---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We were quite naturally unhappy; feeling…"
description: "\"“We were quite naturally unhappy; feeling a definite need, unbearably keen at moments, which was never to be satisfied. But that was recognizable pain,..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/virginia-woolf-49_sad_we-were-quite-naturally-unhappy-feeling_1573721.jpg"
---

#  We were quite naturally unhappy; feeling a definite need…

![“We were quite naturally unhappy; feeling a definite need, unbearably keen at moments, which was never to be satisfied. But that was recognizable pain, and the sharp pang grew to be almost welcome in the midst of the sultry and opaque life which was not felt, had nothing real in it, and yet swam…” quote by Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/virginia-woolf-49_sad_we-were-quite-naturally-unhappy-feeling_1573721.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/virginia-woolf-49_sad_we-were-quite-naturally-unhappy-feeling_1573721.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/virginia-woolf-49_sad_we-were-quite-naturally-unhappy-feeling_1573721.jpg)

> ““We were quite naturally unhappy; feeling a definite need, unbearably keen at moments, which was never to be satisfied. But that was recognizable pain, and the sharp pang grew to be almost welcome in the midst of the sultry and opaque life which was not felt, had nothing real in it, and yet swam about us, and choked us and blinded us. All these tears and groans, reproaches and protestations of affection, high talk of duty and work and living for others, were doubtless what we should feel if we felt properly, and yet we had but a dull sense of gloom which could not honestly be referred to the dead; unfortunately it did not quicken our feeling for the living; but hideous as it was, obscured both living and dead; and for long did unpardonable mischief by substituting for the shape of a true and most vivid mother, nothing better than an unlovable phantom.””

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

## 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, unfulfilled yearning creates a painful awareness of life's emptiness, yet that pain becomes a familiar, almost comforting presence amidst existential gloom.

**In simple terms:** Unmet needs cause painful emptiness that feels oddly familiar.

Key Takeaway

Acknowledge and explore hidden longings.

Themes

existential psychology loneliness desire illusion

Mood

melancholic introspective

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- creative writing
- personal reflection
- mental health therapy
- philosophical discussion

Key Concepts

nihilism authenticity subjective reality

Questions to Reflect On

- What unmet need lies beneath your discontent?
- How does recognizing this pain change your view of life?

A Different Perspective

The pain may mask true emotions and prevent genuine connection.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Feel Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-felt/) [Life Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-felt/) [Naturally Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naturally-unhappy-5929572/) [Sad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sad/) [Sense Gloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-gloom-5929571/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Unhappy Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy-feeling-302869/)

## Related quotes

> [I'm a victim of my own insides. There was a time when I wanted to know everything. It used to make me very unhappy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-joplin/i-m-a-victim-of-my-own-insides-there-was-a-time-when-i-wanted-to-know/)

[Janis Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-joplin/)

> [It used to make me unhappy, all that feeling. I just didn't know what to do with it. But now I've learned how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-joplin/it-used-to-make-me-unhappy-all-that-feeling-i-just-didn-t-know-what/)

[Janis Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-joplin/)

> [What it was at the time was literally a plea for, to get the pressure off for a while, to give her space to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-holden/what-it-was-at-the-time-was-literally-a-plea-for-to-get-the-pressure/)

[Anthony Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-holden/)

> [“And I could feel what he felt on the night when he realize that if he didn't leave, it would never be his life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/and-i-could-feel-what-he-felt-on-the-night-when-he-realize-that-if-he/)

[Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/)

> [“These memories of happiness are fleeting things, reflections in a stream, glimpsed all broken for a second and then swept away in the current…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/these-memories-of-happiness-are-fleeting-things-reflections-in-a/)

[Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/)

> [“I can still get in touch with some of these feelings I felt very early on.  In remembering them, I can feel again what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronnie-worsham/i-can-still-get-in-touch-with-some-of-these-feelings-i-felt-very/)

[Ronnie Worsham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronnie-worsham/)

> [“If you only do what others have already done, you will only feel what others have already felt. However, if you choose to achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-edmund-hillary/if-you-only-do-what-others-have-already-done-you-will-only-feel-what/)

[Sir Edmund Hillary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-edmund-hillary/)

> [I am always trying to 'preserve' things by getting other people to read what I have written, and feel what I felt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/i-am-always-trying-to-preserve-things-by-getting-other-people-to-read/)

[Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/)

> [“I know that. I just don’t feel it sometimes. Over there I felt like I hadn’t a care in the world. Things felt so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/i-know-that-i-just-don-t-feel-it-sometimes-over-there-i-felt-like-i/)

[Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/)

> [Usually, when you're in a movie, you're disconnected from it. You're never going to feel what you felt when you made it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-page/usually-when-you-re-in-a-movie-you-re-disconnected-from-it-you-re/)

[Ellen Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-page/)

> [When you showed someone how you felt, it was fresh and honest. When you told someone how you felt, there might be nothing behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/when-you-showed-someone-how-you-felt-it-was-fresh-and-honest-when-you/)

[Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/)

> [I would go into periods of depression in my life, and I would feel so alone. I felt that there was no one who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brie-larson/i-would-go-into-periods-of-depression-in-my-life-and-i-would-feel-so/)

[Brie Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brie-larson/)

> [When I was coming out of depression, I made one random video. It wasn't funny or anything, but just the idea that people I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilly-singh/when-i-was-coming-out-of-depression-i-made-one-random-video-it-wasn-t/)

[Lilly Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilly-singh/)

> [If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got, and you'll always feel what you always felt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-always-do-what-you-ve-always-done-you-ll-always-get-what-you/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“I can't help but miss you. You were the one who picked me up when I was hurt. You showed me that you cared,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taryn-plendl/i-can-t-help-but-miss-you-you-were-the-one-who-picked-me-up-when-i/)

[Taryn Plendl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taryn-plendl/)

## More by Virginia Woolf

> [Fatigue is the safest sleeping draught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/fatigue-is-the-safest-sleeping-draught/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“The train slows and lengthens, as we approach London, the centre, and my heart draws out too, in fear, in exaltation. I am about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-train-slows-and-lengthens-as-we-approach-london-the-centre-and-my/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“Across the broad continent of a woman's life falls the shadow of a sword. On one side all is correct, definite, orderly; the paths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/across-the-broad-continent-of-a-woman-s-life-falls-the-shadow-of-a/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“Other worshipful objects were content with worship; men, women, God, all let one kneel prostrate; but this form, were it only the shape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/other-worshipful-objects-were-content-with-worship-men-women-god-all/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [Why does Samuel Butler say, 'Wise men never say what they think of women'? Wise men never say anything else apparently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/why-does-samuel-butler-say-wise-men-never-say-what-they-think-of/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“Sometimes he woke with a brain like lead; at others it was as if a thousand wax tapers were alight and people were throwing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/sometimes-he-woke-with-a-brain-like-lead-at-others-it-was-as-if-a/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [The extraordinary woman depends on the ordinary woman. It is only when we know what were the conditions of the average woman's life -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-extraordinary-woman-depends-on-the-ordinary-woman-it-is-only-when/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [A veil of insanity everywhere: Oh why I was born in this age? It is a terrible age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/a-veil-of-insanity-everywhere-oh-why-i-was-born-in-this-age-it-is-a/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [Love ought to stop on both sides, don’t you think, simultaneously?’ He spoke without any stress on the words, so as not to wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/love-ought-to-stop-on-both-sides-don-t-you-think-simultaneously-he/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“It is so vast an alleviation to be able to point for another to look at. And then not to talk. To follow the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/it-is-so-vast-an-alleviation-to-be-able-to-point-for-another-to-look/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“What a vast fertility of pleasure books hold for me! (...) I think I could happily live here & read forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-a-vast-fertility-of-pleasure-books-hold-for-me-i-think-i-could/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“what a luxury to be alone once more,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-a-luxury-to-be-alone-once-more/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“...a woman writing thinks back through her mothers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/a-woman-writing-thinks-back-through-her-mothers/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“For one's children so often gave one's own perceptions a little thrust forwards.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/for-one-s-children-so-often-gave-one-s-own-perceptions-a-little/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“She would not say of anyone in the world now that they were this or were that. She felt very young; at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/she-would-not-say-of-anyone-in-the-world-now-that-they-were-this-or/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

[Explore all 1,872 Virginia Woolf quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

## More Sad quotes

> [What if I tell you I'm falling again? what if I tell you I'm willing to stand there till you notice me again? what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana/what-if-i-tell-you-i-m-falling-again-what-if-i-tell-you-i-m-willing/)

[Ana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana/)

> [“As ofttimes as it rains on my little spot of earth, you'd think I'd grow accustomed to the gloom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/as-ofttimes-as-it-rains-on-my-little-spot-of-earth-you-d-think-i-d/)

[Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/)

> [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/)

[Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/)

> [“You have a right to be sad, and a duty to move on. Only wins who wipes the tears, gather strength and move forward.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusto-branco/you-have-a-right-to-be-sad-and-a-duty-to-move-on-only-wins-who-wipes/)

[Augusto Branco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusto-branco/)

> [So sad! This is the saddest part when you lose someone you love- that person keeps changing. And later you wonder, Is this the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/so-sad-this-is-the-saddest-part-when-you-lose-someone-you-love-that/)

[Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/)

> [“The past is only making you to spill tears, tears of joy or tears pain. But anyway they are making you sad, for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a/the-past-is-only-making-you-to-spill-tears-tears-of-joy-or-tears-pain/)

[T.A](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a/)

> [When You Lose Someone You Love, You Never Get Over It. You Just Get Used To It.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernajoy-vaal/when-you-lose-someone-you-love-you-never-get-over-it-you-just-get/)

[Bernajoy Vaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernajoy-vaal/)

> [From time to time I look at the picture when I am very sad. I just want to remember my past and that scene…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phan-thi-kim-phuc/from-time-to-time-i-look-at-the-picture-when-i-am-very-sad-i-just/)

[Phan Thi Kim Phuc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phan-thi-kim-phuc/)

> [In such a diversity it was impossible I should be disposed to melancholy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-boone/in-such-a-diversity-it-was-impossible-i-should-be-disposed-to/)

[Daniel Boone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-boone/)

> [I get lots of requests from people to write sad songs, and I'm like, 'No, that's rubbish patter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-capaldi/i-get-lots-of-requests-from-people-to-write-sad-songs-and-i-m-like-no/)

[Lewis Capaldi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-capaldi/)

> [The worst feeling is not being lonely, sometimes it is being forgotten by someone you cant forget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-worst-feeling-is-not-being-lonely-sometimes-it-is-being-forgotten/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Every morning I sit at the kitchen table over a tall glass of water swallowing pills. (So my hands won’t shake.) (So my heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanann-verlee/every-morning-i-sit-at-the-kitchen-table-over-a-tall-glass-of-water/)

[Jeanann Verlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanann-verlee/)

> [“It suddenly seemed to Laurel that all the absences in her own life, every loss and sadness, every nightmare in the dark, every unexplained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-suddenly-seemed-to-laurel-that-all-the-absences-in-her-own-life/)

[Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/)

> [“What a burden it must be to know all the terrible things you've done and support it with arms unfit to carry it all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-weikel/what-a-burden-it-must-be-to-know-all-the-terrible-things-you-ve-done/)

[K. Weikel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-weikel/)

> [I have the saddest pregnancy cravings. It's just a sad, formal shrimp meal that I didn't even really enjoy that much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-povitsky/i-have-the-saddest-pregnancy-cravings-it-s-just-a-sad-formal-shrimp/)

[Esther Povitsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-povitsky/)

[Browse all 4,454 Sad quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sad/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“We were quite naturally unhappy; feeling a definite need, unbearably keen at moments, which was never to be satisfied. But that was recognizable pain, and the sharp pang grew to be almost welcome in the midst of the sultry and opaque life which was not felt, had nothing real in it, and yet swam about us, and choked us and blinded us. All these tears and groans, reproaches and protestations of affection, high talk of duty and work and living for others, were doubtless what we should feel if we felt properly, and yet we had but a dull sense of gloom which could not honestly be referred to the dead; unfortunately it did not quicken our feeling for the living; but hideous as it was, obscured both living and dead; and for long did unpardonable mischief by substituting for the shape of a true and most vivid mother, nothing better than an unlovable phantom.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Virginia Woolf"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/we-were-quite-naturally-unhappy-feeling-a-definite-need-unbearably/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Sad"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/we-were-quite-naturally-unhappy-feeling-a-definite-need-unbearably/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/virginia-woolf-49_sad_we-were-quite-naturally-unhappy-feeling_1573721.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/virginia-woolf-49_sad_we-were-quite-naturally-unhappy-feeling_1573721.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/virginia-woolf-49_sad_we-were-quite-naturally-unhappy-feeling_1573721.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“We were quite naturally unhappy; feeling a definite need, unbearably keen at moments, which was never to be…” — Virginia Woolf",
                "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": "Virginia Woolf",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“We were quite naturally unhappy; feeling...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/we-were-quite-naturally-unhappy-feeling-a-definite-need-unbearably/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/we-were-quite-naturally-unhappy-feeling-a-definite-need-unbearably/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```