'Fat City' was written long before cellphones or the Internet, its human apparatus is state of the art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/though-fat-city-was-written-long-before-cellphones-or-the-internet/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [A true freak cannot be made. A true freak must be born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/a-true-freak-cannot-be-made-a-true-freak-must-be-born/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [I think genetic research is a fascinating and fertile area.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/i-think-genetic-research-is-a-fascinating-and-fertile-area/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [A boxing gym is a place where men are allowed to be kind to one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/a-boxing-gym-is-a-place-where-men-are-allowed-to-be-kind-to-one/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [My own theory about the phlegmatic qualities and properties of the English is the mountain of pure white sugar hydrocarbons they consume every day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/my-own-theory-about-the-phlegmatic-qualities-and-properties-of-the/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [Sometimes we followed the crops, doing migrant labor. We did several years of tenant farming in Western Oregon starting in the early '50s. Later,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/sometimes-we-followed-the-crops-doing-migrant-labor-we-did-several/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [There should be unemployment insurance for fictional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/there-should-be-unemployment-insurance-for-fictional-people/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [My handwriting was nothing to write home about, and I had this idea that calligraphy was like taking Latin in high school: that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/my-handwriting-was-nothing-to-write-home-about-and-i-had-this-idea/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [“There are those whose own vulgar normality is so apparent and stultifying that they strive to escape it. They affect flamboyant behavior and claim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/there-are-those-whose-own-vulgar-normality-is-so-apparent-and/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [Only a lunatic would want to be president. These lunatics are created deliberately by those who wish to be presided over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/only-a-lunatic-would-want-to-be-president-these-lunatics-are-created/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [In a really good, closely matched situation, the style of the boxer is every bit as explicit and specific to him as a painter's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/in-a-really-good-closely-matched-situation-the-style-of-the-boxer-is/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [But the animation has become very good, and I think that a movie is not a book, and a book is not a movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/but-the-animation-has-become-very-good-and-i-think-that-a-movie-is/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [I'd always been fascinated by boxing and became very engaged with it through my husband, actually. But I started to write about it because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/i-d-always-been-fascinated-by-boxing-and-became-very-engaged-with-it/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [I thought that was actually kind of boring, that search for perfection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/i-thought-that-was-actually-kind-of-boring-that-search-for-perfection/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [American culture is torn between our long romance with violence and our terror of the devastation wrought by war and crime and environmental havoc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/american-culture-is-torn-between-our-long-romance-with-violence-and/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) [Explore all 154 Katherine Dunn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) ## More Beautiful quotes > [I received a beautiful welcome to the world of music. I want to give something back to the younger generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luciano-pavarotti/i-received-a-beautiful-welcome-to-the-world-of-music-i-want-to-give/) [Luciano Pavarotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luciano-pavarotti/) > [Being beautiful comes naturally!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-beautiful-comes-naturally/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. 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The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [Call her beautiful a million times and she won't believe you. Call her ugly once, and she will never forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tumblr/call-her-beautiful-a-million-times-and-she-won-t-believe-you-call-her/) [Tumblr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tumblr/) > [You will never know just how beautiful you are to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-never-know-just-how-beautiful-you-are-to-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. 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There was something about jazz music that had a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laufey/growing-up-in-iceland-it-was-very-beautiful-very-safe-but-quite/) [Laufey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laufey/) > [How could you feel worthless when God has honoured you by creating you and choosing you to be with Him, in this life and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/how-could-you-feel-worthless-when-god-has-honoured-you-by-creating/) [Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/) > [Sometimes it's about less is more. It's about the seed. Thinking about this gigantic tree that you think is so beautiful but it started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/sometimes-it-s-about-less-is-more-it-s-about-the-seed-thinking-about/) [Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/) > [God's Word does provide life lessons to teach us how to live. And it gives us beautiful poetry that gives voice to our human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-rothschild/god-s-word-does-provide-life-lessons-to-teach-us-how-to-live-and-it/) [Jennifer Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-rothschild/) [Browse all 17,976 Beautiful quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I remember, in hot floods, the way he slept, still as death, with his face washed flat, stony as a carved tomb and exquisite. His weakness and his ravening bitter needs were terrible, and beautiful, and irresistible as an earthquake. He scalded or smothered anyone he needed, but his needing and the hurt that it caused me were the most life I have ever had. 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