--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It’s that moment about two months in…" description: "\"“It’s that moment about two months in, when you think you’ve finally got a handle on the place. Suddenly it feels within your grasp. It’s a delusion – ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19e/lily-king-10967_anthropology_it-s-that-moment-about-two-months-in-whe_2110722.jpg" --- # It’s that moment about two months in, when you think… ![“It’s that moment about two months in, when you think you’ve finally got a handle on the place. Suddenly it feels within your grasp. It’s a delusion – you’ve only been there eight weeks – and it’s followed by the complete despair of ever understanding anything. But at the moment the place feels…” quote by Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19e/lily-king-10967_anthropology_it-s-that-moment-about-two-months-in-whe_2110722.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19e/lily-king-10967_anthropology_it-s-that-moment-about-two-months-in-whe_2110722.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19e/lily-king-10967_anthropology_it-s-that-moment-about-two-months-in-whe_2110722.jpg) > ““It’s that moment about two months in, when you think you’ve finally got a handle on the place. Suddenly it feels within your grasp. It’s a delusion – you’ve only been there eight weeks – and it’s followed by the complete despair of ever understanding anything. But at the moment the place feels entirely yours. It’s the briefest, purest euphoria.”” [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A fleeting sense of mastery can quickly turn into despair when reality reveals how little we truly know. **In simple terms:** Brief confidence turns to doubt. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of early confidence. Themes confidence illusion despair learning Mood reflective melancholic cautious Type advice philosophical motivational When to use this quote - new job - learning a skill - starting a project - first months of a relationship Key Concepts cognitive bias expertise illusion emotional volatility Questions to Reflect On - How do you stay grounded when early success feels overwhelming? - What strategies help maintain perspective during rapid learning? A Different Perspective The euphoria may be temporary and can mask deeper challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anthropology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthropology/) [Euphoria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/euphoria/) [Expats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expats/) [Moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moment/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“I was supposed to stay for 3 months. But I think I always knew I would stay a little longer, despite the crazy Frenchies.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-lesage/i-was-supposed-to-stay-for-3-months-but-i-think-i-always-knew-i-would/) [Vicki Lesage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-lesage/) > [“Allow yourself, if only for a short moment, to go to that place where you cannot possibly think of one thing that you need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-hochberg/allow-yourself-if-only-for-a-short-moment-to-go-to-that-place-where/) [Art Hochberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-hochberg/) > [“I wondered if that’s what déjà vu was - being in step with a moment, a place, exactly where you were supposed to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyra-lynn/i-wondered-if-that-s-what-d-j-vu-was-being-in-step-with-a-moment-a/) [Tyra Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyra-lynn/) > [“And when I think about it, I guess it is true that people always arrive at the right moment at the place where someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/and-when-i-think-about-it-i-guess-it-is-true-that-people-always/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Each moment is a place you've never been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/each-moment-is-a-place-you-ve-never-been/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [We have to acknowledge sometimes that this moment is enough. This place is enough. I am enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-have-to-acknowledge-sometimes-that-this-moment-is-enough-this/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [The present moment is never intolerable. It is always what is coming in five minutes or five days that makes people despair. The Law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-fox/the-present-moment-is-never-intolerable-it-is-always-what-is-coming/) [Emmet Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-fox/) > [Yoga takes you into the present moment, the only place where life exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/yoga-takes-you-into-the-present-moment-the-only-place-where-life/) [Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/) > [“A picture should capture a moment, a place in time you can return to again and again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-t-kelly/a-picture-should-capture-a-moment-a-place-in-time-you-can-return-to/) Brendan T. Kelly > [“What do you do when the thing you want most suddenly feels like it’s beyond your fingertips?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-darhower/what-do-you-do-when-the-thing-you-want-most-suddenly-feels-like-it-s/) [J.M. Darhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-darhower/) > [“He takes a step closer to me and it suddenly feels like I’ve swallowed his heart because I have all these extra beats in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/he-takes-a-step-closer-to-me-and-it-suddenly-feels-like-i-ve/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) > [For much of my life, I felt like I was just going through the motions. It was like, 'When am I gonna be who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-marsden/for-much-of-my-life-i-felt-like-i-was-just-going-through-the-motions/) [James Marsden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-marsden/) > [It's never good when you're in an airplane and it suddenly feels like you're outdoors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-gates/it-s-never-good-when-you-re-in-an-airplane-and-it-suddenly-feels-like/) [Josh Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-gates/) > [I wonder why¦ When theres something you dont want to do, you suddenly want to clean¦ but once you start cleaning, it suddenly feels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-wonder-why-when-theres-something-you-dont-want-to-do-you-suddenly/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There's just something about that late '80s that suddenly feels like it has something to teach us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-k-vaughan/there-s-just-something-about-that-late-80s-that-suddenly-feels-like/) [Brian K. Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-k-vaughan/) ## More by Lily King > [“And this led to another round of mapping as we separated men from women, finding that while the male ethos usually represented the culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/and-this-led-to-another-round-of-mapping-as-we-separated-men-from/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [When I finished graduate school, the first George Bush was president, and I really wanted to get out of the country. We'd just gone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/when-i-finished-graduate-school-the-first-george-bush-was-president/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [When I pick up a pencil, that this is a rough draft. This is not going anywhere, and no one's going to see it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/when-i-pick-up-a-pencil-that-this-is-a-rough-draft-this-is-not-going/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [I didn't major in anthropology in college, but I do feel I had an education in different cultures very early on. My parents divorced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/i-didn-t-major-in-anthropology-in-college-but-i-do-feel-i-had-an/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [I'm very interested in the way people interact emotionally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/i-m-very-interested-in-the-way-people-interact-emotionally/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [“mind Nell was writing: —ornamentation of neck, wrists, fingers —paint on face only”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/mind-nell-was-writing-ornamentation-of-neck-wrists-fingers-paint-on/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [I have three stepfamilies as well as my family of origin. 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By the end I wasn't remaining true to anything but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/every-fictional-thing-i-wrote-gave-me-strength-to-write-another-and/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [“-Can we have one day when we don't have to talk about the meaning of life? -I don't think we ever talk about anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/can-we-have-one-day-when-we-don-t-have-to-talk-about-the-meaning-of/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [Ever since high school I've been writing in a spiral notebook, in pencil. Everything looks too polished on a computer when you start writing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/ever-since-high-school-i-ve-been-writing-in-a-spiral-notebook-in/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [There are certain tribes in the middle Sepik that eat raw bat. A certain kind of raw bat is a delicacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/there-are-certain-tribes-in-the-middle-sepik-that-eat-raw-bat-a/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [“You have so much to offer, she was often told, as if she had a tray of cigarettes and candy perpetually strapped to her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/you-have-so-much-to-offer-she-was-often-told-as-if-she-had-a-tray-of/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [“Was it possible in any relationship to not disappoint, to do anything more than only briefly rekindle the initial fatal illusion?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/was-it-possible-in-any-relationship-to-not-disappoint-to-do-anything/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [I love this idea of trying to create that intellectual eroticism. That was what I was working toward all along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/i-love-this-idea-of-trying-to-create-that-intellectual-eroticism-that/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) [Explore all 62 Lily King quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) ## More Anthropology quotes > [“Marriage," "mating," and "love" are socially constructed phenomena that have little or no transferable meaning outside any given culture. The examples we've noted of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-ryan/marriage-mating-and-love-are-socially-constructed-phenomena-that-have/) [Christopher Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-ryan/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“A geneticist is a geek who claims to have proven through regression analyses that a Neanderthal had sex with your great-grandmother 50,000 years ago.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/a-geneticist-is-a-geek-who-claims-to-have-proven-through-regression/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [Michael Jackson is an extremely productive ethnographer, a serious reader of phenomenological and existential philosophy, and a remarkable writer at a level that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-kleinman/michael-jackson-is-an-extremely-productive-ethnographer-a-serious/) [Arthur Kleinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-kleinman/) > [Archaeology is the anthropology of the past, and science fiction is the anthropology of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-vinge/archaeology-is-the-anthropology-of-the-past-and-science-fiction-is/) [Joan D. Vinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-vinge/) > [Modern anthropology ... opposes the utilitarian assumption that the primitive chants as he sows seed because he believes that otherwise it will not grow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/modern-anthropology-opposes-the-utilitarian-assumption-that-the/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [For me, a bit of anthropology in the evening is always better than staying and watching the telly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-rhodes/for-me-a-bit-of-anthropology-in-the-evening-is-always-better-than/) [Nick Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-rhodes/) > [When you ask why did some particular question occur to a scientist or philosopher for the first time, or why did this particular approach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-goldstein/when-you-ask-why-did-some-particular-question-occur-to-a-scientist-or/) [Rebecca Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-goldstein/) > [I didn't major in anthropology in college, but I do feel I had an education in different cultures very early on. My parents divorced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-king/i-didn-t-major-in-anthropology-in-college-but-i-do-feel-i-had-an/) [Lily King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-king/) > [Anthropology is the only discipline that can access evidence about the entire human experience on this planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-brian-schiffer/anthropology-is-the-only-discipline-that-can-access-evidence-about/) Michael Brian Schiffer > [“All social interactions require some loss of freedom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erol-ozan/all-social-interactions-require-some-loss-of-freedom/) [Erol Ozan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erol-ozan/) > [“Morphological anthropology applied to the physical study of children, is also a strong element in the growth of the new pedagogy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montessori-maria/morphological-anthropology-applied-to-the-physical-study-of-children/) Montessori Maria > [There are savages without God in any proper sense of the word, but none without ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-savages-without-god-in-any-proper-sense-of-the-word-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anthropology was the science that gave her the platform from which she surveyed, scolded and beamed at the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-howard/anthropology-was-the-science-that-gave-her-the-platform-from-which/) [Jane Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-howard/) > [It's always amusing to look at how something early in the 20th century was written in anthropology and how it's written now. There's been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/it-s-always-amusing-to-look-at-how-something-early-in-the-20th/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) [Browse all 286 Anthropology quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthropology/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It’s that moment about two months in, when you think you’ve finally got a handle on the place. Suddenly it feels within your grasp. It’s a delusion – you’ve only been there eight weeks – and it’s followed by the complete despair of ever understanding anything. But at the moment the place feels entirely yours. 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