--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But Mimi- her tenderness didn't have an…" description: "\"“But Mimi- her tenderness didn't have an easy visibility. You wondered what it would be, and after what terrible manifestations it would appear.”\" — Sa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49f/saul-bellow-558_tenderness_but-mimi-her-tenderness-didn-t-have-an-e_2496163.jpg" --- # But Mimi- her tenderness didn't have an easy visibility… ![“But Mimi- her tenderness didn't have an easy visibility. You wondered what it would be, and after what terrible manifestations it would appear.” quote by Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49f/saul-bellow-558_tenderness_but-mimi-her-tenderness-didn-t-have-an-e_2496163.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49f/saul-bellow-558_tenderness_but-mimi-her-tenderness-didn-t-have-an-e_2496163.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49f/saul-bellow-558_tenderness_but-mimi-her-tenderness-didn-t-have-an-e_2496163.jpg) > ““But Mimi- her tenderness didn't have an easy visibility. You wondered what it would be, and after what terrible manifestations it would appear.”” [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Tenderness can be hidden and emerge only after hardship, suggesting vulnerability often follows struggle. **In simple terms:** Tenderness appears after hardship. Key Takeaway Embrace vulnerability after challenges. Themes vulnerability empathy growth Mood introspective hopeful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal loss - creative breakthroughs - relationship healing Key Concepts human nature psychological resilience artistic expression Questions to Reflect On - What hardships have revealed your tenderness? - How can you nurture hidden compassion? A Different Perspective Tenderness may be suppressed by fear of exposure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Manifestations Appear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manifestations-appear-1015036/) [Mimi Tenderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mimi-tenderness-1015034/) [Tenderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tenderness/) [Tenderness Didn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tenderness-didn-1015035/) [Terrible Manifestations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrible-manifestations-1015037/) ## Related quotes > [“Kale appeared to understand that a witch’s body enjoyed tenderness. But I didn’t doubt his hands could be rough when he wanted it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-kennedy/kale-appeared-to-understand-that-a-witch-s-body-enjoyed-tenderness/) [Stacey Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-kennedy/) > [I did not believe him capable of love. That is an emotion in which tenderness is an essential part, but Strickland had no tenderness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-did-not-believe-him-capable-of-love-that-is-an-emotion-in-which/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“i want to stay curled and cosied and chocolated…forever in my mother’s arms.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanober-khan/i-want-to-stay-curled-and-cosied-and-chocolated-forever-in-my-mother/) [Sanober Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanober-khan/) > [We bear the sole, relentless tenderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-bear-the-sole-relentless-tenderness/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“She'd get out of the shower the next morning, and it would be written in the steam on the mirror. Dance. Dress. Try a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/she-d-get-out-of-the-shower-the-next-morning-and-it-would-be-written/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [And there is not anything in the world stronger than tenderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/han-suyin/and-there-is-not-anything-in-the-world-stronger-than-tenderness/) [Han Suyin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/han-suyin/) > [The most powerful symptom of love is a tenderness which becomes at times almost insupportable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-most-powerful-symptom-of-love-is-a-tenderness-which-becomes-at/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Rachel was a girl who depended on small, recurrent rituals - that was one of the things he'd come to know about her, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-yates/rachel-was-a-girl-who-depended-on-small-recurrent-rituals-that-was/) [Richard Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-yates/) > [“Love has a certain element of tenderness, which alone pierces through the heart and binds us more intimately than any force in the universe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocelyn-soriano/love-has-a-certain-element-of-tenderness-which-alone-pierces-through/) [Jocelyn Soriano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocelyn-soriano/) > [“I thought you might supply some tenderness I lacked But out of all the things I offered you took my breath away and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-thought-you-might-supply-some-tenderness-i-lacked-but-out-of-all/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [If a man is pictured chopping off a woman's breast, it only gets an R rating; but if, God forbid, a man is pictured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-struthers/if-a-man-is-pictured-chopping-off-a-woman-s-breast-it-only-gets-an-r/) [Sally Struthers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-struthers/) > [No one, it has been said, will ever look at the Moon in the same way again. More significantly can one say that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/no-one-it-has-been-said-will-ever-look-at-the-moon-in-the-same-way/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The pleasures and the cares of the luckiest ambition, even of limitless power, are nothing next to the intimate happiness that tenderness and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-pleasures-and-the-cares-of-the-luckiest-ambition-even-of/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“Lord Thornbeck lifted her onto the saddle. He looked her in the eye, and her breath stilled in her chest. There was such an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-dickerson/lord-thornbeck-lifted-her-onto-the-saddle-he-looked-her-in-the-eye/) [Melanie Dickerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-dickerson/) > [He lacked tenderness; he was rude; and he had more than a streak of cruelty in him; he was a thief and a liar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/he-lacked-tenderness-he-was-rude-and-he-had-more-than-a-streak-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) ## More by Saul Bellow > [... a fellow can't predict what he will pick up in the form of influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-fellow-can-t-predict-what-he-will-pick-up-in-the-form-of-influence/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [If I'm out of my mind, it's all right with me, thought Moses Herzog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/if-i-m-out-of-my-mind-it-s-all-right-with-me-thought-moses-herzog/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [I have begun in old age to understand just how oddly we are all put together. We are so proud of our autonomy that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-have-begun-in-old-age-to-understand-just-how-oddly-we-are-all-put/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“On Broadway it was still bright afternoon and the gassy air was almost motionless under the leaden spokes of sunlight, and sawdust footprints lay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/on-broadway-it-was-still-bright-afternoon-and-the-gassy-air-was/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There are evils that have the ability to survive identification and go on for ever... money, for instance, or war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-are-evils-that-have-the-ability-to-survive-identification-and/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Myself is thus and so, and will continue thus and so. And why fight it? My balance comes from instability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/myself-is-thus-and-so-and-will-continue-thus-and-so-and-why-fight-it/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“A strange heart. I myself can't account for it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-strange-heart-i-myself-can-t-account-for-it/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [The late philosopher Morris R. Cohen of CCNY was asked by a student in the metaphysics course, Professor Cohen, how do I know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/the-late-philosopher-morris-r-cohen-of-ccny-was-asked-by-a-student-in/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“Therefore we didn't talk of genuine things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/therefore-we-didn-t-talk-of-genuine-things/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Is our species crazy? Plenty of evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/is-our-species-crazy-plenty-of-evidence/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“But now the emphasis has shifted to making it. People have surrendered their personal moral objectives to government or schools or psychologists. It’s a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/but-now-the-emphasis-has-shifted-to-making-it-people-have-surrendered/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There's a kind of emptiness at the center of life ... nothing to form your life on, or by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-s-a-kind-of-emptiness-at-the-center-of-life-nothing-to-form/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“I don't know how it all at once came to me to talk a lot, tell jokes, kick up, and suddenly have views. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-don-t-know-how-it-all-at-once-came-to-me-to-talk-a-lot-tell-jokes/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There are times when the most practical thing is to lie down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-are-times-when-the-most-practical-thing-is-to-lie-down/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“For knowledge of death makes us wish to extend our lives at the expense of others. And this is the root of the struggle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/for-knowledge-of-death-makes-us-wish-to-extend-our-lives-at-the/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) [Explore all 464 Saul Bellow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) ## More Tenderness quotes > [He lacked tenderness; he was rude; and he had more than a streak of cruelty in him; he was a thief and a liar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/he-lacked-tenderness-he-was-rude-and-he-had-more-than-a-streak-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [“Lord Thornbeck lifted her onto the saddle. He looked her in the eye, and her breath stilled in her chest. There was such an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-dickerson/lord-thornbeck-lifted-her-onto-the-saddle-he-looked-her-in-the-eye/) [Melanie Dickerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-dickerson/) > [The pleasures and the cares of the luckiest ambition, even of limitless power, are nothing next to the intimate happiness that tenderness and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-pleasures-and-the-cares-of-the-luckiest-ambition-even-of/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [No one, it has been said, will ever look at the Moon in the same way again. More significantly can one say that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/no-one-it-has-been-said-will-ever-look-at-the-moon-in-the-same-way/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [If a man is pictured chopping off a woman's breast, it only gets an R rating; but if, God forbid, a man is pictured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-struthers/if-a-man-is-pictured-chopping-off-a-woman-s-breast-it-only-gets-an-r/) [Sally Struthers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-struthers/) > [“I thought you might supply some tenderness I lacked But out of all the things I offered you took my breath away and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-thought-you-might-supply-some-tenderness-i-lacked-but-out-of-all/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [“Love has a certain element of tenderness, which alone pierces through the heart and binds us more intimately than any force in the universe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocelyn-soriano/love-has-a-certain-element-of-tenderness-which-alone-pierces-through/) [Jocelyn Soriano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocelyn-soriano/) > [“Rachel was a girl who depended on small, recurrent rituals - that was one of the things he'd come to know about her, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-yates/rachel-was-a-girl-who-depended-on-small-recurrent-rituals-that-was/) [Richard Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-yates/) > [The most powerful symptom of love is a tenderness which becomes at times almost insupportable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-most-powerful-symptom-of-love-is-a-tenderness-which-becomes-at/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [And there is not anything in the world stronger than tenderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/han-suyin/and-there-is-not-anything-in-the-world-stronger-than-tenderness/) [Han Suyin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/han-suyin/) > [“She'd get out of the shower the next morning, and it would be written in the steam on the mirror. Dance. Dress. Try a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/she-d-get-out-of-the-shower-the-next-morning-and-it-would-be-written/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [We bear the sole, relentless tenderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-bear-the-sole-relentless-tenderness/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“i want to stay curled and cosied and chocolated…forever in my mother’s arms.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanober-khan/i-want-to-stay-curled-and-cosied-and-chocolated-forever-in-my-mother/) [Sanober Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanober-khan/) > [I did not believe him capable of love. That is an emotion in which tenderness is an essential part, but Strickland had no tenderness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-did-not-believe-him-capable-of-love-that-is-an-emotion-in-which/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Age, per se, may claim tenderness and pity, but not respect; that only comes when the years have brought humanity and wisdom and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-deland/age-per-se-may-claim-tenderness-and-pity-but-not-respect-that-only/) [Margaret Deland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-deland/) [Browse all 830 Tenderness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tenderness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But Mimi- her tenderness didn't have an easy visibility. 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