--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He endeavored to collect his thoughts…" description: "\"“He endeavored to collect his thoughts, but did not succeed. At those hours especially when we have sorest need of grasping the sharp realities of life..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f1/victor-hugo-32_life_he-endeavored-to-collect-his-thoughts-bu_1643345.jpg" --- # He endeavored to collect his thoughts, but did not… ![“He endeavored to collect his thoughts, but did not succeed. At those hours especially when we have sorest need of grasping the sharp realities of life do the threads of though snap off in the brain.” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f1/victor-hugo-32_life_he-endeavored-to-collect-his-thoughts-bu_1643345.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f1/victor-hugo-32_life_he-endeavored-to-collect-his-thoughts-bu_1643345.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f1/victor-hugo-32_life_he-endeavored-to-collect-his-thoughts-bu_1643345.jpg) > ““He endeavored to collect his thoughts, but did not succeed. At those hours especially when we have sorest need of grasping the sharp realities of life do the threads of though snap off in the brain.”” [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When stress overwhelms, thoughts fragment and clarity fades, making reality feel sharp and ungraspable. **In simple terms:** Stress can shatter clear thinking. Key Takeaway Practice grounding techniques to regain focus. Themes stress clarity mental health Mood anxious reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - exam preparation - public speaking - personal crises - decision making Key Concepts cognitive overload mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How do you restore mental clarity under pressure? - What habits help prevent thought fragmentation? A Different Perspective May not address underlying causes of stress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Collect Thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collect-thoughts-587087/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Threads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-threads-587090/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Need Grasping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-grasping-587089/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts/) [Thoughts Did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts-did-587088/) ## Related quotes > [“I sit alone and watch the clock Trying to collect my thoughts All I think about is you And so I cry myself to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/staind/i-sit-alone-and-watch-the-clock-trying-to-collect-my-thoughts-all-i/) [Staind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/staind/) > [ If only \[there\] really was a door and \[you\] could walk through it into another life, where threads didn't snarl and stitches didn't go… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hancock/if-only-there-really-was-a-door-and-you-could-walk-through-it-into/) [Karen Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hancock/) > [“Sharing a life threads more than flesh and blood together. It weaves her memories in and around and through mine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brown/sharing-a-life-threads-more-than-flesh-and-blood-together-it-weaves-2/) [Pierce Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brown/) > [If life is a journey, time should pull over at a rest stop sometimes - we should all be given a chance to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-payne/if-life-is-a-journey-time-should-pull-over-at-a-rest-stop-sometimes/) [Rob Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-payne/) > [“I collect my thoughts as if they will stain me, murder me, and then resurrect me.” Markus Zusak, When Dogs Cry ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/i-collect-my-thoughts-as-if-they-will-stain-me-murder-me-and-then/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [For me, all my negative thoughts that I have about, 'How did you miss that pitch? Why did you miss that pitch? You shouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-judge/for-me-all-my-negative-thoughts-that-i-have-about-how-did-you-miss/) [Aaron Judge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-judge/) > [These thoughts did not come in any verbal formulation. I rarely think in words at all. A thought comes, and I may try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/these-thoughts-did-not-come-in-any-verbal-formulation-i-rarely-think/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“I was so caught up in my thoughts I did not notice the wire till I got caught up in it. Right. Of course.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/finn-eccleston/i-was-so-caught-up-in-my-thoughts-i-did-not-notice-the-wire-till-i/) [Finn Eccleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/finn-eccleston/) > [Many times we've shared our thoughts, but did you ever, ever notice, the kind of thoughts I got?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-cash/many-times-we-ve-shared-our-thoughts-but-did-you-ever-ever-notice-the/) [Johnny Cash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-cash/) > [“What a contemplation for the mind, and what endless food for thought, is the reverberation of God upon the human wall!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/what-a-contemplation-for-the-mind-and-what-endless-food-for-thought/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [As people who know me know, probably to a fault, I am usually not without thoughts and words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-rhodes/as-people-who-know-me-know-probably-to-a-fault-i-am-usually-not/) [Ben Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-rhodes/) > [Let positive, strong, helpful thoughts enter into your brains from very childhood. Lay yourselves open to these thoughts, and not to weakening and paralysing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/let-positive-strong-helpful-thoughts-enter-into-your-brains-from-very/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [All that we are is the result of what we have thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-that-we-are-is-the-result-of-what-we-have-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If I held all the thoughts of the world in my hand, I would be careful not to open it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-le-bovier-de-fontenelle/if-i-held-all-the-thoughts-of-the-world-in-my-hand-i-would-be-careful/) [Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-le-bovier-de-fontenelle/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) ## More by Victor Hugo > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“There is still a certain grace in a dead festival. It has been happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-is-still-a-certain-grace-in-a-dead-festival-it-has-been-happy/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“First I loved women, then animals, and now I love stones. They're just as amusing as women and animals and they're much less trecherous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/first-i-loved-women-then-animals-and-now-i-love-stones-they-re-just/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Nature is pitiless; she never withdraws her flowers, her music, her fragrance, and her sunlight from before human cruelty or suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/nature-is-pitiless-she-never-withdraws-her-flowers-her-music-her/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have finished your daily task, go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/have-courage-for-the-great-sorrows-of-life-and-patience-for-the-small/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [The peasants of the Asturias believe that in every litter of wolves there is one pup that is killed by the mother for fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-peasants-of-the-asturias-believe-that-in-every-litter-of-wolves/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Great blunders are often made, like large ropes, of a multitude of fibres.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-blunders-are-often-made-like-large-ropes-of-a-multitude-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“For love is like a tree; it grows of itself; it send its roots deep into our being, and often continues to grow green…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/for-love-is-like-a-tree-it-grows-of-itself-it-send-its-roots-deep/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Blacheville smiles with the self-satisfied smugness of a man whose vanity is tickled”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/blacheville-smiles-with-the-self-satisfied-smugness-of-a-man-whose/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Loving in ignorance, she loved with all the more passion. She did not know whether it was good or evil, beneficent or dangerous, necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/loving-in-ignorance-she-loved-with-all-the-more-passion-she-did-not/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/laughter-is-the-sun-that-drives-winter-from-the-human-face/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Our joys have shadows. The perfect smile belongs to God alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/our-joys-have-shadows-the-perfect-smile-belongs-to-god-alone/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“When those we love are in question, our prudence invents every sort of madness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/when-those-we-love-are-in-question-our-prudence-invents-every-sort-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Love is a fault; so be it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/love-is-a-fault-so-be-it/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) [Explore all 2,181 Victor Hugo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) [Deanna L. Lawlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deanna-l-lawlis/) > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He endeavored to collect his thoughts, but did not succeed. At those hours especially when we have sorest need of grasping the sharp realities of life do the threads of though snap off in the brain.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Victor Hugo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-endeavored-to-collect-his-thoughts-but-did-not-succeed-at-those/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-endeavored-to-collect-his-thoughts-but-did-not-succeed-at-those/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f1/victor-hugo-32_life_he-endeavored-to-collect-his-thoughts-bu_1643345.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f1/victor-hugo-32_life_he-endeavored-to-collect-his-thoughts-bu_1643345.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f1/victor-hugo-32_life_he-endeavored-to-collect-his-thoughts-bu_1643345.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He endeavored to collect his thoughts, but did not succeed. At those hours especially when we have sorest…” — Victor Hugo", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Victor Hugo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“He endeavored to collect his thoughts,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-endeavored-to-collect-his-thoughts-but-did-not-succeed-at-those/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-endeavored-to-collect-his-thoughts-but-did-not-succeed-at-those/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```