--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This history has for so long lived like a…" description: "\"“This history has for so long lived like a spider in my breast. The spider spins and spins, catching memories in its web, threatening to devour every f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/kathleen-kent-20053_god-s-grace_this-history-has-for-so-long-lived-like_90180.jpg" --- # This history has for so long lived like a spider in my… ![“This history has for so long lived like a spider in my breast. The spider spins and spins, catching memories in its web, threatening to devour every final happiness. With this letter I hope to sweep away the terror and the sadness and to have my heart made pure again by God's grace.” quote by Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/kathleen-kent-20053_god-s-grace_this-history-has-for-so-long-lived-like_90180.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/kathleen-kent-20053_god-s-grace_this-history-has-for-so-long-lived-like_90180.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/kathleen-kent-20053_god-s-grace_this-history-has-for-so-long-lived-like_90180.jpg) > ““This history has for so long lived like a spider in my breast. The spider spins and spins, catching memories in its web, threatening to devour every final happiness. With this letter I hope to sweep away the terror and the sadness and to have my heart made pure again by God's grace.”” [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator seeks divine cleansing to free the heart from lingering trauma. **In simple terms:** Spiritual purification of sorrow Key Takeaway Seek grace for healing Themes spirituality trauma purification faith hope Mood hopeful reflective Type personal poetic When to use this quote - personal memoir - religious counseling - therapeutic writing Key Concepts metaphor of spider Practical Applications - spiritual guidance - mental health support Questions to Reflect On - Can faith replace psychological therapy? - What symbols best capture inner turmoil? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [God 's grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-s-grace-2/) [God'S Grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-s-grace/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) ## Related quotes > [“Happiness is a letter from your favorite author!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayathri/happiness-is-a-letter-from-your-favorite-author/) Gayathri > [If I were confined to a corner of a garret all my days, like a spider, the world would be just as large to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-i-were-confined-to-a-corner-of-a-garret-all-my-days-like-a-spider/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“He seemed to weave, like the spider, from pure impulse, without reflection. Every man's work, pursued steadily, tends in this way to become an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/he-seemed-to-weave-like-the-spider-from-pure-impulse-without-2/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“He seemed to weave, like the spider, from pure impulse, without reflection. Every man's work, pursued steadily, tends in this way to become an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/he-seemed-to-weave-like-the-spider-from-pure-impulse-without/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [I love you like a spider loves a fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicia-sauceda/i-love-you-like-a-spider-loves-a-fly/) [Felicia Sauceda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicia-sauceda/) > [“Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/fiction-is-like-a-spider-s-web-attached-ever-so-lightly-perhaps-but-2/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [A story is like something you wind out of yourself. Like a spider, it is a web you weave, and you love your story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/a-story-is-like-something-you-wind-out-of-yourself-like-a-spider-it/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [He creeps in like a spider, cant be killed, or though I try and try to but dont you see I'm falling, dont want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramore/he-creeps-in-like-a-spider-cant-be-killed-or-though-i-try-and-try-to/) [Paramore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramore/) > [Just like a spider with a line of silk! Did you ever see them throw themselves out into space to weave? They're taking a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-goldsmith/just-like-a-spider-with-a-line-of-silk-did-you-ever-see-them-throw/) [Olivia Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-goldsmith/) > [“Spider?” I’d said, with a question mark in my voice. “Yeah.” “You know at school . . . what did you do that for?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-ward/spider-i-d-said-with-a-question-mark-in-my-voice-yeah-you-know-at/) [Rachel Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-ward/) > [“Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners. Often the attachment is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/fiction-is-like-a-spider-s-web-attached-ever-so-lightly-perhaps-but/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Emotional threads are woven like a spider web, gently, fast and everywhere. After a while they turn into a thin, but strong web, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruben-papian/emotional-threads-are-woven-like-a-spider-web-gently-fast-and/) [Ruben Papian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruben-papian/) > [Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so slightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners. Often the attachment is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/fiction-is-like-a-spider-s-web-attached-ever-so-slightly-perhaps-but/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > […words have been all my life, all my life--this need is like the Spider's need who carries before her a huge Burden of Silk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/words-have-been-all-my-life-all-my-life-this-need-is-like-the-spider/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/there-is-something-about-words-in-expert-hands-manipulated-deftly-2/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) ## More by Kathleen Kent > [“If I do not do this thing, then it may go on and on. Nothing of the greater good comes without struggle and sacrifice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/if-i-do-not-do-this-thing-then-it-may-go-on-and-on-nothing-of-the/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“Dr. Tom had said that Texas was the only place he had ever found that, when it killed you, it didn't forget about you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/dr-tom-had-said-that-texas-was-the-only-place-he-had-ever-found-that/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“If we could see the fullness of our tomorrows, how many of us would take desperate action to change the future? What if our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/if-we-could-see-the-fullness-of-our-tomorrows-how-many-of-us-would/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“Men are always the last to ken what women know by sniffing the air. That's why God gave bodily might to Adam, to balance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/men-are-always-the-last-to-ken-what-women-know-by-sniffing-the-air/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“I see the world, Sarah, and call it by what I feel it should be, not by what others who in their dull reveries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/i-see-the-world-sarah-and-call-it-by-what-i-feel-it-should-be-not-by/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“I would move the earth to save your mother. D'ye hear me, Sarah? I would tear down the walls of her jail and carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/i-would-move-the-earth-to-save-your-mother-d-ye-hear-me-sarah-i-would/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“It's how the English run their courts. They sacrifice innocents, thinking to keep evil at bay, and call it a kind of justice. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/it-s-how-the-english-run-their-courts-they-sacrifice-innocents/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“There are winter evenings in Massachusetts when there is no wind and the crust on the snow seems to hold in the cold. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/there-are-winter-evenings-in-massachusetts-when-there-is-no-wind-and/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“We, all of us, must be left alone to make good on our own consciences. And no county magistrate or judge or deacon can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/we-all-of-us-must-be-left-alone-to-make-good-on-our-own-consciences/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“I took a step. And then another. And so it went as we followed Father, who had come to take us forever away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/i-took-a-step-and-then-another-and-so-it-went-as-we-followed-father/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“He said that some people can live from birth to death and have no more thoughts in their heads about the reasons for living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/he-said-that-some-people-can-live-from-birth-to-death-and-have-no/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“You ask me what makes a woman comely?" He tapped one finger lightly against her temple and said, "Thoughts, missus. It's thoughts that make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/you-ask-me-what-makes-a-woman-comely-he-tapped-one-finger-lightly/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“A scarecrow was a thing of bold-faced tactics, out in the full light of day. A "murmet," the "r" softly rolling against the tongue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/a-scarecrow-was-a-thing-of-bold-faced-tactics-out-in-the-full-light/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“She was too singular, too outspoken, too defiant against her judges, in defense of her innocence, and it was for this, more than for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/she-was-too-singular-too-outspoken-too-defiant-against-her-judges-in/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“It's hard to imagine, seeing how crowded the sky looks tonight, how far away one star is from another. Like, people, really. We can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/it-s-hard-to-imagine-seeing-how-crowded-the-sky-looks-tonight-how-far/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) [Explore all 30 Kathleen Kent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) ## More God 's grace quotes > [If families give Our Lady fifteen minutes a day by reciting the Rosary, I assure them that their homes will become, by God's grace,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-peyton/if-families-give-our-lady-fifteen-minutes-a-day-by-reciting-the/) Patrick Peyton > [God's grace is not infinite. God is infinite, and God is gracious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/god-s-grace-is-not-infinite-god-is-infinite-and-god-is-gracious/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [frustration, complication and misery are available in abundance, but so is God's grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/frustration-complication-and-misery-are-available-in-abundance-but-so/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [There are believers who by God's grace, have climbed the mountains of full assurance and near communion, their place is with the eagle in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/there-are-believers-who-by-god-s-grace-have-climbed-the-mountains-of/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Well actually I don't think it's a bunch of bad things that send us to hell. I think it is rejection of God's grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/well-actually-i-don-t-think-it-s-a-bunch-of-bad-things-that-send-us/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [While our sin reaches far, God's grace reaches farther. God came after us not to strip away our freedom but to strip away our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/while-our-sin-reaches-far-god-s-grace-reaches-farther-god-came-after/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [There is a pile of dead bodies behind the Mars Hill bus, and by God's grace, it'll be a mountain by the time we're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-driscoll/there-is-a-pile-of-dead-bodies-behind-the-mars-hill-bus-and-by-god-s/) [Mark Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-driscoll/) > [“The Will of God is the same for all. He has no favorites within His household. All He has ever done for any of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-capparucci/the-will-of-god-is-the-same-for-all-he-has-no-favorites-within-his/) Eddie Capparucci > [The Good News is that God's mercy and forgiveness extend to those who repent. Mercy does not mean approving of something that is sinful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-j-paprocki/the-good-news-is-that-god-s-mercy-and-forgiveness-extend-to-those-who/) [Thomas J. Paprocki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-j-paprocki/) > [“I love to walk. Walking is a spiritual journey and a reflection of living. Each of us must determine which path to take and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edie-littlefield-sundby/i-love-to-walk-walking-is-a-spiritual-journey-and-a-reflection-of/) Edie Littlefield Sundby > [I have, by God’s grace, learned as a member of the Christian community what is the nature of God’s mercy, which does not leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/i-have-by-god-s-grace-learned-as-a-member-of-the-christian-community/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [No matter how good you are, you still need grace to get out of the material world. You can be a yogi or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-harrison/no-matter-how-good-you-are-you-still-need-grace-to-get-out-of-the/) [George Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-harrison/) > [When your humanness is confronted by the magnificence and holiness of God, you are made SO aware of your need for God’s grace...Romans 12:1…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darlene-zschech/when-your-humanness-is-confronted-by-the-magnificence-and-holiness-of/) [Darlene Zschech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darlene-zschech/) > [If you aren't constantly astonished at God's grace in your solitude, there's no way it can happen in public.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/if-you-aren-t-constantly-astonished-at-god-s-grace-in-your-solitude/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [God's grace is the oil that fills the lamp of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/god-s-grace-is-the-oil-that-fills-the-lamp-of-love/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) [Browse all 321 God 's grace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-s-grace-2/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“This history has for so long lived like a spider in my breast. 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