--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had always liked staying the night with…" description: "\"“I had always liked staying the night with other families, having your own room with a freshly made bed, full of unfamiliar objects, with a towel and a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/knausgaard-70142_domestic-life_i-had-always-liked-staying-the-night-wit_3229020.jpg" --- # I had always liked staying the night with other families… ![“I had always liked staying the night with other families, having your own room with a freshly made bed, full of unfamiliar objects, with a towel and a washcloth nicely laid out, and from there straight into the heart of family life, despite there always being, no matter whom I visited, an…” quote by Knausgaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/knausgaard-70142_domestic-life_i-had-always-liked-staying-the-night-wit_3229020.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/knausgaard-70142_domestic-life_i-had-always-liked-staying-the-night-wit_3229020.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/knausgaard-70142_domestic-life_i-had-always-liked-staying-the-night-wit_3229020.jpg) > ““I had always liked staying the night with other families, having your own room with a freshly made bed, full of unfamiliar objects, with a towel and a washcloth nicely laid out, and from there straight into the heart of family life, despite there always being, no matter whom I visited, an uncomfortable side, because even though people always try to keep existing tensions in the background whenever guests are present, the tensions are still noticeable, and you can never know if it is your presence that has caused them or whether they are just there and indeed your presence is helping to suppress them. A third possibility is, of course, that all these tensions were just tensions that lived their own lives in my head.”” Knausgaard ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Staying with families reveals hidden tensions, making you wonder if your presence causes or eases them, or if they exist only in your mind. **In simple terms:** Visiting families shows hidden tensions, questioning your impact. Key Takeaway Observe and reflect on how your presence influences family dynamics. Themes family tension perception self-awareness Mood reflective thoughtful introspective Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - family visits - holiday gatherings - roommates - cultural immersion Key Concepts psychology social dynamics subjective reality Questions to Reflect On - How do you distinguish your influence from imagined tensions? - Can you separate personal perception from actual family dynamics? A Different Perspective Tensions may be misinterpreted, leading to unnecessary guilt. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Domestic life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/domestic-life/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Family life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family-life/) [Family relationships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family-relationships/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Single life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-life/) ## Related quotes > [“I was lounging in the kitchen, enjoying the small fermata between emptying the dishwasher and reloading it. It's a glamorous life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbi-waxman/i-was-lounging-in-the-kitchen-enjoying-the-small-fermata-between/) [Abbi Waxman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbi-waxman/) > [If people could only be taught that economy is a thing of littles and of individuals, and of every day, and not a thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-mcnair-wright/if-people-could-only-be-taught-that-economy-is-a-thing-of-littles-and/) [Julia McNair Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-mcnair-wright/) > [Almost every one of the great religions of the world has made special provisions for them, and the woman who has preferred a celibate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-livermore/almost-every-one-of-the-great-religions-of-the-world-has-made-special/) Mary Livermore > [On the theory of the soul's mortality, the inferiority of women's capacity is easily accounted for: Their domestic life requires no higher faculties either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/on-the-theory-of-the-soul-s-mortality-the-inferiority-of-women-s/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [I'm interested in direct communication about domestic life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berman/i-m-interested-in-direct-communication-about-domestic-life/) [David Berman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berman/) > [A morbid propensity that causes great suffering in domestic life is often curiously infectious to the very person for whom it creates most suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-leverson/a-morbid-propensity-that-causes-great-suffering-in-domestic-life-is/) [Ada Leverson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-leverson/) > [“Some men,” she would add in ominous seriousness, “are nice as pie in public but within their own homes they are mean and miserly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-macleod/some-men-she-would-add-in-ominous-seriousness-are-nice-as-pie-in/) [Alistair MacLeod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-macleod/) > [Pleasure is to a woman what the sun is to the flower: if moderately enjoyed, it beautifies, it refreshes, and it improves; if immoderately,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/pleasure-is-to-a-woman-what-the-sun-is-to-the-flower-if-moderately/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [When I think about the reference to baroque, I'm most interested in how art was integrated into domestic life. That's why I like fresco,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-henrot/when-i-think-about-the-reference-to-baroque-i-m-most-interested-in/) [Camille Henrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-henrot/) > [I like being able to go to the supermarket and go on the Tube and have an ordinary domestic life. I'd hate to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-broadbent/i-like-being-able-to-go-to-the-supermarket-and-go-on-the-tube-and/) [Jim Broadbent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-broadbent/) > [Happy domestic life is like a beautiful summer's evening; the heart is filled with peace; and everything around derives a peculiar glory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-andersen/happy-domestic-life-is-like-a-beautiful-summer-s-evening-the-heart-is/) [Hans Christian Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-andersen/) > [“Instantaneous photographs and newspaper enterprise have invaded the sacred precincts of private and domestic life; and numerous mechanical devices threaten to make good the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/instantaneous-photographs-and-newspaper-enterprise-have-invaded-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“She knew that for many people this was their greatest ambition: to have a partner and a child, to live the domestic life, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/she-knew-that-for-many-people-this-was-their-greatest-ambition-to/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [The orator, who may be silent without danger, may praise without difficulty and without reluctance; and posterity will confess that the character of Theodosius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-orator-who-may-be-silent-without-danger-may-praise-without/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“She pauses several treads from the bottom, listening, waiting; she is again possessed (it seems to be getting worse) by a dream-like feeling, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/she-pauses-several-treads-from-the-bottom-listening-waiting-she-is/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) ## More by Knausgaard > [“The sun rose in my life. At first, as dawn breaking on the horizon, almost as if to say, this is where you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/knausgaard/the-sun-rose-in-my-life-at-first-as-dawn-breaking-on-the-horizon/) Knausgaard > [“There is a sort of light surrounding Abel, something pure and strong radiates from him no matter where he is or what he's doing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/knausgaard/there-is-a-sort-of-light-surrounding-abel-something-pure-and-strong/) Knausgaard > [“For who brooded over the meaninglessness of life anymore? Teenagers. They were the only ones who were preoccupied with existential issues, and as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/knausgaard/for-who-brooded-over-the-meaninglessness-of-life-anymore-teenagers/) Knausgaard Explore all 4 Knausgaard quotes ## More Domestic life quotes > [“I was lounging in the kitchen, enjoying the small fermata between emptying the dishwasher and reloading it. It's a glamorous life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbi-waxman/i-was-lounging-in-the-kitchen-enjoying-the-small-fermata-between/) [Abbi Waxman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbi-waxman/) > [The orator, who may be silent without danger, may praise without difficulty and without reluctance; and posterity will confess that the character of Theodosius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-orator-who-may-be-silent-without-danger-may-praise-without/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“She knew that for many people this was their greatest ambition: to have a partner and a child, to live the domestic life, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/she-knew-that-for-many-people-this-was-their-greatest-ambition-to/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [“Instantaneous photographs and newspaper enterprise have invaded the sacred precincts of private and domestic life; and numerous mechanical devices threaten to make good the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/instantaneous-photographs-and-newspaper-enterprise-have-invaded-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Happy domestic life is like a beautiful summer's evening; the heart is filled with peace; and everything around derives a peculiar glory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-andersen/happy-domestic-life-is-like-a-beautiful-summer-s-evening-the-heart-is/) [Hans Christian Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-andersen/) > [I like being able to go to the supermarket and go on the Tube and have an ordinary domestic life. I'd hate to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-broadbent/i-like-being-able-to-go-to-the-supermarket-and-go-on-the-tube-and/) [Jim Broadbent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-broadbent/) > [When I think about the reference to baroque, I'm most interested in how art was integrated into domestic life. That's why I like fresco,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-henrot/when-i-think-about-the-reference-to-baroque-i-m-most-interested-in/) [Camille Henrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-henrot/) > [Pleasure is to a woman what the sun is to the flower: if moderately enjoyed, it beautifies, it refreshes, and it improves; if immoderately,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/pleasure-is-to-a-woman-what-the-sun-is-to-the-flower-if-moderately/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [“Some men,” she would add in ominous seriousness, “are nice as pie in public but within their own homes they are mean and miserly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-macleod/some-men-she-would-add-in-ominous-seriousness-are-nice-as-pie-in/) [Alistair MacLeod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-macleod/) > [A morbid propensity that causes great suffering in domestic life is often curiously infectious to the very person for whom it creates most suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-leverson/a-morbid-propensity-that-causes-great-suffering-in-domestic-life-is/) [Ada Leverson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-leverson/) > [I'm interested in direct communication about domestic life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berman/i-m-interested-in-direct-communication-about-domestic-life/) [David Berman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berman/) > [On the theory of the soul's mortality, the inferiority of women's capacity is easily accounted for: Their domestic life requires no higher faculties either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/on-the-theory-of-the-soul-s-mortality-the-inferiority-of-women-s/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [Almost every one of the great religions of the world has made special provisions for them, and the woman who has preferred a celibate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-livermore/almost-every-one-of-the-great-religions-of-the-world-has-made-special/) Mary Livermore > [If people could only be taught that economy is a thing of littles and of individuals, and of every day, and not a thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-mcnair-wright/if-people-could-only-be-taught-that-economy-is-a-thing-of-littles-and/) [Julia McNair Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-mcnair-wright/) > [“She pauses several treads from the bottom, listening, waiting; she is again possessed (it seems to be getting worse) by a dream-like feeling, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/she-pauses-several-treads-from-the-bottom-listening-waiting-she-is/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) [Browse all 68 Domestic life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/domestic-life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I had always liked staying the night with other families, having your own room with a freshly made bed, full of unfamiliar objects, with a towel and a washcloth nicely laid out, and from there straight into the heart of family life, despite there always being, no matter whom I visited, an uncomfortable side, because even though people always try to keep existing tensions in the background whenever guests are present, the tensions are still noticeable, and you can never know if it is your presence that has caused them or whether they are just there and indeed your presence is helping to suppress them. A third possibility is, of course, that all these tensions were just tensions that lived their own lives in my head.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Knausgaard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/knausgaard/i-had-always-liked-staying-the-night-with-other-families-having-your/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Domestic life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/knausgaard/i-had-always-liked-staying-the-night-with-other-families-having-your/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/knausgaard-70142_domestic-life_i-had-always-liked-staying-the-night-wit_3229020.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/knausgaard-70142_domestic-life_i-had-always-liked-staying-the-night-wit_3229020.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/knausgaard-70142_domestic-life_i-had-always-liked-staying-the-night-wit_3229020.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I had always liked staying the night with other families, having your own room with a freshly made bed, full…” — Knausgaard", "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": "Knausgaard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/knausgaard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I had always liked staying the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/knausgaard/i-had-always-liked-staying-the-night-with-other-families-having-your/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/knausgaard/i-had-always-liked-staying-the-night-with-other-families-having-your/#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 } } ] } ```