--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We yearned for the future. How did we…" description: "\"“We yearned for the future. How did we learn it, that talent for insatiability? It was in the air; and it was still in the air, an afterthought, as we ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f19/margaret-atwood-40_afterthought_we-yearned-for-the-future-how-did-we-lea_2582128.jpg" --- # We yearned for the future. How did we learn it, that… ![“We yearned for the future. How did we learn it, that talent for insatiability? It was in the air; and it was still in the air, an afterthought, as we tried to sleep,” quote by Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f19/margaret-atwood-40_afterthought_we-yearned-for-the-future-how-did-we-lea_2582128.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f19/margaret-atwood-40_afterthought_we-yearned-for-the-future-how-did-we-lea_2582128.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f19/margaret-atwood-40_afterthought_we-yearned-for-the-future-how-did-we-lea_2582128.jpg) > ““We yearned for the future. How did we learn it, that talent for insatiability? It was in the air; and it was still in the air, an afterthought, as we tried to sleep,”” [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human curiosity drives us to imagine and seek what lies ahead, even when we are exhausted or distracted. **In simple terms:** We constantly imagine the future, even when tired. Key Takeaway Embrace curiosity, even in fatigue. Themes curiosity future imagination Mood reflective melancholic Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - late-night brainstorming - creative writing - strategic planning - personal reflection Key Concepts existentialism human desire Questions to Reflect On - What future do you chase when you’re exhausted? - How can you channel restless curiosity productively? A Different Perspective The quote romanticizes endless yearning, which can lead to burnout if not balanced. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [We yearned for the future. How did we learn it, that talent for insatiability?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/we-yearned-for-the-future-how-did-we-learn-it-that-talent-for/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“There was old sex in the room and loneliness, and expectation, of something without a shape or name. I remember that yearning, and was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/there-was-old-sex-in-the-room-and-loneliness-and-expectation-of/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“how anxiously I yearned for those I had forsaken.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/how-anxiously-i-yearned-for-those-i-had-forsaken/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“Because we know he was simply a man, with weakness and frailties. Who yearned for the same things all of us do--to love and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-callihan/because-we-know-he-was-simply-a-man-with-weakness-and-frailties-who/) [Kristen Callihan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-callihan/) > [All the wisdom in the world cannot put in one's heart the love one yearned for as a small child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tian-dayton/all-the-wisdom-in-the-world-cannot-put-in-one-s-heart-the-love-one/) [Tian Dayton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tian-dayton/) > [“Hate yearned to destroy and sought to forget, but love could not. Love strove creatively towards days that had yet to come.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/hate-yearned-to-destroy-and-sought-to-forget-but-love-could-not-love/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“It was one of the things about being a parabatai that made it a magic toward which she had yearned. In a way, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/it-was-one-of-the-things-about-being-a-parabatai-that-made-it-a-magic/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Like any child raised on tales of magical worlds beyond paintings and mirrors and wardrobes, I had yearned to enter Middle Earth, to reach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-c-hines/like-any-child-raised-on-tales-of-magical-worlds-beyond-paintings-and/) [Jim C. Hines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-c-hines/) > [I yearned for a long, happy marriage with one person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginger-rogers/i-yearned-for-a-long-happy-marriage-with-one-person/) [Ginger Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginger-rogers/) > [“To be with her – that was all … all he yearned for and all he lacked. To be with her until the sun turned black.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cl-mentine-beauvais/to-be-with-her-that-was-all-all-he-yearned-for-and-all-he-lacked-to/) Clémentine Beauvais > [I always yearned to explore the entrepreneur in me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pranitha-subhash/i-always-yearned-to-explore-the-entrepreneur-in-me/) [Pranitha Subhash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pranitha-subhash/) > [I was trundling around with my inadequacies, and inner pain and loneliness. I yearned, desperately, to be something. I yearned to get out from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hopkins/i-was-trundling-around-with-my-inadequacies-and-inner-pain-and/) [Anthony Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hopkins/) > [“All my life my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name.” andre breton”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/all-my-life-my-heart-has-yearned-for-a-thing-i-cannot-name-andre/) [andre breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“You do not know how I have yearned to hear those words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-mallory/you-do-not-know-how-i-have-yearned-to-hear-those-words/) [H.P. Mallory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-mallory/) > [My mother was terribly important to me, and I know how much I yearned for her in my youth, but I don't think I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-andrews/my-mother-was-terribly-important-to-me-and-i-know-how-much-i-yearned/) [Julie Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-andrews/) ## More by Margaret Atwood > [“I'm fine," said Pilar, "for the moment. And the moment is the only time we can be fine in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-m-fine-said-pilar-for-the-moment-and-the-moment-is-the-only-time-we/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [And yet it disturbs me to learn I have hurt someone unintentionally. I want all my hurts to be intentional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/and-yet-it-disturbs-me-to-learn-i-have-hurt-someone-unintentionally-i/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Mary: Some call this "Eve's curse," but I think that is stupid because the real curse of Eve was having to put up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/mary-some-call-this-eve-s-curse-but-i-think-that-is-stupid-because/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“The birds were singing around me, but I reflected that the very birds were strangers to me, for I did not even know their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-birds-were-singing-around-me-but-i-reflected-that-the-very-birds/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Strange how we decorate pain. These ribbons, for instance, and the small hard teardrops of blood. Who are they for? Do we think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/strange-how-we-decorate-pain-these-ribbons-for-instance-and-the-small/) [margaret atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I wanted to forget the past, but it refused to forget me; it waited for sleep, then cornered me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-wanted-to-forget-the-past-but-it-refused-to-forget-me-it-waited-for/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Back at home they drew the curtains and read, with disapproval, with relish, with avidity and glee - even the ones who'd never thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/back-at-home-they-drew-the-curtains-and-read-with-disapproval-with/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“It's my fault. I am forgetting too much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-my-fault-i-am-forgetting-too-much/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [All fiction is about people, unless it's about rabbits pretending to be people. It's all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-fiction-is-about-people-unless-it-s-about-rabbits-pretending-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Simon walks back to the house alone. The night is clear and warm, with a moon, almost full, enclosed in a nimbus of mist;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/simon-walks-back-to-the-house-alone-the-night-is-clear-and-warm-with/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“There is indeed something delightful about being able to combine obedience and disobedience in the same act.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/there-is-indeed-something-delightful-about-being-able-to-combine/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Every time the women appear, Snowman is astonished all over again. They're every known colour from the deepest black to whitest white, they're various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/every-time-the-women-appear-snowman-is-astonished-all-over-again-they/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/once-you-publish-a-book-it-is-out-of-your-control-you-cannot-dictate/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“The more difficult it was to love the particular man beside us, the more we believed in Love, abstract and total. We were waiting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-more-difficult-it-was-to-love-the-particular-man-beside-us-the/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“She knows she's deceiving herself about that, but she prefers to deceive herself. She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) [Explore all 2,072 Margaret Atwood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## More Afterthought quotes > [“As we were swimming back, he asked as though it were an afterthought, “Are you going to hold last night against me?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/as-we-were-swimming-back-he-asked-as-though-it-were-an-afterthought/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [I write for myself and strangers. The strangers, dear Readers, are an afterthought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-write-for-myself-and-strangers-the-strangers-dear-readers-are-an/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [It's a great time to be a comedian because you've got so much more control. You can say what you want to. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-burr/it-s-a-great-time-to-be-a-comedian-because-you-ve-got-so-much-more/) [Bill Burr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-burr/) > [“I was an afterthought, five thousand years later. A mistake, because Ciana was gone. I was the dissonant note on the end of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-meadows/i-was-an-afterthought-five-thousand-years-later-a-mistake-because/) [Jodi Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-meadows/) > [Each one of us is not a divine afterthought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/each-one-of-us-is-not-a-divine-afterthought/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Indigenous programs and policy will come within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet because Indigenous policy and programs should not be an add…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yitzhak-rabin/indigenous-programs-and-policy-will-come-within-the-department-of/) [Yitzhak Rabin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yitzhak-rabin/) > [Getting to the top isn't bad, and it's probably best done as an afterthought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-wilson-schaef/getting-to-the-top-isn-t-bad-and-it-s-probably-best-done-as-an/) [Anne Wilson Schaef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-wilson-schaef/) > [How much reverence has a noble man for his enemies!--and such reverence is a bridge to love.--For he desires his enemy for himself, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/how-much-reverence-has-a-noble-man-for-his-enemies-and-such-reverence/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [People shouldn't notice what you're wearing before they notice you. You want people to register you first. 'Oh, what a nice jacket' should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kors/people-shouldn-t-notice-what-you-re-wearing-before-they-notice-you/) [Michael Kors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kors/) > [Humor is not a postscript or an incidental afterthought; it is a serious and weighty part of the world's economy. One feels increasingly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-w-firkins/humor-is-not-a-postscript-or-an-incidental-afterthought-it-is-a/) [Oscar W. Firkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-w-firkins/) > [The technology backbone is no longer an afterthought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-price/the-technology-backbone-is-no-longer-an-afterthought/) Nick Price > [“Then, as another afterthought, he had added, “We Don’t Rent Pigs,” which occasioned yet another argument with Call.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/then-as-another-afterthought-he-had-added-we-don-t-rent-pigs-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You are not an afterthought, you are not an accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/you-are-not-an-afterthought-you-are-not-an-accident/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [“You are not an afterthought. You are an everythought.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirk-diedrich/you-are-not-an-afterthought-you-are-an-everythought/) [Kirk Diedrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirk-diedrich/) > [The church lies at the very center of the eternal purpose of God. It is not a divine afterthought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stott/the-church-lies-at-the-very-center-of-the-eternal-purpose-of-god-it/) [John Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stott/) Browse all 53 Afterthought quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We yearned for the future. How did we learn it, that talent for insatiability? 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