--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Your unconscious mind takes the things…" description: "\"“Your unconscious mind takes the things you can’t handle and plays with them while you sleep until some of the sharp corners are worn off.”\" — Lawrence..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/lawrence-block-6776_conscious-mind_your-unconscious-mind-takes-the-things-y_190714.jpg" --- # Your unconscious mind takes the things you can’t handle… ![“Your unconscious mind takes the things you can’t handle and plays with them while you sleep until some of the sharp corners are worn off.” quote by Lawrence Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/lawrence-block-6776_conscious-mind_your-unconscious-mind-takes-the-things-y_190714.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/lawrence-block-6776_conscious-mind_your-unconscious-mind-takes-the-things-y_190714.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/lawrence-block-6776_conscious-mind_your-unconscious-mind-takes-the-things-y_190714.jpg) > ““Your unconscious mind takes the things you can’t handle and plays with them while you sleep until some of the sharp corners are worn off.”” [Lawrence Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-block/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The unconscious mind re‑processes unresolved issues during sleep, gradually softening their impact. **In simple terms:** Sleep helps process tough thoughts. Key Takeaway Allow sleep to aid emotional processing. Themes subconscious dreams healing Mood reflective calm Type literary psychological When to use this quote - trauma recovery - nighttime reflection - stress reduction Key Concepts psychology sleep science Questions to Reflect On - What unresolved issues surface in your dreams? - How can you integrate insights after waking? A Different Perspective Some issues may need conscious work, not just dreaming. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conscious mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious-mind/) [Mind Takes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-takes-685462/) [Plays Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plays-sleep-2015077/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Sleep Sharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep-sharp-2015076/) [Unconscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unconscious/) [Unconscious mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unconscious-mind/) ## Related quotes > [You may not yet be able to bring your unconscious mind activity into awareness as thoughts, but it will always be reflected in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-may-not-yet-be-able-to-bring-your-unconscious-mind-activity-into/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [The unconscious mind writes poetry if it's left alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-unconscious-mind-writes-poetry-if-it-s-left-alone/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The unconscious mind is decidedly simple, unaffected, straightforward and honest. 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Don't beat yourself up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mallory-ortberg/i-don-t-think-unfriending-your-old-crush-on-facebook-will-do-much/) [Mallory Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mallory-ortberg/) > [“Writing on this subject in 1904 Freud gave the reason for our unshakable conviction of freedom of choice. He remarked that it is far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-jones/writing-on-this-subject-in-1904-freud-gave-the-reason-for-our/) [Ernest Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-jones/) > [The greatest impediments to changes in our traditional roles seem to lie not in the visible world of conscious intent, but in the murky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-greatest-impediments-to-changes-in-our-traditional-roles-seem-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The unconscious mind works without your knowledge and that is the way it prefers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/the-unconscious-mind-works-without-your-knowledge-and-that-is-the-way/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [I think anybody who's working in a creative medium is working partially with their conscious mind, partially with their unconscious mind. So, my unconscious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-corman/i-think-anybody-who-s-working-in-a-creative-medium-is-working/) [Roger Corman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-corman/) > [“The body is the unconscious mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-galian/the-body-is-the-unconscious-mind/) [Laurence Galian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-galian/) > [I know playwrights who like to kid themselves into saying that their characters are so well formed that they just take over. They determine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/i-know-playwrights-who-like-to-kid-themselves-into-saying-that-their/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [The unconscious mind is way bigger than the conscious mind. Using tools to access its wisdom and self-organizing features is powerful medicine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-carlin-mccall/the-unconscious-mind-is-way-bigger-than-the-conscious-mind-using/) [Kelly Carlin-McCall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-carlin-mccall/) > [The conscious mind is easily overwhelmed. The unconscious mind is vast and far more powerful, but by definition we're not aware of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-morgan/the-conscious-mind-is-easily-overwhelmed-the-unconscious-mind-is-vast/) [Nick Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-morgan/) ## More by Lawrence Block > [If fate sends you a lemon, use it to make lemonade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-block/if-fate-sends-you-a-lemon-use-it-to-make-lemonade/) [Lawrence Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-block/) > [“She made love with the freshness of an impatient virgin and the ingenuity of a sex-scarred whore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-block/she-made-love-with-the-freshness-of-an-impatient-virgin-and-the/) [Lawrence Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-block/) > [“that would have hidden the decades of filth that had left their stamp upon the wooden floor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-block/that-would-have-hidden-the-decades-of-filth-that-had-left-their-stamp/) [Lawrence Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-block/) > [Serendipity. 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They wasn't extinct, I'd go out an' kill 'em myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-block/man-i-so-sick-of-dinosaurs-they-wasn-t-extinct-i-d-go-out-an-kill-em/) [Lawrence Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-block/) > [“Tomorrow’s always there, just over the horizon. Until the tomorrows run out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-block/tomorrow-s-always-there-just-over-the-horizon-until-the-tomorrows-run/) [Lawrence Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-block/) [Explore all 96 Lawrence Block quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-block/) ## More Conscious mind quotes > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. 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We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-endowed-with-genes-which-code-out-our-reaction-to-beavers-and/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“Shorter believes that psychosomatic illnesses (such as leg paralysis at the turn of the twentieth century or multiple personality disorder at the turn of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-watters/shorter-believes-that-psychosomatic-illnesses-such-as-leg-paralysis/) [Ethan Watters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-watters/) > [“The unconscious mind is a terrific solver of complex problems when the conscious mind is busy elsewhere or, perhaps better yet, not overtaxed at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-jackson/the-unconscious-mind-is-a-terrific-solver-of-complex-problems-when/) [Phil Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-jackson/) > [You may not yet be able to bring your unconscious mind activity into awareness as thoughts, but it will always be reflected in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-may-not-yet-be-able-to-bring-your-unconscious-mind-activity-into/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [You make the choice for change more easily and readily each time as your conscious mind begins to reprogram your subconscious mind with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-sylver/you-make-the-choice-for-change-more-easily-and-readily-each-time-as/) [Marshall Sylver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-sylver/) > [Insofar as she recognized at all that she was dreaming, she realized that she must be exploring her subconscious mind. She had heard it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/insofar-as-she-recognized-at-all-that-she-was-dreaming-she-realized/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [The unconscious mind is way bigger than the conscious mind. Using tools to access its wisdom and self-organizing features is powerful medicine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-carlin-mccall/the-unconscious-mind-is-way-bigger-than-the-conscious-mind-using/) [Kelly Carlin-McCall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-carlin-mccall/) > [“Parenting has no guide book; we come to it with what came at us. It's only the conscious mind that can shift the paradigm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katey-sagal/parenting-has-no-guide-book-we-come-to-it-with-what-came-at-us-it-s/) [Katey Sagal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katey-sagal/) > [“When you don’t trust life and so you start testing it and looking for signs, then you’re not really testing life (because the truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oli-anderson/when-you-don-t-trust-life-and-so-you-start-testing-it-and-looking-for/) [Oli Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oli-anderson/) > [When you are dealing with a serious compulsion or addictive pattern, then by definition self-will, self-discipline, and any other machinations of the conscious mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/when-you-are-dealing-with-a-serious-compulsion-or-addictive-pattern/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Focusing upon the positive by counting your blessings, or using positive affirmations in the fertile time before you fall asleep is an invitation to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/focusing-upon-the-positive-by-counting-your-blessings-or-using/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Delve into the unconscious, to learn the codes inside the unconscious, to discover what are its views of reality. 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