--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As soon as whatever provisional well of…" description: "\"“As soon as whatever provisional well of confidence dries up, I will feel like a frightened motherless child. And I will—what? Lessee, I'll beg friends..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/maryse-holder-55341_assurance_as-soon-as-whatever-provisional-well-of_1794245.jpg" --- # As soon as whatever provisional well of confidence dries… ![“As soon as whatever provisional well of confidence dries up, I will feel like a frightened motherless child. And I will—what? Lessee, I'll beg friends to assure me I'm fascinating, that my soul is complex so I can once more conduce to irony. An abyss opens up.” quote by Maryse Holder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/maryse-holder-55341_assurance_as-soon-as-whatever-provisional-well-of_1794245.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/maryse-holder-55341_assurance_as-soon-as-whatever-provisional-well-of_1794245.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/maryse-holder-55341_assurance_as-soon-as-whatever-provisional-well-of_1794245.jpg) > ““As soon as whatever provisional well of confidence dries up, I will feel like a frightened motherless child. And I will—what? Lessee, I'll beg friends to assure me I'm fascinating, that my soul is complex so I can once more conduce to irony. An abyss opens up.”” [Maryse Holder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryse-holder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When confidence wanes, fear surfaces and we seek validation, leading to existential dread. **In simple terms:** Loss of confidence creates fear and need for reassurance. Key Takeaway Seek inner validation, not external approval. Themes fear validation existential crisis Mood anxious reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal setbacks - creative blocks - relationship insecurity Key Concepts selfesteem irony psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you self‑validate? - What fears arise when confidence fades? A Different Perspective Reliance on others can perpetuate insecurity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assurance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assurance/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Irony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irony/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) [Self esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-esteem/) ## Related quotes > [But the sons of this world have not God; they have only each other, and they walk holding to each other and looking to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-the-sons-of-this-world-have-not-god-they-have-only-each-other-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“No wonder that the ghost and goblin stories had a new zest. No wonder that the blood of the more timid grew chill and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berwick-harwood/no-wonder-that-the-ghost-and-goblin-stories-had-a-new-zest-no-wonder/) John Berwick Harwood > [And so I began to read,' Sorkar said. 'And at first the complete works were like a jungle, the language was quicksand. Metaphors turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/and-so-i-began-to-read-sorkar-said-and-at-first-the-complete-works/) [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) > [I tried heroin once and I didn't like it. It frightened me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ozzy-osbourne/i-tried-heroin-once-and-i-didn-t-like-it-it-frightened-me/) [Ozzy Osbourne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ozzy-osbourne/) > [Owl City is exactly as you'd imagine him. It's hard to have much on him. He's like a frightened bunny. I feel like if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/owl-city-is-exactly-as-you-d-imagine-him-it-s-hard-to-have-much-on/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [If you can't frighten yourself, I don't think you can excite other people. And I like being frightened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erol-alkan/if-you-can-t-frighten-yourself-i-don-t-think-you-can-excite-other/) [Erol Alkan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erol-alkan/) > [“At evening when the lamp is lit, The tired Human People sit And doze, or turn with solemn looks The speckled pages of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-herford/at-evening-when-the-lamp-is-lit-the-tired-human-people-sit-and-doze/) [Oliver Herford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-herford/) > [Down the long and silent street, The dawn, with silver-sandaled feet, Crept like a frightened girl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/down-the-long-and-silent-street-the-dawn-with-silver-sandaled-feet/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“like frightened herbivores, New York cabbies all hide at the first hint of nightfall—”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/like-frightened-herbivores-new-york-cabbies-all-hide-at-the-first/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [When God overcomes our difficulties for us, we have the assurance that we are engaged in His work and not our own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-muller/when-god-overcomes-our-difficulties-for-us-we-have-the-assurance-that/) [George Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-muller/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [How arrogant - how very far from humility - would be the self-satisfied, smug assurance that God, a tidy-up-after-us God will come and clean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/how-arrogant-how-very-far-from-humility-would-be-the-self-satisfied/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [A wholesome regard for the memory of the great men of long ago is the best assurance to a people of a continuation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/a-wholesome-regard-for-the-memory-of-the-great-men-of-long-ago-is-the/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [She had been dragged in the most humiliating of all dusts, the dust reserved for older women who let themselves be approached, on amorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/she-had-been-dragged-in-the-most-humiliating-of-all-dusts-the-dust/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) ## More by Maryse Holder > [“Writing to you is like some embarrassing remake of Waiting For Godot. Why don't you jerk off on paper in my direction, as I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryse-holder/writing-to-you-is-like-some-embarrassing-remake-of-waiting-for-godot/) [Maryse Holder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryse-holder/) > [“If only I could cry. I am beyond that. The light, the light, lending itself to empty downtown Saturday, but still the stupid insensate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryse-holder/if-only-i-could-cry-i-am-beyond-that-the-light-the-light-lending/) [Maryse Holder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryse-holder/) > [“All I want is some man to take delight in me. 5:30? 6:30 A.M. as usual, no cigs. Better a maudlin drunk than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryse-holder/all-i-want-is-some-man-to-take-delight-in-me-5-30-6-30-a-m-as-usual/) [Maryse Holder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryse-holder/) > [“That was the next-to-last time I felt any desire. And he was pale and tall (how disgusting tall men are, such a waste of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryse-holder/that-was-the-next-to-last-time-i-felt-any-desire-and-he-was-pale-and/) [Maryse Holder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryse-holder/) > [“I'm sorry. This is diary, not enlightenment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryse-holder/i-m-sorry-this-is-diary-not-enlightenment/) [Maryse Holder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryse-holder/) [Explore all 6 Maryse Holder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryse-holder/) ## More Assurance quotes > [She had been dragged in the most humiliating of all dusts, the dust reserved for older women who let themselves be approached, on amorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/she-had-been-dragged-in-the-most-humiliating-of-all-dusts-the-dust/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [A wholesome regard for the memory of the great men of long ago is the best assurance to a people of a continuation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/a-wholesome-regard-for-the-memory-of-the-great-men-of-long-ago-is-the/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [How arrogant - how very far from humility - would be the self-satisfied, smug assurance that God, a tidy-up-after-us God will come and clean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/how-arrogant-how-very-far-from-humility-would-be-the-self-satisfied/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [When God overcomes our difficulties for us, we have the assurance that we are engaged in His work and not our own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-muller/when-god-overcomes-our-difficulties-for-us-we-have-the-assurance-that/) [George Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-muller/) > [What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [There are believers who by God's grace, have climbed the mountains of full assurance and near communion, their place is with the eagle in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/there-are-believers-who-by-god-s-grace-have-climbed-the-mountains-of/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Everybody in the real world will agree - the moment a project is behind deadline, quality assurance tends to go out the window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cox/everybody-in-the-real-world-will-agree-the-moment-a-project-is-behind/) Alan Cox > [Perhapsthemost sublimeinsights oftheJewishprophets and the Christian gospel is the knowledge that since perfection is love, the apprehension of perfection is at once the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/perhapsthemost-sublimeinsights-ofthejewishprophets-and-the-christian/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [We have a commitment to serve our Lord. We have an assurance that the cause is just and worthy. But, above all, we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/we-have-a-commitment-to-serve-our-lord-we-have-an-assurance-that-the/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [“Out of all its squalor and human decay, its eruptions of butchery, India produced so many people of grace and beauty, ruled by elaborate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/out-of-all-its-squalor-and-human-decay-its-eruptions-of-butchery/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Do not rest, believer, until you have full assurance of your interest in Jesus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/do-not-rest-believer-until-you-have-full-assurance-of-your-interest/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Confidentially, the type of male I find most enjoyable for a friend is one who has enough fire and assurance to speak up for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/confidentially-the-type-of-male-i-find-most-enjoyable-for-a-friend-is/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [Great literature has always been written in a like spirit, and is, indeed, the Forgiveness of Sin, and when we find it becoming the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/great-literature-has-always-been-written-in-a-like-spirit-and-is/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Our assurance is anchored in the love and grace of God expressed in the glorious exchange: our sin for His righteousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/our-assurance-is-anchored-in-the-love-and-grace-of-god-expressed-in/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) [Browse all 557 Assurance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assurance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As soon as whatever provisional well of confidence dries up, I will feel like a frightened motherless child. 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