--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Somewhere, within her, in a deep recess…" description: "\"Somewhere, within her, in a deep recess, crouched discontent. She began to lose confidence in the fullness of her life, the glow began to fade from her..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/nella-larsen-16508_anguish_somewhere-within-her-in-a-deep-recess-cr_2167053.png" --- # Somewhere, within her, in a deep recess, crouched… ![“Somewhere, within her, in a deep recess, crouched discontent. She began to lose confidence in the fullness of her life, the glow began to fade from her conception of it. As the days multiplied, her need of something, something vaguely familiar, but which she could not put a name to and hold for…” quote by Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/nella-larsen-16508_anguish_somewhere-within-her-in-a-deep-recess-cr_2167053.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/nella-larsen-16508_anguish_somewhere-within-her-in-a-deep-recess-cr_2167053.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/nella-larsen-16508_anguish_somewhere-within-her-in-a-deep-recess-cr_2167053.png) > “Somewhere, within her, in a deep recess, crouched discontent. She began to lose confidence in the fullness of her life, the glow began to fade from her conception of it. As the days multiplied, her need of something, something vaguely familiar, but which she could not put a name to and hold for definite examination, became almost intolerable. She went through moments of overwhelming anguish. She felt shut in, trapped.” [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A woman feels growing discontent and loss of purpose, yearning for an undefined but essential something, leading to anguish and feeling trapped. **In simple terms:** She feels empty and trapped, longing for an unknown need. Key Takeaway Seek clarity on what truly matters. Themes discontent identity longing anguish search Mood melancholy reflective Type literary psychological When to use this quote - career stagnation - relationship doubts - creative block - midlife crisis Key Concepts existential crisis self‑realization psychological yearning Questions to Reflect On - What unnamed need is missing? - How can she identify it? A Different Perspective The feeling may stem from external pressures rather than internal emptiness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) [Anguish Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish-felt-4623917/) [Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) [Crouched Discontent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crouched-discontent-4623918/) [Discontent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discontent/) [Examination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/examination/) [Familiar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar/) [Felt Shut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-shut-4623919/) [Fullness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fullness/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Lose Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lose-confidence/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Overwhelming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overwhelming/) [Recess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recess/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [“The chagrin which she had felt at her first failure to subvert this latest manifestation of his discontent had receded, leaving in its wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/the-chagrin-which-she-had-felt-at-her-first-failure-to-subvert-this/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [At some point he seemed to lose all confidence trying to break down the Berlin Wall. He was still fighting as only Kasparov can,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-kramnik/at-some-point-he-seemed-to-lose-all-confidence-trying-to-break-down/) [Vladimir Kramnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-kramnik/) > [Turning 50 can be difficult, sometimes dangerous, for women. The danger is in that blip that can come from the fact that you become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-french/turning-50-can-be-difficult-sometimes-dangerous-for-women-the-danger/) [Dawn French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-french/) > [I go through periods when I feel confident and then I'm apt to be impulsive. But then I go through other times where I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-anderson/i-go-through-periods-when-i-feel-confident-and-then-i-m-apt-to-be/) [Gillian Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-anderson/) > [You can lose confidence when you're not in the rhythm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-kimmich/you-can-lose-confidence-when-you-re-not-in-the-rhythm/) [Joshua Kimmich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-kimmich/) > [As a quarterback, you have to have a short memory. Don't lose your confidence, and stay within yourself. Don't try to do too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cowher/as-a-quarterback-you-have-to-have-a-short-memory-don-t-lose-your/) [Bill Cowher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cowher/) > [You will feel discouraged; you will lose confidence in your abilities; you will be bored with the characters–and the only way to overcome these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/you-will-feel-discouraged-you-will-lose-confidence-in-your-abilities/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [What comes first, the chicken or the egg? You start out bad, you don't really feel right, you don't have the same explosion, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-berkman/what-comes-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg-you-start-out-bad-you-don-t/) [Lance Berkman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-berkman/) > [“His greatest weakness was a tendency to lose confidence when he made a blunder; if he let in one goal he became flustered and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling/his-greatest-weakness-was-a-tendency-to-lose-confidence-when-he-made/) [J.K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling/) > [The frustrating part is knowing that you've done it before, knowing that you can play, but then your game starts going down the wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-fleetwood/the-frustrating-part-is-knowing-that-you-ve-done-it-before-knowing/) [Tommy Fleetwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-fleetwood/) > [All humans are imperfect. At times, the confident lose confidence, the patient misplace their patience, the generous act selfish, and the knowledgeable second guess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suman-rai/all-humans-are-imperfect-at-times-the-confident-lose-confidence-the/) [Suman Rai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suman-rai/) > [“when we do what is known to be wrong, two negative things happened. First, we feel guilt and this guilt eats away confidence. Second,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-j-schwartz/when-we-do-what-is-known-to-be-wrong-two-negative-things-happened/) [David J. Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-j-schwartz/) > [You must not lose confidence in God because you lost confidence in your pastor. If our confidence in God had to depend upon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-must-not-lose-confidence-in-god-because-you-lost-confidence-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Never be shaken, no matter what happens or what others may say. Never be flustered; never lose confidence. This is the way we should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/never-be-shaken-no-matter-what-happens-or-what-others-may-say-never/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [I had an upbringing in which I was allowed to be free and use my mind. My parents only helped me to be myself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliette-lewis/i-had-an-upbringing-in-which-i-was-allowed-to-be-free-and-use-my-mind/) [Juliette Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliette-lewis/) ## More by Nella Larsen > [“Brian darling, I’m really not such an idiot that I don’t realize that if a man calls me a nigger it’s his fault the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/brian-darling-i-m-really-not-such-an-idiot-that-i-don-t-realize-that/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“You knew what his opinion of you was, while he -- Well, 'twas ever thus. We know, always have. They don't. Not quite. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/you-knew-what-his-opinion-of-you-was-while-he-well-twas-ever-thus-we/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“No, certainly he didn’t. Not actually. He couldn’t, not very well, since he didn’t know. But he would have. It amounts to the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/no-certainly-he-didn-t-not-actually-he-couldn-t-not-very-well-since/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [These people yapped loudly of race, of race consciousness, of race pride, and yet suppressed its most delightful manifestations, love of color, joy of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/these-people-yapped-loudly-of-race-of-race-consciousness-of-race/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“And mingled with her disbelief and resentment was another feeling, a question. Why hadn’t she spoken that day? Why, in the face of Bellew’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/and-mingled-with-her-disbelief-and-resentment-was-another-feeling-a/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“But there was, she knew, something else. Happiness, she supposed. Whatever that might be. What, exactly, she wondered, was happiness. Very positively she wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/but-there-was-she-knew-something-else-happiness-she-supposed-whatever/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [If sex isn't a joke, what is it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/if-sex-isn-t-a-joke-what-is-it/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“she regarded with an astonishment that had in it a mild degree of amusement the violence of the feelings which it stirred in her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/she-regarded-with-an-astonishment-that-had-in-it-a-mild-degree-of/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“This, Irene told her, was the year 1927 in the city of New York, and hundreds of white people of Hugh Wentworth’s type came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/this-irene-told-her-was-the-year-1927-in-the-city-of-new-york-and/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [that's what everybody wants, just a little more money, even the people who have it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/that-s-what-everybody-wants-just-a-little-more-money-even-the-people/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“Not so lonely that that old, queer, unhappy restlessness had begun again within him; that craving for some place strange and different, which at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/not-so-lonely-that-that-old-queer-unhappy-restlessness-had-begun/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“After all these years to still blame her like this. Hadn’t his success proved that she’d been right in insisting that he stick to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/after-all-these-years-to-still-blame-her-like-this-hadn-t-his-success/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [Have you ever stopped to think how much unhappiness and downright cruelty are laid to the loving kindness of the Lord? And always by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/have-you-ever-stopped-to-think-how-much-unhappiness-and-downright/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [I feel like the oldest person in the world with the longest stretch of life before me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/i-feel-like-the-oldest-person-in-the-world-with-the-longest-stretch/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [I think being a mother is the cruelest thing in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/i-think-being-a-mother-is-the-cruelest-thing-in-the-world/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) [Explore all 39 Nella Larsen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) ## More Anguish quotes > [“He put his forehead against hers. “Alannah, my heart is yours.” He said softly. “And yet, I must hand it over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-morin/he-put-his-forehead-against-hers-alannah-my-heart-is-yours-he-said/) [B.C. Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-morin/) > [Knowledge gives a wider choice and more anguish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-florman/knowledge-gives-a-wider-choice-and-more-anguish/) [Samuel Florman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-florman/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/being-human-we-would-expel-from-our-lives-physical-pain-and-mental/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [I saw my parents as gods whose every wish must be obeyed or I would suffer the penalty of anguish and guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/i-saw-my-parents-as-gods-whose-every-wish-must-be-obeyed-or-i-would/) [Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/) > [Every last cast is actually a first cast. The first cast and first chance to catch the next fish. The next time you anguish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/every-last-cast-is-actually-a-first-cast-the-first-cast-and-first/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [Journalism is an extraordinary and terrible privilege. Not by chance, if you are aware of it, does it consume you with a hundred feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/journalism-is-an-extraordinary-and-terrible-privilege-not-by-chance/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [I have discovered in my long life that there are many words and phrases which have more power than any spell of magick. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/i-have-discovered-in-my-long-life-that-there-are-many-words-and/) [David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/) > [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-marceau/i-have-designed-my-style-pantomimes-as-white-ink-drawings-on-black/) [Marcel Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-marceau/) > [So silently, peacefully, without hurry, without any tension, without any anguish, move into yourself instantly. It is urgent. Unless meditation becomes urgent to you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/so-silently-peacefully-without-hurry-without-any-tension-without-any/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-bush/it-breaks-my-heart-to-think-about-a-family-weeping-over-the-loss-of-a/) [George P. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-p-bush/) [Browse all 570 Anguish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Somewhere, within her, in a deep recess, crouched discontent. She began to lose confidence in the fullness of her life, the glow began to fade from her conception of it. 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