--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: as soon as I seized upon the…" description: "\"“as soon as I seized upon the otherworldly, it joined this world and didn’t count.”\" — Lionel Shriver" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/lionel-shriver-744_quote_as-soon-as-i-seized-upon-the-otherworldl_2092746.jpg" --- # as soon as I seized upon the otherworldly, it joined this… ![“as soon as I seized upon the otherworldly, it joined this world and didn’t count.” quote by Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/lionel-shriver-744_quote_as-soon-as-i-seized-upon-the-otherworldl_2092746.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/lionel-shriver-744_quote_as-soon-as-i-seized-upon-the-otherworldl_2092746.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/lionel-shriver-744_quote_as-soon-as-i-seized-upon-the-otherworldl_2092746.jpg) > ““as soon as I seized upon the otherworldly, it joined this world and didn’t count.”” [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that once something supernatural is grasped, it becomes part of everyday reality and loses its otherworldly distinction. **In simple terms:** Grasping the supernatural makes it ordinary. Key Takeaway Recognize how new experiences become normal. Themes perception reality the supernatural normalization Mood curious reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - first encounter with the unknown - creative inspiration - spiritual awakening Key Concepts existentialism cognitive adaptation Questions to Reflect On - How does familiarity change your sense of wonder? - When does normalizing the extraordinary become limiting? A Different Perspective The claim may romanticize the loss of mystery, which can diminish wonder. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Otherworldly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/otherworldly/) ## Related quotes > [“Later you referenced that anecdote to illustrate that my expectations were always preposterously outsized; that my very ravenousness for the exotic was self-destructive, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/later-you-referenced-that-anecdote-to-illustrate-that-my-expectations/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [Tributary and Distributary - The way I joined the world and the way I left the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/tributary-and-distributary-the-way-i-joined-the-world-and-the-way-i/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Racism is earthbound - it's something we only do to each other here on earth. Legacy, on the other hand, is otherworldly. It pushes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-majors/racism-is-earthbound-it-s-something-we-only-do-to-each-other-here-on/) [Jonathan Majors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-majors/) > [I'd never done anything that required a five-year commitment. To build a show that seems to have kept the imagination of the world so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-noble/i-d-never-done-anything-that-required-a-five-year-commitment-to-build/) [John Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-noble/) > [“Jokes are hilarious only when you take them unreal and dreamlike, otherwise it becomes painful. So I always live otherworldly...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saket-assertive/jokes-are-hilarious-only-when-you-take-them-unreal-and-dreamlike/) [Saket Assertive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saket-assertive/) > [“In other words there is something otherworldly about our existence here --something more than matter, more than the body and mind we have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/in-other-words-there-is-something-otherworldly-about-our-existence/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > ['The Walking Dead' do such a great job with that world. It is real, but it's also otherworldly; it's strangely theatrical, and I suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alycia-debnam-carey/the-walking-dead-do-such-a-great-job-with-that-world-it-is-real-but/) [Alycia Debnam-Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alycia-debnam-carey/) > [To me, R&B means Aretha Franklin, who is otherworldly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cornell/to-me-r-b-means-aretha-franklin-who-is-otherworldly/) [Chris Cornell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cornell/) > [“It was so pure, the snow, the purest of all powders, I thought, so pure it must be from elsewhere, from another planet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-lillith-assadi/it-was-so-pure-the-snow-the-purest-of-all-powders-i-thought-so-pure/) [Hannah Lillith Assadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-lillith-assadi/) > [Antarctica is otherworldly, like nothing I've ever seen before. Stark, cold, beautiful desolation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hoppus/antarctica-is-otherworldly-like-nothing-i-ve-ever-seen-before-stark/) [Mark Hoppus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hoppus/) > [He helped make Living Things even more crazy than I wanted it to be. He added old-fashioned piano and classical folk music - that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-sweet/he-helped-make-living-things-even-more-crazy-than-i-wanted-it-to-be/) [Matthew Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-sweet/) > [“Unlike her sisters’, her eyes were green— not the tarnished olive of her father’s, either, but a bottle green, nearly emerald. Ismay forced herself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-j-pritzker/unlike-her-sisters-her-eyes-were-green-not-the-tarnished-olive-of-her/) Robyn J Pritzker > [“Intelligence is a necessity, but when one is without a supernatural sense, intelligence becomes senseless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/intelligence-is-a-necessity-but-when-one-is-without-a-supernatural/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“Lord James did not know whether to feel proud of his daughter or throttle her. He had managed to collar her quietly among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candace-l-talmadge/lord-james-did-not-know-whether-to-feel-proud-of-his-daughter-or/) [Candace L. Talmadge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candace-l-talmadge/) > [“Sooner or later, everybody dreams of other worlds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-aleksandr-wootton/sooner-or-later-everybody-dreams-of-other-worlds/) [J. Aleksandr Wootton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-aleksandr-wootton/) ## More by Lionel Shriver > [The discovery that heartbreak is indeed heartbreaking consoles us about our humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-discovery-that-heartbreak-is-indeed-heartbreaking-consoles-us/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I’m a journalist, and journalists need news. Deprive them of it, and they go a bit barking. Deprive them of news long enough, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/i-m-a-journalist-and-journalists-need-news-deprive-them-of-it-and/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“One of the things I learned with Charles," said Gray carefully, "was that finding someone like you does not necessarily mean that either of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/one-of-the-things-i-learned-with-charles-said-gray-carefully-was-that/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [In the particular dwells the tawdry. In the conceptual dwells the grand, the transcendent, the everlasting. Earthly countries and single malignant boys can go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/in-the-particular-dwells-the-tawdry-in-the-conceptual-dwells-the/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“The idea is that you don't only have one destiny. Younger and younger, kids are pressed to decide what they want to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-idea-is-that-you-don-t-only-have-one-destiny-younger-and-younger/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [Oddly, for a book to do well merely because people like it is surprisingly rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/oddly-for-a-book-to-do-well-merely-because-people-like-it-is/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“And there's a freedom in apathy, a wild, dizzying liberation on which you can almost get drunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/and-there-s-a-freedom-in-apathy-a-wild-dizzying-liberation-on-which/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [The sign that I don't like the book I'm reading is finding myself watching reruns of 'Come Dine With Me.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-sign-that-i-don-t-like-the-book-i-m-reading-is-finding-myself/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [We speak often of 'destroying the planet' when what we mean is destroying its habitability for humans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/we-speak-often-of-destroying-the-planet-when-what-we-mean-is/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [My agent had warned that, while a fine film would do my profile a world of good, a bad one wouldn't help me at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/my-agent-had-warned-that-while-a-fine-film-would-do-my-profile-a/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I think that's the biggest favor you can grant anyone, don't you? Permission to be dull. I know Henry will sometimes say something so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/i-think-that-s-the-biggest-favor-you-can-grant-anyone-don-t-you/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“They were determined to find something mechanically wrong with him - because broken machines are easier to fix. p303”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/they-were-determined-to-find-something-mechanically-wrong-with-him/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“Bur Armenians have a talent for sorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/bur-armenians-have-a-talent-for-sorrow/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“What is cool changes; that there is such a thing as cool is immutable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/what-is-cool-changes-that-there-is-such-a-thing-as-cool-is-immutable/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I have theorized that you can locate most people on a spectrum of the crudest sort and that it may be their position on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/i-have-theorized-that-you-can-locate-most-people-on-a-spectrum-of-the/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) [Explore all 375 Lionel Shriver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) ## More Otherworldly quotes > [To me, R&B means Aretha Franklin, who is otherworldly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cornell/to-me-r-b-means-aretha-franklin-who-is-otherworldly/) [Chris Cornell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cornell/) > [“Lord James did not know whether to feel proud of his daughter or throttle her. He had managed to collar her quietly among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candace-l-talmadge/lord-james-did-not-know-whether-to-feel-proud-of-his-daughter-or/) [Candace L. Talmadge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candace-l-talmadge/) > [“Intelligence is a necessity, but when one is without a supernatural sense, intelligence becomes senseless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/intelligence-is-a-necessity-but-when-one-is-without-a-supernatural/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“Unlike her sisters’, her eyes were green— not the tarnished olive of her father’s, either, but a bottle green, nearly emerald. Ismay forced herself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-j-pritzker/unlike-her-sisters-her-eyes-were-green-not-the-tarnished-olive-of-her/) Robyn J Pritzker > [He helped make Living Things even more crazy than I wanted it to be. He added old-fashioned piano and classical folk music - that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-sweet/he-helped-make-living-things-even-more-crazy-than-i-wanted-it-to-be/) [Matthew Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-sweet/) > [Antarctica is otherworldly, like nothing I've ever seen before. Stark, cold, beautiful desolation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hoppus/antarctica-is-otherworldly-like-nothing-i-ve-ever-seen-before-stark/) [Mark Hoppus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hoppus/) > [“It was so pure, the snow, the purest of all powders, I thought, so pure it must be from elsewhere, from another planet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-lillith-assadi/it-was-so-pure-the-snow-the-purest-of-all-powders-i-thought-so-pure/) [Hannah Lillith Assadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-lillith-assadi/) > ['The Walking Dead' do such a great job with that world. It is real, but it's also otherworldly; it's strangely theatrical, and I suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alycia-debnam-carey/the-walking-dead-do-such-a-great-job-with-that-world-it-is-real-but/) [Alycia Debnam-Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alycia-debnam-carey/) > [“In other words there is something otherworldly about our existence here --something more than matter, more than the body and mind we have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/in-other-words-there-is-something-otherworldly-about-our-existence/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [“Jokes are hilarious only when you take them unreal and dreamlike, otherwise it becomes painful. So I always live otherworldly...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saket-assertive/jokes-are-hilarious-only-when-you-take-them-unreal-and-dreamlike/) [Saket Assertive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saket-assertive/) > [I'd never done anything that required a five-year commitment. To build a show that seems to have kept the imagination of the world so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-noble/i-d-never-done-anything-that-required-a-five-year-commitment-to-build/) [John Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-noble/) > [Racism is earthbound - it's something we only do to each other here on earth. Legacy, on the other hand, is otherworldly. It pushes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-majors/racism-is-earthbound-it-s-something-we-only-do-to-each-other-here-on/) [Jonathan Majors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-majors/) > [“Sooner or later, everybody dreams of other worlds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-aleksandr-wootton/sooner-or-later-everybody-dreams-of-other-worlds/) [J. Aleksandr Wootton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-aleksandr-wootton/) [Browse all 14 Otherworldly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/otherworldly/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“as soon as I seized upon the otherworldly, it joined this world and didn’t count.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lionel Shriver" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/as-soon-as-i-seized-upon-the-otherworldly-it-joined-this-world-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Otherworldly" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/as-soon-as-i-seized-upon-the-otherworldly-it-joined-this-world-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/lionel-shriver-744_quote_as-soon-as-i-seized-upon-the-otherworldl_2092746.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/lionel-shriver-744_quote_as-soon-as-i-seized-upon-the-otherworldl_2092746.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/lionel-shriver-744_quote_as-soon-as-i-seized-upon-the-otherworldl_2092746.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“as soon as I seized upon the otherworldly, it joined this world and didn’t count.” — Lionel Shriver", "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": "Lionel Shriver", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“as soon as I seized upon...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/as-soon-as-i-seized-upon-the-otherworldly-it-joined-this-world-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/as-soon-as-i-seized-upon-the-otherworldly-it-joined-this-world-and/#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 } } ] } ```