--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am glad I didn't understand, because I…" description: "\"“I am glad I didn't understand, because I have rarely felt joy like that, and assurance. It was like one of those dreams where you're filled with some ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/marilynne-robinson-602_dreams_i-am-glad-i-didn-t-understand-because-i_3167423.jpg" --- # I am glad I didn't understand, because I have rarely felt… ![“I am glad I didn't understand, because I have rarely felt joy like that, and assurance. It was like one of those dreams where you're filled with some extravagant feeling you might never have in life, it doesn't matter what it is, even guilt or dread, and you learn from it what an amazing…” quote by Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/marilynne-robinson-602_dreams_i-am-glad-i-didn-t-understand-because-i_3167423.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/marilynne-robinson-602_dreams_i-am-glad-i-didn-t-understand-because-i_3167423.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/marilynne-robinson-602_dreams_i-am-glad-i-didn-t-understand-because-i_3167423.jpg) > ““I am glad I didn't understand, because I have rarely felt joy like that, and assurance. It was like one of those dreams where you're filled with some extravagant feeling you might never have in life, it doesn't matter what it is, even guilt or dread, and you learn from it what an amazing instrument you are, so to speak, what a power you have to experience beyond anything you might ever actually need. Who would have thought that the moon could dazzle and flame like that?”” [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Not understanding can bring profound joy and self‑discovery, revealing inner power. **In simple terms:** Ignorance can spark joy. Key Takeaway Value mystery as growth. Themes wonder self‑discovery joy Mood contemplative hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - creative writing - spiritual practice - artistic exploration Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - What mysteries inspire you? - How does uncertainty shape your identity? A Different Perspective Joy may be fleeting and can distract from practical responsibilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) ## Related quotes > [If a star fell each time I thought about you then the moon would truly realize how loneliness is really like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-a-star-fell-each-time-i-thought-about-you-then-the-moon-would/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Elle wondered if heart could smile, because she felt that her joy reached her inner being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-reighard/elle-wondered-if-heart-could-smile-because-she-felt-that-her-joy/) [Carla Reighard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-reighard/) > [When a fan says, 'Man, you saved my life; I heard 'Jungleland'... and I cried... and I felt joy in my life again,' that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-clemons/when-a-fan-says-man-you-saved-my-life-i-heard-jungleland-and-i-cried/) [Clarence Clemons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-clemons/) > [When I took the habit, the Lord immediately showed me how He favours those who do violence to themselves in order to serve Him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-i-took-the-habit-the-lord-immediately-showed-me-how-he-favours/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [He was standing at me with such a smile. I felt such joy at me standing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/he-was-standing-at-me-with-such-a-smile-i-felt-such-joy-at-me-standing/) Mak\_786 > [We saw too much beauty to be cynical, felt too much joy to be dismissive, climbed too many mountains to be quitters, kissed too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-hansard/we-saw-too-much-beauty-to-be-cynical-felt-too-much-joy-to-be/) [Glen Hansard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-hansard/) > [It doesn't matter how your child comes to you. I've never felt such joy and such love. It's the most beautiful delicious little thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-doesn-t-matter-how-your-child-comes-to-you-i-ve-never-felt-such/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And she felt joy bubbling up in her heart—that the world was so full of sunshine and beauty and gladness. And she had put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigrid-undset/and-she-felt-joy-bubbling-up-in-her-heart-that-the-world-was-so-full/) [Sigrid Undset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigrid-undset/) > [“Now she had taken off her goodness and left it behind her like a heap of rain-sodden clothes, and she only felt joy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/now-she-had-taken-off-her-goodness-and-left-it-behind-her-like-a-heap/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [Short stories that's all it's ever been Don't you worry 'bout the ending Babe, before we begin I have seen the sun That's behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-chapin/short-stories-that-s-all-it-s-ever-been-don-t-you-worry-bout-the/) [Harry Chapin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-chapin/) > [“If you have not often felt the joy of doing a kind act, you have neglected much, and most of all yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-neilen/if-you-have-not-often-felt-the-joy-of-doing-a-kind-act-you-have/) A. Neilen > [“...those children were already beginning to repay her care by affording her small joys. These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/those-children-were-already-beginning-to-repay-her-care-by-affording/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“Then Obama walked into frame and I, along with the rest of the world, heard him say the words we’d all been waiting ten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-galloway/then-obama-walked-into-frame-and-i-along-with-the-rest-of-the-world/) [Noah Galloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-galloway/) > [“And each night in bed I thought of her as the moon came through my window. I could have lowered my shade to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/and-each-night-in-bed-i-thought-of-her-as-the-moon-came-through-my/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [When I was a child, I always thought that the moon followed me ever where I go LoL!..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junior-d-r-l-testament/when-i-was-a-child-i-always-thought-that-the-moon-followed-me-ever/) Junior Dè Rèál Testament ## More by Marilynne Robinson > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“I think sometimes there might be an advantage in making people aware how worn and stale these old transgressions are. It might take some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-think-sometimes-there-might-be-an-advantage-in-making-people-aware/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [There are two occasions when the sacred beauty of Creation becomes dazzlingly apparent, and they occur together. One is when we feel our mortal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/there-are-two-occasions-when-the-sacred-beauty-of-creation-becomes/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [My Calvinism persuades me that we are open to God, in the sense that we are not delimited, not organisms with fixed attributes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/my-calvinism-persuades-me-that-we-are-open-to-god-in-the-sense-that/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“You can know a thing to death and be for all purposes completely ignorant of it. A man can know his father, or his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/you-can-know-a-thing-to-death-and-be-for-all-purposes-completely/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [I listen to Bach a great deal. In general I like to listen to hymns and liturgical music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-listen-to-bach-a-great-deal-in-general-i-like-to-listen-to-hymns/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Every writer I know, when asked how to become a writer, responds with one word:Read.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/every-writer-i-know-when-asked-how-to-become-a-writer-responds-with/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Faith for her was habit and family loyalty, a reverence for the Bible which was also literary, admiration for her mother and father. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/faith-for-her-was-habit-and-family-loyalty-a-reverence-for-the-bible/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Prayer is a discipline in truthfulness, in honesty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/prayer-is-a-discipline-in-truthfulness-in-honesty/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.’ There are pleasures to be found where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/the-full-soul-loatheth-an-honeycomb-but-to-the-hungry-soul-every/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [I sometimes am discouraged by what seems to be a sort of conventional disparagement of humankind. I think often people feel that they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-sometimes-am-discouraged-by-what-seems-to-be-a-sort-of-conventional/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Now that I look back, it seems to me that in all that deep darkness a miracle was preparing. So I am right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/now-that-i-look-back-it-seems-to-me-that-in-all-that-deep-darkness-a/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“My grandfather once told her if you couldn't read with cold feet, there wouldn't be a literate soul in the state of Maine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/my-grandfather-once-told-her-if-you-couldn-t-read-with-cold-feet/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Cranky old Leviticus gave us—gave Christ—not only “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” but also the rather forgotten “Thou shalt love the stranger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/cranky-old-leviticus-gave-us-gave-christ-not-only-thou-shalt-love-thy/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Explore all 450 Marilynne Robinson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) ## More Dreams quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“Once we become sensitive to dreams, we discover that every dynamic in a dream is manifesting itself in some way in our practical lives”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-johnson/once-we-become-sensitive-to-dreams-we-discover-that-every-dynamic-in/) [Robert A. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-johnson/) > [“Now you’re wet. You’re so wet you’re leaking down your ass. You’re soaking my pillow. I don’t think I’m ever washing it. I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-stoker/now-you-re-wet-you-re-so-wet-you-re-leaking-down-your-ass-you-re/) [Susan Stoker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-stoker/) > [“Not that it matters, when you dream, there's no outside or in. Your mind is an unimaginable bloom. A willow catkin as big as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-shapero/not-that-it-matters-when-you-dream-there-s-no-outside-or-in-your-mind/) [Rich Shapero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-shapero/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [“As dreams are the healing songs from the wilderness of our unconscious - So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes are the healing dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-pendell/as-dreams-are-the-healing-songs-from-the-wilderness-of-our/) [Dale Pendell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-pendell/) > [Alone in a world, With millions of souls Walking in circles Trapped in their dreams unhealthy, unclean walking in circles, now do not disturb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-bennington/alone-in-a-world-with-millions-of-souls-walking-in-circles-trapped-in/) [Chester Bennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-bennington/) > [“Doing the work to transform your dreams into reality is like walking across the earth. It can be that hard, and it can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dragos-bratasanu/doing-the-work-to-transform-your-dreams-into-reality-is-like-walking/) [Dragos Bratasanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dragos-bratasanu/) > [As far as Im concerned, I didnt dream - ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-sturgeon/as-far-as-im-concerned-i-didnt-dream-ever/) [Theodore Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-sturgeon/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Sometimes life seems like a dream, especially when I look down and see that I forgot to put on my pants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/sometimes-life-seems-like-a-dream-especially-when-i-look-down-and-see/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [“I had a dream. I had an awesome dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-had-a-dream-i-had-an-awesome-dream/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 40,599 Dreams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I am glad I didn't understand, because I have rarely felt joy like that, and assurance. It was like one of those dreams where you're filled with some extravagant feeling you might never have in life, it doesn't matter what it is, even guilt or dread, and you learn from it what an amazing instrument you are, so to speak, what a power you have to experience beyond anything you might ever actually need. 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