--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There might have been prettier women in…" description: "\"“There might have been prettier women in the room but, when she turned those babies on, fluttered her eyelashes, I was hers. It had taken me nearly fif..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/thomm-quackenbush-2029_emotional-abuse_there-might-have-been-prettier-women-in_1181558.jpg" --- # There might have been prettier women in the room but, when… ![“There might have been prettier women in the room but, when she turned those babies on, fluttered her eyelashes, I was hers. It had taken me nearly fifteen years to extinguish their light. Now, when she looks at me, it's a vacuum. I had drained so much from her over the course of our marriage that…” quote by Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/thomm-quackenbush-2029_emotional-abuse_there-might-have-been-prettier-women-in_1181558.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/thomm-quackenbush-2029_emotional-abuse_there-might-have-been-prettier-women-in_1181558.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adf/thomm-quackenbush-2029_emotional-abuse_there-might-have-been-prettier-women-in_1181558.jpg) > ““There might have been prettier women in the room but, when she turned those babies on, fluttered her eyelashes, I was hers. It had taken me nearly fifteen years to extinguish their light. Now, when she looks at me, it's a vacuum. I had drained so much from her over the course of our marriage that every glance rips a little bit of my soul away to fill the void I had whittled within her.”” [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intense emotional drain in a marriage leaves a void, reflecting deep relational exhaustion. **In simple terms:** Marriage can become emotionally draining. Key Takeaway Recognize and address emotional depletion. Themes relationships emotional health dependency Mood melancholic introspective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - long-term marriage - emotional neglect - personal boundaries Key Concepts psychology attachment theory Questions to Reflect On - What patterns keep you in draining relationships? - How can you replenish emotional energy? A Different Perspective The narrative may romanticize pain, overlooking healthier alternatives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Drained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drained/) [Emotional abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotional-abuse/) [Eyelashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyelashes/) [Eyelashes Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyelashes-taken-3468351/) [Falling in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falling-in-love/) [Fifteen years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fifteen-years/) [Fill the void](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fill-the-void/) [Flirting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flirting/) [Fluttered Eyelashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fluttered-eyelashes-2000853/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spousal-abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spousal-abuse-176276/) [Vacuum Drained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vacuum-drained-3468352/) ## Related quotes > [“You will show that thing to me and from now on, I will deal with them." 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Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-abel/) > [Without the truth of the people, politics degenerates into mere spectacle and democracy declines, leaving demagoguery and cynicism to fill the void.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-brown/without-the-truth-of-the-people-politics-degenerates-into-mere/) [Jerry Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-brown/) > [We're all weirdly single, middle-aged women with too much money who look to fill the void with too much shopping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cameron-mitchell/we-re-all-weirdly-single-middle-aged-women-with-too-much-money-who/) [John Cameron Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cameron-mitchell/) > [“I had nothing to feel guilty about. I had no one to answer to. I could look back upon my short life with Scott…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vee-hoffman/i-had-nothing-to-feel-guilty-about-i-had-no-one-to-answer-to-i-could/) [Vee Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vee-hoffman/) ## More by Thomm Quackenbush > [“Which God is the forgiving one, exactly? Old Testament, where He got His rocks off by smiting? Or New Testament, once Our Heavenly Father…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/which-god-is-the-forgiving-one-exactly-old-testament-where-he-got-his/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) > [“As a man, I was a failure. A pathetic teacher lusting after Catholic school girls in short skirts. As a monster, I'm superb. 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It wants to snap, it wants to attack, but it's harmless because some woman fitted a muzzle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/you-got-a-vicious-animal-inside-you-it-wants-to-snap-it-wants-to/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) > [“He had not even done the fledgling courtesy of shredding open a major artery, anointing himself in the viscous gore, and desecrating her body.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/he-had-not-even-done-the-fledgling-courtesy-of-shredding-open-a-major/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) > [ “\[T\]hese friends were of the female persuasion, and while by and large they were bi and large, they still represented potential threats on \[her\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/t-hese-friends-were-of-the-female-persuasion-and-while-by-and-large/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) > [“She kissed him… long enough he could almost hear her thoughts. 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