---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That's what depression had wrought inside…"
description: "\"That's what depression had wrought inside me: one, vast, barren rock garden-without the garden\" — Peter McWilliams"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50b/peter-mcwilliams-2236_barren_that-s-what-depression-had-wrought-insid_1562662.png"
---

#  That's what depression had wrought inside me: one, vast…

![“That's what depression had wrought inside me: one, vast, barren rock garden-without the garden” quote by Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50b/peter-mcwilliams-2236_barren_that-s-what-depression-had-wrought-insid_1562662.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50b/peter-mcwilliams-2236_barren_that-s-what-depression-had-wrought-insid_1562662.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50b/peter-mcwilliams-2236_barren_that-s-what-depression-had-wrought-insid_1562662.png)

> “That's what depression had wrought inside me: one, vast, barren rock garden-without the garden”

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Depression can feel like an empty, barren landscape, stripping life of vitality and hope.

**In simple terms:** Depression feels like a lifeless garden.

Key Takeaway

Seek support to nurture inner growth.

Themes

mental health loneliness despair

Mood

somber introspective

Type

poetic emotive

When to use this quote

- therapy
- self‑care
- support groups
- creative expression

Key Concepts

psychology existential emptiness inner void

Questions to Reflect On

- What inner resources can you cultivate?
- How can you transform emptiness into purpose?

A Different Perspective

May not capture all aspects of depression.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression/) [Garden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/garden/) [Gardening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardening/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/)

## Related quotes

> [Habit is, of all the plants of human growth, the one that has the least need of nutritious soil in order to live, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/habit-is-of-all-the-plants-of-human-growth-the-one-that-has-the-least/)

[Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/)

> [“My brain is a vast, barren, jokeless plain where wolves howl at the moon over rocky overhangs and the wind kicks up twists of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-silvey/my-brain-is-a-vast-barren-jokeless-plain-where-wolves-howl-at-the/)

[Craig Silvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-silvey/)

> [“Life without love is nothing but a barren piece of land.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-ashok-anand/life-without-love-is-nothing-but-a-barren-piece-of-land/)

[Dr. Ashok Anand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-ashok-anand/)

> [Perseverance gives power to weakness, and opens to poverty the world's wealth. It spreads fertility over the barren landscape, and buds the choicest flowers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-griswold-goodrich/perseverance-gives-power-to-weakness-and-opens-to-poverty-the-world-s/)

Samuel Griswold Goodrich

> [I find the aesthetics of the 20th century hopelessly barren.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-find-the-aesthetics-of-the-20th-century-hopelessly-barren/)

[Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/)

> [All men who live only according to their five senses, and seek nothing beyond the gratification of their natural appetites for pleasure and reputation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/all-men-who-live-only-according-to-their-five-senses-and-seek-nothing/)

[Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/)

> [Please don't settle for happiness. It's not good enough. Of course you deserve it, but if that's all you have in mind - happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/please-don-t-settle-for-happiness-it-s-not-good-enough-of-course-you/)

[Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/)

> [The apparition of an evil, sick unconscious wild city rose before me in visible semblance, and about the dead buildings in the barren air,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/the-apparition-of-an-evil-sick-unconscious-wild-city-rose-before-me/)

[Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/)

> [“Just when normal life felt almost possible--when the world held some kind of order, meaning, even loveliness (prismatic spray of light through an icicle;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wroblewski/just-when-normal-life-felt-almost-possible-when-the-world-held-some/)

[David Wroblewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wroblewski/)

> [My icons do not raise up the blessed savior in elaborate cathedrals. They are constructed concentrations celebrating barren rooms. They bring a limited light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-flavin/my-icons-do-not-raise-up-the-blessed-savior-in-elaborate-cathedrals/)

[Dan Flavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-flavin/)

> [T is liberty crowns Britannia's Isle, And makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/t-is-liberty-crowns-britannia-s-isle-and-makes-her-barren-rocks-and/)

[Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/)

> [You may boldly say, you did not plough Or trust the barren and ungrateful sands With the fruitful grain of your religious counsels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-massinger/you-may-boldly-say-you-did-not-plough-or-trust-the-barren-and/)

[Philip Massinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-massinger/)

> [I stayed in L.A. long enough to get on my feet, and then I moved back to New York. The reason I moved here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-pop/i-stayed-in-l-a-long-enough-to-get-on-my-feet-and-then-i-moved-back/)

[Iggy Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-pop/)

> [Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/virtue-is-as-little-to-be-acquired-by-learning-as-genius-nay-the-idea/)

[Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/)

> [“This book is written in a barren period of loss with an attempt to move forward towards substance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phindiwe-nkosi/this-book-is-written-in-a-barren-period-of-loss-with-an-attempt-to/)

[Phindiwe Nkosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phindiwe-nkosi/)

## More by Peter McWilliams

> [Heroes became heroes flaws and all gives us hope. "You mean I don't have to be perfect to fulfill my Dream, to make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/heroes-became-heroes-flaws-and-all-gives-us-hope-you-mean-i-don-t/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [Choosing what you want to do, and when to do it, is an act of creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/choosing-what-you-want-to-do-and-when-to-do-it-is-an-act-of-creation/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [there is nothing to be done. only accept it... and hurt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/there-is-nothing-to-be-done-only-accept-it-and-hurt/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [Nothing adventured, nothing attained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/nothing-adventured-nothing-attained/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [If you want peace with others, don't fight them. Go your own way. Live your own life. If some walk with you, fine. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/if-you-want-peace-with-others-don-t-fight-them-go-your-own-way-live/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [Pettiness seems to go hand in hand with vindictiveness. The smaller the person, the larger the need for revenge. This may account for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/pettiness-seems-to-go-hand-in-hand-with-vindictiveness-the-smaller/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [Prison is a crash course in the darker side of life. Few survive it without becoming a different person: more cynical, jaded, fearful, angry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/prison-is-a-crash-course-in-the-darker-side-of-life-few-survive-it/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [One of the great joys of life is creativity. Information goes in, gets shuffled about, and comes out in new and interesting ways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/one-of-the-great-joys-of-life-is-creativity-information-goes-in-gets/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [Nausea is an unsolved problem of medicine and marijuana is the finest anti-nausea medication known to science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/nausea-is-an-unsolved-problem-of-medicine-and-marijuana-is-the-finest/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [Worrying is the interest paid on a debt you may not owe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/worrying-is-the-interest-paid-on-a-debt-you-may-not-owe/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [Be easier on yourself, on everyone, on everything. Suspend your judgments on the way things should be, must be, and ought to be. Suspending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/be-easier-on-yourself-on-everyone-on-everything-suspend-your/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [I feel that I am entitled to take medicinal marijuana. In general, I believe that everyone who has a doctor's prescription is entitled to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/i-feel-that-i-am-entitled-to-take-medicinal-marijuana-in-general-i/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [Running from fear only strengthens fear-you are demonstrating that fear has power over you. Fear must be faced and gone through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/running-from-fear-only-strengthens-fear-you-are-demonstrating-that/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [Positive thoughts: joy, happiness, fulfillment, achievement, worthiness, have positive results: enthusiasm, calm, well-being, ease, energy, love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/positive-thoughts-joy-happiness-fulfillment-achievement-worthiness/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [Some people think that meditation takes time away from physical accomplishment. Taken to extremes, of course, that's true. Most people, however, find that meditation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/some-people-think-that-meditation-takes-time-away-from-physical/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

[Explore all 177 Peter McWilliams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

## More Barren quotes

> [“This book is written in a barren period of loss with an attempt to move forward towards substance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phindiwe-nkosi/this-book-is-written-in-a-barren-period-of-loss-with-an-attempt-to/)

[Phindiwe Nkosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phindiwe-nkosi/)

> [Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/virtue-is-as-little-to-be-acquired-by-learning-as-genius-nay-the-idea/)

[Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/)

> [I stayed in L.A. long enough to get on my feet, and then I moved back to New York. The reason I moved here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-pop/i-stayed-in-l-a-long-enough-to-get-on-my-feet-and-then-i-moved-back/)

[Iggy Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-pop/)

> [You may boldly say, you did not plough Or trust the barren and ungrateful sands With the fruitful grain of your religious counsels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-massinger/you-may-boldly-say-you-did-not-plough-or-trust-the-barren-and/)

[Philip Massinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-massinger/)

> [T is liberty crowns Britannia's Isle, And makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/t-is-liberty-crowns-britannia-s-isle-and-makes-her-barren-rocks-and/)

[Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/)

> [My icons do not raise up the blessed savior in elaborate cathedrals. They are constructed concentrations celebrating barren rooms. They bring a limited light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-flavin/my-icons-do-not-raise-up-the-blessed-savior-in-elaborate-cathedrals/)

[Dan Flavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-flavin/)

> [“Just when normal life felt almost possible--when the world held some kind of order, meaning, even loveliness (prismatic spray of light through an icicle;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wroblewski/just-when-normal-life-felt-almost-possible-when-the-world-held-some/)

[David Wroblewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wroblewski/)

> [The apparition of an evil, sick unconscious wild city rose before me in visible semblance, and about the dead buildings in the barren air,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/the-apparition-of-an-evil-sick-unconscious-wild-city-rose-before-me/)

[Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/)

> [Please don't settle for happiness. It's not good enough. Of course you deserve it, but if that's all you have in mind - happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/please-don-t-settle-for-happiness-it-s-not-good-enough-of-course-you/)

[Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/)

> [All men who live only according to their five senses, and seek nothing beyond the gratification of their natural appetites for pleasure and reputation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/all-men-who-live-only-according-to-their-five-senses-and-seek-nothing/)

[Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/)

> [I find the aesthetics of the 20th century hopelessly barren.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-find-the-aesthetics-of-the-20th-century-hopelessly-barren/)

[Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/)

> [Perseverance gives power to weakness, and opens to poverty the world's wealth. It spreads fertility over the barren landscape, and buds the choicest flowers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-griswold-goodrich/perseverance-gives-power-to-weakness-and-opens-to-poverty-the-world-s/)

Samuel Griswold Goodrich

> [“Life without love is nothing but a barren piece of land.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-ashok-anand/life-without-love-is-nothing-but-a-barren-piece-of-land/)

[Dr. Ashok Anand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-ashok-anand/)

> [Fruits fail and love dies and time ranges;Thou art fed with perpetual breath, and alive after infinite changes,And fresh from the kisses of death,Of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/algernon-charles-swinburne/fruits-fail-and-love-dies-and-time-ranges-thou-art-fed-with-perpetual/)

[Algernon Charles Swinburne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/algernon-charles-swinburne/)

> [By the deficiency or absence of one necessary constituent, all the others being present, the soil is rendered barren for all those crops to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justus-von-liebig/by-the-deficiency-or-absence-of-one-necessary-constituent-all-the/)

[Justus von Liebig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justus-von-liebig/)

Browse all 324 Barren quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "That's what depression had wrought inside me: one, vast, barren rock garden-without the garden",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Peter McWilliams"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/that-s-what-depression-had-wrought-inside-me-one-vast-barren-rock/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Barren"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/that-s-what-depression-had-wrought-inside-me-one-vast-barren-rock/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50b/peter-mcwilliams-2236_barren_that-s-what-depression-had-wrought-insid_1562662.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50b/peter-mcwilliams-2236_barren_that-s-what-depression-had-wrought-insid_1562662.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50b/peter-mcwilliams-2236_barren_that-s-what-depression-had-wrought-insid_1562662.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“That's what depression had wrought inside me: one, vast, barren rock garden-without the garden” — Peter McWilliams",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Peter McWilliams",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "That's what depression had wrought inside...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/that-s-what-depression-had-wrought-inside-me-one-vast-barren-rock/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/that-s-what-depression-had-wrought-inside-me-one-vast-barren-rock/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
