--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A sensation of helplessness, as if it…" description: "\"“A sensation of helplessness, as if it were utterly impossible to go on living. Painful waves beat relentlessly on my heart, as after a thunderstorm th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67d/osamu-dazai-2813_life_a-sensation-of-helplessness-as-if-it-wer_1231832.jpg" --- # A sensation of helplessness, as if it were utterly… ![“A sensation of helplessness, as if it were utterly impossible to go on living. Painful waves beat relentlessly on my heart, as after a thunderstorm the white clouds frantically scud across the sky. A terrible emotion — shall I call it an apprehension — wrings my heart only to release it, makes my…” quote by Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67d/osamu-dazai-2813_life_a-sensation-of-helplessness-as-if-it-wer_1231832.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67d/osamu-dazai-2813_life_a-sensation-of-helplessness-as-if-it-wer_1231832.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67d/osamu-dazai-2813_life_a-sensation-of-helplessness-as-if-it-wer_1231832.jpg) > ““A sensation of helplessness, as if it were utterly impossible to go on living. Painful waves beat relentlessly on my heart, as after a thunderstorm the white clouds frantically scud across the sky. A terrible emotion — shall I call it an apprehension — wrings my heart only to release it, makes my pulse falter, and chokes my breath. At times everything grows misty and dark before my eyes, and I feel that the strength of my whole body is oozing away through my finger tips.”” [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator describes overwhelming helplessness and physical decay, likening emotional turmoil to stormy skies and a draining of life force. **In simple terms:** He feels helpless, as if his life is draining away. Key Takeaway Seek support when feeling emotionally drained. Themes mental health despair existential crisis physical sensation Mood somber introspective Type literary emotive When to use this quote - therapy - creative writing - personal reflection Key Concepts emotional turbulence body‑mind connection Questions to Reflect On - What coping strategies help when feeling powerless? - How can we differentiate artistic expression from clinical depression? A Different Perspective The vivid metaphor may exaggerate internal experience, risking romanticizing suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Feel Strength](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-strength-602209/) [Heart Thunderstorm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart-thunderstorm-3812515/) [Helplessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helplessness/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Painful Waves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painful-waves-3812516/) [Sensation Helplessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensation-helplessness-3812514/) [White clouds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-clouds/) ## Related quotes > [At times everything grows misty and dark before my eyes, and I feel that the strength of my whole body is oozing away through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/at-times-everything-grows-misty-and-dark-before-my-eyes-and-i-feel/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [Also, we will make promise. So long as The Blood endures, I shall know that your good is mine: ye shall feel that my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/also-we-will-make-promise-so-long-as-the-blood-endures-i-shall-know/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [You feel your strength in the experience of pain. Its all in how you carry it. Thats what matters. Pain is a feeling. Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-feel-your-strength-in-the-experience-of-pain-its-all-in-how-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Sometimes being strong for the other person means determining what’s best for them, even when they think they know best. You’re already used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-webster/sometimes-being-strong-for-the-other-person-means-determining-what-s/) [K. Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-webster/) > [“The ability to feel is a strength, not a weakness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-rogerson/the-ability-to-feel-is-a-strength-not-a-weakness/) [Margaret Rogerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-rogerson/) > [“My child, the troubles and temptations of your life are beginning, and may be many; but you can overcome and outlive them all if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/my-child-the-troubles-and-temptations-of-your-life-are-beginning-and/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [I systematically break guys down. I get in the ring and they say I don't have any power but then they feel me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-bradley/i-systematically-break-guys-down-i-get-in-the-ring-and-they-say-i-don/) [Timothy Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-bradley/) > [“I used to indulge in magical thinking when problems seemed insurmountable. Often, this focused on men, for they seemed to be the only ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-used-to-indulge-in-magical-thinking-when-problems-seemed/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The feeling between two fighters is profound. We go places where normal people don't go. You smell a man's blood, it smells like rust.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-eubank-sr/the-feeling-between-two-fighters-is-profound-we-go-places-where/) [Chris Eubank Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-eubank-sr/) > [“I think,” she said, “that sometimes we don’t feel the things that we are. But others can feel them. I feel your strength.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/i-think-she-said-that-sometimes-we-don-t-feel-the-things-that-we-are-2/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [“I don't know how long it takes for me to realize it isn't going to happen, that she is gone. But when I do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-don-t-know-how-long-it-takes-for-me-to-realize-it-isn-t-going-to/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [But when I do feel all the strength go out of me, and I fall to my knees beside the table and I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/but-when-i-do-feel-all-the-strength-go-out-of-me-and-i-fall-to-my/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [You feel your strength in the experience of pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/you-feel-your-strength-in-the-experience-of-pain/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [“ VIOLA Cuz she's here - She came - She came for me - And she calls my name - And I feel her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/viola-cuz-she-s-here-she-came-she-came-for-me-and-she-calls-my-name/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [“In some ways you are the definition of love. A look, a touch and the way you make me feel. You give me strength…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-james/in-some-ways-you-are-the-definition-of-love-a-look-a-touch-and-the/) [Kevin James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-james/) ## More by Osamu Dazai > [I want to spend my time with people who don't look to be respected. But such good people won't want to spend their time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-want-to-spend-my-time-with-people-who-don-t-look-to-be-respected/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“Disqualified as a human being. I had now ceased utterly to be a human being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/disqualified-as-a-human-being-i-had-now-ceased-utterly-to-be-a-human/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [I was afraid to board a streetcar because of the conductor; I was afraid to enter the Kabuki Theater for fear of the usherettes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-was-afraid-to-board-a-streetcar-because-of-the-conductor-i-was/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“Tomorrow will probably be another day like today. Happiness will never come my way. I know that. But it's probably best to go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/tomorrow-will-probably-be-another-day-like-today-happiness-will-never/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“When I pretended to be precocious, people started the rumor that I was precocious. When I acted like an idler, rumor had it I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/when-i-pretended-to-be-precocious-people-started-the-rumor-that-i-was/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [One day, I went to a soba restaurant outside town, and while I was waiting for the zarusoba I opened an old graph magazine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/one-day-i-went-to-a-soba-restaurant-outside-town-and-while-i-was/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“I feel so unhappy.” I am sure that this one phrase whispered to me would arouse my sympathy more than the longest, most painstaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-feel-so-unhappy-i-am-sure-that-this-one-phrase-whispered-to-me/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [I soon came to understand that drink, tobacco and prostitutes were all great means if dissipating (even for a few moments) my dread for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-soon-came-to-understand-that-drink-tobacco-and-prostitutes-were-all/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“Of late a gloomy rain has been falling almost incessantly. Whatever I do depresses me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/of-late-a-gloomy-rain-has-been-falling-almost-incessantly-whatever-i/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“All I feel are the assaults of apprehension and terror at the thought that I am the only one who is entirely unlike the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/all-i-feel-are-the-assaults-of-apprehension-and-terror-at-the-thought/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [Last year nothing happened The year before nothing happened And the year before that nothing happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/last-year-nothing-happened-the-year-before-nothing-happened-and-the/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“Disqualified as a human being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/disqualified-as-a-human-being/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“Logic, inevitably, is the love of logic. It is not the love for living human beings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/logic-inevitably-is-the-love-of-logic-it-is-not-the-love-for-living/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [I like roses best. But they bloom in all four seasons. I wonder if people who like roses best have to die four times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-like-roses-best-but-they-bloom-in-all-four-seasons-i-wonder-if/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [But happiness is being able to hope, however faintly, for happiness. So, at least, we must believe if we are to live in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/but-happiness-is-being-able-to-hope-however-faintly-for-happiness-so/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) [Explore all 135 Osamu Dazai quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) ## More Helplessness quotes > [“The suspense: the fearful, acute suspense: of standing idly by while the life of one we dearly love, is trembling in the balance; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-suspense-the-fearful-acute-suspense-of-standing-idly-by-while-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“You don’t know what it’s like to worry you’ll start to despise the people who help you, the ones you should love, because they’re…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-guzeman/you-don-t-know-what-it-s-like-to-worry-you-ll-start-to-despise-the/) [Tracy Guzeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-guzeman/) > [To pray is to open the door unto Jesus and admit Him into your distress. Your helplessness is the very thing which opens wide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ole-hallesby/to-pray-is-to-open-the-door-unto-jesus-and-admit-him-into-your/) [Ole Hallesby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ole-hallesby/) > [O.K., helplessness is repugnant to me, as a father, as a piece of protoplasm. My parents were activists. I don't believe you can't do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-brickman/o-k-helplessness-is-repugnant-to-me-as-a-father-as-a-piece-of/) [Marshall Brickman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-brickman/) > [“The world was full of forces you couldn't fight against which suddenly loomed up and aimed a crushing blow at you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarjei-vesaas/the-world-was-full-of-forces-you-couldn-t-fight-against-which/) [Tarjei Vesaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tarjei-vesaas/) > [“If you become so frightened of realities that are not your own, if you take upon yourselves tragedies that do not exist in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth/if-you-become-so-frightened-of-realities-that-are-not-your-own-if-you/) [Seth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth/) > [Another person is, at the heart of it, unknowable. And if you cannot know a person enough to always guess what they’re capable of,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/another-person-is-at-the-heart-of-it-unknowable-and-if-you-cannot/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [“Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/perhaps-everything-that-frightens-us-is-in-its-deepest-essence/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Power is fortified not just by what it destroys, but also by what it creates. Not just by what it takes, but also by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/power-is-fortified-not-just-by-what-it-destroys-but-also-by-what-it/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“Most of those who think their strength is gone and ask for help from others do not know that the strength that seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/most-of-those-who-think-their-strength-is-gone-and-ask-for-help-from/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“There was no way out; not, at least, in this direction. I was like a hamster that had climbed to the top of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/there-was-no-way-out-not-at-least-in-this-direction-i-was-like-a/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“Well, on some level, it’s similar to the psychological phenomenon of helplessness, where the will to try is lost. You get to the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zack-love/well-on-some-level-it-s-similar-to-the-psychological-phenomenon-of/) [Zack Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zack-love/) > [Absolute power, as we have always known, corrupts absolutely; it corrupts because it does not do the trick for the individual. Reality always creeps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/absolute-power-as-we-have-always-known-corrupts-absolutely-it/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“What would any man do with a soggy girl who can't assert herself, who has a weak voice, and whose main personality component is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/what-would-any-man-do-with-a-soggy-girl-who-can-t-assert-herself-who/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The utter helplessness of a conquered people is perhaps the most tragic feature of a civil war or any other sort of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-latimer-felton/the-utter-helplessness-of-a-conquered-people-is-perhaps-the-most/) [Rebecca Latimer Felton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-latimer-felton/) [Browse all 316 Helplessness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helplessness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A sensation of helplessness, as if it were utterly impossible to go on living. 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