--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our house has its back to the sea,'…" description: "\"“Our house has its back to the sea,' writes Hester in her journal. 'Below us, the ocean spreads to the sky, twitching wide and blue and hungry. One wou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef6/tanya-moir-66397_emigration_our-house-has-its-back-to-the-sea-writes_3209600.jpg" --- # Our house has its back to the sea,' writes Hester in her… ![“Our house has its back to the sea,' writes Hester in her journal. 'Below us, the ocean spreads to the sky, twitching wide and blue and hungry. One would think it to be infinite. But we, of course, know better.” quote by Tanya Moir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef6/tanya-moir-66397_emigration_our-house-has-its-back-to-the-sea-writes_3209600.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef6/tanya-moir-66397_emigration_our-house-has-its-back-to-the-sea-writes_3209600.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef6/tanya-moir-66397_emigration_our-house-has-its-back-to-the-sea-writes_3209600.jpg) > ““Our house has its back to the sea,' writes Hester in her journal. 'Below us, the ocean spreads to the sky, twitching wide and blue and hungry. One would think it to be infinite. But we, of course, know better.”” Tanya Moir ## 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 describes the sea as vast and threatening, yet hints that human understanding limits that perception. **In simple terms:** The sea feels endless but we know its limits. Key Takeaway Recognize limits of perception. Themes nature perception humanity Mood contemplative melancholic Type literary descriptive When to use this quote - travel writing - personal reflection - coastal living Key Concepts existentialism liminality Questions to Reflect On - How does the sea symbolize our fears? - What does “know better” imply about human insight? A Different Perspective The sea may be metaphorical, not literal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emigration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emigration/) [Historical fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical-fiction/) [New zealand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-zealand/) [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [River](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) ## Related quotes > [“The shore whispers to the sea: “Write to me what your waves struggle to say.” The sea writes in foam again and again and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/the-shore-whispers-to-the-sea-write-to-me-what-your-waves-struggle-to/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“Mary Fisher lives in a High Tower, on the edge of the sea: she writes a great deal about the nature of love. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faye-weldon/mary-fisher-lives-in-a-high-tower-on-the-edge-of-the-sea-she-writes-a/) Faye Weldon > [When I'm old and gray, I want to have a house by the sea. And paint. 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But in doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-russia-there-is-an-emigration-of-intelligence-migr-s-cross-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More by Tanya Moir > [“We're all made to the same pattern. Knitted up like a thrifty housewife's sock from scraps - random unravelled bits of yarn that used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanya-moir/we-re-all-made-to-the-same-pattern-knitted-up-like-a-thrifty/) Tanya Moir > [“She wonders if it could really have been as simple for him, this changing of worlds, as the purchase of a ticket. Hester tries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanya-moir/she-wonders-if-it-could-really-have-been-as-simple-for-him-this/) Tanya Moir > [“I want to tell you a story about my mother, although of course it is also mine - inherited, along with dangly earlobes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanya-moir/i-want-to-tell-you-a-story-about-my-mother-although-of-course-it-is/) Tanya Moir Explore all 4 Tanya Moir quotes ## More Emigration quotes > [In Russia there is an emigration of intelligence: émigrés cross the frontier in order to read and to write good books. But in doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-russia-there-is-an-emigration-of-intelligence-migr-s-cross-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I am not facing the problem of emigration. 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