Blue water Quote by Robert Penn Warren
““I could lie there as long as I wanted, and let all the pictures of things a man might want run through my head, coffee, a girl, money, a drink, white sand and blue water, and let them all slide off, one after another, like a deck of cards slewing slowly off your hand. Maybe the things you want are like cards. You don't want them for themselves, really, though you think you do. You don't want a card because you want the card, but because in a perfectly arbitrary system of rules and values and in a special combination of which you already hold a part the card has meaning. But suppose you aren't sitting in a game. Then, even if you do know the rules, a card doesn't mean a thing. They all look alike.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The House of the Spirits, 1972
Desires are like cards; their meaning depends on context and rules; without a game, they lose significance.
In simple terms: Desires need context to matter; otherwise they’re meaningless.
Key Takeaway
Seek purpose behind desires, not just the desires themselves.
Themes
desire
meaning
context
Mood
contemplative
philosophical
introspective
Type
literary
existential
When to use this quote
- personal reflection
- creative writing
- mindfulness practice
Key Concepts
subjective value
existentialism
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- What “cards” do you hold without purpose?
- How can you assign meaning to your wants?
A Different Perspective
Desires can become empty without meaning.
![“[A]nd soon now we shall go out of the house and go into the convulsion of the world, out of history into history and the awful responsibility of Time.” quote by Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/857/robert-penn-warren-2118_awful_a-nd-soon-now-we-shall-go-out-of-the-hou_158285.jpg)
