--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I could hardly get to sleep for dreaming…" description: "\"“I could hardly get to sleep for dreaming of revenge.”\" — Ralph Ellison" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/ralph-ellison-2676_dreaming_i-could-hardly-get-to-sleep-for-dreaming_2291452.png" --- # I could hardly get to sleep for dreaming of revenge. ![“I could hardly get to sleep for dreaming of revenge.” quote by Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/ralph-ellison-2676_dreaming_i-could-hardly-get-to-sleep-for-dreaming_2291452.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/ralph-ellison-2676_dreaming_i-could-hardly-get-to-sleep-for-dreaming_2291452.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/250/ralph-ellison-2676_dreaming_i-could-hardly-get-to-sleep-for-dreaming_2291452.png) > ““I could hardly get to sleep for dreaming of revenge.”” [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Obsessive thoughts of revenge can disrupt sleep and mental peace. **In simple terms:** Revenge keeps you awake. Key Takeaway Release grudges for peace. Themes forgiveness peace mental health Mood somber introspective Type literary psychological When to use this quote - relationship conflict - personal trauma - stress management Key Concepts obsession revenge cycle Questions to Reflect On - What fuels your desire for revenge? - How can you find closure without retaliation? A Different Perspective Letting go may be difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dreaming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreaming/) [Dreaming Revenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreaming-revenge-5385860/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Hardly Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardly-sleep-388523/) [Invisible-man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invisible-man-94132/) [Revenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revenge/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Sleep Dreaming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep-dreaming-339831/) ## Related quotes > [I went to sleep dreaming of Malawi, and all the things made possible when your dreams are powered by your heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kamkwamba/i-went-to-sleep-dreaming-of-malawi-and-all-the-things-made-possible/) [William Kamkwamba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kamkwamba/) > [Legend says that when you can't sleep, someone is dreaming of you...So whoever you are, stop!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/legend-says-that-when-you-can-t-sleep-someone-is-dreaming-of-you-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I cannot sleep for dreaming; I cannot dream but I wake and walk about the house as though I'd find you comin' through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/i-cannot-sleep-for-dreaming-i-cannot-dream-but-i-wake-and-walk-about/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [Thou has neither youth nor sleep but as it were an after dinner sleep dreaming of both](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakespeare/thou-has-neither-youth-nor-sleep-but-as-it-were-an-after-dinner-sleep/) [Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakespeare/) > [“ There was once an invisible man , the monster continued, though Conor kept his eyes firmly on Harry, who had grown tired of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/there-was-once-an-invisible-man-the-monster-continued-though-conor/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [“All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-allison/all-my-life-i-had-been-looking-for-something-and-everywhere-i-turned/) [Ralph Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-allison/) > [“who the hell was Gary, or was Gary, and why the hell didn't you know about him?' 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And now we start on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/everywhere-i-ve-turned-somebody-has-wanted-to-sacrifice-me-for-my-own/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [Power, for the writer…lies in his ability to reveal if only a little bit more about the complexity of humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/power-for-the-writer-lies-in-his-ability-to-reveal-if-only-a-little/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [...and yet I am what they think I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/and-yet-i-am-what-they-think-i-am/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [And while the ice was melting to form a flood in which I threatened to drown I awoke one afternoon to find that my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/and-while-the-ice-was-melting-to-form-a-flood-in-which-i-threatened/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“Do they come to bury the others or to be entombed to give life or to receive it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/do-they-come-to-bury-the-others-or-to-be-entombed-to-give-life-or-to/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“They could laugh at him but they couldn't ignore him”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/they-could-laugh-at-him-but-they-couldn-t-ignore-him/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [Commercial rock 'n' roll music is a brutalization of the stream of contemporary Negro church music an obscene looting of a cultural expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/commercial-rock-n-roll-music-is-a-brutalization-of-the-stream-of/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“All dreamers and sleepwalkers must pay the price, and even the invisible victim is responsible for the fate of all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/all-dreamers-and-sleepwalkers-must-pay-the-price-and-even-the/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“Those two spots are among the darkest of our whole civilization--pardon me, our whole culture (an important distinction, I've heard)--which might sound like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/those-two-spots-are-among-the-darkest-of-our-whole-civilization/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“Above the decorous walking around me, sounds of footsteps leaving the verandas of far-flung buildings and moving toward the walks and over the walks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/above-the-decorous-walking-around-me-sounds-of-footsteps-leaving-the/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone's way but my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/and-my-problem-was-that-i-always-tried-to-go-in-everyone-s-way-but-my/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [I am one of the most irresponsible beings that ever lived. Irresponsibility is part of my invisibility; any way you face it, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/i-am-one-of-the-most-irresponsible-beings-that-ever-lived/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) [Explore all 154 Ralph Ellison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) ## More Dreaming quotes > [When I am creating art, I have absolutely no social responsibility. It's like dreaming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cronenberg/when-i-am-creating-art-i-have-absolutely-no-social-responsibility-it/) [David Cronenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cronenberg/) > [He's the first thing I think of when I wake up. the only thing I think of when Im awake. and the last thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/treasure-2/he-s-the-first-thing-i-think-of-when-i-wake-up-the-only-thing-i-think/) [Treasure^^](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/treasure-2/) > [U R D 1st Thing I Think About Wen I Wake Up Just Thinking Of U Put D Biggest Smiles On My Face Every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhatsprincess/u-r-d-1st-thing-i-think-about-wen-i-wake-up-just-thinking-of-u-put-d/) [ZhatsPrincess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhatsprincess/) > [The important part of dreaming is what you do when you wake up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dal-lamagna/the-important-part-of-dreaming-is-what-you-do-when-you-wake-up/) [Dal LaMagna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dal-lamagna/) > [Courageous dreaming allows you to create from the source, the quantum soup of the universe where everything exists in a latent or potential state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-villoldo/courageous-dreaming-allows-you-to-create-from-the-source-the-quantum/) [Alberto Villoldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-villoldo/) > [I went to sleep dreaming of Malawi, and all the things made possible when your dreams are powered by your heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kamkwamba/i-went-to-sleep-dreaming-of-malawi-and-all-the-things-made-possible/) [William Kamkwamba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kamkwamba/) > [“Her silent singing wrapped around the story she was telling herself, which she extended further every night on the deck. (Averill often told herself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/her-silent-singing-wrapped-around-the-story-she-was-telling-herself/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Dreams are part of our human survival kit, part of what has kept us going, and evolving on this planet. Across history most people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-moss/dreams-are-part-of-our-human-survival-kit-part-of-what-has-kept-us/) [Robert Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-moss/) > [Sometimes I close my eyes; sometimes I let my hunger rise. I think of all you are - you are the love of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemis-khan/sometimes-i-close-my-eyes-sometimes-i-let-my-hunger-rise-i-think-of/) [Kemis Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kemis-khan/) > [Dreaming by the river, I dedicated my imagination to water, to clear, green water, the water that makes the meadows green.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/dreaming-by-the-river-i-dedicated-my-imagination-to-water-to-clear/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [“I had a dream about you last night... you kept meowing at people and licking yourself it was not unlike you normally.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-mckay/i-had-a-dream-about-you-last-night-you-kept-meowing-at-people-and/) [Nicole McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-mckay/) > [If I go to sleep with you on my mind, will I wake up in your arms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taty-the-great/if-i-go-to-sleep-with-you-on-my-mind-will-i-wake-up-in-your-arms/) [Taty The Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taty-the-great/) > [Be bold in your caring, and be bold in your dreaming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-h-w-bush/be-bold-in-your-caring-and-be-bold-in-your-dreaming/) [George H. 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