--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Then she said sometimes the ways boys…" description: "\"“Then she said sometimes the ways boys need things so badly, like they could never stop needing, it almost scared her.”\" — Megan Abbott" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/megan-abbott-9549_needing_then-she-said-sometimes-the-ways-boys-ne_1710949.png" --- # Then she said sometimes the ways boys need things so… ![“Then she said sometimes the ways boys need things so badly, like they could never stop needing, it almost scared her.” quote by Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/megan-abbott-9549_needing_then-she-said-sometimes-the-ways-boys-ne_1710949.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/megan-abbott-9549_needing_then-she-said-sometimes-the-ways-boys-ne_1710949.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/megan-abbott-9549_needing_then-she-said-sometimes-the-ways-boys-ne_1710949.png) > ““Then she said sometimes the ways boys need things so badly, like they could never stop needing, it almost scared her.”” [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A girl fears the intense needs of boys, feeling overwhelmed by their dependence. **In simple terms:** Fear of being needed too much. Key Takeaway Set healthy boundaries in relationships. Themes relationships fear dependency gender emotions Mood anxious reflective vulnerable Type emotional psychological When to use this quote - dating - friendships - family dynamics - workplace Key Concepts attachment theory emotional intelligence Questions to Reflect On - How do you express your limits? - What does this fear reveal about your past? A Different Perspective Boundaries can be hard to enforce without conflict. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boys Need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boys-need-240247/) [Needing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needing/) [Needing Scared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needing-scared-1245682/) [Scared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scared/) [Things Badly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-badly-1123244/) ## Related quotes > [“It will go badly for me, but the hell. I am a girl things go badly for”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-tallent/it-will-go-badly-for-me-but-the-hell-i-am-a-girl-things-go-badly-for/) [Gabriel Tallent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-tallent/) > [Small mistakes, the lack of care, little accidents, and somewhere a tipping point is passed and things go badly wrong. Expedition history brims with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-s-kesselheim/small-mistakes-the-lack-of-care-little-accidents-and-somewhere-a/) [Alan S. 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I need a man who can teach me a thing or two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donatella-versace/i-find-older-men-more-attractive-than-boys-i-need-a-man-who-can-teach/) [Donatella Versace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donatella-versace/) > [“More boys need that role model and that choices. As more women lean in to their careers, more men need to lean in to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/more-boys-need-that-role-model-and-that-choices-as-more-women-lean-in/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) > [Representation is so important because it's hard for kids to want to be what they can't see. Little girls and boys need to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-calandrelli/representation-is-so-important-because-it-s-hard-for-kids-to-want-to/) [Emily Calandrelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-calandrelli/) ## More by Megan Abbott > [“She said I'd better not make her unhappy because I oughta know that she's never unhappy alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/she-said-i-d-better-not-make-her-unhappy-because-i-oughta-know-that/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [Reading Dorothy B. Hughes's novel 'In a Lonely Place' for the first time is like finding the long-lost final piece to an enormous puzzle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/reading-dorothy-b-hughes-s-novel-in-a-lonely-place-for-the-first-time/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [“Bobby pins crunching under my feet, I walk through, surveying the damaged girlness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/bobby-pins-crunching-under-my-feet-i-walk-through-surveying-the/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [If it hadn't been what it was, it would've been beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/if-it-hadn-t-been-what-it-was-it-would-ve-been-beautiful/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [I'm always surprised at the negative response to the women in my books who are openly ambitious or experience aggression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/i-m-always-surprised-at-the-negative-response-to-the-women-in-my/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [I will read anything at all by Kate Atkinson, Daniel Woodrell, and William Kennedy, who are all fearless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/i-will-read-anything-at-all-by-kate-atkinson-daniel-woodrell-and/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [“But she became Gabby’s friend in that way that can happen, because the girl with the cool boots always finds the girl with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/but-she-became-gabby-s-friend-in-that-way-that-can-happen-because-the/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [“Where’d that world go, that world when you’re a kid, and now I can’t remember noticing anything, not the smell of the leaves or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/where-d-that-world-go-that-world-when-you-re-a-kid-and-now-i-can-t/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [“This girl, this girl, and he a man with a business and a secretary and a house with a furnace and bills and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/this-girl-this-girl-and-he-a-man-with-a-business-and-a-secretary-and/) [megan abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [The speed of the TV stuff vs. the self-imposed pace of novel writing has been a big adjustment, and going back and forth often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/the-speed-of-the-tv-stuff-vs-the-self-imposed-pace-of-novel-writing/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [“We’re all the same under our skin, aren’t we? 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Somehow we've come to equate success with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/one-of-the-greatest-barriers-to-connection-is-the-cultural-importance/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [“Needing someone this much couldn’t be fucking normal”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-e-jakes/needing-someone-this-much-couldn-t-be-fucking-normal/) [S.E. Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-e-jakes/) > [“Stop aspiring and start being. The world needs you!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/stop-aspiring-and-start-being-the-world-needs-you/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [You're always going to feel like you're catching up, and part of that is just balancing work and motherhood and the whole feeling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-gordon/you-re-always-going-to-feel-like-you-re-catching-up-and-part-of-that/) [Kim Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-gordon/) > [Needing someone is like needing a parachute. If they are not there the first time you need them, chances are you won't be needing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/needing-someone-is-like-needing-a-parachute-if-they-are-not-there-the/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) > [As a general rule, if you have a product that doesn't get the job done that a customer is needing to get done, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-a-general-rule-if-you-have-a-product-that-doesn-t-get-the-job-done/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Then she wished, more rationally, that she could love him without needing him. Need gave him power without his trying; need was the choicelessness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/then-she-wished-more-rationally-that-she-could-love-him-without/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“Peace lies in the absence of the desire and need for peace.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sov8840/peace-lies-in-the-absence-of-the-desire-and-need-for-peace/) [Sov8840](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sov8840/) > [The animal needing something knows how much it needs, the man does not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/democritus/the-animal-needing-something-knows-how-much-it-needs-the-man-does-not/) [Democritus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/democritus/) > [Needing something is not the same thing as being interested in the thing itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baxter/needing-something-is-not-the-same-thing-as-being-interested-in-the/) [Charles Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baxter/) [Browse all 128 Needing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Then she said sometimes the ways boys need things so badly, like they could never stop needing, it almost scared her.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Megan Abbott" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/then-she-said-sometimes-the-ways-boys-need-things-so-badly-like-they/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Needing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/then-she-said-sometimes-the-ways-boys-need-things-so-badly-like-they/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/megan-abbott-9549_needing_then-she-said-sometimes-the-ways-boys-ne_1710949.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/megan-abbott-9549_needing_then-she-said-sometimes-the-ways-boys-ne_1710949.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/234/megan-abbott-9549_needing_then-she-said-sometimes-the-ways-boys-ne_1710949.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Then she said sometimes the ways boys need things so badly, like they could never stop needing, it almost…” — Megan Abbott", "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": "Megan Abbott", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Then she said sometimes the ways...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/then-she-said-sometimes-the-ways-boys-need-things-so-badly-like-they/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/then-she-said-sometimes-the-ways-boys-need-things-so-badly-like-they/#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 } } ] } ```