--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Remember \"the unmoored boat floats about." description: "\"“Remember \"the unmoored boat floats about.”\" — Murasaki Shikibu" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/murasaki-shikibu-11970_character-descriptio_remember-the-unmoored-boat-floats-about_2632829.jpg" --- # Remember "the unmoored boat floats about. ![“Remember "the unmoored boat floats about.” quote by Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/murasaki-shikibu-11970_character-descriptio_remember-the-unmoored-boat-floats-about_2632829.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/murasaki-shikibu-11970_character-descriptio_remember-the-unmoored-boat-floats-about_2632829.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/murasaki-shikibu-11970_character-descriptio_remember-the-unmoored-boat-floats-about_2632829.jpg) > ““Remember "the unmoored boat floats about.”” [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Being unmoored leads to drifting without direction. **In simple terms:** Without roots you drift. Key Takeaway Find anchoring purpose. Themes direction stability purpose Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career uncertainty - personal growth - relationship issues Key Concepts existential drift identity search Questions to Reflect On - What anchors you? - How do you prevent drifting? A Different Perspective Floating can become aimless. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boat Floats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boat-floats-1962064/) [Character-description](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character-description/) [Floats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/floats/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Remember Unmoored](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember-unmoored-2204127/) [River](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river/) [Unmoored Boat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unmoored-boat-2204128/) ## Related quotes > [The future is a fog that is still hanging out over the sea, a boat that floats home or does not. The trade winds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/the-future-is-a-fog-that-is-still-hanging-out-over-the-sea-a-boat/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“I feel drawn to the word "unmoored" during this time. I look it up a few times a week. I stare at the definition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chloe-caldwell/i-feel-drawn-to-the-word-unmoored-during-this-time-i-look-it-up-a-few/) [Chloe Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chloe-caldwell/) > [“Life is a river,' he once told me, 'and we all have to find a boat that floats.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thad-carhart/life-is-a-river-he-once-told-me-and-we-all-have-to-find-a-boat-that/) [Thad Carhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thad-carhart/) > [“You are on your quest. That is exciting. If you’re balanced, your boat floats on a low tide in the same way as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-wilde/you-are-on-your-quest-that-is-exciting-if-you-re-balanced-your-boat/) [Stuart Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-wilde/) > [The future is a fog that is still hanging out over the sea, a boat that floats home or does not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/the-future-is-a-fog-that-is-still-hanging-out-over-the-sea-a-boat-2/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [The memories of long love gather like drifting snow, poignant as the mandarin ducks who float side by side in sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/the-memories-of-long-love-gather-like-drifting-snow-poignant-as-the/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [If you submit to the ocean, you drown. If you try to control the ocean, then you're deluded. You learn how to live with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-restall-orr/if-you-submit-to-the-ocean-you-drown-if-you-try-to-control-the-ocean/) [Emma Restall Orr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-restall-orr/) > [“Standing on the deck of a San Francisco ferryboat, in a gray suit so precisely the same colour as the fog that he seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/standing-on-the-deck-of-a-san-francisco-ferryboat-in-a-gray-suit-so/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [“I need you to get inside Wayne's head. I need someone who thinks a bit left field and in your own unpleasant way, Helen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-keyes/i-need-you-to-get-inside-wayne-s-head-i-need-someone-who-thinks-a-bit/) [Marian Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-keyes/) > [“A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/a-hound-it-was-an-enormous-coal-black-hound-but-not-such-a-hound-as-2/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“He was drinking Harriet's favourite, cold tea... not iced tea, but hot tea that had cooled. They liked him so much. They liked the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-oyeyemi/he-was-drinking-harriet-s-favourite-cold-tea-not-iced-tea-but-hot-tea/) [Helen Oyeyemi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-oyeyemi/) > [“If you're not who you want to be, at least act like who you want it be. - Bud”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-frazier/if-you-re-not-who-you-want-to-be-at-least-act-like-who-you-want-it-be/) [Charles Frazier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-frazier/) > [“Phyllida's hair was where her power resided. It was expensively set into a smooth dome, like a band shell for the presentation of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/phyllida-s-hair-was-where-her-power-resided-it-was-expensively-set/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [“Once Addie let someone in, she was impossible to forget. There was something about her that crawled inside a person and built a nice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kasie-west/once-addie-let-someone-in-she-was-impossible-to-forget-there-was/) [Kasie West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kasie-west/) > [“...when you look at a photo or realistic drawing of a face, you see it as the face of another . But when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-mccloud/when-you-look-at-a-photo-or-realistic-drawing-of-a-face-you-see-it-as/) [Scott McCloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-mccloud/) ## More by Murasaki Shikibu > [It is in general the unexplored that attracts us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/it-is-in-general-the-unexplored-that-attracts-us/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [There is a tendency among men as well as women ... so soon as they have acquired a little knowledge of some kind, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/there-is-a-tendency-among-men-as-well-as-women-so-soon-as-they-have/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [In a certain reign there was a lady not of the first rank whom the emperor loved more than any of the others. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/in-a-certain-reign-there-was-a-lady-not-of-the-first-rank-whom-the/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [I have a theory of my own about what the art of the novel is, and how it came into being…It happens because the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/i-have-a-theory-of-my-own-about-what-the-art-of-the-novel-is-and-how/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [“The world know it not; but you, Autumn, I confess it: your wind at night-fall stabs deep into my heart”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/the-world-know-it-not-but-you-autumn-i-confess-it-your-wind-at-night/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [“Well, we never expected this!" they all say. "No one liked her. They all said she was pretentious, awkward, difficult to approach, prickly, too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/well-we-never-expected-this-they-all-say-no-one-liked-her-they-all/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [There is more here than meets the eye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/there-is-more-here-than-meets-the-eye/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [Stepmothers in books usually behave very spitefully towards the children entrusted to them. But he was now learning by his own experience that in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/stepmothers-in-books-usually-behave-very-spitefully-towards-the/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [How strange a thing is the heart of man!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/how-strange-a-thing-is-the-heart-of-man/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [Some ... have imagined that by arousing a baseless suspicion in the mind of the beloved we can revive a waning devotion. But this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/some-have-imagined-that-by-arousing-a-baseless-suspicion-in-the-mind/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [A night of endless dreams, inconsequent and wild, is this my life; none more worth telling than the rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/a-night-of-endless-dreams-inconsequent-and-wild-is-this-my-life-none/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [“We are not told of things that happened to specific people exactly as they happened; but the beginning is when there are good things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/we-are-not-told-of-things-that-happened-to-specific-people-exactly-as/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [“I leave you, to go the road we all must go. The road I would choose, if only I could, is the other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/i-leave-you-to-go-the-road-we-all-must-go-the-road-i-would-choose-if/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [Though the body moves, the soul may stay behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/though-the-body-moves-the-soul-may-stay-behind/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) > [It is useless to talk with those who do not understand one and troublesome to talk with those who criticize from a feeling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/it-is-useless-to-talk-with-those-who-do-not-understand-one-and/) [Murasaki Shikibu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) [Explore all 56 Murasaki Shikibu quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/) ## More Character-description quotes > [“...when you look at a photo or realistic drawing of a face, you see it as the face of another . But when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-mccloud/when-you-look-at-a-photo-or-realistic-drawing-of-a-face-you-see-it-as/) [Scott McCloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-mccloud/) > [“Standing on the deck of a San Francisco ferryboat, in a gray suit so precisely the same colour as the fog that he seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/standing-on-the-deck-of-a-san-francisco-ferryboat-in-a-gray-suit-so/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [“If you're not who you want to be, at least act like who you want it be. - Bud”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-frazier/if-you-re-not-who-you-want-to-be-at-least-act-like-who-you-want-it-be/) [Charles Frazier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-frazier/) > [“Phyllida's hair was where her power resided. It was expensively set into a smooth dome, like a band shell for the presentation of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/phyllida-s-hair-was-where-her-power-resided-it-was-expensively-set/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [“A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/a-hound-it-was-an-enormous-coal-black-hound-but-not-such-a-hound-as-2/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“Once Addie let someone in, she was impossible to forget. There was something about her that crawled inside a person and built a nice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kasie-west/once-addie-let-someone-in-she-was-impossible-to-forget-there-was/) [Kasie West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kasie-west/) > [“He was drinking Harriet's favourite, cold tea... not iced tea, but hot tea that had cooled. They liked him so much. They liked the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-oyeyemi/he-was-drinking-harriet-s-favourite-cold-tea-not-iced-tea-but-hot-tea/) [Helen Oyeyemi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-oyeyemi/) > [“I need you to get inside Wayne's head. I need someone who thinks a bit left field and in your own unpleasant way, Helen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-keyes/i-need-you-to-get-inside-wayne-s-head-i-need-someone-who-thinks-a-bit/) [Marian Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-keyes/) > [“I liked it when things went together like that. Not just timing things like the chop/ flick/ knock-stopping, but space things, too. Like all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-levin/i-liked-it-when-things-went-together-like-that-not-just-timing-things/) [Adam Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-levin/) > [“He was a compact, clearcut man, with precise features, a lot of very soft black hair, and thoughtful dark brown eyes. He had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/he-was-a-compact-clearcut-man-with-precise-features-a-lot-of-very/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“They were handy to have around, Nate's little gang. They were that wonderful combination of talented and noble. The former was useful, while the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-r-a-decandido/they-were-handy-to-have-around-nate-s-little-gang-they-were-that/) [Keith R.A. DeCandido](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-r-a-decandido/) > [“People don't tend to employ me. I'm the wrong personality type. Or rather, people do tend to employ me for a short time and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-keyes/people-don-t-tend-to-employ-me-i-m-the-wrong-personality-type-or/) [Marian Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-keyes/) > [“It was a compound of self-reliance, hard knocks, heart hunger, unceasing work, and generosity. There was no form of suffering with which the girl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-stratton-porter-2/it-was-a-compound-of-self-reliance-hard-knocks-heart-hunger-unceasing/) [Gene Stratton Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-stratton-porter-2/) > [Not our logical faculty, but our imaginative one is king over us. I might say, priest and prophet to lead us to heaven-ward, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/not-our-logical-faculty-but-our-imaginative-one-is-king-over-us-i/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [“Oliver daydreams about Ionian columns.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sloan/oliver-daydreams-about-ionian-columns/) [Robin Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sloan/) [Browse all 39 Character-description quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character-description/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Remember \"the unmoored boat floats about.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Murasaki Shikibu" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/remember-the-unmoored-boat-floats-about/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Character-description" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/remember-the-unmoored-boat-floats-about/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/murasaki-shikibu-11970_character-descriptio_remember-the-unmoored-boat-floats-about_2632829.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/murasaki-shikibu-11970_character-descriptio_remember-the-unmoored-boat-floats-about_2632829.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/murasaki-shikibu-11970_character-descriptio_remember-the-unmoored-boat-floats-about_2632829.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Remember \"the unmoored boat floats about.” — Murasaki Shikibu", "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": "Murasaki Shikibu", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murasaki-shikibu/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Remember \"the unmoored boat floats about.”", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/remember-the-unmoored-boat-floats-about/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murasaki-shikibu/remember-the-unmoored-boat-floats-about/#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 } } ] } ```