--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Watching her walk away, Emily felt as…" description: "\"“Watching her walk away, Emily felt as dirty as if she’d been watching porn. The craving came on like a fever, as if a coal had been stoked within and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/kelly-j-ford-76320_craving_watching-her-walk-away-emily-felt-as-dir_3116251.jpg" --- # Watching her walk away, Emily felt as dirty as if she’d… ![“Watching her walk away, Emily felt as dirty as if she’d been watching porn. The craving came on like a fever, as if a coal had been stoked within and blurred the edges of reasonable thought. Rather than push it away, she sat on the floor and let the desire consume her. A” quote by Kelly J. Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/kelly-j-ford-76320_craving_watching-her-walk-away-emily-felt-as-dir_3116251.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/kelly-j-ford-76320_craving_watching-her-walk-away-emily-felt-as-dir_3116251.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/kelly-j-ford-76320_craving_watching-her-walk-away-emily-felt-as-dir_3116251.jpg) > ““Watching her walk away, Emily felt as dirty as if she’d been watching porn. The craving came on like a fever, as if a coal had been stoked within and blurred the edges of reasonable thought. Rather than push it away, she sat on the floor and let the desire consume her. A”” Kelly J. Ford ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Emily feels intense shame and desire, choosing to surrender to it rather than resist, highlighting how powerful cravings can overwhelm rational thought. **In simple terms:** She lets a strong urge take over instead of fighting it. Key Takeaway Acknowledge urges without letting them dictate actions. Themes shame desire selfcontrol psychology Mood conflicted introspective Type literary psychological When to use this quote - personal crisis - sexual arousal - selfreflection Key Concepts emotional intensity coping mechanisms selfawareness Questions to Reflect On - What triggers your strongest urges? - How can you observe desire without being consumed? A Different Perspective Surrendering can deepen emotional turmoil and reduce agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ## Related quotes > [“A sharp bolt of hunger hit Luther hard. His knees almost buckled, his poker face almost grimaced. For two weeks now his sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grisham/a-sharp-bolt-of-hunger-hit-luther-hard-his-knees-almost-buckled-his/) [John Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grisham/) > [“Christian desire is always excessive, generous beyond what is asked. It is a desire not to consume the other, but to let the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-ward/christian-desire-is-always-excessive-generous-beyond-what-is-asked-it/) Graham Ward > [“The desire to consume is a kind of lust...We long to have the world flow through us like air or food..”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde-the-gift/the-desire-to-consume-is-a-kind-of-lust-we-long-to-have-the-world/) Lewis Hyde "The Gift > [“Understand, every moth is drawn to light, even when that light is a flame, hot and burning, flickering, the fire tantalizing the drab creature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-fields-millburn/understand-every-moth-is-drawn-to-light-even-when-that-light-is-a/) [Joshua Fields Millburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-fields-millburn/) > [“The greatest enemy to reproducing disciples is our desire to consume. More times than not, we don’t want to be released for ministry. We’d…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-hatmaker/the-greatest-enemy-to-reproducing-disciples-is-our-desire-to-consume/) Brandon Hatmaker > [“I shouted the perfect words to scare him off. It was just the delivery (and only the delivery) that made me sound like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-parke/i-shouted-the-perfect-words-to-scare-him-off-it-was-just-the-delivery/) [Graham Parke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-parke/) > [“She felt dirty, ugly and tired. She felt like a marshmallow heading into a house fire armed with chocolate and graham crackers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-r-smith/she-felt-dirty-ugly-and-tired-she-felt-like-a-marshmallow-heading/) [Benjamin R. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-r-smith/) > [I felt like a piece of trash. I felt dirty and I felt used and I was disappointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-lewinsky/i-felt-like-a-piece-of-trash-i-felt-dirty-and-i-felt-used-and-i-was/) [Monica Lewinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-lewinsky/) > [She felt dirty all over and looking over Sebastian, sweat on his brow and his naked torso barely covered by the sheets, she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/she-felt-dirty-all-over-and-looking-over-sebastian-sweat-on-his-brow/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [You have no idea how humiliating it was, as a boy, to suddenly have all your clothes, your toys, snatched by the bailiff. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/you-have-no-idea-how-humiliating-it-was-as-a-boy-to-suddenly-have-all/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [“He felt dirty, contaminated, as though he were carrying some deadly germ, unworthy to sit on the underground train back from the hospital with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling/he-felt-dirty-contaminated-as-though-he-were-carrying-some-deadly/) [J.K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling/) > [“Shame is a distinct feeling. I couldn’t look at my hands around the coffee cup or hear my own laments without feeling appalled, wanting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-smiley/shame-is-a-distinct-feeling-i-couldn-t-look-at-my-hands-around-the/) [Jane Smiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-smiley/) > [“Oddly enough, it was Prudence he studied beneath his lashes, not MacKay. The words he spoke came straight from his heart. “No. Because she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-medeiros/oddly-enough-it-was-prudence-he-studied-beneath-his-lashes-not-mackay/) [Teresa Medeiros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-medeiros/) > [People who do not understand themselves have a craving for understanding — a thing which is rather surmised and never spoken than known and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-stekel/people-who-do-not-understand-themselves-have-a-craving-for/) [Wilhelm Stekel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-stekel/) > [“The more the soul loves the word, the more craving it has after it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gurnall/the-more-the-soul-loves-the-word-the-more-craving-it-has-after-it/) [William Gurnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gurnall/) ## More by Kelly J. Ford > [“Then an ache no bigger than a marble pulsed inside Emily, an ache born in the woods across the creek. An ache that beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-j-ford/then-an-ache-no-bigger-than-a-marble-pulsed-inside-emily-an-ache-born/) Kelly J. Ford > [“Where she was headed, the cast iron skillet had been seasoned before she was born. Her”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-j-ford/where-she-was-headed-the-cast-iron-skillet-had-been-seasoned-before/) Kelly J. Ford Explore all 3 Kelly J. Ford quotes ## More Craving quotes > [“The more the soul loves the word, the more craving it has after it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gurnall/the-more-the-soul-loves-the-word-the-more-craving-it-has-after-it/) [William Gurnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gurnall/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [I dream of a love that is more than two people craving to possess one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/i-dream-of-a-love-that-is-more-than-two-people-craving-to-possess-one/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [When I look at you all I see is heartbreak waiting to happen. And I can't tell if it's because of love. Or loneliness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ream/when-i-look-at-you-all-i-see-is-heartbreak-waiting-to-happen-and-i/) [Ream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ream/) > [People who do not understand themselves have a craving for understanding — a thing which is rather surmised and never spoken than known and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-stekel/people-who-do-not-understand-themselves-have-a-craving-for/) [Wilhelm Stekel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-stekel/) > [Pleasure simply brings more craving, but the problem is that we try to get contentment through pleasure. True contentment can only come through service.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/pleasure-simply-brings-more-craving-but-the-problem-is-that-we-try-to/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) > [I had left home (like all Jewish girls) in order to eat pork and take birth control pills. When I first shared an intimate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roseanne-barr/i-had-left-home-like-all-jewish-girls-in-order-to-eat-pork-and-take/) [Roseanne Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roseanne-barr/) > [When we think carefully, we see that the brief elation we experience when appeasing sensual impulses may not be very different from what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/when-we-think-carefully-we-see-that-the-brief-elation-we-experience/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Fie on the eloquence that leaves us craving itself, not things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/fie-on-the-eloquence-that-leaves-us-craving-itself-not-things/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [How are we to account for the strange human craving for the pleasure of feeling afraid which is so much involved in our love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/how-are-we-to-account-for-the-strange-human-craving-for-the-pleasure/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [You don't want to love - your eternal and abnormal craving is to be loved. You aren't positive, you're negative. You absorb, absorb, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-don-t-want-to-love-your-eternal-and-abnormal-craving-is-to-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The worst passion we mortals cherish is the desire to possess. Even when we know that our final destination is a hole not more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/the-worst-passion-we-mortals-cherish-is-the-desire-to-possess-even/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Fianlly a wave of reailty swept over my eyes and I was able to see, I wasn't in love with an angle but addicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian/fianlly-a-wave-of-reailty-swept-over-my-eyes-and-i-was-able-to-see-i/) [Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian/) > [The craving to risk death is our last great perversion. We come from night, we go into night. Why live in night?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-craving-to-risk-death-is-our-last-great-perversion-we-come-from/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) Browse all 626 Craving quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Watching her walk away, Emily felt as dirty as if she’d been watching porn. The craving came on like a fever, as if a coal had been stoked within and blurred the edges of reasonable thought. Rather than push it away, she sat on the floor and let the desire consume her. A”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kelly J. Ford" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-j-ford/watching-her-walk-away-emily-felt-as-dirty-as-if-she-d-been-watching/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Craving" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-j-ford/watching-her-walk-away-emily-felt-as-dirty-as-if-she-d-been-watching/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/kelly-j-ford-76320_craving_watching-her-walk-away-emily-felt-as-dir_3116251.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/kelly-j-ford-76320_craving_watching-her-walk-away-emily-felt-as-dir_3116251.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/kelly-j-ford-76320_craving_watching-her-walk-away-emily-felt-as-dir_3116251.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Watching her walk away, Emily felt as dirty as if she’d been watching porn. The craving came on like a…” — Kelly J. Ford", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Kelly J. Ford", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-j-ford/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Watching her walk away, Emily felt...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-j-ford/watching-her-walk-away-emily-felt-as-dirty-as-if-she-d-been-watching/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-j-ford/watching-her-walk-away-emily-felt-as-dirty-as-if-she-d-been-watching/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```