--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The present mood in which they sat…" description: "\"“The present mood in which they sat relaxed was nothing more than the relief of two people coming back to a bombed building once familiar, shared as a ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/rosamond-lehmann-23776_aftermaths_the-present-mood-in-which-they-sat-relax_2215171.jpg" --- # The present mood in which they sat relaxed was nothing… ![“The present mood in which they sat relaxed was nothing more than the relief of two people coming back to a bombed building once familiar, shared as a dwelling, and finding all over the smashed foundations a rose-ash haze of willow herb. No more, no less. It is a ruin; but suspense at least, at…” quote by Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/rosamond-lehmann-23776_aftermaths_the-present-mood-in-which-they-sat-relax_2215171.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/rosamond-lehmann-23776_aftermaths_the-present-mood-in-which-they-sat-relax_2215171.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67e/rosamond-lehmann-23776_aftermaths_the-present-mood-in-which-they-sat-relax_2215171.jpg) > ““The present mood in which they sat relaxed was nothing more than the relief of two people coming back to a bombed building once familiar, shared as a dwelling, and finding all over the smashed foundations a rose-ash haze of willow herb. No more, no less. It is a ruin; but suspense at least, at least the need for sterile resolution, have evaporated with the fact of the return. Terror of nothingness contracts before the contemplation of it. It is not, after all, vacancy, but space; an area razed, roped off by time; by time refertilized, sown with a transfiguration, a ruin-haunting, ghost-spun No Man's crop of grace.”” [Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. After returning to a devastated place, the characters find a strange calm, seeing the ruin as both emptiness and a space for new growth, turning trauma into a quiet, hopeful pause. **In simple terms:** Finding peace in ruins can reveal hidden possibilities. Key Takeaway Seek calm amid chaos to discover new beginnings. Themes trauma healing resilience Mood contemplative hopeful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal loss - urban renewal - emotional recovery - creative inspiration Key Concepts post‑war recovery psychology of space Questions to Reflect On - How do you transform loss into growth? - What does “space” mean after devastation? A Different Perspective The sense of peace may be temporary, and the underlying trauma can resurface later. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contemplation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemplation/) [Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation/) [Nature of Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-beauty/) ## Related quotes > [The nineteenth and twentieth centuries have given us as much terror as we can take. 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Even in the terrors of the night, there is a tendency toward grace that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-goolrick/there-is-a-loveliness-to-life-that-does-not-fade-even-in-the-terrors/) [Robert Goolrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-goolrick/) > [Everyone who wants to know what will happen ought to examine what has happened: everything in this world in any epoch has their replicas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/everyone-who-wants-to-know-what-will-happen-ought-to-examine-what-has/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [“Yet that grief and this joy were alike outside all the ordinary conditions of life; they were loop-holes, as it were, in that ordinary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/yet-that-grief-and-this-joy-were-alike-outside-all-the-ordinary/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The whole of life is a journey toward youthful old age, toward self-contemplation, love, gaiety, and, in a fundamental sense, the most gratifying time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/the-whole-of-life-is-a-journey-toward-youthful-old-age-toward-self/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [To enter into the realm of contemplation one must in a certain sense die: but this death is in fact the entrance to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/to-enter-into-the-realm-of-contemplation-one-must-in-a-certain-sense/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Catholicity seized on man... and the mystics, transcending all, taught him to ascend on high with the wings of contemplation the Ladder of Jacob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-donoso-cortes/catholicity-seized-on-man-and-the-mystics-transcending-all-taught-him/) Juan Donoso Cortes > [Poetical taste is the only magician whose wand is not broken. 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Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Inside every pause lived a contemplation”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/inside-every-pause-lived-a-contemplation/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) ## More by Rosamond Lehmann > [ \[On Ian Fleming:\] The trouble with Ian is that he gets off with women because he can't get on with them. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/on-ian-fleming-the-trouble-with-ian-is-that-he-gets-off-with-women/) [Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) > [“Yes, we are sure of it. These walls enclose a world. Here is continuity spinning a web from room to room, from year to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/yes-we-are-sure-of-it-these-walls-enclose-a-world-here-is-continuity/) [Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) > [Advice to Young Journal Keepers. Be lenient with yourself. Conceal your worst faults, leave out your most shameful thoughts, actions, and temptations. Give yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/advice-to-young-journal-keepers-be-lenient-with-yourself-conceal-your/) [Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) > [People have been saying the novel is dead for as far back as I can remember. 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A shake - and they stir,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/looking-back-into-childhood-is-like-looking-into-a-semi-transparent/) [Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) > [“Still, now and then they seemed to be holding behind them the surprising, the magic vistas of childhood - the sudden snow at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/still-now-and-then-they-seemed-to-be-holding-behind-them-the/) [Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) > [One should always act from one's inner sense of rhythm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/one-should-always-act-from-one-s-inner-sense-of-rhythm/) [Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) > [How long, I wonder, will ignorance spell purity and knowledge shame?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/how-long-i-wonder-will-ignorance-spell-purity-and-knowledge-shame/) [Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) > [“I want to do something absolutely different, or perhaps nothing at all: just stay where I am, in my home, and absorb each hour,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/i-want-to-do-something-absolutely-different-or-perhaps-nothing-at-all/) [Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) > [Holidays, if you enjoy them, have no history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/holidays-if-you-enjoy-them-have-no-history/) [Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) > [I have decided to keep a record of my inmost real-self thoughts. Perhaps it will help me to find out what I really am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/i-have-decided-to-keep-a-record-of-my-inmost-real-self-thoughts/) [Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) > [In a corner of the churchyard grew a plantation of white violets, enormously plump and prosperous-looking. ... I saw the dead stretched out under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/in-a-corner-of-the-churchyard-grew-a-plantation-of-white-violets/) [Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) [Explore all 24 Rosamond Lehmann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) ## More Contemplation quotes > [“Inside every pause lived a contemplation”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/inside-every-pause-lived-a-contemplation/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. On the contrary, the deep, inexpressible certitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/let-no-one-hope-to-find-in-contemplation-an-escape-from-conflict-from/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [“The problem with the contemplative life was that there was no end to contemplation, no fixed time limit after which thought had to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-russo/the-problem-with-the-contemplative-life-was-that-there-was-no-end-to/) [Richard Russo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-russo/) > [Poetical taste is the only magician whose wand is not broken. No hand, except its own, can dissolve the fabric of beauty in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/poetical-taste-is-the-only-magician-whose-wand-is-not-broken-no-hand/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [Catholicity seized on man... and the mystics, transcending all, taught him to ascend on high with the wings of contemplation the Ladder of Jacob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-donoso-cortes/catholicity-seized-on-man-and-the-mystics-transcending-all-taught-him/) Juan Donoso Cortes > [To enter into the realm of contemplation one must in a certain sense die: but this death is in fact the entrance to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/to-enter-into-the-realm-of-contemplation-one-must-in-a-certain-sense/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The whole of life is a journey toward youthful old age, toward self-contemplation, love, gaiety, and, in a fundamental sense, the most gratifying time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/the-whole-of-life-is-a-journey-toward-youthful-old-age-toward-self/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [“Yet that grief and this joy were alike outside all the ordinary conditions of life; they were loop-holes, as it were, in that ordinary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/yet-that-grief-and-this-joy-were-alike-outside-all-the-ordinary/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Everyone who wants to know what will happen ought to examine what has happened: everything in this world in any epoch has their replicas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/everyone-who-wants-to-know-what-will-happen-ought-to-examine-what-has/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [We must not imitate the externals of nature with so much fidelity that the picture fails to evoke that wonderful teasing recurrence of emotion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-carlson/we-must-not-imitate-the-externals-of-nature-with-so-much-fidelity/) [John F. Carlson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-carlson/) > [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I think the church should strive to give parishioners good music. Music is as necessary for worship as a building with a beautiful altar,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-brubeck/i-think-the-church-should-strive-to-give-parishioners-good-music/) [Dave Brubeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-brubeck/) > [ My contemplation of life and human nature in that secluded place \[cell 54 of Cairo Central Prison\] taught me that he who cannot change… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anwar-sadat/my-contemplation-of-life-and-human-nature-in-that-secluded-place-cell/) [Anwar Sadat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anwar-sadat/) > [You cannot grow in the integrative dance of action and contemplation without a strong tolerance for ambiguity, an ability to allow, forgive, and contain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/you-cannot-grow-in-the-integrative-dance-of-action-and-contemplation/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) [Browse all 960 Contemplation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemplation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The present mood in which they sat relaxed was nothing more than the relief of two people coming back to a bombed building once familiar, shared as a dwelling, and finding all over the smashed foundations a rose-ash haze of willow herb. 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