--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was recalling that other world in which…" description: "\"“I was recalling that other world in which it had thrilled me, in a way, the surprise of thinking that I could be a person who would betray Daniel. Now..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e5/sue-miller-18553_fate_i-was-recalling-that-other-world-in-whic_526636.png" --- # I was recalling that other world in which it had thrilled… ![“I was recalling that other world in which it had thrilled me, in a way, the surprise of thinking that I could be a person who would betray Daniel. Now I wondered if Daniel could surprise himself, could surprise me, by being such a person too. Would he let himself do such a thing? I didn’t think…” quote by Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e5/sue-miller-18553_fate_i-was-recalling-that-other-world-in-whic_526636.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e5/sue-miller-18553_fate_i-was-recalling-that-other-world-in-whic_526636.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e5/sue-miller-18553_fate_i-was-recalling-that-other-world-in-whic_526636.png) > ““I was recalling that other world in which it had thrilled me, in a way, the surprise of thinking that I could be a person who would betray Daniel. Now I wondered if Daniel could surprise himself, could surprise me, by being such a person too. Would he let himself do such a thing? I didn’t think so. And then I wondered: Is it by will, then, that we are who we are? Do we decide, do we make ourselves, after a certain point in life? I tried to call up the moment when I had decided I could be such a person. It seemed to me I hadn’t quite got there, not really. That I was still just playing with the idea of it when the ground shifted under me. But perhaps to play with such an idea was already to be a certain kind of person. ”” [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage explores identity, free will, and self‑definition, questioning whether we choose who we become. **In simple terms:** We wonder if we choose ourselves. Key Takeaway Examine moments when you felt you could change your path. Themes identity free will self‑discovery Mood introspective conflicted curious Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career crossroads - personal crisis - creative writing - ethical dilemmas - relationship conflicts Key Concepts philosophy psychology choice agency Questions to Reflect On - Do you believe you can reinvent yourself? - What limits your sense of agency? A Different Perspective The narrative may over‑intellectualize personal change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Betray Daniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/betray-daniel-4433776/) [Daniel Surprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daniel-surprise-4433780/) [Daniel Wondered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daniel-wondered-4433777/) [Fate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) [Fidelity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fidelity/) [Surprise Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surprise-thinking-4433778/) [Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/will/) [Wondered Daniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wondered-daniel-4433779/) ## Related quotes > [“WHEN YOU'RE TRYING SOMETHING NEW, YOU'RE TORN BETWEEN ANTICIPATING A DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE AND THINKING YOU'RE A FOOL TO IGNORE WHAT YOU KNOW YOU LIKE.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-holzer/when-you-re-trying-something-new-you-re-torn-between-anticipating-a/) [Jenny Holzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-holzer/) > [The tendency in our spiritual life but also our more general attitude toward love is that our feelings are all that is going on.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kolodiejchuk/the-tendency-in-our-spiritual-life-but-also-our-more-general-attitude/) [Brian Kolodiejchuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kolodiejchuk/) > [A woman can give a man a million reasons to be faithful, and he will find one reason to cheat. 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I would know you even if I were mad. I will know you always,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-a-lynn/i-would-know-you-from-the-heart-of-the-sun-i-would-know-you-even-if-i/) [Elizabeth A. Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-a-lynn/) > [Your idea of fidelity is not having more than one man in bed at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-raphael/your-idea-of-fidelity-is-not-having-more-than-one-man-in-bed-at-the/) [Frederic Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-raphael/) ## More by Sue Miller > [It seems we need someone to know us as we are - with all we have done - and forgive us. We need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/it-seems-we-need-someone-to-know-us-as-we-are-with-all-we-have-done/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [And what if we’d been utterly open? Made jokes about the first wife? What if we’d been that kind of family? 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Remember, after all, that pain is one of the ways we register in memory the things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/but-pain-may-be-a-gift-to-us-remember-after-all-that-pain-is-one-of/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [“And then heard Detective Ryan’s pleased voice talking about Eli, about killers who’ve gone free: “They have to tell,” he’d said Well, apparently so.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/and-then-heard-detective-ryan-s-pleased-voice-talking-about-eli-about/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [“But even then I knew how it was going to be, I could feel the coming silence in the long, poisonous pauses that expanded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/but-even-then-i-knew-how-it-was-going-to-be-i-could-feel-the-coming/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [“Doggone, I never thought I’d lose my mind.” I was startled at the time to realize this – that he had thought about it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/doggone-i-never-thought-i-d-lose-my-mind-i-was-startled-at-the-time/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [“The abundance of ordinary things, their convenient arrangement here, seemed for the moment a personal gift to me. As did my ability to notice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/the-abundance-of-ordinary-things-their-convenient-arrangement-here/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [“You might have thought I’d worry about him, about causing him pain or at least embarrassment. I simply didn’t. I felt the kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/you-might-have-thought-i-d-worry-about-him-about-causing-him-pain-or/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [“My sister and I were the ones in the family who had seen this as necessary; neither of my brothers felt there was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/my-sister-and-i-were-the-ones-in-the-family-who-had-seen-this-as/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [“...the words make our silences easier--they're the current that runs under them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/the-words-make-our-silences-easier-they-re-the-current-that-runs/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [And I was remembering that time in our lives together, the time of those ritual walks. 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It is a passion and a fate that one has to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simen-agdestein/real-chessplayers-think-about-chess-more-or-less-24-hours-a-day-it-is/) [Simen Agdestein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simen-agdestein/) > [Holy shadows of the dead, I'm not to blame for your cruel and bitter fate, but the accursed rivalry which brought sister nations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/holy-shadows-of-the-dead-i-m-not-to-blame-for-your-cruel-and-bitter/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [You can't choose what stays and what stays away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-welch/you-can-t-choose-what-stays-and-what-stays-away/) [Florence Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-welch/) > [“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/) > [“Fate and future both are servant to the determined, for they are nothing but creation of human determination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/fate-and-future-both-are-servant-to-the-determined-for-they-are/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [My fate cannot be mastered; it can only be collaborated with and thereby, to some extent, directed. 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Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [Do we make ourselves into what we become or is it built into our genes, into the fate spun for us by whatever shapes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-bruchac/do-we-make-ourselves-into-what-we-become-or-is-it-built-into-our/) [Joseph Bruchac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-bruchac/) [Browse all 5,152 Fate quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I was recalling that other world in which it had thrilled me, in a way, the surprise of thinking that I could be a person who would betray Daniel. Now I wondered if Daniel could surprise himself, could surprise me, by being such a person too. Would he let himself do such a thing? I didn’t think so. And then I wondered: Is it by will, then, that we are who we are? Do we decide, do we make ourselves, after a certain point in life? I tried to call up the moment when I had decided I could be such a person. It seemed to me I hadn’t quite got there, not really. That I was still just playing with the idea of it when the ground shifted under me. 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