--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We have possessed virtually nothing in…" description: "\"“We have possessed virtually nothing in our life in Italy. In England, I became increasingly sure that to possess something was to arrest your knowledg..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de3/rachel-cusk-3482_human-mind_we-have-possessed-virtually-nothing-in-o_1291051.jpg" --- # We have possessed virtually nothing in our life in Italy… ![“We have possessed virtually nothing in our life in Italy. In England, I became increasingly sure that to possess something was to arrest your knowledge of it, because the thing itself is no longer free. For me the pain of knowledge is a tonic, an antidote to the pall of possession. But there is an…” quote by Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de3/rachel-cusk-3482_human-mind_we-have-possessed-virtually-nothing-in-o_1291051.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de3/rachel-cusk-3482_human-mind_we-have-possessed-virtually-nothing-in-o_1291051.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de3/rachel-cusk-3482_human-mind_we-have-possessed-virtually-nothing-in-o_1291051.jpg) > ““We have possessed virtually nothing in our life in Italy. In England, I became increasingly sure that to possess something was to arrest your knowledge of it, because the thing itself is no longer free. For me the pain of knowledge is a tonic, an antidote to the pall of possession. But there is an element of death in knowledge (...) Knowledge is what remains to the human mind once the possession has been lost. It is the reliquary of the vanished object. Its presence is painful, because it signifies that what was known is no longer there.”” [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Possessing knowledge can feel painful because it marks the loss of the unknown, turning knowledge into a relic of what once was. **In simple terms:** Knowledge feels painful when it replaces the unknown. Key Takeaway Accept loss as part of learning. Themes philosophy epistemology loss Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal growth - academic study - creative writing Key Concepts theory of knowledge existential reflection Questions to Reflect On - How does loss shape your understanding? - Can pain be a motivator? A Different Perspective Pain may hinder curiosity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-knowledge-2292651/) [Human mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-mind/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mind Possession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-possession-755640/) [Possession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possession/) [Possession Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possession-lost-1744598/) ## Related quotes > [There have been few things in my life which have had a more genial effect on my mind than the possession of a piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/there-have-been-few-things-in-my-life-which-have-had-a-more-genial/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [What you have learned from experience is worth much more than gold. If you have a house it may burn down. Any kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/somaly-mam/what-you-have-learned-from-experience-is-worth-much-more-than-gold-if/) [Somaly Mam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/somaly-mam/) > [“A man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-carnegie/a-man-who-acquires-the-ability-to-take-full-possession-of-his-own/) [Andrew Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-carnegie/) > [“The only satisfactory thing about death is that our knowledge about it is unsatisfactory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/the-only-satisfactory-thing-about-death-is-that-our-knowledge-about/) [Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/) > [Ignorance is death, Knowledge is life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/ignorance-is-death-knowledge-is-life/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Only a creature that can think symbolically about life can conceive of its own death. Our knowledge of death is part of our knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanne-katherina-langer/only-a-creature-that-can-think-symbolically-about-life-can-conceive/) [Susanne Katherina Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanne-katherina-langer/) > [ “When you erode the fear of death with the knowledge that you already died \[in Christ\], you will find yourself moving toward a simple,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-t-welch/when-you-erode-the-fear-of-death-with-the-knowledge-that-you-already/) [Edward T. Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-t-welch/) > [Opinion is the death of knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-stone/opinion-is-the-death-of-knowledge/) [Jennifer Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-stone/) > [Animals learn death first at the moment of death;...man approaches death with the knowledge it is closer every hour, and this creates a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/animals-learn-death-first-at-the-moment-of-death-man-approaches-death/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Ignorance is death, knowledge is life. Life is of very little value, if it is a life in the dark, groping through ignorance and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/ignorance-is-death-knowledge-is-life-life-is-of-very-little-value-if/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [The last to be overcome is death, and the knowledge of life is the knowledge of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-cayce/the-last-to-be-overcome-is-death-and-the-knowledge-of-life-is-the/) [Edgar Cayce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-cayce/) > [Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance, is the death of knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/not-ignorance-but-ignorance-of-ignorance-is-the-death-of-knowledge/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [“Not ignorance but ignorance of ignorance is death of knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/northwhite/not-ignorance-but-ignorance-of-ignorance-is-death-of-knowledge/) [Northwhite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/northwhite/) > [“But if that is what it meant to win the game, how hard it must be to live only with what one knows and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/but-if-that-is-what-it-meant-to-win-the-game-how-hard-it-must-be-to/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“The more that the human mind is enlightened, the more desirous it becomes of farther acquisitions in knowledge. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-stewart/the-more-that-the-human-mind-is-enlightened-the-more-desirous-it/) [Alexander Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-stewart/) ## More by Rachel Cusk > [A creative writing workshop will contain students whose ambitions and abilities, whose conceptions of literature itself, are so diverse that what they have in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-creative-writing-workshop-will-contain-students-whose-ambitions-and/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [“If a man had a nasty side to his character, she wanted to get to it immediately and confront it. She didn’t want it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/if-a-man-had-a-nasty-side-to-his-character-she-wanted-to-get-to-it/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [If I know somebody is coming 'round, it is incredibly difficult for me to work because I'm waiting for this interruption - even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/if-i-know-somebody-is-coming-round-it-is-incredibly-difficult-for-me/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [I felt that I could swim for miles, out into the ocean: a desire for freedom, an impulse to move, tugged at me as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/i-felt-that-i-could-swim-for-miles-out-into-the-ocean-a-desire-for/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [The creativity of childhood was often surrendered amid feelings of unworthiness. So the idea that others are demanding to be given it back -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/the-creativity-of-childhood-was-often-surrendered-amid-feelings-of/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [A neighbor is something that belongs to the stable world of home life, the thing that lives next door to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-neighbor-is-something-that-belongs-to-the-stable-world-of-home-life/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [Help is dangerous because it exists outside the human economy: the only payment for help is gratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/help-is-dangerous-because-it-exists-outside-the-human-economy-the/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [A feminist man is a bit like a vegetarian: it's the humanitarian principle he's defending, I suppose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-feminist-man-is-a-bit-like-a-vegetarian-it-s-the-humanitarian/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [Feminism remains something that needs to be explained to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/feminism-remains-something-that-needs-to-be-explained-to-people/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [“At the time, he had got rid of her so efficiently and so suavely that she had felt almost reassured even as she was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/at-the-time-he-had-got-rid-of-her-so-efficiently-and-so-suavely-that/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [“From the distance of England the Italian cuisine seems to be all things to all people. It does not expect you to bend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/from-the-distance-of-england-the-italian-cuisine-seems-to-be-all/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [You could time a suburban story by your watch: it lasts as long as it takes a small furry animal that's lonely to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/you-could-time-a-suburban-story-by-your-watch-it-lasts-as-long-as-it/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [It is expected that a children's story will raise a difficulty and then resolve it: increasingly, this resolution is so prompt and so resounding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/it-is-expected-that-a-children-s-story-will-raise-a-difficulty-and/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [Human beings have a need, generally, to destroy things. The Freudian principle of civilisation is correct. There's always, always a difference between the family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/human-beings-have-a-need-generally-to-destroy-things-the-freudian/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [I don't think I knew that you could be a novelist. I think a lot of my students are in the same condition. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/i-don-t-think-i-knew-that-you-could-be-a-novelist-i-think-a-lot-of-my/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) [Explore all 128 Rachel Cusk quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) ## More Human mind quotes > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Dogma is a powerful way of closing human mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-marley/dogma-is-a-powerful-way-of-closing-human-mind/) [Peter Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-marley/) > [“The more that the human mind is enlightened, the more desirous it becomes of farther acquisitions in knowledge. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-stewart/the-more-that-the-human-mind-is-enlightened-the-more-desirous-it/) [Alexander Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-stewart/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [ It is certain that every class is interested in \[educational\] establishments which give to the human mind its highest improvements, and to every Country… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/it-is-certain-that-every-class-is-interested-in-educational/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Just take one thing out and the whole palace, the whole edifice of the human mind collapses. Take effort out of it and desiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/just-take-one-thing-out-and-the-whole-palace-the-whole-edifice-of-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Freedom is the very essence of our economy and society. Without freedom the human mind is prevented from unleashing its creative force. But what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/freedom-is-the-very-essence-of-our-economy-and-society-without/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [Charity is the filthiest invention of the human mind: first you steal what belongs to everyone; then you use the law and various other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/u-g-krishnamurti/charity-is-the-filthiest-invention-of-the-human-mind-first-you-steal/) [U.G. Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/u-g-krishnamurti/) > [“artificial intelligence is forcing human endeavor away from simple, algorithmic and repetitive tasks towards solving problems and incubating new ideas. It is the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gyan-nagpal/artificial-intelligence-is-forcing-human-endeavor-away-from-simple/) [Gyan Nagpal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gyan-nagpal/) > [“There are very few intellectual elites and those who think they are, are merely not and those who are not shows us the intellectual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santosh-kalwar/there-are-very-few-intellectual-elites-and-those-who-think-they-are/) [Santosh Kalwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santosh-kalwar/) > [“Story is one of the foundation stones of the human mind along with rhythm and chant. 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