--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Because it hardly ends with falling in…" description: "\"“Because it hardly ends with falling in love. Just the opposite. I don't need to tell you, Your Honor, I sense that you understand true loneliness. How..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/nicole-krauss-920_fall-in-love_because-it-hardly-ends-with-falling-in-l_1155399.jpg" --- # Because it hardly ends with falling in love. Just the… ![“Because it hardly ends with falling in love. Just the opposite. I don't need to tell you, Your Honor, I sense that you understand true loneliness. How you fall in love and it's there that the work begins: day after day, year after year, you must dig yourself up, exhume the contents of your mind…” quote by Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/nicole-krauss-920_fall-in-love_because-it-hardly-ends-with-falling-in-l_1155399.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/nicole-krauss-920_fall-in-love_because-it-hardly-ends-with-falling-in-l_1155399.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/nicole-krauss-920_fall-in-love_because-it-hardly-ends-with-falling-in-l_1155399.jpg) > ““Because it hardly ends with falling in love. Just the opposite. I don't need to tell you, Your Honor, I sense that you understand true loneliness. How you fall in love and it's there that the work begins: day after day, year after year, you must dig yourself up, exhume the contents of your mind and sould for the other to sift through so that you might be known to him, and you, too, must spend days and years wading through all that he excavates for you alone, the archaeology of his being, how exhausting it became, the digging up and the wading through, while my own work, my true work, lay waiting for me. Yes, I always thought there would be more time left for me, more time left for us, and for the child we might one day have, but I never felt that my work could be put aside as they could, my husband and the idea of our child, a little boy or girl that I sometimes even tried to imagine, but always only vaguely enough that he or she remained a ghostly emissary of our future, just her back while she sat playing with her blocks on the floor, or just his feet sticking out of the blanket on our bed, a tiny pair of feet. What of it, there would be time for them, for the life they stood for, the one I was not yet prepared to live because I had not yet done what I had meant to do in this one.”” [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage explores how love and personal work intertwine, demanding deep self‑digging and mutual vulnerability, while life’s responsibilities loom. **In simple terms:** Love requires deep self‑examination and shared effort. Key Takeaway Prioritize authentic connection. Themes love work loneliness Mood introspective somber Type novel reflective When to use this quote - relationships - career - parenthood - creative pursuits Key Concepts psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How do you allocate time for self‑work and love? - What sacrifices are needed for deep connection? A Different Perspective Balancing personal ambition with relational intimacy is challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fall in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fall-in-love/) [Falling in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falling-in-love/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Mind and soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-and-soul/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-left/) ## Related quotes > [“It wasn't always like this. There was a time when I imagined my life could happen in another way. It's true that early on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/it-wasn-t-always-like-this-there-was-a-time-when-i-imagined-my-life/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“One day I will laugh and no loneliness will fall out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-day-i-will-laugh-and-no-loneliness-will-fall-out/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [But loneliness, true loneliness, is impossible to accustom oneself to, and while I was still young I thought of my situation as somehow temporary,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/but-loneliness-true-loneliness-is-impossible-to-accustom-oneself-to/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“True loneliness, I learned that day, isn’t the lack of others. It’s the lack of others quickly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-loneliness-i-learned-that-day-isn-t-the-lack-of-others-it-s-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Who knows what true loneliness is - not the conventional word but the naked terror? To the lonely themselves it wears a mask. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/who-knows-what-true-loneliness-is-not-the-conventional-word-but-the/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“The loneliness overwhelms you. It swallows you whole and won't let go. Terrified, of what society thinks, you keep it all inside. You force…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shangelic/the-loneliness-overwhelms-you-it-swallows-you-whole-and-won-t-let-go/) Shangelic > [“True, I was rather alone, but loneliness isn't proof of not being right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krle-a-miroslav/true-i-was-rather-alone-but-loneliness-isn-t-proof-of-not-being-right/) Krleža, Miroslav > [“I made a point of answering the question I received with some frequency from journalists, Do you think books can change people's lives? (which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-made-a-point-of-answering-the-question-i-received-with-some/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“There's a hurried intensity in the strokes--you can see where he scratched into the wet paint with the end of the brush. It's as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/there-s-a-hurried-intensity-in-the-strokes-you-can-see-where-he/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Herman slipped his hand into mine, and I thought, An average of seventy-four species become extinct every day, which was one good reason but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/herman-slipped-his-hand-into-mine-and-i-thought-an-average-of-seventy/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [You left ground and sky weeping, mind and soul full of grief. No one can take your place in existence or in absence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/you-left-ground-and-sky-weeping-mind-and-soul-full-of-grief-no-one/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Pretty isn't beauty. Pretty is how you look; Beauty is who you are. 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Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [“The peace of God is with them whose mind and soul are in harmony, who are free from desire and wrath, who know their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-peace-of-god-is-with-them-whose-mind-and-soul-are-in-harmony-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Nicole Krauss > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I think of novels as houses. You live in them over the course of a long period, both as a reader and as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-think-of-novels-as-houses-you-live-in-them-over-the-course-of-a/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [When we went into the ocean, I watched his body as he dove into the waves, and it gave me a feeling in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/when-we-went-into-the-ocean-i-watched-his-body-as-he-dove-into-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“There are times when the kindness of strangers only makes matter worse because one realizes how badly one is in need of kindness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/there-are-times-when-the-kindness-of-strangers-only-makes-matter/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [She was gone, and all that was left was the space where you'd grown around her, like a tree that grows around a fence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/she-was-gone-and-all-that-was-left-was-the-space-where-you-d-grown/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“The air felt different in my lungs. The world no longer looked the same. You change and then you change again. You become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-air-felt-different-in-my-lungs-the-world-no-longer-looked-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“The first language humans had was gestures. There was nothing primitive about this language that flowed from people’s hands, nothing we say now that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-first-language-humans-had-was-gestures-there-was-nothing/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I feel really strongly about not wanting to overly guide the reader about what he or she should think. I really trust the reader…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-feel-really-strongly-about-not-wanting-to-overly-guide-the-reader/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Mom?" I said. She turned. "Can I talk to you about something?" "Of course, darling. Come here." I took a few steps into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/mom-i-said-she-turned-can-i-talk-to-you-about-something-of-course/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [In one's youth, one has tremendous access to one's feelings. And as one gets older, some of those feelings kind of drift away. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/in-one-s-youth-one-has-tremendous-access-to-one-s-feelings-and-as-one/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Obviously I've been reading Kafka for a long long time, since I was really young, and even before I ever read him I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/obviously-i-ve-been-reading-kafka-for-a-long-long-time-since-i-was/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“She's kept her love for him as alive as the summer they first met. In order to do this, she's turned life away. 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How you fall in love and it's there that the work begins: day after day, year after year, you must dig yourself up, exhume the contents of your mind and sould for the other to sift through so that you might be known to him, and you, too, must spend days and years wading through all that he excavates for you alone, the archaeology of his being, how exhausting it became, the digging up and the wading through, while my own work, my true work, lay waiting for me. Yes, I always thought there would be more time left for me, more time left for us, and for the child we might one day have, but I never felt that my work could be put aside as they could, my husband and the idea of our child, a little boy or girl that I sometimes even tried to imagine, but always only vaguely enough that he or she remained a ghostly emissary of our future, just her back while she sat playing with her blocks on the floor, or just his feet sticking out of the blanket on our bed, a tiny pair of feet. 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