--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What can I do but stand with my mouth…" description: "\"“What can I do but stand with my mouth open, no sound emerging? My lips move and I wave my arms making gestures from the other side of the glass, which..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/mark-doty-11557_faith_what-can-i-do-but-stand-with-my-mouth-op_2792787.jpg" --- # What can I do but stand with my mouth open, no sound… ![“What can I do but stand with my mouth open, no sound emerging? My lips move and I wave my arms making gestures from the other side of the glass, which I can’t penetrate. …people can speak out of anything, though the struggle takes years. The problem is, whatever I say about the present feels…” quote by Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/mark-doty-11557_faith_what-can-i-do-but-stand-with-my-mouth-op_2792787.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/mark-doty-11557_faith_what-can-i-do-but-stand-with-my-mouth-op_2792787.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/mark-doty-11557_faith_what-can-i-do-but-stand-with-my-mouth-op_2792787.jpg) > ““What can I do but stand with my mouth open, no sound emerging? My lips move and I wave my arms making gestures from the other side of the glass, which I can’t penetrate. …people can speak out of anything, though the struggle takes years. The problem is, whatever I say about the present feels false-nothing contains it all, or catches the depth of things, or their terrible one-dimensionality. What am I living on? Someone said the other day, “that old irrepressible-impossible- hope.” And I thought no, this doesn’t feel like hope. But maybe that’s what hope is, no shining thing but a kind of sustenance, plain as bread, the ordinary thing that feeds us. How could we confuse this optimism, when it has nothing to do with expecting things to get better? Hope has to do with continuing, that’s all…I can imagine now, where I couldn’t before, this long erosion of faith, this steady drawing from one’s strength, until what’s left is tenuous, transparent.”” [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Hope is a quiet, sustaining force that persists despite uncertainty, not a grand optimism but a modest, everyday endurance. **In simple terms:** Hope is a plain, steady sustenance, not flashy optimism. Key Takeaway Embrace modest, persistent hope. Themes hope endurance existential resilience Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crisis - creative work - mental health - spiritual searching Key Concepts existentialism psychology human condition Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize subtle hope in daily life? - What small actions sustain you during uncertainty? A Different Perspective Hope may feel insufficient when confronting deep despair. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Optimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimism/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Things To Get Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-to-get-better/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [“My hope is based on a God who can do and will do the impossible. My hope is based on a God who has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-wilson/my-hope-is-based-on-a-god-who-can-do-and-will-do-the-impossible-my/) [Pete Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-wilson/) > [It's best to not confuse optimism with hope. Optimism is a psychological attitude toward life. Hope goes further. It is an anchor that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/it-s-best-to-not-confuse-optimism-with-hope-optimism-is-a/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [When things are bad, we take comfort in the thought that they could always be worse. And when they are, we find hope in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/when-things-are-bad-we-take-comfort-in-the-thought-that-they-could/) [Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/) > [Tom Paine was a great American visionary. His book, Common Sense, sold a couple of hundred thousand copies in a population of four or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/studs-terkel/tom-paine-was-a-great-american-visionary-his-book-common-sense-sold-a/) [Studs Terkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/studs-terkel/) > [A lifetime of what-ifs, carefully strung on a single hope thought for dead but the sun rose again today my heart whispered 'it's worth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-lifetime-of-what-ifs-carefully-strung-on-a-single-hope-thought-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Not hope that he would be rescued--that was gone. But hope in his knowledge. Hope in the fact that he could learn and survive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-paulsen/not-hope-that-he-would-be-rescued-that-was-gone-but-hope-in-his/) [Gary Paulsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-paulsen/) > [Hope is necessary. It's a necessary concept. And Barack Obama didn't just talk about hope because he thought it was just a nice slogan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-obama/hope-is-necessary-it-s-a-necessary-concept-and-barack-obama-didn-t/) [Michelle Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-obama/) > [When I was a kid, my father didn't really have much hope for me. He thought I was a dreamer; he didn't think I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gehry/when-i-was-a-kid-my-father-didn-t-really-have-much-hope-for-me-he/) [Frank Gehry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gehry/) > [“Although you set your goal of getting a B, when your first exam score, worth 30% of your final grade is returned, you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/although-you-set-your-goal-of-getting-a-b-when-your-first-exam-score/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [“We live in hope that the good we do here on earth will be rewarded in heaven. We also hope to win the war.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/we-live-in-hope-that-the-good-we-do-here-on-earth-will-be-rewarded-in/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [When I was saving pills to kill myself, I thought there was no hope. I thought my life was over because I was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cleve-jones/when-i-was-saving-pills-to-kill-myself-i-thought-there-was-no-hope-i/) [Cleve Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cleve-jones/) > [Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/maybe-all-one-can-do-is-hope-to-end-up-with-the-right-regrets/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [“Sometimes I actually hope that he did once feel empty and hopeless and helpless enough to slash his wrists to the bone, because if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-quick/sometimes-i-actually-hope-that-he-did-once-feel-empty-and-hopeless/) [Matthew Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-quick/) > [But hope got in, no matter how hard and fast I tried to stomp it out. Like these tiny fire ants we used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/but-hope-got-in-no-matter-how-hard-and-fast-i-tried-to-stomp-it-out/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [Maybe part of find what you wanted was recognizing what you didn't want. Maybe there was hope for me yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-cook/maybe-part-of-find-what-you-wanted-was-recognizing-what-you-didn-t/) [Claire Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-cook/) ## More by Mark Doty > [One ambition of poetry, certainly, is to create a reverberant silence in its wake, one that means more or differently than the silence that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/one-ambition-of-poetry-certainly-is-to-create-a-reverberant-silence/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [... the attempt to render visual intricacy makes words feel unwieldy, like sacks of meaning that must be lugged into place, dragged here and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/the-attempt-to-render-visual-intricacy-makes-words-feel-unwieldy-like/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [“And now, a heap of roses beside the sea, white rugosa beside the foaming hem of shore: brave, waxen candles… And we talk as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/and-now-a-heap-of-roses-beside-the-sea-white-rugosa-beside-the/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [“Doesn’t rain make a memory more intimate?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/doesn-t-rain-make-a-memory-more-intimate/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [“I used to walk out, at night, to the breakwater which divides the end of the harbor form the broad moor of the salt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/i-used-to-walk-out-at-night-to-the-breakwater-which-divides-the-end/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [“And, I think, this greening does thaw at the edges, at least, of my own cold season. Joy sneaks in: listening to music, riding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/and-i-think-this-greening-does-thaw-at-the-edges-at-least-of-my-own/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [In Judith Barrington's striking collection, Horses and the Human Soul, human emotions come ushered and accompanied by animal companions, especially the horses this speaker…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/in-judith-barrington-s-striking-collection-horses-and-the-human-soul/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [Poetry is ... the physical enactment of a process of knowing by means of language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/poetry-is-the-physical-enactment-of-a-process-of-knowing-by-means-of/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [We love disasters that have nothing to do with us](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/we-love-disasters-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-us/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [“Does the poem reside in experience or in self-consciousness about experience?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/does-the-poem-reside-in-experience-or-in-self-consciousness-about/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > ['Everything beautiful occurs when the body / is suspended,' Helena Mesa quotes a performance artist who hangs his own pierced body in the air.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/everything-beautiful-occurs-when-the-body-is-suspended-helena-mesa/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [Intimacy, says the phenomenologist Gaston Bachelard, is the highest value. I resist this statement at first. What about artistic achievement, or moral courage, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/intimacy-says-the-phenomenologist-gaston-bachelard-is-the-highest/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [It's unsettling, to lose the safety of the familiar, even when what's disrupted is an ordinary routine. When I began this poem, I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/it-s-unsettling-to-lose-the-safety-of-the-familiar-even-when-what-s/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [Desire can make anything into a god.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/desire-can-make-anything-into-a-god/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) > [“In the museums we used to visit on family vacations when I was a kid, I used to love those rooms which displayed collections…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/in-the-museums-we-used-to-visit-on-family-vacations-when-i-was-a-kid/) [Mark Doty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) [Explore all 59 Mark Doty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/) ## More Faith quotes > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [Keep the faith, and keep going strong!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doreen-virtue/keep-the-faith-and-keep-going-strong/) [Doreen Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doreen-virtue/) > [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/) > [Faith gives you a certain structure and meaning to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riffat-hassan/faith-gives-you-a-certain-structure-and-meaning-to-your-life/) Riffat Hassan > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [“No man is prejudiced in favour of a thing, knowing it to be wrong. He is attached to it on the belief of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/no-man-is-prejudiced-in-favour-of-a-thing-knowing-it-to-be-wrong-he/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Holiness sincerity, and faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/holiness-sincerity-and-faith/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“The only limitations for your life are the limiting beliefs in your mind. —Matt Morris”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-morris-1/the-only-limitations-for-your-life-are-the-limiting-beliefs-in-your/) Matt Morris (1 > [“Just because your faith is shaken doesn’t mean the faith is shaken. The eternal truths of the Kingdom aren’t altered or affected by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-arthur/just-because-your-faith-is-shaken-doesn-t-mean-the-faith-is-shaken/) [Sarah Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-arthur/) > [Grit, determination, the right amount of crazy, self belief - everything it takes to be a champion. I have that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dustin-poirier/grit-determination-the-right-amount-of-crazy-self-belief-everything/) [Dustin Poirier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dustin-poirier/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Once you pull the trigger, you've got to throw balls aggressively and with conviction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-smith/once-you-pull-the-trigger-you-ve-got-to-throw-balls-aggressively-and/) [Alex Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-smith/) [Browse all 37,796 Faith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What can I do but stand with my mouth open, no sound emerging? My lips move and I wave my arms making gestures from the other side of the glass, which I can’t penetrate. …people can speak out of anything, though the struggle takes years. The problem is, whatever I say about the present feels false-nothing contains it all, or catches the depth of things, or their terrible one-dimensionality. What am I living on? Someone said the other day, “that old irrepressible-impossible- hope.” And I thought no, this doesn’t feel like hope. But maybe that’s what hope is, no shining thing but a kind of sustenance, plain as bread, the ordinary thing that feeds us. How could we confuse this optimism, when it has nothing to do with expecting things to get better? Hope has to do with continuing, that’s all…I can imagine now, where I couldn’t before, this long erosion of faith, this steady drawing from one’s strength, until what’s left is tenuous, transparent.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Doty" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/what-can-i-do-but-stand-with-my-mouth-open-no-sound-emerging-my-lips/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Faith" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/what-can-i-do-but-stand-with-my-mouth-open-no-sound-emerging-my-lips/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/mark-doty-11557_faith_what-can-i-do-but-stand-with-my-mouth-op_2792787.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/mark-doty-11557_faith_what-can-i-do-but-stand-with-my-mouth-op_2792787.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/mark-doty-11557_faith_what-can-i-do-but-stand-with-my-mouth-op_2792787.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What can I do but stand with my mouth open, no sound emerging? My lips move and I wave my arms making…” — Mark Doty", "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": "Mark Doty", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-doty/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“What can I do but stand...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/what-can-i-do-but-stand-with-my-mouth-open-no-sound-emerging-my-lips/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-doty/what-can-i-do-but-stand-with-my-mouth-open-no-sound-emerging-my-lips/#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 } } ] } ```