--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: These were the distractions I had to…" description: "\"“These were the distractions I had to choose from. There were no other lights burning downtown after nine o'clock. On starlight nights I used to pace u..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/049/willa-cather-634_jealousy-and-envy_these-were-the-distractions-i-had-to-cho_984509.png" --- # These were the distractions I had to choose from. There… ![“These were the distractions I had to choose from. There were no other lights burning downtown after nine o'clock. On starlight nights I used to pace up and down those long, cold streets, scowling at the little, sleeping houses on either side, with their storm-windows and covered back porches. They…” quote by Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/049/willa-cather-634_jealousy-and-envy_these-were-the-distractions-i-had-to-cho_984509.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/049/willa-cather-634_jealousy-and-envy_these-were-the-distractions-i-had-to-cho_984509.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/049/willa-cather-634_jealousy-and-envy_these-were-the-distractions-i-had-to-cho_984509.png) > ““These were the distractions I had to choose from. There were no other lights burning downtown after nine o'clock. On starlight nights I used to pace up and down those long, cold streets, scowling at the little, sleeping houses on either side, with their storm-windows and covered back porches. They were flimsy shelters, most of them poorly built of light wood, with spindle porch-posts horribly mutilated by the turning-lathe. Yet for all their frailness, how much jealousy and envy and unhappiness some of them managed to contain! The life that went on in them seemed to me made up of evasions and negations; shifts to save cooking, to save washing and cleaning, devices to propitiate the tongue of gossip. This guarded mode of existence was like living under a tyranny. People's speech, their voices, their very glances, became furtive and repressed. Every individual taste, every natural appetite, was bridled by caution. The people asleep in those houses, I thought, tried to live like the mice in their own kitchens; to make no noise, to leave no trace, to slip over the surface of things in the dark. The growing piles of ashes and cinders in the back yards were the only evidence that the wasteful, consuming process of life went on at all. On Tuesday nights the Owl Club danced; then there was a little stir in the streets, and here and there one could see a lighted window until midnight. But the next night all was dark again.”” [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage portrays a bleak, constrained urban life where people hide true feelings, living under social tyranny and superficial routines. **In simple terms:** City life feels oppressive and secretive. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge oppressive social norms. Themes urban life social repression loneliness illusion survival Mood melancholic thoughtful poignant Type descriptive philosophical When to use this quote - night walks - observing neighborhoods - reflecting on social constraints - seeking authentic connections Key Concepts tyranny of conformity hidden emotions survival instincts Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope with oppressive environments? - What small acts can restore authenticity? A Different Perspective The description may romanticize hardship, ignoring resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Jealousy and envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jealousy-and-envy/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Nights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nights/) [Process of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process-of-life/) ## Related quotes > [When things get dark, they're going to get darker, and at that very moment, that's when you hang on that much tighter because that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilmer-valderrama/when-things-get-dark-they-re-going-to-get-darker-and-at-that-very/) [Wilmer Valderrama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilmer-valderrama/) > [I definitely prefer things to be dark, I definitely prefer things to not be particularly obvious. I like a lot of mystery in music,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-congleton/i-definitely-prefer-things-to-be-dark-i-definitely-prefer-things-to/) [John Congleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-congleton/) > [I like to write about things that are dark or twisted. Where the poetry seems to be is when you start in the dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-homme/i-like-to-write-about-things-that-are-dark-or-twisted-where-the/) [Joshua Homme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-homme/) > [A good many things go around in the dark besides Santa Claus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/a-good-many-things-go-around-in-the-dark-besides-santa-claus/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) > [All art is a memory of age-old things, dark things, whose fragments live on in the artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/all-art-is-a-memory-of-age-old-things-dark-things-whose-fragments/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [I think all kids are curious. They're drawn to the bad guy and they're drawn to things that are dark. It's not just simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelina-jolie/i-think-all-kids-are-curious-they-re-drawn-to-the-bad-guy-and-they-re/) [Angelina Jolie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelina-jolie/) > [“I imagine the game wouldn’t be the same in the light,” Scarlett answered. “People think no one sees all the nasty things they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-garber/i-imagine-the-game-wouldn-t-be-the-same-in-the-light-scarlett/) [Stephanie Garber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-garber/) > [Things that are dark and close to the other side are what bring me joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-bardugo/things-that-are-dark-and-close-to-the-other-side-are-what-bring-me-joy/) [Leigh Bardugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-bardugo/) > [I'm continually wrestling with the idea that there are certain things in this world that simply don't fit. The idea that I have this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-foreman/i-m-continually-wrestling-with-the-idea-that-there-are-certain-things/) [Jon Foreman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-foreman/) > [Comedy arises out of necessity, because some things are so dark that you have to laugh about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zosia-mamet/comedy-arises-out-of-necessity-because-some-things-are-so-dark-that/) [Zosia Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zosia-mamet/) > [“Shin: a device for finding things in the dark.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madison-nevil/shin-a-device-for-finding-things-in-the-dark/) Madison Nevil > [All things are dark to sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusta-jane-evans/all-things-are-dark-to-sorrow/) [Augusta Jane Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusta-jane-evans/) > [It is so much easier to tell intimate things in the dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcfee/it-is-so-much-easier-to-tell-intimate-things-in-the-dark/) [William McFee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcfee/) > [The population at large is neither 'ordinary' or 'normal'. They seem to be bound together by a collective ignorance of themselves and what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-nilsen/the-population-at-large-is-neither-ordinary-or-normal-they-seem-to-be/) [Dennis Nilsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-nilsen/) > [It is not that I was credulous, simply that I belived in all things dark and dangerous. It was part of my young creed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/it-is-not-that-i-was-credulous-simply-that-i-belived-in-all-things/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## More by Willa Cather > [The end is nothing; the road is all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-end-is-nothing-the-road-is-all/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Of all the bewildering things about a new country, the absence of human landmarks is one of the most depressing and disheartening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/of-all-the-bewildering-things-about-a-new-country-the-absence-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Success is less interesting than struggle. There is great pleasure in the effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/success-is-less-interesting-than-struggle-there-is-great-pleasure-in/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“I only knew the schoolbooks said he "died in the wilderness, of a broken heart." "More than him has done that," said Antonia sadly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/i-only-knew-the-schoolbooks-said-he-died-in-the-wilderness-of-a/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“Have the last word ma'm," he said cheerfully. "It's a lady's privilege.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/have-the-last-word-ma-m-he-said-cheerfully-it-s-a-lady-s-privilege/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > ["More than him has done that," said Antonia sadly, and the girls murmured assent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/more-than-him-has-done-that-said-antonia-sadly-and-the-girls-murmured/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Nothing mattered ... but writing books, and living the kind of life that made it possible to write them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/nothing-mattered-but-writing-books-and-living-the-kind-of-life-that/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“Money and office and success are the consolations of impotence. Fortune turns kind to such solid people and lets them suck their bone in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/money-and-office-and-success-are-the-consolations-of-impotence/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [But she still had that something which fires the imagination, could still stop one's breath for a moment by a look or gesture that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/but-she-still-had-that-something-which-fires-the-imagination-could/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“You remember how homesick I used to get, and what long talks we used to have coming from school? We've someway always felt alike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/you-remember-how-homesick-i-used-to-get-and-what-long-talks-we-used/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“He placed this book in my grandmother's hands, looked at her entreatingly, and said, with an earnestness which I shall never forget, "Te-e-ach, te-e-ach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/he-placed-this-book-in-my-grandmother-s-hands-looked-at-her/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [The sincerity of feeling that is possible between a writer and a reader is one of the finest things I know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-sincerity-of-feeling-that-is-possible-between-a-writer-and-a/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Our tree became the talking tree of the fairy tale; legends and stories nestled like birds in its branches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/our-tree-became-the-talking-tree-of-the-fairy-tale-legends-and/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“Isn’t it queer: there are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/isn-t-it-queer-there-are-only-two-or-three-human-stories-and-they-go/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) [Explore all 434 Willa Cather quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) ## More Jealousy and envy quotes > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Jealousy is the result of one's lack of self-confidence, self-worth, and self-acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sasha-azevedo/jealousy-is-the-result-of-one-s-lack-of-self-confidence-self-worth/) [Sasha Azevedo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sasha-azevedo/) > [Now I'm not the type that gets upset, Try to disrespect folks just to earn respect. But learn this fact: whether white or black,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slick-rick/now-i-m-not-the-type-that-gets-upset-try-to-disrespect-folks-just-to/) [Slick Rick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slick-rick/) > [Make an enemy of jealousy and envy. As fast and soon as you can…. The art world is high school with money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/make-an-enemy-of-jealousy-and-envy-as-fast-and-soon-as-you-can-the/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [If niggas really felt some type of way about the shit I'm doing. You picked a crazy time to start letting me know. Cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wiz-khalifa/if-niggas-really-felt-some-type-of-way-about-the-shit-i-m-doing-you/) [Wiz Khalifa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wiz-khalifa/) > [What is envy? It is nothing but passive jealousy. Maybe jealousy is too strong a phenomenon; envy is a little passive. The difference may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/what-is-envy-it-is-nothing-but-passive-jealousy-maybe-jealousy-is-too/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“So, You’re Rooting for Everybody Black, Right? Yeah right! Some of my Brothas and Sistas be straight up frontin’ and lying to themselves. Let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-lahart/so-you-re-rooting-for-everybody-black-right-yeah-right-some-of-my/) [Stephanie Lahart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-lahart/) > [“Okay then. That's what I'll do. I'll tell you a story. Can you hear them? All these people who lived in terror of you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-cross/okay-then-that-s-what-i-ll-do-i-ll-tell-you-a-story-can-you-hear-them/) [Neil Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-cross/) > [Negative states of mind, such as anger, resentment, fear, envy, and jealousy, are products of the ego.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/negative-states-of-mind-such-as-anger-resentment-fear-envy-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [The soul of the world is nourished by people's Happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-soul-of-the-world-is-nourished-by-people-s-happiness/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Drop envy and jealousy, otherwise there is no possibility , because love cannot exist where envy and jealousies exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/drop-envy-and-jealousy-otherwise-there-is-no-possibility-because-love/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I'm emotionless, yet I breathe jealousy and envy People kill for me or die to defend me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirk-jones/i-m-emotionless-yet-i-breathe-jealousy-and-envy-people-kill-for-me-or/) [Kirk Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirk-jones/) > [When you make it a strong habit not to take anything personally, you avoid many upsets in your life. Your anger, jealousy, and envy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-angel-ruiz/when-you-make-it-a-strong-habit-not-to-take-anything-personally-you/) [Miguel Angel Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-angel-ruiz/) > [Respect kindly all religions that teach loving kindness, and have no respect for envy and jealousy. Never follow hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jetsunma-ahkon-lhamo/respect-kindly-all-religions-that-teach-loving-kindness-and-have-no/) [Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jetsunma-ahkon-lhamo/) > [O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mock The meat it feeds on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-beware-my-lord-of-jealousy-it-is-the-green-ey-d-monster-which-doth/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) [Browse all 35 Jealousy and envy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jealousy-and-envy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“These were the distractions I had to choose from. There were no other lights burning downtown after nine o'clock. On starlight nights I used to pace up and down those long, cold streets, scowling at the little, sleeping houses on either side, with their storm-windows and covered back porches. They were flimsy shelters, most of them poorly built of light wood, with spindle porch-posts horribly mutilated by the turning-lathe. Yet for all their frailness, how much jealousy and envy and unhappiness some of them managed to contain! The life that went on in them seemed to me made up of evasions and negations; shifts to save cooking, to save washing and cleaning, devices to propitiate the tongue of gossip. This guarded mode of existence was like living under a tyranny. People's speech, their voices, their very glances, became furtive and repressed. Every individual taste, every natural appetite, was bridled by caution. The people asleep in those houses, I thought, tried to live like the mice in their own kitchens; to make no noise, to leave no trace, to slip over the surface of things in the dark. The growing piles of ashes and cinders in the back yards were the only evidence that the wasteful, consuming process of life went on at all. On Tuesday nights the Owl Club danced; then there was a little stir in the streets, and here and there one could see a lighted window until midnight. But the next night all was dark again.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Willa Cather" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/these-were-the-distractions-i-had-to-choose-from-there-were-no-other/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Jealousy and envy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/these-were-the-distractions-i-had-to-choose-from-there-were-no-other/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/049/willa-cather-634_jealousy-and-envy_these-were-the-distractions-i-had-to-cho_984509.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/049/willa-cather-634_jealousy-and-envy_these-were-the-distractions-i-had-to-cho_984509.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/049/willa-cather-634_jealousy-and-envy_these-were-the-distractions-i-had-to-cho_984509.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“These were the distractions I had to choose from. There were no other lights burning downtown after nine…” — Willa Cather", "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": "Willa Cather", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“These were the distractions I had...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/these-were-the-distractions-i-had-to-choose-from-there-were-no-other/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/these-were-the-distractions-i-had-to-choose-from-there-were-no-other/#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 } } ] } ```