--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was as empty of life as a scarecrow's…" description: "\"“I was as empty of life as a scarecrow's pockets.”\" — Raymond Chandler" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec4/raymond-chandler-629_life_i-was-as-empty-of-life-as-a-scarecrow-s_2094214.jpg" --- # I was as empty of life as a scarecrow's pockets. ![“I was as empty of life as a scarecrow's pockets.” quote by Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec4/raymond-chandler-629_life_i-was-as-empty-of-life-as-a-scarecrow-s_2094214.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec4/raymond-chandler-629_life_i-was-as-empty-of-life-as-a-scarecrow-s_2094214.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec4/raymond-chandler-629_life_i-was-as-empty-of-life-as-a-scarecrow-s_2094214.jpg) > ““I was as empty of life as a scarecrow's pockets.”” [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He feels completely devoid of purpose, as empty as a scarecrow’s pockets. **In simple terms:** He feels utterly empty. Key Takeaway Recognize and address emotional emptiness. Themes loneliness despair existentialism Mood melancholic introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal crisis - creative block - relationship loss Key Concepts nihilism psychological emptiness Questions to Reflect On - What fills your emotional void? - How do you cope with feeling empty? A Different Perspective Empty feelings can be temporary and solvable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [“I didn't mind what she called me, what anybody called me. But this was the room I had to live in. It was all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/i-didn-t-mind-what-she-called-me-what-anybody-called-me-but-this-was/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [“If I had a razor, I'd cut your throat - just to see what ran out of it." "Caterpillar blood," I said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/if-i-had-a-razor-i-d-cut-your-throat-just-to-see-what-ran-out-of-it/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [“Marlowe's the name. The guy you've been trying to follow around for a couple of days." "I ain't following anybody, doc." "This jalopy is.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/marlowe-s-the-name-the-guy-you-ve-been-trying-to-follow-around-for-a/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [“Do try to be more cheerful and take life as you find it -The Scarecrow - The Marvellous Land Of Oz by L. Frank…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-frank-baum/do-try-to-be-more-cheerful-and-take-life-as-you-find-it-the-scarecrow/) [L. Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-frank-baum/) > [Life is populated with scarecrows—all those people and things that seem so scary and trouble our sleep. Isn't it nice to know that most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-populated-with-scarecrows-all-those-people-and-things-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The kid poured him another straight rye and I think he doctored it with water down behind the bar because when he came up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/the-kid-poured-him-another-straight-rye-and-i-think-he-doctored-it/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Lesson number four: follow the scarecrows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bond/lesson-number-four-follow-the-scarecrows/) [James Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bond/) > [“We make elaborate scarecrows out of old clothes and hats; long strips of shiny ribbon flutter from the arms. It works for a day,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atina-diffley/we-make-elaborate-scarecrows-out-of-old-clothes-and-hats-long-strips/) Atina Diffley > [“Most of the fears in life are only the scarecrows; once you realise this, the field is all yours to benefit from!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/most-of-the-fears-in-life-are-only-the-scarecrows-once-you-realise/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We stood there for a full half hour, like so many scarecrows, while they jeered at us from a distance, and one or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald-fraser/we-stood-there-for-a-full-half-hour-like-so-many-scarecrows-while/) [George MacDonald Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald-fraser/) > [“But sometimes when you are getting nowhere, you have to give the wasps' nest a wallop”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-black/but-sometimes-when-you-are-getting-nowhere-you-have-to-give-the-wasps/) [Benjamin Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-black/) > [“I can just about promise you Philip Marlowe was never as dainty as I.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-grafton/i-can-just-about-promise-you-philip-marlowe-was-never-as-dainty-as-i/) [Sue Grafton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-grafton/) > [“I guess that was nice of Chiron, for the dogs' sake, but it kind of makes me wonder if he's got a Percy Jackson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/i-guess-that-was-nice-of-chiron-for-the-dogs-sake-but-it-kind-of/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [Trump would either be the Scarecrow or the Joker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-leahy/trump-would-either-be-the-scarecrow-or-the-joker/) [Patrick Leahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-leahy/) > [I look at a picture like Scarecrow and think, 'Jesus, how could they have let us make that?' I mean, if you used technology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vilmos-zsigmond/i-look-at-a-picture-like-scarecrow-and-think-jesus-how-could-they/) [Vilmos Zsigmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vilmos-zsigmond/) ## More by Raymond Chandler > [Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/television-s-perfect-you-turn-a-few-knobs-a-few-of-those-mechanical/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [There is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/there-is-no-trap-so-deadly-as-the-trap-you-set-for-yourself/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Common sense is the guy who tells you that you ought to have had your brakes relined last week before you smashed a front…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/common-sense-is-the-guy-who-tells-you-that-you-ought-to-have-had-your/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [ “Hammett was the ace performer... He is said to have lacked heart; yet the story he himself thought the most of \[The Glass Key\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/hammett-was-the-ace-performer-he-is-said-to-have-lacked-heart-yet-the/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [She jerked away from me like a startled fawn might, if I had a startled fawn and it jerked away from me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/she-jerked-away-from-me-like-a-startled-fawn-might-if-i-had-a/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [A good story cannot be devised; it has to be distilled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/a-good-story-cannot-be-devised-it-has-to-be-distilled/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Dashiell Hammett took murder out of theVenetian vase and dropped it into the alley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/dashiell-hammett-took-murder-out-of-thevenetian-vase-and-dropped-it/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [ “He \[James Cain\] is every kind of writer I detest...a Proust in greasy overalls, a dirty little boy with a piece of chalk and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/he-james-cain-is-every-kind-of-writer-i-detest-a-proust-in-greasy/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/it-was-a-blonde-a-blonde-to-make-a-bishop-kick-a-hole-in-a-stained/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [“I had been stalking the bluebottle fly for five minutes, waiting for him to sit down. He didn't want to sit down. He just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/i-had-been-stalking-the-bluebottle-fly-for-five-minutes-waiting-for/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [“A three-piece Mexican band was making the kind of music a Mexican band always makes. Whatever they play, it all sounds the same. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/a-three-piece-mexican-band-was-making-the-kind-of-music-a-mexican/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Mostly I just kill time," he said, "and it dies hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/mostly-i-just-kill-time-he-said-and-it-dies-hard/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [“The book was not new. Dates were stamped on the front endpaper, in and out dates. A rent book. A lending library of elaborate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/the-book-was-not-new-dates-were-stamped-on-the-front-endpaper-in-and/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Without magic, there is no art. Without art, there is no idealism. Without idealism, there is no integrity. Without integrity, there is nothing but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/without-magic-there-is-no-art-without-art-there-is-no-idealism/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [“The homicide skipper that year was a Captain Gregorius, a type of copper that is getting rarer but by no means extinct, the kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/the-homicide-skipper-that-year-was-a-captain-gregorius-a-type-of/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) [Explore all 430 Raymond Chandler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) ## More Grief quotes > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. But no matter how deeply you live, it comes to this in the end: one of you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-morton/they-had-lived-they-d-lived-intensely-but-no-matter-how-deeply-you/) [Brian Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-morton/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [... how much of our inner substance is it good for us to give to public griefs? The whole modern tendency to agonize over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/how-much-of-our-inner-substance-is-it-good-for-us-to-give-to-public/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When we learn to attribute meaning to the events in our lives, we connect with our Higher Purpose, Higher Wisdom, or Source; we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-barbara-apollon/when-we-learn-to-attribute-meaning-to-the-events-in-our-lives-we/) [Susan Barbara Apollon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-barbara-apollon/) > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [That Woman is in love with her own grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/that-woman-is-in-love-with-her-own-grief/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [“You've been my beacon of light in my storm of grief, and I don't know if I could live without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-ashley/you-ve-been-my-beacon-of-light-in-my-storm-of-grief-and-i-don-t-know/) [Katie Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-ashley/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) [Browse all 8,012 Grief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I was as empty of life as a scarecrow's pockets.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Raymond Chandler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/i-was-as-empty-of-life-as-a-scarecrow-s-pockets/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grief" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/i-was-as-empty-of-life-as-a-scarecrow-s-pockets/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec4/raymond-chandler-629_life_i-was-as-empty-of-life-as-a-scarecrow-s_2094214.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec4/raymond-chandler-629_life_i-was-as-empty-of-life-as-a-scarecrow-s_2094214.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec4/raymond-chandler-629_life_i-was-as-empty-of-life-as-a-scarecrow-s_2094214.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was as empty of life as a scarecrow's pockets.” — Raymond Chandler", "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": "Raymond Chandler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I was as empty of life...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/i-was-as-empty-of-life-as-a-scarecrow-s-pockets/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/i-was-as-empty-of-life-as-a-scarecrow-s-pockets/#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 } } ] } ```