--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You know those afternoons,\" he asks…" description: "\"“You know those afternoons,\" he asks, drawing a shaking breath, \"where you’re just going along, doing fine, and then afternoon comes and it feels like ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8af/marya-hornbacher-2109_afternoons_you-know-those-afternoons-he-asks-drawin_497168.png" --- # You know those afternoons," he asks, drawing a shaking… ![“You know those afternoons," he asks, drawing a shaking breath, "where you’re just going along, doing fine, and then afternoon comes and it feels like you’ve just got the wind knocked out of you and everything is wrong?" He sighs and slowly pushes himself so he’s sitting upright. His shoulders are…” quote by Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8af/marya-hornbacher-2109_afternoons_you-know-those-afternoons-he-asks-drawin_497168.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8af/marya-hornbacher-2109_afternoons_you-know-those-afternoons-he-asks-drawin_497168.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8af/marya-hornbacher-2109_afternoons_you-know-those-afternoons-he-asks-drawin_497168.png) > ““You know those afternoons," he asks, drawing a shaking breath, "where you’re just going along, doing fine, and then afternoon comes and it feels like you’ve just got the wind knocked out of you and everything is wrong?" He sighs and slowly pushes himself so he’s sitting upright. His shoulders are slumped. "That’s all," he says. "It’s just one of those afternoons." We are silent for a minute. Then he lies back down on the couch. I should say I love him. I should say it will be all right. But it won’t. I walk down the hall to my bedroom. I lie down on my side and stare at the wall, the blue-flowered wallpaper next to my nose. Despite my best efforts, I start to cry. I know those afternoons.”” [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A sudden, overwhelming low can hit without warning, leaving one feeling helpless despite attempts to stay strong. **In simple terms:** Unexpected sadness can strike any day. Key Takeaway Accept the feeling, seek support, and allow yourself to process. Themes mental health vulnerability resilience Mood sad reflective Type personal narrative emotional When to use this quote - loneliness - depression - unexpected crisis - self‑care Key Concepts emotional dysregulation coping mechanisms Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when an “afternoon” is a deeper issue? - What support can you reach out to in those moments? A Different Perspective The quote may romanticize suffering without offering concrete help. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression/) [Doing Fine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-fine/) [Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madness/) ## Related quotes > [There comes a moment in the day when you have written your pages in the morning, attended to your correspondence in the afternoon, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/there-comes-a-moment-in-the-day-when-you-have-written-your-pages-in/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [Practical! On Wednesday afternoons I could be practically anything. What's up?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kit-williams/practical-on-wednesday-afternoons-i-could-be-practically-anything/) [Kit Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kit-williams/) > [Occasionally, in the afternoons, I catch a movie, watch football, go to Sunday brunch, or visit with family and friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-king/occasionally-in-the-afternoons-i-catch-a-movie-watch-football-go-to/) [Bernice King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-king/) > [“Fall in love with the energy of the mornings trace your fingers along the lull of the afternoons take the spirit of the evenings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanober-khan/fall-in-love-with-the-energy-of-the-mornings-trace-your-fingers-along/) [Sanober Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanober-khan/) > [Such tenderness, those afternoons and evenings, saying blackberry, blackberry, blackberry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/such-tenderness-those-afternoons-and-evenings-saying-blackberry/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [Mornings and afternoons are my family time and I'm lucky that I can drop the kids off at school, I don't have to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwyneth-paltrow/mornings-and-afternoons-are-my-family-time-and-i-m-lucky-that-i-can/) [Gwyneth Paltrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwyneth-paltrow/) > [Coffee in the morning, cocaine afternoons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-browne/coffee-in-the-morning-cocaine-afternoons/) [Jackson Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-browne/) > [“Afternoons are hard. Mornings are pure evil from the pits of hell, which is why I don't do them anymore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-caine/afternoons-are-hard-mornings-are-pure-evil-from-the-pits-of-hell/) [Rachel Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-caine/) > [“often pointed out that bright mornings brought on wet afternoons, and that you can't expect good times to last.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/often-pointed-out-that-bright-mornings-brought-on-wet-afternoons-and/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [For I have known them all already, known them all— Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-i-have-known-them-all-already-known-them-all-have-known-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Then there were long, lazy summer afternoons when there was nothing to do but read. And dream. And watch the town go by to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-ferber/then-there-were-long-lazy-summer-afternoons-when-there-was-nothing-to/) [Edna Ferber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-ferber/) > [I am spending delightful afternoons in my garden, watching everything living around me. As I grow older, I feel everything departing, and I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/i-am-spending-delightful-afternoons-in-my-garden-watching-everything/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [As footballers, we have time on our hands. Yes, we work very hard but we also have spare afternoons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joleon-lescott/as-footballers-we-have-time-on-our-hands-yes-we-work-very-hard-but-we/) [Joleon Lescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joleon-lescott/) > [“I love afternoons like that, like when we talk about things like metempsychosis, when we learn so much, and explore so much, and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-almond/i-love-afternoons-like-that-like-when-we-talk-about-things-like/) [David Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-almond/) > [“Her legs swing complete afternoons away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-eisenstadt/her-legs-swing-complete-afternoons-away/) Jill Eisenstadt ## More by Marya Hornbacher > [“Something had been confirmed: I was worth giving a shit about; I was getting to be a successful sick person. Sick is when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/something-had-been-confirmed-i-was-worth-giving-a-shit-about-i-was/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [Because I'm not, in fact, depressed, Prozac makes me manic and numb - one of the reasons I slice my arm in the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/because-i-m-not-in-fact-depressed-prozac-makes-me-manic-and-numb-one/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [“perhaps our purpose is, for the time being, to be human, to live on this earth and in this human community, to receive something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/perhaps-our-purpose-is-for-the-time-being-to-be-human-to-live-on-this/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [I have never been normal about my body. It has always seemed to me a strange and foreign entity. I don't know that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/i-have-never-been-normal-about-my-body-it-has-always-seemed-to-me-a/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [The joy is an absurd yellow tulip, popping up in my life, contradicting all the evidence that shows it should not be there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/the-joy-is-an-absurd-yellow-tulip-popping-up-in-my-life-contradicting/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [“At a certain point, an eating disorder ceases to be "about" any one thing. It stops being about your family, or your culture. Very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/at-a-certain-point-an-eating-disorder-ceases-to-be-about-any-one/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [You can't teach an ear, you can't teach talent, but you can teach people who have those things not to just fly by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/you-can-t-teach-an-ear-you-can-t-teach-talent-but-you-can-teach/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [It's really interesting to me how all of us can experience the exact same event, and yet come away with wildly disparate interpretations of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/it-s-really-interesting-to-me-how-all-of-us-can-experience-the-exact/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [“Being here, living now, recognizing our smallness, is a spiritual practice. It allows us to be at peace with our humanity. It humbles us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/being-here-living-now-recognizing-our-smallness-is-a-spiritual/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [We think of bulimia and anorexia as either a bizarre psychosis, or as a quirky little habit, a phase, or as a thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/we-think-of-bulimia-and-anorexia-as-either-a-bizarre-psychosis-or-as/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [The anoretic operates under the astounding illusion that she can escape the flesh, and, by association, the realm of emotions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/the-anoretic-operates-under-the-astounding-illusion-that-she-can/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [If I had been a different sort of person, maybe less impressionable, less intense, less fearful, less utterly dependent upon the perceptions of others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/if-i-had-been-a-different-sort-of-person-maybe-less-impressionable/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [“Every morning I watched the sun rise and read a highly religious little meditation book and tried having a conversation with God. I waited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/every-morning-i-watched-the-sun-rise-and-read-a-highly-religious/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [My bones are brittle, my heart weak and erratic, my esophagus and stomach riddled with ulcers, my reproductive system shot, my immune system useless...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/my-bones-are-brittle-my-heart-weak-and-erratic-my-esophagus-and/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [One really ought to be afraid of self-torture. But it tempted me. It begged. The dark place that my mind was fast becoming blends,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/one-really-ought-to-be-afraid-of-self-torture-but-it-tempted-me-it/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) [Explore all 185 Marya Hornbacher quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) ## More Afternoons quotes > [“Her legs swing complete afternoons away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-eisenstadt/her-legs-swing-complete-afternoons-away/) Jill Eisenstadt > [“I love afternoons like that, like when we talk about things like metempsychosis, when we learn so much, and explore so much, and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-almond/i-love-afternoons-like-that-like-when-we-talk-about-things-like/) [David Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-almond/) > [As footballers, we have time on our hands. Yes, we work very hard but we also have spare afternoons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joleon-lescott/as-footballers-we-have-time-on-our-hands-yes-we-work-very-hard-but-we/) [Joleon Lescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joleon-lescott/) > [I am spending delightful afternoons in my garden, watching everything living around me. As I grow older, I feel everything departing, and I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/i-am-spending-delightful-afternoons-in-my-garden-watching-everything/) [Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/) > [“Then there were long, lazy summer afternoons when there was nothing to do but read. And dream. And watch the town go by to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-ferber/then-there-were-long-lazy-summer-afternoons-when-there-was-nothing-to/) [Edna Ferber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-ferber/) > [For I have known them all already, known them all— Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-i-have-known-them-all-already-known-them-all-have-known-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“often pointed out that bright mornings brought on wet afternoons, and that you can't expect good times to last.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/often-pointed-out-that-bright-mornings-brought-on-wet-afternoons-and/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“Afternoons are hard. Mornings are pure evil from the pits of hell, which is why I don't do them anymore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-caine/afternoons-are-hard-mornings-are-pure-evil-from-the-pits-of-hell/) [Rachel Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-caine/) > [Coffee in the morning, cocaine afternoons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-browne/coffee-in-the-morning-cocaine-afternoons/) [Jackson Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-browne/) > [Mornings and afternoons are my family time and I'm lucky that I can drop the kids off at school, I don't have to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwyneth-paltrow/mornings-and-afternoons-are-my-family-time-and-i-m-lucky-that-i-can/) [Gwyneth Paltrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwyneth-paltrow/) > [Such tenderness, those afternoons and evenings, saying blackberry, blackberry, blackberry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/such-tenderness-those-afternoons-and-evenings-saying-blackberry/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [“Fall in love with the energy of the mornings trace your fingers along the lull of the afternoons take the spirit of the evenings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanober-khan/fall-in-love-with-the-energy-of-the-mornings-trace-your-fingers-along/) [Sanober Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanober-khan/) > [Occasionally, in the afternoons, I catch a movie, watch football, go to Sunday brunch, or visit with family and friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-king/occasionally-in-the-afternoons-i-catch-a-movie-watch-football-go-to/) [Bernice King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-king/) > [Practical! On Wednesday afternoons I could be practically anything. What's up?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kit-williams/practical-on-wednesday-afternoons-i-could-be-practically-anything/) [Kit Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kit-williams/) > [“I stand corrected. Afternoons are hard. Mornings are pure evil from the pits of hell,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-caine/i-stand-corrected-afternoons-are-hard-mornings-are-pure-evil-from-the/) [Rachel Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-caine/) Browse all 48 Afternoons quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You know those afternoons,\" he asks, drawing a shaking breath, \"where you’re just going along, doing fine, and then afternoon comes and it feels like you’ve just got the wind knocked out of you and everything is wrong?\" He sighs and slowly pushes himself so he’s sitting upright. His shoulders are slumped. \"That’s all,\" he says. \"It’s just one of those afternoons.\" We are silent for a minute. Then he lies back down on the couch. I should say I love him. I should say it will be all right. But it won’t. I walk down the hall to my bedroom. I lie down on my side and stare at the wall, the blue-flowered wallpaper next to my nose. Despite my best efforts, I start to cry. 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