--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What we want is never simple. We move…" description: "\"What we want is never simple. We move among the things we thought we wanted: a face, a room, an open book and these things bear our names - now they wa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/720/linda-pastan-28836_ache_what-we-want-is-never-simple-we-move-amo_1619428.jpg" --- # What we want is never simple. We move among the things we… ![“What we want is never simple. We move among the things we thought we wanted: a face, a room, an open book and these things bear our names - now they want us. But what we want appears in dreams, wearing disguises. We fall past, holding out our arms and in the morning our arms ache. We don't…” quote by Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/720/linda-pastan-28836_ache_what-we-want-is-never-simple-we-move-amo_1619428.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/720/linda-pastan-28836_ache_what-we-want-is-never-simple-we-move-amo_1619428.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/720/linda-pastan-28836_ache_what-we-want-is-never-simple-we-move-amo_1619428.jpg) > “What we want is never simple. We move among the things we thought we wanted: a face, a room, an open book and these things bear our names - now they want us. But what we want appears in dreams, wearing disguises. We fall past, holding out our arms and in the morning our arms ache. We don't remember the dream, but the dream remembers us. It is there all day as an animal is there under the table, as the stars are there.” [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desires are elusive, appearing in dreams and disguises, leaving us yearning and often forgetting their source. **In simple terms:** Dreams hide our true wishes, causing longing. Key Takeaway Listen to subconscious signals. Themes desire dreams identity longing memory Mood reflective melancholic inquisitive Type psychological poetic When to use this quote - creative writing - therapy sessions - personal reflection - goal setting Key Concepts subconscious self-discovery psychology Questions to Reflect On - What recurring symbols appear in your dreams? - How do you differentiate true desire from fleeting fantasy? A Different Perspective Dreams may not reflect realistic goals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Disguise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disguise/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning/) [Open book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/open-book/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) ## Related quotes > [I'm wearing clothes in my thoughts and dreams though. What am I wearing in yours?" she asked. "Me." Conversation between Mary Rose and Harrison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-garwood/i-m-wearing-clothes-in-my-thoughts-and-dreams-though-what-am-i/) [Julie Garwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-garwood/) > [“Do tigers dream? he wonders. And this tiger, reputedly the last of her kind, what does she dream of? The scent of a mate?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-leigh/do-tigers-dream-he-wonders-and-this-tiger-reputedly-the-last-of-her/) [Julia Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-leigh/) > [Did you know that when someone appears in your dreams, it's because that person misses you. -Psychological fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/did-you-know-that-when-someone-appears-in-your-dreams-it-s-because-2/) [Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/) > [Did you know that when someone appears in your dreams, it's because that person missis you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaceem-madridista/did-you-know-that-when-someone-appears-in-your-dreams-it-s-because/) [Kaceem Madridista](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaceem-madridista/) > [“Stay away from her. Don't look at her; don't even think about her. If she appears to you in your dreams, wake up and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-michaels/stay-away-from-her-don-t-look-at-her-don-t-even-think-about-her-if/) [Victoria Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-michaels/) > [When someone appears in your dreams, it means that person misses you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-someone-appears-in-your-dreams-it-means-that-person-misses-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm afraid and hate people like you appears in my dreams..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avi-itallica/i-m-afraid-and-hate-people-like-you-appears-in-my-dreams/) [Avi ItaLlica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avi-itallica/) > [I REALLY AM JEALOUS OF SOMEONE, SOMEONE GOT EVERYTHING PERFECTLY AS I REALLY WANT, AND THAT SOMEONE IS ME, ME THAT EXACTLY APPEARS IN…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/no-voice/i-really-am-jealous-of-someone-someone-got-everything-perfectly-as-i/) NO VOICE > [Do you still remember The dream you once had ?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayumi-hamasaki/do-you-still-remember-the-dream-you-once-had/) [Ayumi Hamasaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayumi-hamasaki/) > [“. . . and I want you all to remember--that you must not dream yourselves back to the times before the war, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-malthe-bruun/and-i-want-you-all-to-remember-that-you-must-not-dream-yourselves-2/) Kim Malthe-Bruun > [My sole focus as far back as I can remember was all about my dream to become a singer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheena-easton/my-sole-focus-as-far-back-as-i-can-remember-was-all-about-my-dream-to/) [Sheena Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheena-easton/) > [“I know who I am, I remember who I was, I dream of who I will be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-drake/i-know-who-i-am-i-remember-who-i-was-i-dream-of-who-i-will-be/) Marie Drake > [“...and I want you all to remember- that you must not dream yourselves back to the times before the war, but the dream for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/and-i-want-you-all-to-remember-that-you-must-not-dream-yourselves/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [Since I can remember, it had been my dream to be a Hollywood star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keeley-hazell/since-i-can-remember-it-had-been-my-dream-to-be-a-hollywood-star/) [Keeley Hazell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keeley-hazell/) > [Remember to dream big, think long-term, underachieve on a daily basis, and take baby steps. That is the key to long-term success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/remember-to-dream-big-think-long-term-underachieve-on-a-daily-basis/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) ## More by Linda Pastan > [I regret the way pain has taught me nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/i-regret-the-way-pain-has-taught-me-nothing/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [Poetry is not a code to be broken but a way of seeing with the eyes shut.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/poetry-is-not-a-code-to-be-broken-but-a-way-of-seeing-with-the-eyes/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [“Despite the enormous evening sky spreading over most of the canvas, its moon no more than a tarnished coin, dull and flat, in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/despite-the-enormous-evening-sky-spreading-over-most-of-the-canvas/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [Evil is simply a grammatical error: a failure to leap the precipice between "he" and "I.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/evil-is-simply-a-grammatical-error-a-failure-to-leap-the-precipice/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [What we want is never simple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/what-we-want-is-never-simple/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [I am tired of the litany of months, September October I am tired of the way the seasons keep changing, mimicking the seasons of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/i-am-tired-of-the-litany-of-months-september-october-i-am-tired-of/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [Spring is the shortest season.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/spring-is-the-shortest-season/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [I made a list of things I have to remember and a list of things I want to forget, but I see they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/i-made-a-list-of-things-i-have-to-remember-and-a-list-of-things-i/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [“I'm only leaving you for a handful of days, but it feels as though I'll be gone forever—- the way the door closes behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/i-m-only-leaving-you-for-a-handful-of-days-but-it-feels-as-though-i/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [There are poems that are never written, that simply move across the mind like skywriting on a still day: slowly the first word drifts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/there-are-poems-that-are-never-written-that-simply-move-across-the/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [I have dreamed of our bed as if it were a shore where we would be washed up, not this striped mattress we must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/i-have-dreamed-of-our-bed-as-if-it-were-a-shore-where-we-would-be/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [Grief is a circular staircase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/grief-is-a-circular-staircase/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [“I am learning to abandon the world before it can abandon me. Already I have given up the moon and snow, closing my shades…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/i-am-learning-to-abandon-the-world-before-it-can-abandon-me-already-i/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [Just looking at them I grow greedy, as if they were freshly baked loaves waiting on their shelves to be broken open--that one and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/just-looking-at-them-i-grow-greedy-as-if-they-were-freshly-baked/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) > [“Because the night you asked me, the small scar of the quarter moon had healed - the moon was whole again; because life seemed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/because-the-night-you-asked-me-the-small-scar-of-the-quarter-moon-had/) [Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) [Explore all 19 Linda Pastan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/) ## More Ache quotes > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [When we went into the ocean, I watched his body as he dove into the waves, and it gave me a feeling in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/when-we-went-into-the-ocean-i-watched-his-body-as-he-dove-into-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [A woman who lives with the stress of an overwhelmed schedule will often ache with the sadness of an underwhelmed soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysa-terkeurst/a-woman-who-lives-with-the-stress-of-an-overwhelmed-schedule-will/) [Lysa TerKeurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysa-terkeurst/) > [I ache for the touch of your lips dear, but much more for the touch of your whips dear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-lehrer/i-ache-for-the-touch-of-your-lips-dear-but-much-more-for-the-touch-of/) [Tom Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-lehrer/) > [I was not wounded in any part of my body, but I had never experienced such intense pain, such a ripping of the nerves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-was-not-wounded-in-any-part-of-my-body-but-i-had-never-experienced/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [And the flavor of Pippa's kiss--bittersweet and strange--stayed with me all the way back uptown, swaying and sleepy as I sailed home on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-the-flavor-of-pippa-s-kiss-bittersweet-and-strange-stayed-with-me/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [They are enthusiasts, devotees. Addicts. Something about the circus stirs their souls, and they ache for it when it is absent. They seek each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-morgenstern/they-are-enthusiasts-devotees-addicts-something-about-the-circus/) [Erin Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-morgenstern/) > [as we acquire new aches and new pains, our health care is, of necessity, being supplied by internists, cardiologists, dermatologists, podiatrists, urologists, periodontists, gynecologists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-viorst/as-we-acquire-new-aches-and-new-pains-our-health-care-is-of-necessity/) [Judith Viorst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-viorst/) > [Jamie enjoyed solitude, but loneliness was a constant ache.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-sheldon/jamie-enjoyed-solitude-but-loneliness-was-a-constant-ache/) [Sidney Sheldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-sheldon/) > [Some men make money not for the sake of living, but ache In the blindness of greed and live just for their fortune's sake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/some-men-make-money-not-for-the-sake-of-living-but-ache-in-the/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [Staring at her face, she began to fancy her outer layer had begun to melt away while she wasn't paying attention, and something --…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/staring-at-her-face-she-began-to-fancy-her-outer-layer-had-begun-to/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [O thou beautiful And unimaginable ether! and Ye multiplying masses of increased And still increasing lights! what are ye? what Is this blue wilderness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/o-thou-beautiful-and-unimaginable-ether-and-ye-multiplying-masses-of/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [An emotion is a thought, yes, an idea, but it is also a sensation, an ache in your body. Desire, love, hate, fear, repulsion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-landay/an-emotion-is-a-thought-yes-an-idea-but-it-is-also-a-sensation-an/) [William Landay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-landay/) > [He that sleeps feels not the tooth-ache](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/he-that-sleeps-feels-not-the-tooth-ache/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I will live this day as if it is my last. …I will waste not a moment mourning yesterday’s misfortunes, Yesterday’s defeats, yesterday’s aches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/og-mandino/i-will-live-this-day-as-if-it-is-my-last-i-will-waste-not-a-moment/) [Og Mandino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/og-mandino/) Browse all 489 Ache quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What we want is never simple. 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