--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There were thirst and hunger, and you…" description: "\"There were thirst and hunger, and you were the fruit. There were grief and the ruins, and you were the miracle.\" — Pablo Neruda" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/862/pablo-neruda-435_fruit_there-were-thirst-and-hunger-and-you-wer_3100822.jpg" --- # There were thirst and hunger, and you were the fruit… ![“There were thirst and hunger, and you were the fruit. There were grief and the ruins, and you were the miracle.” quote by Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/862/pablo-neruda-435_fruit_there-were-thirst-and-hunger-and-you-wer_3100822.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/862/pablo-neruda-435_fruit_there-were-thirst-and-hunger-and-you-wer_3100822.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/862/pablo-neruda-435_fruit_there-were-thirst-and-hunger-and-you-wer_3100822.jpg) > “There were thirst and hunger, and you were the fruit. There were grief and the ruins, and you were the miracle.” [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poem juxtaposes suffering with hope, portraying humanity as both victim and miracle amidst hardship. **In simple terms:** Suffering and hope coexist; people can be both broken and miraculous. Key Takeaway Find resilience and beauty in adversity. Themes suffering hope humanity miracle Mood reflective hopeful Type poetic inspirational When to use this quote - war - poverty - personal loss - recovery Key Concepts poetry existentialism resilience Questions to Reflect On - In what ways can we transform suffering into collective strength? - How does recognizing miracles in hardship change our outlook? A Different Perspective The quote may romanticize hardship, overlooking systemic causes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fruit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruit/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Hunger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunger/) [Miracle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miracle/) [Miracles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miracles/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) ## Related quotes > [You were created on purpose for a purpose. There is a thirst and hunger in your heart that is real. Pay attention to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/les-brown/you-were-created-on-purpose-for-a-purpose-there-is-a-thirst-and/) [Les Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/les-brown/) > [Every evening, I would excuse myself from playing in the backyard and go inside to watch the evening news... I wanted to get out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-muir/every-evening-i-would-excuse-myself-from-playing-in-the-backyard-and/) [David Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-muir/) > [My mother's always looking for answers. She's always searching for new information. I think she has a thirst for hunger that very few possess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-noah/my-mother-s-always-looking-for-answers-she-s-always-searching-for-new/) [Trevor Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-noah/) > [“I believe God's prescription for those who possess an inner thirst and hunger they cannot fill is implied in Isaiah 55:6. Those who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/i-believe-god-s-prescription-for-those-who-possess-an-inner-thirst/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [“We will train both mind and body when we accustom ourselves to cold, heat, thirst, hunger, scarcity of food, hardness of bed, abstaining from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-will-train-both-mind-and-body-when-we-accustom-ourselves-to-cold/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The key to Christian living is a thirst and hunger for God. And one of the main reasons people do not understand or experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/the-key-to-christian-living-is-a-thirst-and-hunger-for-god-and-one-of/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [“I want to see thirst In the syllables, Touch fire In the sound; Feel through the dark For the scream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-want-to-see-thirst-in-the-syllables-touch-fire-in-the-sound-feel/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [I want to see thirst In the syllables, Tough fire In the sound; Feel through the dark For the scream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-want-to-see-thirst-in-the-syllables-tough-fire-in-the-sound-feel/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [I want to see the thirst inside the syllables I want to touch the fire in the sound: I want to feel the darkness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-want-to-see-the-thirst-inside-the-syllables-i-want-to-touch-the/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [I think in particular of our need to speak to the hearts of young people, who, despite their constant exposure to messages contrary to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/i-think-in-particular-of-our-need-to-speak-to-the-hearts-of-young/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [Girl lithe and tawny, the sun that forms the fruits, that plumps the grains, that curls seaweeds filled your body with joy, and your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/girl-lithe-and-tawny-the-sun-that-forms-the-fruits-that-plumps-the/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [When it comes to having a central nervous system, and the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a rat is a pig is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/when-it-comes-to-having-a-central-nervous-system-and-the-ability-to/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [Lol, the thirst on SQ is serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maher/lol-the-thirst-on-sq-is-serious/) [Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maher/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“Kissing her is like drinking salted water, he thinks. His thirst only increases.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/kissing-her-is-like-drinking-salted-water-he-thinks-his-thirst-only/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) ## More by Pablo Neruda > [For me writing is like breathing. I could not live without breathing and I could not live without writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/for-me-writing-is-like-breathing-i-could-not-live-without-breathing/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Our love was born outside the walls, in the wind, in the night, in the earth, and that's why the clay and the flower,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/our-love-was-born-outside-the-walls-in-the-wind-in-the-night-in-the/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“I remember only a day that was perhaps never intended for me, it was an incessant day, without origins, Thursday. I was a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-remember-only-a-day-that-was-perhaps-never-intended-for-me-it-was/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“We had, as men, time So our thirst could slowly be satisfied, the ancestral longing to enumerate things and sum them up, to render…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-had-as-men-time-so-our-thirst-could-slowly-be-satisfied-the/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [We bear the sole, relentless tenderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-bear-the-sole-relentless-tenderness/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [I don't know who it is who lives or dies, who rests or wakes, but it is your heart that distributes all the graces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-don-t-know-who-it-is-who-lives-or-dies-who-rests-or-wakes-but-it-is/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs, you look like a world, lying in surrender. My rough peasant's body digs in you and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/body-of-a-woman-white-hills-white-thighs-you-look-like-a-world-lying/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [We open the halves of a miracle, and a clotting of acids brims into the starry divisions: creation's original juices, irreducible, changeless, alive: so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-open-the-halves-of-a-miracle-and-a-clotting-of-acids-brims-into/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Take bread away from me, if you wish, take air away, but do not take from me your laughter. Do not take away the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/take-bread-away-from-me-if-you-wish-take-air-away-but-do-not-take/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Perhaps the earth can teach us As when everything seems dead And later proves to be alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/perhaps-the-earth-can-teach-us-as-when-everything-seems-dead-and/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“I am no longer in love with her, that's certain, but maybe I love her. Love is so short, forgetting is so long.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-am-no-longer-in-love-with-her-that-s-certain-but-maybe-i-love-her/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs, you look like a world, lying in surrender.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/body-of-a-woman-white-hills-white-thighs-you-look-like-a-world-lying-2/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“ I Like For You To Be Still I like for you to be still It is as though you are absent And you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-like-for-you-to-be-still-i-like-for-you-to-be-still-it-is-as-though/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Tonight I Can Write”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/tonight-i-can-write/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) [Explore all 457 Pablo Neruda quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) ## More Fruit quotes > [“On the third day, she smelled the fruit as soon as she came in. She followed the scent to the kitchen, and the peach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/on-the-third-day-she-smelled-the-fruit-as-soon-as-she-came-in-she/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/your-pain-is-the-breaking-of-the-shell-that-encloses-your/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [You can't have the fruits without the roots. It's the principle of sequencing: Private Victories proceed Public Victories. Self-mastery and self-discipline are the foundation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/you-can-t-have-the-fruits-without-the-roots-it-s-the-principle-of/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > [Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within the reach of every hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/love-is-a-fruit-in-season-at-all-times-and-within-the-reach-of-every/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [Grace is the wonderful spirit that imbues every fiber of our being when we practice the fruits of the spirit: kindness, patience, understanding, forgiveness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-cayce/grace-is-the-wonderful-spirit-that-imbues-every-fiber-of-our-being/) [Edgar Cayce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-cayce/) > [A tree is a self: it is 'unseen shaping' more than it is leaves or bark, roots or cellulose or fruit ... What this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-swimme/a-tree-is-a-self-it-is-unseen-shaping-more-than-it-is-leaves-or-bark/) [Brian Swimme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-swimme/) > [The irrepressible conflict propounded by abolitionism has produced now its legitimate fruits - disunion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-irrepressible-conflict-propounded-by-abolitionism-has-produced/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Selfishness is one of the principal fruits of the corruption of human nature; and it is obvious that selfishness disposes us to over-rate our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wilberforce/selfishness-is-one-of-the-principal-fruits-of-the-corruption-of-human/) [William Wilberforce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wilberforce/) > [In our own time the whole of Greece has been subject to a low birth rate and a general decrease of the population, owing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polybius/in-our-own-time-the-whole-of-greece-has-been-subject-to-a-low-birth/) [Polybius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/polybius/) > [I eat healthy most of the time. Whole foods are the best for you when you are super active, so I get plenty of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witney-carson/i-eat-healthy-most-of-the-time-whole-foods-are-the-best-for-you-when/) [Witney Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witney-carson/) > [While traveling, I love granola bars, trail mix nuts, dry cereal and fruit for on-the-go snacks. I also try and start the day with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christie-rampone/while-traveling-i-love-granola-bars-trail-mix-nuts-dry-cereal-and/) [Christie Rampone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christie-rampone/) > [When the savages of Louisiana wish to have fruit, they cut the tree at the bottom and gather the fruit. That is exactly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-de-montesquieu/when-the-savages-of-louisiana-wish-to-have-fruit-they-cut-the-tree-at/) [Baron de Montesquieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-de-montesquieu/) > [The impresario function is about intervening with the company's more administrative management structure. It is about trying to establish a sense of boundaries and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kao/the-impresario-function-is-about-intervening-with-the-company-s-more/) [John Kao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kao/) > [The first person who, having enclosed a plot of land, took it into his head to say this is mine and found people simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-first-person-who-having-enclosed-a-plot-of-land-took-it-into-his/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [If it could only be like this always – always summer, always alone, the fruit always ripe and Aloysius in a good temper...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/if-it-could-only-be-like-this-always-always-summer-always-alone-the/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) [Browse all 2,743 Fruit quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruit/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There were thirst and hunger, and you were the fruit. 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