--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The loneliness she felt before Frank…" description: "\"“The loneliness she felt before Frank walked her home from Wang's cleaners began to dissolve and in its place a shiver of freedom, of earned solitude, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc5/toni-morrison-271_freedom_the-loneliness-she-felt-before-frank-wal_1426109.jpg" --- # The loneliness she felt before Frank walked her home from… ![“The loneliness she felt before Frank walked her home from Wang's cleaners began to dissolve and in its place a shiver of freedom, of earned solitude, of choosing the walls she wanted to break through, minus the burden of shouldering a tilted man. Unobstructed and undistracted, she could get…” quote by Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc5/toni-morrison-271_freedom_the-loneliness-she-felt-before-frank-wal_1426109.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc5/toni-morrison-271_freedom_the-loneliness-she-felt-before-frank-wal_1426109.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc5/toni-morrison-271_freedom_the-loneliness-she-felt-before-frank-wal_1426109.jpg) > ““The loneliness she felt before Frank walked her home from Wang's cleaners began to dissolve and in its place a shiver of freedom, of earned solitude, of choosing the walls she wanted to break through, minus the burden of shouldering a tilted man. Unobstructed and undistracted, she could get serious and develop a plan to match her ambition and succeed.”” [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She finds freedom by shedding dependence on a burdensome partner, allowing her to pursue personal ambition without distraction. **In simple terms:** She gains freedom by leaving a heavy relationship, focusing on her goals. Key Takeaway Let go of relationships that hinder your growth. Themes freedom self‑determination relationships Mood reflective empowering Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career planning - therapy - creative projects - support groups Key Concepts existentialism personal agency Questions to Reflect On - What does “earned solitude” mean to you? - How can one balance independence with community? A Different Perspective Leaving a partner may bring practical and emotional challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) [Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude/) ## Related quotes > [“I lay there with my mind running amuck, on the brink of madness. And somehow, gradually, early Sunday morning, I became calm. I can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-marsden/i-lay-there-with-my-mind-running-amuck-on-the-brink-of-madness-and/) [John Marsden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-marsden/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others--young clerks in the dusk, wasting the most poignant moments of night and life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-felt-a-haunting-loneliness-sometimes-and-felt-it-in-others-young/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“He was lonely because he could imagine himself as anything but himself and as anywhere but where he was. His competitiveness and self-centeredness cut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/he-was-lonely-because-he-could-imagine-himself-as-anything-but/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I left the library. Crossing the street, I was hit head-on by a brutal loneliness. I felt dark and hollow. Abandoned, unnoticed, forgotten, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-left-the-library-crossing-the-street-i-was-hit-head-on-by-a-brutal/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“And she would feel that sharp loneliness she had felt every long evening since she was a child. It was the kind of loneliness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/and-she-would-feel-that-sharp-loneliness-she-had-felt-every-long/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Night is coming on and I am filled with indescribable loneliness. Felt feverish; bathed in a black, silent stream;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/night-is-coming-on-and-i-am-filled-with-indescribable-loneliness-felt/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [“At such hours there was a democracy of loneliness; one felt the smog of it to be equitably distributed. Lucy”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-lodato/at-such-hours-there-was-a-democracy-of-loneliness-one-felt-the-smog/) [Victor Lodato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-lodato/) > [I'll never forget how the depression and loneliness felt good and bad at the same time. Still does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-ll-never-forget-how-the-depression-and-loneliness-felt-good-and-bad/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [“For a long while- for many years, in fact- he had not thought of how it was before he came to the farm. His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/for-a-long-while-for-many-years-in-fact-he-had-not-thought-of-how-it/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [At the enchanted metropolitan twilight I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others -- poor young clerks who loitered in front…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/at-the-enchanted-metropolitan-twilight-i-felt-a-haunting-loneliness/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [My first novel, 'The Tiger's Daughter,' embodies the loneliness I felt but could not acknowledge, even to myself, as I negotiated the no man's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bharati-mukherjee/my-first-novel-the-tiger-s-daughter-embodies-the-loneliness-i-felt/) [Bharati Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bharati-mukherjee/) > [Girl, I got my mind. And what goes on in it. Which is to say, I got me...my lonely is mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/girl-i-got-my-mind-and-what-goes-on-in-it-which-is-to-say-i-got-me-my/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [People think being alone makes you LONELY, But I don't think thats true. Being surrounded by wrong people is the loneliest thing in World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-think-being-alone-makes-you-lonely-but-i-don-t-think-thats/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I cannot keep quiet even when I am a lone voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/i-cannot-keep-quiet-even-when-i-am-a-lone-voice/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) ## More by Toni Morrison > [Perhaps that's what all human relationships boiled down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/perhaps-that-s-what-all-human-relationships-boiled-down-to-would-you/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-times-of-dread-artists-must-never-choose-to-remain-silent/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Not know it was hard;knowing it was harder”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/not-know-it-was-hard-knowing-it-was-harder/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Didn’t everything on God’s earth have or acquire defense?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/didn-t-everything-on-god-s-earth-have-or-acquire-defense/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [If you can't count, they can cheat you. If you can't read, they can beat you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-you-can-t-count-they-can-cheat-you-if-you-can-t-read-they-can-beat/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“You looked at them and wondered why the were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/you-looked-at-them-and-wondered-why-the-were-so-ugly-you-looked/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [All she saw, down in the cellar well beneath the stoop, was a light yellow feather with a tip of green. And she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/all-she-saw-down-in-the-cellar-well-beneath-the-stoop-was-a-light/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [For me, Art is the restoration of order. It may discuss all sort of terrible things, but there must be satisfaction at the end.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/for-me-art-is-the-restoration-of-order-it-may-discuss-all-sort-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“To Sethe, the future was a matter of keeping the past at bay”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/to-sethe-the-future-was-a-matter-of-keeping-the-past-at-bay/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Hate does that. Burns off everything but itself, so whatever your grievance is, your face looks just like your enemy's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/hate-does-that-burns-off-everything-but-itself-so-whatever-your/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“You know how a star is supposed to twinkle? We say twinkle because that is how it looks, but when a star feels itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/you-know-how-a-star-is-supposed-to-twinkle-we-say-twinkle-because/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“There is no bad luck in the world but whitefolks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-is-no-bad-luck-in-the-world-but-whitefolks/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [My father saw two black men lynched on his street in Cartersville, as a child. And I think seeing two black businessmen - not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/my-father-saw-two-black-men-lynched-on-his-street-in-cartersville-as/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“She was fierce in the presence of death, heroic even, as she was at no other time. Its threat gave her direction, clarity, audacity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/she-was-fierce-in-the-presence-of-death-heroic-even-as-she-was-at-no/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Explore all 774 Toni Morrison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) ## More Freedom quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. 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Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“In any case, white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-any-case-white-people-who-had-robbed-black-people-of-their-liberty/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“It breaks my heart. 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