--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I watched him, filled with tenderness and…" description: "\"I watched him, filled with tenderness and ache, wondering what it was that connected us. Was it the wounded places down inside people that sought each ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/sue-monk-kidd-404_ache_i-watched-him-filled-with-tenderness-and_3012941.png" --- # I watched him, filled with tenderness and ache, wondering… ![“I watched him, filled with tenderness and ache, wondering what it was that connected us. Was it the wounded places down inside people that sought each other out, that bred a kind of love between them?” quote by Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/sue-monk-kidd-404_ache_i-watched-him-filled-with-tenderness-and_3012941.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/sue-monk-kidd-404_ache_i-watched-him-filled-with-tenderness-and_3012941.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/sue-monk-kidd-404_ache_i-watched-him-filled-with-tenderness-and_3012941.png) > “I watched him, filled with tenderness and ache, wondering what it was that connected us. Was it the wounded places down inside people that sought each other out, that bred a kind of love between them?” [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A deep emotional connection arises from shared wounds, creating a tender, aching bond between people. **In simple terms:** Shared pain can forge love. Key Takeaway Recognize and honor others' hidden hurts. Themes empathy connection vulnerability Mood reflective compassionate Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - friendship - romantic relationships - support groups - counseling Key Concepts psychology human need Questions to Reflect On - How do you notice unseen pain in others? - What can you do to offer gentle support? A Different Perspective Not all wounds are visible, and connection may be one‑sided. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Kinds of love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kinds-of-love/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Tenderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tenderness/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) [Wounded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounded/) ## Related quotes > [“When I looked at myself through the prism of awareness, great tears came as I connected with how this wounded child felt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-w-earle/when-i-looked-at-myself-through-the-prism-of-awareness-great-tears/) [David W Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-w-earle/) > [I didn't know then what I wanted, but the ache for it was palpable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-didn-t-know-then-what-i-wanted-but-the-ache-for-it-was-palpable/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [Finally, I began to write about becoming an older woman and the trepidation it stirred. The small, telling "betrayals" of my body. The stalled,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/finally-i-began-to-write-about-becoming-an-older-woman-and-the/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [And sometimes it happened, for a time. That kind of love comes and goes and is hard to remember afterwards, like pain. You would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/and-sometimes-it-happened-for-a-time-that-kind-of-love-comes-and-goes/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I need the sun, sand and ocean to rejuvenate my spirit, the food to enliven my body and all of the familiar places, friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-gealey/i-need-the-sun-sand-and-ocean-to-rejuvenate-my-spirit-the-food-to/) [Grace Gealey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-gealey/) > [On his face was an expression of absolute love. Melting, soul-touching, raw, unbridled love, the kind of person dies for, sacrifices and suffers for.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jude-deveraux/on-his-face-was-an-expression-of-absolute-love-melting-soul-touching/) [Jude Deveraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jude-deveraux/) > [Ranger cradled my face in his hands, using his thumbs to wipe the tears from my eyes. "The ceremony is over. Can you make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/ranger-cradled-my-face-in-his-hands-using-his-thumbs-to-wipe-the/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [We have become this very fear-based culture, especially post-9/11. Fear is the opposite of love, in my opinion. I think there would be more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/we-have-become-this-very-fear-based-culture-especially-post-9-11-fear/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [I knew I'd miss you. But the surprising thing is, you never leave me. I never forget a thing. Every kind of love, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-lynn-anderson/i-knew-i-d-miss-you-but-the-surprising-thing-is-you-never-leave-me-i/) [Jodi Lynn Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-lynn-anderson/) > [I believe all stories are love stories, and there are kinds and kinds of love, so I will always write about love, but not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-pritchard/i-believe-all-stories-are-love-stories-and-there-are-kinds-and-kinds/) [Melissa Pritchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-pritchard/) > [Knowing is the most profound kind of love, giving someone the gift of knowledge about yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsha-norman/knowing-is-the-most-profound-kind-of-love-giving-someone-the-gift-of/) [Marsha Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsha-norman/) > [“There are many kinds of love, I think. There’s passionate love, and there’s dutiful love, though often we don’t realize that really they’re just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-meade/there-are-many-kinds-of-love-i-think-there-s-passionate-love-and/) [Glenn Meade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-meade/) > [We don't even love each other. I do a bit, you know. You do what a bit? You know. Like you...whatever...love you a bit.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/we-don-t-even-love-each-other-i-do-a-bit-you-know-you-do-what-a-bit/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [“There’s not really any kind of love that’s ‘bad.’ All kinds of love teach us about ourselves and about each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leland-dirks/there-s-not-really-any-kind-of-love-that-s-bad-all-kinds-of-love/) [Leland Dirks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leland-dirks/) > [If so many men, so many minds, certainly so many hearts, so many kinds of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/if-so-many-men-so-many-minds-certainly-so-many-hearts-so-many-kinds/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## More by Sue Monk Kidd > [“But benevolent patriarchy is still patriarchy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/but-benevolent-patriarchy-is-still-patriarchy/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“It's part of our overall Body Negation Program.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/it-s-part-of-our-overall-body-negation-program/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“That was the thing mauma and I loved, our time with the quilts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/that-was-the-thing-mauma-and-i-loved-our-time-with-the-quilts/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [In recent years my understanding of God had evolved into increasingly remote abstractions. I'd come to think of God in terms like Divine Reality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/in-recent-years-my-understanding-of-god-had-evolved-into-increasingly/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“The mermaids came to me finally, in the pink hours of my life. They are my consolation. For them I dove with arms outstretched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-mermaids-came-to-me-finally-in-the-pink-hours-of-my-life-they-are/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“The bag contained a pair of white cotton gloves stained the color of age.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-bag-contained-a-pair-of-white-cotton-gloves-stained-the-color-of/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [I eventually found that the soul is more than an immortal commodity to win and save. It is the repository of the inner divine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-eventually-found-that-the-soul-is-more-than-an-immortal-commodity/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Readiness for dying arrives by attending the smallest moment and finding the eternal inside of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/readiness-for-dying-arrives-by-attending-the-smallest-moment-and/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“I sat at her desk and turned one page after another, staring at what looked like bits and pieces of black lace laid cross…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-sat-at-her-desk-and-turned-one-page-after-another-staring-at-what/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. Everything suddenly there--life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-hardens-into-a-bead-of-such/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“There's no pain on earth that doesn't require a benevolent witness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/there-s-no-pain-on-earth-that-doesn-t-require-a-benevolent-witness/) [sue monk kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“afflicted with the worst female curse on earth, the need to mold myself to expectations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/afflicted-with-the-worst-female-curse-on-earth-the-need-to-mold/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Her forbidden bath all those months ago still hung leaden between us, though Handful didn't seem the least bit ashamed by my discovery of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/her-forbidden-bath-all-those-months-ago-still-hung-leaden-between-us/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Why should God’s perfection be based on having an unchanging nature?” I asked. “Isn’t flexibility more perfect than stasis?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/why-should-god-s-perfection-be-based-on-having-an-unchanging-nature-i/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) [Explore all 584 Sue Monk Kidd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) ## More Ache quotes > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [When we went into the ocean, I watched his body as he dove into the waves, and it gave me a feeling in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/when-we-went-into-the-ocean-i-watched-his-body-as-he-dove-into-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [A woman who lives with the stress of an overwhelmed schedule will often ache with the sadness of an underwhelmed soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysa-terkeurst/a-woman-who-lives-with-the-stress-of-an-overwhelmed-schedule-will/) [Lysa TerKeurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysa-terkeurst/) > [I ache for the touch of your lips dear, but much more for the touch of your whips dear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-lehrer/i-ache-for-the-touch-of-your-lips-dear-but-much-more-for-the-touch-of/) [Tom Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-lehrer/) > [I was not wounded in any part of my body, but I had never experienced such intense pain, such a ripping of the nerves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-was-not-wounded-in-any-part-of-my-body-but-i-had-never-experienced/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [And the flavor of Pippa's kiss--bittersweet and strange--stayed with me all the way back uptown, swaying and sleepy as I sailed home on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-the-flavor-of-pippa-s-kiss-bittersweet-and-strange-stayed-with-me/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [They are enthusiasts, devotees. Addicts. Something about the circus stirs their souls, and they ache for it when it is absent. They seek each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-morgenstern/they-are-enthusiasts-devotees-addicts-something-about-the-circus/) [Erin Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-morgenstern/) > [as we acquire new aches and new pains, our health care is, of necessity, being supplied by internists, cardiologists, dermatologists, podiatrists, urologists, periodontists, gynecologists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-viorst/as-we-acquire-new-aches-and-new-pains-our-health-care-is-of-necessity/) [Judith Viorst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-viorst/) > [Jamie enjoyed solitude, but loneliness was a constant ache.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-sheldon/jamie-enjoyed-solitude-but-loneliness-was-a-constant-ache/) [Sidney Sheldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-sheldon/) > [Some men make money not for the sake of living, but ache In the blindness of greed and live just for their fortune's sake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/some-men-make-money-not-for-the-sake-of-living-but-ache-in-the/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [Staring at her face, she began to fancy her outer layer had begun to melt away while she wasn't paying attention, and something --…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/staring-at-her-face-she-began-to-fancy-her-outer-layer-had-begun-to/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [O thou beautiful And unimaginable ether! and Ye multiplying masses of increased And still increasing lights! what are ye? what Is this blue wilderness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/o-thou-beautiful-and-unimaginable-ether-and-ye-multiplying-masses-of/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [An emotion is a thought, yes, an idea, but it is also a sensation, an ache in your body. Desire, love, hate, fear, repulsion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-landay/an-emotion-is-a-thought-yes-an-idea-but-it-is-also-a-sensation-an/) [William Landay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-landay/) > [He that sleeps feels not the tooth-ache](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/he-that-sleeps-feels-not-the-tooth-ache/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I will live this day as if it is my last. …I will waste not a moment mourning yesterday’s misfortunes, Yesterday’s defeats, yesterday’s aches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/og-mandino/i-will-live-this-day-as-if-it-is-my-last-i-will-waste-not-a-moment/) [Og Mandino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/og-mandino/) Browse all 489 Ache quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I watched him, filled with tenderness and ache, wondering what it was that connected us. 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