--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's just this for consolation: an…" description: "\"“There's just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lived seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give us everything ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/michael-cunningham-1120_consolation_there-s-just-this-for-consolation-an-hou_327151.jpg" --- # There's just this for consolation: an hour here or there… ![“There's just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lived seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give us everything we've ever imagined, though everyone but children knows these hours will inevitably be followed by others, far darker and more difficult. Still, we…” quote by Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/michael-cunningham-1120_consolation_there-s-just-this-for-consolation-an-hou_327151.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/michael-cunningham-1120_consolation_there-s-just-this-for-consolation-an-hou_327151.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/michael-cunningham-1120_consolation_there-s-just-this-for-consolation-an-hou_327151.jpg) > ““There's just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lived seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give us everything we've ever imagined, though everyone but children knows these hours will inevitably be followed by others, far darker and more difficult. Still, we cherish the city, the morning; we hope, more than anything, for more.”” [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Moments of unexpected joy give hope, but they are fleeting and followed by hardship. **In simple terms:** Joyful moments are brief and followed by difficulty. Key Takeaway Cherish joy, prepare for challenges. Themes hope joy transience resilience Mood melancholic hopeful Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - daily life - creative pursuits - parenting - grieving Key Concepts existentialism human experience Questions to Reflect On - What fleeting moments have you treasured? - How do you balance hope with realism? A Different Perspective Focusing only on joy can ignore necessary preparation for hardship. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consolation/) ## Related quotes > [There is just this for consolation: an hour here or there, when our lives seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/there-is-just-this-for-consolation-an-hour-here-or-there-when-our/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“We throw our parties; we abandon our families to live alone in Canada; we struggle to write books that do not change the world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/we-throw-our-parties-we-abandon-our-families-to-live-alone-in-canada-2/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“There's just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lives seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/there-s-just-this-for-consolation-an-hour-here-or-there-when-our-3/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [There's just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lives seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/there-s-just-this-for-consolation-an-hour-here-or-there-when-our-2/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“We live our lives, do whatever we do, and then we sleep - it's as simple and ordinary as that. A few jump out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/we-live-our-lives-do-whatever-we-do-and-then-we-sleep-it-s-as-simple-2/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [You may be sure that of all the moments of your life, the time you spend before the divine Sacrament will be that which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonsus-liguori/you-may-be-sure-that-of-all-the-moments-of-your-life-the-time-you/) [Alphonsus Liguori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonsus-liguori/) > [“We live our lives, do whatever we do, and then we sleep. It’s as simple and ordinary as that. A few jump out windows,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/we-live-our-lives-do-whatever-we-do-and-then-we-sleep-it-s-as-simple/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“We live our lives, do whatever we do, and then we sleep. It's as simple and ordinary as that. A few jump out windows,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/we-live-our-lives-do-whatever-we-do-and-then-we-sleep-it-s-as-simple-3/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“I start each day promising myself I’ll do better, I tell myself I can stop the destructive eating pattern. But something inside of me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-l-slater/i-start-each-day-promising-myself-i-ll-do-better-i-tell-myself-i-can/) [K.L. Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-l-slater/) > [Did anyone tell you that your are Gorgeous for the morning as yet? I hope I am the lucky one !!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/did-anyone-tell-you-that-your-are-gorgeous-for-the-morning-as-yet-i/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [Morning awakes, my arm reaching out, nothing it finds, but another lonely night, Tired I am, of this feeling alone, I long for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-tackett/morning-awakes-my-arm-reaching-out-nothing-it-finds-but-another/) [Ryan Tackett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-tackett/) > [“It was a sunrise, a kid’s sight of snowfall on a school morning. Hope. That all this can turn out okay, that somehow a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/it-was-a-sunrise-a-kid-s-sight-of-snowfall-on-a-school-morning-hope/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [You wonder, 'How could it possibly be me?' Well, of course it could happen to you. You have it. Then, of course, you wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-dimon/you-wonder-how-could-it-possibly-be-me-well-of-course-it-could-happen/) [Jamie Dimon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-dimon/) > [In the middle of the night, there is always less hope; in the dawn of the morning, there is always more hope!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/in-the-middle-of-the-night-there-is-always-less-hope-in-the-dawn-of/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Morning is my Hope, Night is my Fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jehan-fostanes-nayga/morning-is-my-hope-night-is-my-fear/) [Jehan Fostanes Nayga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jehan-fostanes-nayga/) ## More by Michael Cunningham > [“Mizzy has wandered into the garden. Carole looks contemplatively at him, says, "Lovely boy." "My wife's insanely younger brother. He's one of those kids…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/mizzy-has-wandered-into-the-garden-carole-looks-contemplatively-at/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“Zoe loved Trancas's mother. She respected her exhausted and ironic hope for rebirth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/zoe-loved-trancas-s-mother-she-respected-her-exhausted-and-ironic/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [The lives great artists live and the books they write are two very different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/the-lives-great-artists-live-and-the-books-they-write-are-two-very/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“How often since then has she wondered what might have happened if she'd tried to remain with him; if she’d returned Richard's kiss on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/how-often-since-then-has-she-wondered-what-might-have-happened-if-she/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“...a full week of their mother's quiet fury over the fun they don't seem to be having and their father's dogged attempts to provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/a-full-week-of-their-mother-s-quiet-fury-over-the-fun-they-don-t-seem/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [Oh, all you immigrants and visionaries, what do you hope to find here, who do you hope to become?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/oh-all-you-immigrants-and-visionaries-what-do-you-hope-to-find-here/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“She wants to have baked a cake that banishes sorrow, even if only for a little while.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/she-wants-to-have-baked-a-cake-that-banishes-sorrow-even-if-only-for/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“And yet, it gives Peter nothing. Not now. Not today. Not when he needs... more. More than this well-executed idea. More than the shark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/and-yet-it-gives-peter-nothing-not-now-not-today-not-when-he-needs/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [He insists on a version of you that is funnier, stranger, more eccentric and prfound thatn you suspect yourself to be--capable of doing more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/he-insists-on-a-version-of-you-that-is-funnier-stranger-more/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [The worst are full of passionate intensity while the best lack all conviction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/the-worst-are-full-of-passionate-intensity-while-the-best-lack-all/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“And here he is, letting the massive steel street door click shut behind him, standing at the top of the three iron steps that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/and-here-he-is-letting-the-massive-steel-street-door-click-shut/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [It's the world, you live in it, even if some boy has made a fool of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/it-s-the-world-you-live-in-it-even-if-some-boy-has-made-a-fool-of-you/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“She's had a long life. Now she's going to the Lord." "Frankly it creeps me out a little when you say things like that,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/she-s-had-a-long-life-now-she-s-going-to-the-lord-frankly-it-creeps/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [Any other vexations to report?" he asks. "I love the word 'vexations.'" "It's the 'x.' Nice to jump off a 'v' and bite into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/any-other-vexations-to-report-he-asks-i-love-the-word-vexations-it-s/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [Dead, we are revealed in our true dimensions, and they are surprisingly modest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/dead-we-are-revealed-in-our-true-dimensions-and-they-are-surprisingly/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) [Explore all 277 Michael Cunningham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) ## More Consolation quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I had thought that growing up's consolation was that you could escape from the arbitrariness of things, that somehow one acquired more control. Now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-galloway/i-had-thought-that-growing-up-s-consolation-was-that-you-could-escape/) [Janice Galloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-galloway/) > [It is part of God's plan for us that Christ shall come to us in everyone; it is in their particular role that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caryll-houselander/it-is-part-of-god-s-plan-for-us-that-christ-shall-come-to-us-in/) [Caryll Houselander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caryll-houselander/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But there are times when men have serious thoughts, and it is at such times, when they begin to think, that they begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/but-there-are-times-when-men-have-serious-thoughts-and-it-is-at-such/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [The slave and those whose present life is miserable and who can find no consolation in the heavens are assured that at least the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-slave-and-those-whose-present-life-is-miserable-and-who-can-find/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Perhaps the greatest consolation of the oppressed is to consider themselves superior to their tyrants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-green/perhaps-the-greatest-consolation-of-the-oppressed-is-to-consider/) [Julien Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-green/) > [Books, which we mistake for consolation, only add depth to our sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/books-which-we-mistake-for-consolation-only-add-depth-to-our-sorrow/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [The day has the color and the sound of winter. Thoughts turn to chowder...chowder breathes reassurance. It steams consolation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clementine-paddleford/the-day-has-the-color-and-the-sound-of-winter-thoughts-turn-to/) [Clementine Paddleford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clementine-paddleford/) > [Seek and possess holiness, and consolation will follow, as assuredly as warmth follows the dispensation of the rays of the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cogswell-upham/seek-and-possess-holiness-and-consolation-will-follow-as-assuredly-as/) [Thomas Cogswell Upham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cogswell-upham/) > [Solitude was my only consolation - deep, dark, deathlike solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/solitude-was-my-only-consolation-deep-dark-deathlike-solitude/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have the consolation of leaving your kingdom in the highest degree of glory and of reputation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cardinal-richelieu/i-have-the-consolation-of-leaving-your-kingdom-in-the-highest-degree/) [Cardinal Richelieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cardinal-richelieu/) > [All consolation that does not come from God is but desolation; when the soul has learned to receive no comfort but in God only,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-marie-bouvier-de-la-motte-guyon/all-consolation-that-does-not-come-from-god-is-but-desolation-when/) [Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanne-marie-bouvier-de-la-motte-guyon/) > [Let is walk ... joyously, dear souls, among the difficulties of this passing life ... These pains will have an end when our life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-is-walk-joyously-dear-souls-among-the-difficulties-of-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thinking about suicide is a potent consolation: it helps us to get through many a bad night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/thinking-about-suicide-is-a-potent-consolation-it-helps-us-to-get/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Browse all 587 Consolation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consolation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There's just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lived seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give us everything we've ever imagined, though everyone but children knows these hours will inevitably be followed by others, far darker and more difficult. 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