--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Though she would have preferred long ago…" description: "\"“Though she would have preferred long ago to have died, fled, gotten it all over with, the body--Jesus, how the body!--took its time. It possessed its ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32e/lorrie-moore-870_death_though-she-would-have-preferred-long-ago_2993899.png" --- # Though she would have preferred long ago to have died… ![“Though she would have preferred long ago to have died, fled, gotten it all over with, the body--Jesus, how the body!--took its time. It possessed its own wishes and nostalgias. You could not just turn neatly into light and slip out the window. You couldn't go like that. Within one's own departing…” quote by Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32e/lorrie-moore-870_death_though-she-would-have-preferred-long-ago_2993899.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32e/lorrie-moore-870_death_though-she-would-have-preferred-long-ago_2993899.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32e/lorrie-moore-870_death_though-she-would-have-preferred-long-ago_2993899.png) > ““Though she would have preferred long ago to have died, fled, gotten it all over with, the body--Jesus, how the body!--took its time. It possessed its own wishes and nostalgias. You could not just turn neatly into light and slip out the window. You couldn't go like that. Within one's own departing but stubborn flesh, there was only the long, sentimental, piecemeal farewell. Sir? A towel. Is there a towel? The body, hauling sadness, pursued the soul, hobbled after. The body was like a sweet, dim dog trotting lamely toward the gate as you tried slowly to drive off, out the long driveway. Take me, take me, too, barked the dog. Don't go, don't go , it said, running along the fence, almost keeping pace but not quite, its reflection a shrinking charm in the car mirrors as you trundled past the viburnium, past the pin grove, past the property line, past every last patch of land, straight down the swallowing road, disappearing and disappearing. Until at last it was true: you had disappeared.”” [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage describes the body's reluctant, sentimental resistance to death, portraying it as a stubborn companion. **In simple terms:** The body resists death, clinging to life. Key Takeaway Accept the body's slow letting go. Themes death body resistance sentimentality Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - end‑of‑life care - personal loss - creative writing - therapy Key Concepts embodiment grief acceptance Questions to Reflect On - How does the body’s resistance affect grief? - Can we find peace without dramatizing death? A Different Perspective The metaphor may romanticize suffering, obscuring practical coping. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Long ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-ago/) [Long drive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-drive/) ## Related quotes > [She said 'Over my dead body!' so I took her at her word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-wynne-jones/she-said-over-my-dead-body-so-i-took-her-at-her-word/) [Diana Wynne Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-wynne-jones/) > [“… I am born and born again. 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Within one's own departing but stubborn flesh, there was only the long, sentimental, piecemeal farewell. Sir? A towel. Is there a towel? The body, hauling sadness, pursued the soul, hobbled after. The body was like a sweet, dim dog trotting lamely toward the gate as you tried slowly to drive off, out the long driveway. Take me, take me, too, barked the dog. Don't go, don't go , it said, running along the fence, almost keeping pace but not quite, its reflection a shrinking charm in the car mirrors as you trundled past the viburnium, past the pin grove, past the property line, past every last patch of land, straight down the swallowing road, disappearing and disappearing. 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