--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I often used to think myself inthe case…" description: "\"I often used to think myself inthe case of the fox-hunter, who, when he had toiled and sweated all day in the chase as if some unheard-of blessing was ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51d/sarah-fielding-19151_animal_i-often-used-to-think-myself-inthe-case_552997.png" --- # I often used to think myself inthe case of the fox-hunter… ![“I often used to think myself inthe case of the fox-hunter, who, when he had toiled and sweated all day in the chase as if some unheard-of blessing was to crown his success, finds at last all he hasgot by his labor is a stinking nauseous animal. But my condition was yet worse than his; for he…” quote by Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51d/sarah-fielding-19151_animal_i-often-used-to-think-myself-inthe-case_552997.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51d/sarah-fielding-19151_animal_i-often-used-to-think-myself-inthe-case_552997.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51d/sarah-fielding-19151_animal_i-often-used-to-think-myself-inthe-case_552997.png) > “I often used to think myself inthe case of the fox-hunter, who, when he had toiled and sweated all day in the chase as if some unheard-of blessing was to crown his success, finds at last all he hasgot by his labor is a stinking nauseous animal. But my condition was yet worse than his; for he leaves the loathsome wretch to be torn by his hounds, whilst I was obliged to fondle mine, and meanly pretend him to be the object of my love.” [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator envies the hunter’s tangible reward while suffering from unreciprocated affection, highlighting the pain of unrequited love and the futility of forced affection. **In simple terms:** Unrequited love feels like labor with no reward. Key Takeaway Accept feelings, seek mutual love. Themes love envy labor Mood melancholic introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - romantic relationships - friendships - creative pursuits Key Concepts unrequited affection selfdeception emotional labor Questions to Reflect On - What does true affection look like for you? - How can you recognize and honor your own emotional needs? A Different Perspective Forcing affection leads to resentment and loss of self-worth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Blessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blessing/) [Disillusionment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disillusionment/) [Foxes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foxes/) [Hunters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunters/) [Hunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunting/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [...it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman, one a farrier, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-was-a-huge-creature-luminous-ghastly-and-spectral-i-have-cross/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he'll look you straight in the face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-hound-will-die-for-you-but-never-lie-to-you-and-he-ll-look-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Bulldogs are adorable, with faces like toads that have been sat on. My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind; So flew'd, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/bulldogs-are-adorable-with-faces-like-toads-that-have-been-sat-on-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [A good photograph is like a good hound dog, dumb, but eloquent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-atget/a-good-photograph-is-like-a-good-hound-dog-dumb-but-eloquent/) Eugene Atget > [The hounds all join in glorious cry, / The huntsman winds his horn: / And a-hunting we will go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/the-hounds-all-join-in-glorious-cry-the-huntsman-winds-his-horn-and-a/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [“Oberon "Did Middle English hounds bark with an extra syllable on the end? like 'woofe'?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hearne/oberon-did-middle-english-hounds-bark-with-an-extra-syllable-on-the/) [Kevin Hearne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hearne/) > [The camera hound of the future wears on his forehead a lump a little larger than a walnut.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vannevar-bush/the-camera-hound-of-the-future-wears-on-his-forehead-a-lump-a-little/) [Vannevar Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vannevar-bush/) > [The women that I picked spoke sweet and low And yet gave tongue. "Hound voices" were they all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/the-women-that-i-picked-spoke-sweet-and-low-and-yet-gave-tongue-hound/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“There ain't no harm in a hound, nohow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-ain-t-no-harm-in-a-hound-nohow/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Christianity persecuted, tortured, and burned. Like a hound it tracked the very scent of heresy. It kindled wars, and nursed furious hatreds and ambitions...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/christianity-persecuted-tortured-and-burned-like-a-hound-it-tracked/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [We don't need women. There are plenty other things in the world to have sex with, just go to a sexaholics meeting and take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-don-t-need-women-there-are-plenty-other-things-in-the-world-to/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [You need to know that going in, and you also need to be able to write all the time. So when somebody looks at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ben-garant/you-need-to-know-that-going-in-and-you-also-need-to-be-able-to-write/) [Robert Ben Garant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ben-garant/) > [Some people call me a publicity hound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-arpaio/some-people-call-me-a-publicity-hound/) [Joe Arpaio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-arpaio/) > [“Basset Hounds never get scared. We’re fearless, resolute and know how to season a good lamb chop.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-zapple/basset-hounds-never-get-scared-we-re-fearless-resolute-and-know-how/) Elias Zapple > [God washes the eyes by tears until they can behold the invisible land where tears shall come no more. O love! O affliction! ye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/god-washes-the-eyes-by-tears-until-they-can-behold-the-invisible-land/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) ## More by Sarah Fielding > [Yet if strict criticism should till frown on our method, let candor and good humor forgive what is done to the best of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/yet-if-strict-criticism-should-till-frown-on-our-method-let-candor/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [What I mean by love ... is this. A sympathetic liking--excited by fancy, directed by judgment--and to which is joined also a most sincere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/what-i-mean-by-love-is-this-a-sympathetic-liking-excited-by-fancy/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [ \[S\]haring in common, without any thought of separate property, had ever been their friendly practice, from their first connection. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/s-haring-in-common-without-any-thought-of-separate-property-had-ever/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [I fancied I had some constancy of mind because I could bear my own sufferings, but found through the sufferings of others I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/i-fancied-i-had-some-constancy-of-mind-because-i-could-bear-my-own/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [I believe no gentleman would like to have his family affairs neglected because his wife was filling her head with crotchets and pothooks, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/i-believe-no-gentleman-would-like-to-have-his-family-affairs/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [I was condemned to be beheaded, or burnt, as the king pleased; and he was graciously pleased, from the great remains of his love,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/i-was-condemned-to-be-beheaded-or-burnt-as-the-king-pleased-and-he/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [ \[H\]ow do I pity those who (assuming the name of friends) surround themselves with maxims importing the wisdom of doubt and suspicion, 'til they… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/h-ow-do-i-pity-those-who-assuming-the-name-of-friends-surround/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [I endeavor not to conceal that I believe there is a great mixture of desire in the passion which is called love--or rather, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/i-endeavor-not-to-conceal-that-i-believe-there-is-a-great-mixture-of/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [The supposition that it was possible for any woman to be so mean-spirited as not at least to wish to tear out her rival's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/the-supposition-that-it-was-possible-for-any-woman-to-be-so-mean/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [The words of kindness are more healing to a drooping heart than balm or honey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/the-words-of-kindness-are-more-healing-to-a-drooping-heart-than-balm/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [There appears to be but two grand master passions or movers in the human mind, namely, love and pride. And what constitutes the beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/there-appears-to-be-but-two-grand-master-passions-or-movers-in-the/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [Agreeable then to my present inclination, I formed the object of my own worship, which was no other than my own understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/agreeable-then-to-my-present-inclination-i-formed-the-object-of-my/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [The motives to actions and the inward turns of mind seem in our opinion more necessary to be known than the actions themselves; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/the-motives-to-actions-and-the-inward-turns-of-mind-seem-in-our/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [ \[F\]or women, like tradesmen, draw in the injudicious to buy their goods by the high value they themselves set upon them… They endeavor strongly… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/f-or-women-like-tradesmen-draw-in-the-injudicious-to-buy-their-goods/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) > [ \[T\]he judicious reader ought to know what the chief character in any work of the imagination will naturally perform, according to the situation he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-fielding/t-he-judicious-reader-ought-to-know-what-the-chief-character-in-any/) [Sarah Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) [Explore all 33 Sarah Fielding quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-fielding/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I often used to think myself inthe case of the fox-hunter, who, when he had toiled and sweated all day in the chase as if some unheard-of blessing was to crown his success, finds at last all he hasgot by his labor is a stinking nauseous animal. 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