--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I looked at the ceiling and wished this…" description: "\"I looked at the ceiling and wished this life was over. This unhappy life that had started out so confidently. I thought I would sleep no more that nigh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c78/stephen-king-13_ceilings_i-looked-at-the-ceiling-and-wished-this_3178569.jpg" --- # I looked at the ceiling and wished this life was over… ![“I looked at the ceiling and wished this life was over. This unhappy life that had started out so confidently. I thought I would sleep no more that night but eventually I did. In the end we always wear out our worries. That's what Wire man says.” quote by Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c78/stephen-king-13_ceilings_i-looked-at-the-ceiling-and-wished-this_3178569.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c78/stephen-king-13_ceilings_i-looked-at-the-ceiling-and-wished-this_3178569.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c78/stephen-king-13_ceilings_i-looked-at-the-ceiling-and-wished-this_3178569.jpg) > “I looked at the ceiling and wished this life was over. This unhappy life that had started out so confidently. I thought I would sleep no more that night but eventually I did. In the end we always wear out our worries. That's what Wire man says.” [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## 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 feels deep despair, wishing life would end, but eventually finds relief as worries fade. **In simple terms:** Despair turns to relief as worries lessen. Key Takeaway Seek help and give time for healing. Themes mental health despair hope Mood somber reflective Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - personal crisis - nighttime anxiety - mental health recovery Key Concepts existential crisis self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take when overwhelmed? - How does sharing pain change its weight? A Different Perspective Hope may be fleeting without support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happy life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy-life/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-unhappy/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [This life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/this-life/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) [Unhappy life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy-life/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) ## Related quotes > [Some people try to mess up your life because they're unhappy with their own life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/some-people-try-to-mess-up-your-life-because-they-re-unhappy-with/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [“She looked at the ceiling, eyelashes batting like hummingbird wings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-vickers/she-looked-at-the-ceiling-eyelashes-batting-like-hummingbird-wings/) [Dennis Vickers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-vickers/) > [“Some days I woke up and got out of bed and brushed my teeth like any normal human being; some days I woke up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ned-vizzini/some-days-i-woke-up-and-got-out-of-bed-and-brushed-my-teeth-like-any/) [Ned Vizzini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ned-vizzini/) > [I stepped into the bedroom where he was killed and looked up at the ceiling, where you could still see the patterns of blood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bergen/i-stepped-into-the-bedroom-where-he-was-killed-and-looked-up-at-the/) [Peter Bergen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bergen/) > [“I looked to the ceiling and told God, “God, next time I want an adventure, strike me with lightning. You have my permission.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-ashley/i-looked-to-the-ceiling-and-told-god-god-next-time-i-want-an/) [Kristen Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-ashley/) > [We wish, hope and pray that you get whatever you wished for all your life? Your college degree, a great life partner, that apartment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-wish-hope-and-pray-that-you-get-whatever-you-wished-for-all-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Sometimes I just wished life could be different”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-twiss/sometimes-i-just-wished-life-could-be-different/) [Johan Twiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-twiss/) > [“definitions belong to the definer, not the defined, & I no longer wished to have my life & death foretold by others. I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/definitions-belong-to-the-definer-not-the-defined-i-no-longer-wished/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [“Even on my best days, I always wished life excited me as much as it excited her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-rowley/even-on-my-best-days-i-always-wished-life-excited-me-as-much-as-it/) [Steven Rowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-rowley/) > [“A cat's life isn't difficult. It's just eating and sleeping. Over and over again. I wished my life was as easy as that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-vu/a-cat-s-life-isn-t-difficult-it-s-just-eating-and-sleeping-over-and/) Marie vu > [I have been very interested in labor movement. If I could have wished another life, I would have loved to be a pioneer woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astrid-lindgren/i-have-been-very-interested-in-labor-movement-if-i-could-have-wished/) [Astrid Lindgren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astrid-lindgren/) > [“I always wished for a life like the movies. I should have been more specific in my prayers for a romantic drama, not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiji-tharayil/i-always-wished-for-a-life-like-the-movies-i-should-have-been-more/) [Jiji Tharayil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiji-tharayil/) > [“Well, clearly someone you trust isn’t really someone you should be trusting,” she said without thinking, and regretted it when Terrible glanced at her.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacia-kane/well-clearly-someone-you-trust-isn-t-really-someone-you-should-be/) [Stacia Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacia-kane/) > [He wished that they could go through life like this. That he could physically put himself between Eleanor and the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/he-wished-that-they-could-go-through-life-like-this-that-he-could/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [I think I wished for you all of my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/i-think-i-wished-for-you-all-of-my-life/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) ## More by Stephen King > [Shall there be truth between us, as two men? Not as friends, but as enemies and equals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/shall-there-be-truth-between-us-as-two-men-not-as-friends-but-as/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The worst advice? 'Don't listen to the critics.' I think that you really ought to listen to the critics, because sometimes they're telling you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-worst-advice-don-t-listen-to-the-critics-i-think-that-you-really/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“October 3, 2017 The clown, Hagarty said, looked like a cross between Ronald McDonald and that old TV clown, Bozo—or so he thought at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/october-3-2017-the-clown-hagarty-said-looked-like-a-cross-between/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Eddie saw great things and near misses. Albert Einstein as a child, not quite struck by a run-away milk-wagon as he crossed a street.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/eddie-saw-great-things-and-near-misses-albert-einstein-as-a-child-not/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [It hurt, of course, but more often than not the best things do, I've found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/it-hurt-of-course-but-more-often-than-not-the-best-things-do-i-ve/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“The idea that creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time... Creative people probably do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-idea-that-creative-endeavor-and-mind-altering-substances-are/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“The sun had burned through and the day had gone from dull to dazzling, yet in the west blask-satin thunderheads continued to stack up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-sun-had-burned-through-and-the-day-had-gone-from-dull-to-dazzling/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“God, you had enough time to have been through it three times. You've been through my stuff. I bet you over and let one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/god-you-had-enough-time-to-have-been-through-it-three-times-you-ve/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Flakes of snow swirled and danced across the porch. The Overlook faced it as it had for nearly three-quarters of a century, its darkened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/flakes-of-snow-swirled-and-danced-across-the-porch-the-overlook-faced/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“In that instant it all seemed to come clear to him- it came in a grisly flash of light, and he realized that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/in-that-instant-it-all-seemed-to-come-clear-to-him-it-came-in-a/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Who gets to be best-liked in any community? Who is the most trusted? Why, the man who does the dirty job, of course, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/who-gets-to-be-best-liked-in-any-community-who-is-the-most-trusted/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“¿Lo ves, tonto? Volvió a regañarse. Tú lo inventaste todo, gato asustado. No fue más que tu imaginación, gato asustado, gato asustado... No te…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/lo-ves-tonto-volvi-a-rega-arse-t-lo-inventaste-todo-gato-asustado-no/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Death . . . but not for you. That was what Walter, clever as Satan even at the end, had said. A lawyer’s answer . . . so close to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/death-but-not-for-you-that-was-what-walter-clever-as-satan-even-at/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The ghost story movie that scared me the most was The Changeling with George C. Scott. I think that's sometimes overlooked, but it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-ghost-story-movie-that-scared-me-the-most-was-the-changeling-with/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Climb aboard, Jonesy. I'm going to send you up where the air is rare and the view is much more than fair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/climb-aboard-jonesy-i-m-going-to-send-you-up-where-the-air-is-rare/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) [Explore all 3,589 Stephen King quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## More Ceilings quotes > [It was just the sort of yatch you'd expect a rock promoter to have. Mirrored ceilings, marble, Jacuzzis and leopard-skin everything, it made the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-anderson/it-was-just-the-sort-of-yatch-you-d-expect-a-rock-promoter-to-have/) [Pamela Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-anderson/) > [Maybe that was why she couldn't cry, she realized, staring dry-eyed at the ceiling. Because what was the point in crying when there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/maybe-that-was-why-she-couldn-t-cry-she-realized-staring-dry-eyed-at/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [For seven days she lay in bed looking sullenly at the ceiling as though resenting the death she had cultivated for so many years.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/for-seven-days-she-lay-in-bed-looking-sullenly-at-the-ceiling-as/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [The trainee knew he should leave, but he was unable to look away. He'd never seen anything snap out so fast or strike so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/the-trainee-knew-he-should-leave-but-he-was-unable-to-look-away-he-d/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [Every NBA arena has six cameras in the ceiling. The question is what does the software do with video feeds? How to surface that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-ballmer/every-nba-arena-has-six-cameras-in-the-ceiling-the-question-is-what/) [Steve Ballmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-ballmer/) > [I knew what I wanted to do when I was 13 and I had to go through four years of high school to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mayer/i-knew-what-i-wanted-to-do-when-i-was-13-and-i-had-to-go-through-four/) [John Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mayer/) > [Lonliness evaporated off of them like the steam off dry ice, and by morning it was just a cloud on the ceiling of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-moore/lonliness-evaporated-off-of-them-like-the-steam-off-dry-ice-and-by/) [Christopher Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-moore/) > [Your mind has a way of putting limitations on your goals. When you persevere, you develop character. Nobody knows their ceiling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-molitor/your-mind-has-a-way-of-putting-limitations-on-your-goals-when-you/) Paul Molitor > [I never thought I was breaking a glass ceiling. I just had to do what I had to do, and it never occurred to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-wright-edelman/i-never-thought-i-was-breaking-a-glass-ceiling-i-just-had-to-do-what/) [Marian Wright Edelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-wright-edelman/) > [Whenever I got a new studio I made the largest possible painting, and since the ceiling was low, the painting became horizontal. As I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-rosenquist/whenever-i-got-a-new-studio-i-made-the-largest-possible-painting-and/) [James Rosenquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-rosenquist/) > [I watched her and I watched the birds' shadows flit across her face, and I...wanted. I wanted more happy memories to hang up on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/i-watched-her-and-i-watched-the-birds-shadows-flit-across-her-face/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [Fearless--the cobweb swings from the ceiling-- Indolent Housewife--in Daisies--lain!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/fearless-the-cobweb-swings-from-the-ceiling-indolent-housewife-in/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [These boys, now, were living as we'd been living then, they were growing up with a rush and their heads bumped abruptly against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/these-boys-now-were-living-as-we-d-been-living-then-they-were-growing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have my great grandmother's recipe for black beans, all the way from Cuba, and I know how to make those. I'm actually pretty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-pino/i-have-my-great-grandmother-s-recipe-for-black-beans-all-the-way-from/) [Danny Pino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-pino/) > [A bad guy in a movie has a lot of latitude for acting. He can walk up the wall, crawl across the ceiling, go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harrison-ford/a-bad-guy-in-a-movie-has-a-lot-of-latitude-for-acting-he-can-walk-up/) [Harrison Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harrison-ford/) Browse all 393 Ceilings quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I looked at the ceiling and wished this life was over. This unhappy life that had started out so confidently. I thought I would sleep no more that night but eventually I did. In the end we always wear out our worries. That's what Wire man says.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen King" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-looked-at-the-ceiling-and-wished-this-life-was-over-this-unhappy/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ceilings" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-looked-at-the-ceiling-and-wished-this-life-was-over-this-unhappy/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c78/stephen-king-13_ceilings_i-looked-at-the-ceiling-and-wished-this_3178569.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c78/stephen-king-13_ceilings_i-looked-at-the-ceiling-and-wished-this_3178569.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c78/stephen-king-13_ceilings_i-looked-at-the-ceiling-and-wished-this_3178569.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I looked at the ceiling and wished this life was over. This unhappy life that had started out so…” — Stephen King", "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": "Stephen King", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I looked at the ceiling and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-looked-at-the-ceiling-and-wished-this-life-was-over-this-unhappy/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-looked-at-the-ceiling-and-wished-this-life-was-over-this-unhappy/#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 } } ] } ```