--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was December, I had never felt so…" description: "\"“It was December, I had never felt so cold, the eel soup lay heavy on my stomach, I was afraid I'd die, I turned aside to vomit, I envied them.”\" — Sam..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/samuel-beckett-365_december_it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold_150.png" --- # It was December, I had never felt so cold, the eel soup… ![“It was December, I had never felt so cold, the eel soup lay heavy on my stomach, I was afraid I'd die, I turned aside to vomit, I envied them.” quote by Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/samuel-beckett-365_december_it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold_150.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/samuel-beckett-365_december_it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold_150.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/samuel-beckett-365_december_it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold_150.png) > ““It was December, I had never felt so cold, the eel soup lay heavy on my stomach, I was afraid I'd die, I turned aside to vomit, I envied them.”” [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A visceral depiction of existential dread, physical illness, and envy, suggesting a crisis of survival and longing for escape. **In simple terms:** Desperate, sick, envious. Key Takeaway Suffering can amplify yearning for a different fate. Themes existential dread physical illness envy survival instinct crisis of identity Mood anguish loneliness despair Type literary reflective When to use this quote - facing a life‑threatening illness - being isolated in a harsh environment - witnessing others' comfort while suffering Key Concepts mortality body-mind dissonance social comparison Practical Applications - Therapeutic writing to process trauma - Narrative therapy for patients Questions to Reflect On - What does the narrator envy most? - How does physical discomfort shape perception of self? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [December](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/december/) [Eel Soup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eel-soup-232432/) [Felt Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-cold/) [First love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-love/) [Heavy Stomach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heavy-stomach-232435/) [Stomach Afraid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stomach-afraid-232434/) [Vomit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vomit/) [Vomit Envied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vomit-envied-232433/) ## Related quotes > [“He knew with absolutely certainty why his chest felt so heavy and his stomach ached. Because pieces of your heart clearly weigh more when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-brewer/he-knew-with-absolutely-certainty-why-his-chest-felt-so-heavy-and-his/) [Heather Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-brewer/) > [Habit is the ballast that chains the dog to his vomit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/habit-is-the-ballast-that-chains-the-dog-to-his-vomit/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“For three long days, I felt the cold hand of death on my shoulder. 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/photo-agency/even-if-the-photo-agency-is-only-10-minutes-away-from-me-on-the-way/) [Photo Agency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/photo-agency/) > [“Elyograg-He struggled once more to break free, but it was no use. He was tied to the pyre; a torch set the mound ablaze.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorraine-beaumont/elyograg-he-struggled-once-more-to-break-free-but-it-was-no-use-he/) [Lorraine Beaumont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorraine-beaumont/) > [“Goodbye, goodbye, may Bog forgive you for a ruined life." 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The bed felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/i-curled-into-a-ball-underneath-my-thick-comforter-and-inhaled/) [Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/) > [“I’ve felt alone, cold, and clothed in shame for too long. Let the sunlight be my blanket, wardrobe, and toilet paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-ve-felt-alone-cold-and-clothed-in-shame-for-too-long-let-the/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“It should hurt, shouldn’t it? Shouldn’t it hurt to be ripped in half? But it didn’t. It didn’t hurt the least little bit. Cold.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-goodkind/it-should-hurt-shouldn-t-it-shouldn-t-it-hurt-to-be-ripped-in-half/) [Terry Goodkind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-goodkind/) ## More by Samuel Beckett > [“To be always what I am - and so changed from what I was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/to-be-always-what-i-am-and-so-changed-from-what-i-was/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [To what will love not stoop!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/to-what-will-love-not-stoop/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [With all this darkness round me I feel less alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/with-all-this-darkness-round-me-i-feel-less-alone/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“You may say it is all in my head, and indeed sometimes it seems to me I am in a head and that these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/you-may-say-it-is-all-in-my-head-and-indeed-sometimes-it-seems-to-me/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“Here he stood. 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Yes, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/what-are-we-doing-here-that-is-the-question-and-we-are-blessed-in/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/i-shall-state-silences-more-competently-than-ever-a-better-man/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [It is useless not to seek, not to want, for when you cease to seek you start to find, and when you cease to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-is-useless-not-to-seek-not-to-want-for-when-you-cease-to-seek-you/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. How many people can boast as much?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-are-not-saints-but-we-have-kept-our-appointment-how-many-people/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [The new light above my table is a great improvement. With all this darkness around me I feel less alone. (Pause.) In a way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/the-new-light-above-my-table-is-a-great-improvement-with-all-this/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [I lay down across her with my face in her breasts and my hand on her. We lay there without moving. But under us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/i-lay-down-across-her-with-my-face-in-her-breasts-and-my-hand-on-her/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Women are all the bloody sameyou can't love for five minutes without wanting it abolished in brats and house bloody wifery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/women-are-all-the-bloody-sameyou-can-t-love-for-five-minutes-without/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“ESTRAGON: Do you think God sees me? VLADIMIR: You must close your eyes. Estragon closes his eyes, staggers worse. ESTRAGON: (stopping, brandishing his fists,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/estragon-do-you-think-god-sees-me-vladimir-you-must-close-your-eyes/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Deplorable mania, when something happens, to inquire what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/deplorable-mania-when-something-happens-to-inquire-what/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“We are not merely more weary because of yesterday, we are other, no longer what we were before the calamity of yesterday.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-are-not-merely-more-weary-because-of-yesterday-we-are-other-no/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) [Explore all 609 Samuel Beckett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) ## More December quotes > [“Congregating power to leave u… To control this love But I always go back to December!!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moaz-zulfiqar/congregating-power-to-leave-u-to-control-this-love-but-i-always-go/) [Moaz Zulfiqar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moaz-zulfiqar/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [I've come to believe that whoever I am didn't start on December 14, 1946, and isn't going to end on whatever that mysterious date…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patty-duke/i-ve-come-to-believe-that-whoever-i-am-didn-t-start-on-december-14/) [Patty Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patty-duke/) > [Since, O sweet Lord Jesus, Thou art the present portion of Thy people, favour us this year with such a sense of Thy preciousness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/since-o-sweet-lord-jesus-thou-art-the-present-portion-of-thy-people/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's 25th December! May God bless you and your loved ones the whole year round! Have a Joyous Christmas!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-25th-december-may-god-bless-you-and-your-loved-ones-the-whole/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My parents subscribed to both Time and Newsweek and in 1978, I remember the covers of both that December were of the bodies in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-scheeres/my-parents-subscribed-to-both-time-and-newsweek-and-in-1978-i/) [Julia Scheeres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-scheeres/) > [I'd go back to December, turn around and change my own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-d-go-back-to-december-turn-around-and-change-my-own-mind/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [From December to March, there are for many of us three gardens - the garden outdoors, the garden of pots and bowls in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-sergeant-angell-white/from-december-to-march-there-are-for-many-of-us-three-gardens-the/) [Katharine Sergeant Angell White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-sergeant-angell-white/) > [It's been said that Bill Gates has come up with something that'll be released in December that's gonna put a lid on counterfeiting. 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I never had time to think about my beliefs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/i-have-lived-with-passion-and-in-a-hurry-trying-to-accomplish-too/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) [Browse all 440 December quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/december/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was December, I had never felt so cold, the eel soup lay heavy on my stomach, I was afraid I'd die, I turned aside to vomit, I envied them.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Beckett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold-the-eel-soup-lay-heavy-on-my/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "December" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold-the-eel-soup-lay-heavy-on-my/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/samuel-beckett-365_december_it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold_150.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/samuel-beckett-365_december_it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold_150.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ef/samuel-beckett-365_december_it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold_150.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was December, I had never felt so cold, the eel soup lay heavy on my stomach, I was afraid I'd die, I…” — Samuel Beckett", "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": "Samuel Beckett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It was December, I had never...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold-the-eel-soup-lay-heavy-on-my/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold-the-eel-soup-lay-heavy-on-my/#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 } } ] } ```