--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I did not act in this fashion…" description: "\"“I did not act in this fashion deliberately; I did not prefer this kind of relationship with people. I wanted a life in which there was a constant onen..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/richard-wright-4088_hope_i-did-not-act-in-this-fashion-deliberate_740263.jpg" --- # I did not act in this fashion deliberately; I did not… ![“I did not act in this fashion deliberately; I did not prefer this kind of relationship with people. I wanted a life in which there was a constant oneness of feeling with others, in which the basic emotions of life were shared, in which common memory formed a common past, in which collective hope…” quote by Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/richard-wright-4088_hope_i-did-not-act-in-this-fashion-deliberate_740263.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/richard-wright-4088_hope_i-did-not-act-in-this-fashion-deliberate_740263.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/richard-wright-4088_hope_i-did-not-act-in-this-fashion-deliberate_740263.jpg) > ““I did not act in this fashion deliberately; I did not prefer this kind of relationship with people. I wanted a life in which there was a constant oneness of feeling with others, in which the basic emotions of life were shared, in which common memory formed a common past, in which collective hope reflected a national future. But I knew that no such thing was possible in my environment. The only ways in which I felt that my feelings could go outward without fear of rude rebuff or searing reprisal was in writing or reading, and to me they were ways of living.”” [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He seeks connection and shared feeling through literature because real life denies him communal intimacy. **In simple terms:** Writing offers safe emotional sharing. Key Takeaway Use art to bridge emotional gaps. Themes loneliness art community expression Mood introspective melancholic Type literary personal When to use this quote - Therapy - writing workshops - reading groups - supportive friendships Key Concepts Existential yearning social isolation creative catharsis Questions to Reflect On - What emotions do you express through art? - Can reading substitute for real relationships? A Different Perspective Art cannot replace genuine human bonds; it may be a substitute. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-past-620460/) [Emotions Of Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotions-of-life-223908/) [Feelings Outward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings-outward-5781347/) [Felt Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-feelings-470106/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Oneness Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneness-feeling-5781348/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Ways Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ways-felt-5781349/) ## Related quotes > [In their precise tracings-out and subtle causations, the strongest and fieriest emotions of life defy all analytical insight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/in-their-precise-tracings-out-and-subtle-causations-the-strongest-and/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [By making the place and the people and the feelings real, by the time someone closes the cover of one of my books, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/by-making-the-place-and-the-people-and-the-feelings-real-by-the-time/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [To express the emotions of life is to live. To express the life of emotions is to make art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-heap/to-express-the-emotions-of-life-is-to-live-to-express-the-life-of/) [Jane Heap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-heap/) > [“I have been using art as a means to the emotions of life and reading into it the ideas of life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-bell/i-have-been-using-art-as-a-means-to-the-emotions-of-life-and-reading/) [Clive Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-bell/) > [“What would happen if I felt the feelings and moved through the depression? I couldn’t ask myself what was on the other side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-kaiser/what-would-happen-if-i-felt-the-feelings-and-moved-through-the/) [Shannon Kaiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-kaiser/) > [“Life’s too short to get stuck. I don’t have time to wallow in despair. I felt my feelings. I cried my tears, and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-smith/life-s-too-short-to-get-stuck-i-don-t-have-time-to-wallow-in-despair/) [N.K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-smith/) > [“He was fine, and foreign, and he did not belong here. I held him close, not crushing, not waking him, letting him sleep, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-lanagan/he-was-fine-and-foreign-and-he-did-not-belong-here-i-held-him-close/) [Margo Lanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-lanagan/) > [I honestly believe I have felt your feelings. I've walked in your shoes. You have made some mistakes, and you may not be where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-honestly-believe-i-have-felt-your-feelings-i-ve-walked-in-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I took a look at myself and said I was going nowhere holding on, but then I looked into your eyes and saw you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-took-a-look-at-myself-and-said-i-was-going-nowhere-holding-on-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I was attracted to her from the first time we talked, and soon there was no turning back. For a long time she was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-was-attracted-to-her-from-the-first-time-we-talked-and-soon-there/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The pain in the heart is felt to only those who have feelings in their eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-pain-in-the-heart-is-felt-to-only-those-who-have-feelings-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Even if we no longer have much in common, we would have always had the past, which, in some ways, is just as important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-giffin/even-if-we-no-longer-have-much-in-common-we-would-have-always-had-the/) [Emily Giffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-giffin/) > [What is miraculous about the past is that we have succeeded--God knows how--in making thousands and millions of individual human beings, lock well enought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/what-is-miraculous-about-the-past-is-that-we-have-succeeded-god-knows/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [It is imperative that the past of the pilgrims' progress be intentionally carried forward into the present as we work into our future. Without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-richard-niebuhr/it-is-imperative-that-the-past-of-the-pilgrims-progress-be/) [H. Richard Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-richard-niebuhr/) > [“She is more memory than reality. She belongs to a time of teenage crushes, first kisses, crowded lecture halls and smoky pubs. Even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-robotham/she-is-more-memory-than-reality-she-belongs-to-a-time-of-teenage/) [Michael Robotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-robotham/) ## More by Richard Wright > [“My days and nights were one long, quiet, continuously contained dream of teror, tension, and anxiety. I wondered how long I could bear it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/my-days-and-nights-were-one-long-quiet-continuously-contained-dream/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [It made me love talk that sought answers to questions that could help nobody, that could only keep alive in me that enthralling sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/it-made-me-love-talk-that-sought-answers-to-questions-that-could-help/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“Having been thrust out of the world because of my race, I had accepted my destiny by not being curious about what shaped it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/having-been-thrust-out-of-the-world-because-of-my-race-i-had-accepted/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [He had lived and acted on the assumption that he was alone, and now he saw that he had not been. What he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/he-had-lived-and-acted-on-the-assumption-that-he-was-alone-and-now-he/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [Reading was like a drug, a dope. The novels created moods in which I lived for days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/reading-was-like-a-drug-a-dope-the-novels-created-moods-in-which-i/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [It would have been impossible for me to have told anyone what I derived from these novels, for it was nothing less than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/it-would-have-been-impossible-for-me-to-have-told-anyone-what-i/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“If you've a notion of what man's heart is, wouldn't you say that maybe the whole effort of man on earth to build a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/if-you-ve-a-notion-of-what-man-s-heart-is-wouldn-t-you-say-that-maybe/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“From far beyond the horizons that bound this bleak plantation there had come to me through my living the knowledge that my father was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/from-far-beyond-the-horizons-that-bound-this-bleak-plantation-there/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“Color hate defined the place of black life as below that of white life; and the black man, responding to the same dreams as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/color-hate-defined-the-place-of-black-life-as-below-that-of-white/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“These fantasies were no longer a reflection of my reaction to the white people, they were a part of my living, of my emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/these-fantasies-were-no-longer-a-reflection-of-my-reaction-to-the/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“Their constant outward-looking, their mania for radios, cars, and a thousand other trinkets made them dream and fix their eyes upon the trash of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/their-constant-outward-looking-their-mania-for-radios-cars-and-a/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“absolute power is corrupting”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/absolute-power-is-corrupting/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“In me was shaping a yearning for a kind of consciousness, a mode of being that the way of life about me had said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/in-me-was-shaping-a-yearning-for-a-kind-of-consciousness-a-mode-of/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [The impulse to dream was slowly beaten out of me by experience. Now it surged up again and I hungered for books, new ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/the-impulse-to-dream-was-slowly-beaten-out-of-me-by-experience-now-it/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“..when I tried to talk to him I realized that, though ties of blood made us kin, though I could see a shadow of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/when-i-tried-to-talk-to-him-i-realized-that-though-ties-of-blood-made/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) [Explore all 116 Richard Wright quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) ## More Hope quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“What can we do in any hardship? We can hope with prayerful praise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/what-can-we-do-in-any-hardship-we-can-hope-with-prayerful-praise/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [If one truly has lost hope, one would not be on hand to say so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bentley/if-one-truly-has-lost-hope-one-would-not-be-on-hand-to-say-so/) [Eric Bentley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bentley/) > [“too—I realized that my only hope was to give up the life that had been, in order to make room for the life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/too-i-realized-that-my-only-hope-was-to-give-up-the-life-that-had/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Stop trying to give me hope ... I have no room left for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenn-f/stop-trying-to-give-me-hope-i-have-no-room-left-for-it/) [Jenn F](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenn-f/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Give me love, give me peace on earth, give me light, give me life, keep me free from birth, give me hope, help me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/give-me-love-give-me-peace-on-earth-give-me-light-give-me-life-keep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pray, hope, don't worry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/pray-hope-don-t-worry/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/do-not-pray-for-tasks-equal-to-your-powers-pray-for-powers-equal-to/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [I am at a point in my life where everything I have worked for starts to look like a burden, a weight on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-abou-samra/i-am-at-a-point-in-my-life-where-everything-i-have-worked-for-starts/) [Simone Abou Samra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-abou-samra/) > [Im really happy that I met you I hope you know that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-nothing/im-really-happy-that-i-met-you-i-hope-you-know-that/) [Im Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/im-nothing/) > [All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-that-i-am-or-ever-hope-to-be-i-owe-to-my-angel-mother/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) [Browse all 24,868 Hope quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I did not act in this fashion deliberately; I did not prefer this kind of relationship with people. 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