--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you are young, you think it's going…" description: "\"“When you are young, you think it's going to be solved by love. But it never is. Being close -- as close as you can get -- to another person only makes..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57f/nicole-krauss-920_broken-hearts_when-you-are-young-you-think-it-s-going_286207.png" --- # When you are young, you think it's going to be solved by… ![“When you are young, you think it's going to be solved by love. But it never is. Being close -- as close as you can get -- to another person only makes clear that impassable distance between you." […] "I don't know. If being in love only made people more lonely, why would everyone want it so much?"…” quote by Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57f/nicole-krauss-920_broken-hearts_when-you-are-young-you-think-it-s-going_286207.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57f/nicole-krauss-920_broken-hearts_when-you-are-young-you-think-it-s-going_286207.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57f/nicole-krauss-920_broken-hearts_when-you-are-young-you-think-it-s-going_286207.png) > ““When you are young, you think it's going to be solved by love. But it never is. Being close -- as close as you can get -- to another person only makes clear that impassable distance between you." \[…\] "I don't know. If being in love only made people more lonely, why would everyone want it so much?" "Because of the illusion. You fall in love, it's intoxicating, and for a little while you feel like you've actually become one with the other person. Merged souls, and so on. You thing you'll never be lonely again. Only it doesn't last and soon you realize you can only get so close, and you end up brutally disappointed, more alone that ever, because the illusion - the hope you'd held on to all those years - has been shattered." \[…\] "But see, the incredible thing about people is that we forget." Ray continued. "Time passes and somehow the hope creeps back and sooner or later someone else comes along and we think this is the one. And the whole thing starts all over again. We go through our lives like that, and either we just accept the lesser relationship - it may not be total understanding, but it's pretty good - or we keep trying for that perfect union, trying and failing, leaving behind us a trail of broken hearts, our own included. In the end, we die as alone as we were born, having struggled to understand others, to make ourselves understood, but having failed in what we once imagined was possible.”” [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. Love promises unity but often reveals deeper loneliness; repeated attempts at perfect connection leave us with broken hopes and solitary endings. **In simple terms:** Love feels like unity but often ends in loneliness. Key Takeaway Accept imperfect bonds, seek self‑understanding. Themes love loneliness hope disillusionment human connection Mood melancholic reflective hopeful Type philosophical literary emotional When to use this quote - romantic relationships - friendships - family dynamics - personal growth - grieving loss Key Concepts existentialism psychology attachment theory Questions to Reflect On - Do you chase ideal love or value realistic intimacy? - How can you find fulfillment without relying on another? A Different Perspective Illusion of perfect love can cause repeated disappointment and emotional fatigue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Broken hearts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken-hearts/) [Fall in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fall-in-love/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Sooner or later](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sooner-or-later/) [Trying and failing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying-and-failing/) ## Related quotes > [“But see, the incredible thing about people is that we forget," Ray continued. "Time passes and somehow the hope creeps back and sooner or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/but-see-the-incredible-thing-about-people-is-that-we-forget-ray/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“When you're young, you think it's going to be solved by love. But it never is. Being close-as close as you can get-to another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/when-you-re-young-you-think-it-s-going-to-be-solved-by-love-but-it/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [And he isn't crying for her, not for his grandma, he's crying for himself: that he: too, is going to die one day. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/and-he-isn-t-crying-for-her-not-for-his-grandma-he-s-crying-for/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I am not averse to the idea of being in a relationship. In fact, I think everything in this world can be solved through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prateik-babbar/i-am-not-averse-to-the-idea-of-being-in-a-relationship-in-fact-i/) [Prateik Babbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prateik-babbar/) > [“The illusion of hope is Hell's greatest joy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-f-gifune/the-illusion-of-hope-is-hell-s-greatest-joy/) [Greg F. Gifune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-f-gifune/) > [“You cannot hold on to an illusion of hope when the reflection of fate is destined to remain the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-imbruglia-mai/you-cannot-hold-on-to-an-illusion-of-hope-when-the-reflection-of-fate/) Mary Imbruglia (MAI > [We are people maybe the last meanings, maybe the beginning the illusion of the only hope life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-fulger/we-are-people-maybe-the-last-meanings-maybe-the-beginning-the/) [Mariana Fulger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-fulger/) > [“On Make America Great Again: The agenda of a dead body coming back to life. Whenever you have the past (what is dead) presenting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giannina-braschi/on-make-america-great-again-the-agenda-of-a-dead-body-coming-back-to/) [Giannina Braschi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giannina-braschi/) > [It is natural to man to indulge in the illusion of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, till…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-henry/it-is-natural-to-man-to-indulge-in-the-illusion-of-hope-we-are-apt-to/) [Patrick Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-henry/) > [I live for coincidences. They briefly give to me the illusion or the hope that there's a pattern to my life, and if there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-ames/i-live-for-coincidences-they-briefly-give-to-me-the-illusion-or-the/) [Jonathan Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-ames/) > [When the love doesn't last and soon you realize you can only get so close, and you end up brutally disappointed, more alone than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-the-love-doesn-t-last-and-soon-you-realize-you-can-only-get-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Let us give up the illusion of hope, which betrays; of love, which wearies; of life, which surfeits but never satisfies; and even of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/let-us-give-up-the-illusion-of-hope-which-betrays-of-love-which/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [The good thing about not being drop-dead gorgeous is that as time passes, I don't have much to worry about. I have friends who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/the-good-thing-about-not-being-drop-dead-gorgeous-is-that-as-time/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [When I hear that I realize how quickly time passes and how everybody goes on their journeys and they're always unbelievable and they never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/when-i-hear-that-i-realize-how-quickly-time-passes-and-how-everybody/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [“Several times that day, the name or thought of Papa had come up. And each time, Francie had felt a flash of tenderness instead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-smith/several-times-that-day-the-name-or-thought-of-papa-had-come-up-and/) [Betty Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-smith/) ## 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. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/she-s-kept-her-love-for-him-as-alive-as-the-summer-they-first-met-in/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Sometimes no length of string is long enough to say the thing that needs to be said. In such cases all the string can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/sometimes-no-length-of-string-is-long-enough-to-say-the-thing-that/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Doesn’t part of the awe that fills us when we confront the unknown come from understanding that, should it at last flood into us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/doesn-t-part-of-the-awe-that-fills-us-when-we-confront-the-unknown/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“I knew how to raise my own child, what did he think it was, a game of Scrabble or Monopoly, there are no rules,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-knew-how-to-raise-my-own-child-what-did-he-think-it-was-a-game-of/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) [Explore all 323 Nicole Krauss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## More Broken hearts quotes > [When the time comes for you to give your heart to someone, make sure that you select someone who will never break your heart.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-the-time-comes-for-you-to-give-your-heart-to-someone-make-sure/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only person I truly cared for left me with a broken heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keys/the-only-person-i-truly-cared-for-left-me-with-a-broken-heart/) [Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keys/) > [If only we can all be thankful for the blessed days that grant us life If only we can make new relationships Rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-only-we-can-all-be-thankful-for-the-blessed-days-that-grant-us/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical, naked... who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes hallucinating Arkansas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/i-saw-the-best-minds-of-my-generation-destroyed-by-madness-starving/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [Broken hearts are for assholes, are you an asshole?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/broken-hearts-are-for-assholes-are-you-an-asshole/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [ “…\[F\]or the Lovers the place of worship Is the arch of the Beloved’s eyebrows. O Morning breeze, if you perchance Should find where my… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amir-khusrow-dehlavi/f-or-the-lovers-the-place-of-worship-is-the-arch-of-the-beloved-s/) Amir Khusrow Dehlavi > [“But when he died, I saw - nothing. There was nothing left to see. It happened and it was impossible and beautiful and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ockler/but-when-he-died-i-saw-nothing-there-was-nothing-left-to-see-it/) [Sarah Ockler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ockler/) > [“We sometimes see God better through out tears and broken hearts. What seems hopeless becomes blessing and miracles...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-robertson/we-sometimes-see-god-better-through-out-tears-and-broken-hearts-what/) Dwight Robertson > [Sometimes I wish I was a little girl again because bruised knees heels faster then broken hearts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babloo/sometimes-i-wish-i-was-a-little-girl-again-because-bruised-knees/) [Babloo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babloo/) > [“Sometimes I wish I was a little girl again because cuts heal faster then broken hearts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-johnson/sometimes-i-wish-i-was-a-little-girl-again-because-cuts-heal-faster/) Angel Johnson > [Sometimes I Wish I was A Little Kid Again ,... Skinned Knees Are Better than Broken Hearts :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karal/sometimes-i-wish-i-was-a-little-kid-again-skinned-knees-are-better/) Karal > [“I fix broken hearts for a living,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raven-rivers/i-fix-broken-hearts-for-a-living/) Raven Rivers > [I really just wish I was a kid again...no bills, no worries, no broken hearts, happy life and always smiling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shafique-ahmed/i-really-just-wish-i-was-a-kid-again-no-bills-no-worries-no-broken/) [Shafique Ahmed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shafique-ahmed/) > [I'm not the only kid who grew up this way, surrounded by people who used to say that rhyme about sticks and stones, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-koyczan/i-m-not-the-only-kid-who-grew-up-this-way-surrounded-by-people-who/) [Shane Koyczan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-koyczan/) > [I had a nervous breakdown at 17 when my first love left me, and he was a typical bad boy, albeit a charismatic one,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-leavitt/i-had-a-nervous-breakdown-at-17-when-my-first-love-left-me-and-he-was/) [Caroline Leavitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-leavitt/) [Browse all 343 Broken hearts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken-hearts/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When you are young, you think it's going to be solved by love. 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