--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wanted to be calm, like a mound with…" description: "\"I wanted to be calm, like a mound with all its cities destroyed, and tranquil, like a full cemetery.\" — Yehuda Amichai" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f60/yehuda-amichai-15231_calm_i-wanted-to-be-calm-like-a-mound-with-al_3008781.jpg" --- # I wanted to be calm, like a mound with all its cities… ![“I wanted to be calm, like a mound with all its cities destroyed, and tranquil, like a full cemetery.” quote by Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f60/yehuda-amichai-15231_calm_i-wanted-to-be-calm-like-a-mound-with-al_3008781.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f60/yehuda-amichai-15231_calm_i-wanted-to-be-calm-like-a-mound-with-al_3008781.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f60/yehuda-amichai-15231_calm_i-wanted-to-be-calm-like-a-mound-with-al_3008781.jpg) > “I wanted to be calm, like a mound with all its cities destroyed, and tranquil, like a full cemetery.” [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker seeks inner peace amid destruction, likening calmness to a ruined mound and a silent cemetery. **In simple terms:** Find calm in devastation. Key Takeaway Cultivate inner tranquility. Themes peace destruction inner calm Mood reflective tranquil Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - war trauma recovery - grief counseling - personal meditation Key Concepts stoicism mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How can you nurture peace after chaos? - What symbols help you find serenity? A Different Perspective Calm may be hard to achieve after loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Calm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/) [Cemetery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cemetery/) [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Tranquil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tranquil/) ## Related quotes > [“The University of Santa Teresa was like a cemetery that suddenly begins to think, in vain. It also was like an empty dance club.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/the-university-of-santa-teresa-was-like-a-cemetery-that-suddenly/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [A closed plant is like a cemetery; it really is. The walls will talk to you; the machines will talk to you if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamdi-ulukaya/a-closed-plant-is-like-a-cemetery-it-really-is-the-walls-will-talk-to/) [Hamdi Ulukaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamdi-ulukaya/) > [A collection of bad love songs, tattered from overuse, has to touch us like a cemetery or a village. So what if the houses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-collection-of-bad-love-songs-tattered-from-overuse-has-to-touch-us/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [I was so tired once 'Abba' was over and just wanted to be calm and with my children. I married, was in 'Abba,' had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnetha-faltskog/i-was-so-tired-once-abba-was-over-and-just-wanted-to-be-calm-and-with/) [Agnetha Faltskog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnetha-faltskog/) > [Trying to tell a girl to calm down is like trying to baptize a cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/trying-to-tell-a-girl-to-calm-down-is-like-trying-to-baptize-a-cat/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Most men don't seem to get that telling a pissed-off woman to calm down is like throwing gunpowder on a fire.” ~ Liberty Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/most-men-don-t-seem-to-get-that-telling-a-pissed-off-woman-to-calm/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [“Do you ever have those moments when you’re so angry that you grow calm? Like the bands of a hurricane are swirling inside your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-m-reine/do-you-ever-have-those-moments-when-you-re-so-angry-that-you-grow/) [S.M. Reine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-m-reine/) > [I called Kevin Spacey one day about something else, but he didnt say to me calm down, like The New York Times said. Because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-byrne/i-called-kevin-spacey-one-day-about-something-else-but-he-didnt-say/) [Gabriel Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-byrne/) > [Don't make me mad then tell me to calm down. That's like stabbing someone and then wondering why they're bleeding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myself/don-t-make-me-mad-then-tell-me-to-calm-down-that-s-like-stabbing/) Myself > [Don't make me mad then tell me to calm down. That's like stabbing then wondering why they're bleeding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-make-me-mad-then-tell-me-to-calm-down-that-s-like-stabbing-then/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Telling a girl to calm down is like trying to baptize a cat..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/telling-a-girl-to-calm-down-is-like-trying-to-baptize-a-cat/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If it were me, I’d be flying off the handle and freaking out. But he’s not. He’s as calm as can be. We’re like yin and yang. Perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-cole/if-it-were-me-i-d-be-flying-off-the-handle-and-freaking-out-but-he-s/) [Courtney Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-cole/) > [“It was not the power to be tranquil which had failed me, but the reason for tranquility was no more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/it-was-not-the-power-to-be-tranquil-which-had-failed-me-but-the/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [The studious silence of the library ... Thought is the thought of thought. Tranquil brightness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thought-is-the-thought-of-thought/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [A too closely watched flower/blossoms the wrong color./Excess attention to the jonquil/turns it gentian. Flowers/need it tranquil to get/their hues right. Some/only open at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-ryan/a-too-closely-watched-flower-blossoms-the-wrong-color-excess/) [Kay Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-ryan/) ## More by Yehuda Amichai > [“Out of three or four in a room One is always standing at the window Hair dark above his thoughts Behind him the words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/out-of-three-or-four-in-a-room-one-is-always-standing-at-the-window/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [And as we stray further from love, we multiply the words. Had we remained together we could have become a silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/and-as-we-stray-further-from-love-we-multiply-the-words-had-we/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [From the place where we are right, flowers will not grow in the spring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/from-the-place-where-we-are-right-flowers-will-not-grow-in-the-spring/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [I’ve never been in those places where I’ve never been and never will be, I have no share in the infinity of light-years and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/i-ve-never-been-in-those-places-where-i-ve-never-been-and-never-will/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [It was not an adventure; it was my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/it-was-not-an-adventure-it-was-my-life/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [“When you smile, serious ideas get exhausted. At night the mountains keep quiet beside you, in the morning the sand goes with you down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/when-you-smile-serious-ideas-get-exhausted-at-night-the-mountains/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [Jerusalem is a port city on the shore of eternity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/jerusalem-is-a-port-city-on-the-shore-of-eternity/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [“People use each other as a healing for their pain. They put each other on their existential wound, on the eye, on the cunt,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/people-use-each-other-as-a-healing-for-their-pain-they-put-each-other/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [“Spy (1973) Many years ago, I was sent to spy out the land beyond the age of thirty. And I stayed there and didn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/spy-1973-many-years-ago-i-was-sent-to-spy-out-the-land-beyond-the-age/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [“Look, just as time isn't inside clocks love isn't inside bodies: bodies only tell the love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/look-just-as-time-isn-t-inside-clocks-love-isn-t-inside-bodies-bodies/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [“Try to remember some details. For the world is filled with people who were torn from their sleep with no one to mend the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/try-to-remember-some-details-for-the-world-is-filled-with-people-who/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [Love is like a reservoir of kindness and pleasure, like silos and pools during a siege.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/love-is-like-a-reservoir-of-kindness-and-pleasure-like-silos-and/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [Here (Jerusalem), tears do not weaken the eyes, they only polish and shine the hardness of faces like stone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/here-jerusalem-tears-do-not-weaken-the-eyes-they-only-polish-and/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [“A man doesn't have time in his life to have time for everything. He doesn't have seasons enough to have a season for every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/a-man-doesn-t-have-time-in-his-life-to-have-time-for-everything-he/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) > [“I believe with perfect faith that at this very moment millions of human beings are standing at crossroads and intersections, in jungles and deserts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/i-believe-with-perfect-faith-that-at-this-very-moment-millions-of/) [Yehuda Amichai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) [Explore all 42 Yehuda Amichai quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/) ## More Calm quotes > [Grandma, please. It’s okay. Dad’s doing a great job. I give him kudos for at least being calm and rational, and not losing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/grandma-please-it-s-okay-dad-s-doing-a-great-job-i-give-him-kudos-for/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“After the storm, reigns the calm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simdi-onuora/after-the-storm-reigns-the-calm/) Simdi Onuora > [So mightiest powers buy deepest calms are fed, And sleep, how oft, in things that gentlest be!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-procter/so-mightiest-powers-buy-deepest-calms-are-fed-and-sleep-how-oft-in/) [Bryan Procter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-procter/) > [KEEP CALM and HAVE A SUGAR CUBE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/keep-calm-and-have-a-sugar-cube/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [To practice Aikido fully you must calm the spirit and go back to the origin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morihei-ueshiba/to-practice-aikido-fully-you-must-calm-the-spirit-and-go-back-to-the/) [Morihei Ueshiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morihei-ueshiba/) > [You imagine that I look back on my life's work with calm satisfaction. But from nearby it looks quite different. There is not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/you-imagine-that-i-look-back-on-my-life-s-work-with-calm-satisfaction/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Don't get divorced after your first argument! I have a lot of friends that have one fight and that's it, they get divorced. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ripa/don-t-get-divorced-after-your-first-argument-i-have-a-lot-of-friends/) [Kelly Ripa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ripa/) > [The goal of the operation is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages, only then will Israel be calm for the next 40 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ben-ari/the-goal-of-the-operation-is-to-send-gaza-back-to-the-middle-ages/) Michael Ben-Ari > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [When I was a child I truly loved: Unthinking love as calm and deep As the North Sea. But I have lived, And now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/when-i-was-a-child-i-truly-loved-unthinking-love-as-calm-and-deep-as/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [~Keep Calm and Swagger On~](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-nothing/keep-calm-and-swagger-on/) Im Nothing > [Ride your horse calm, forward and then make him straight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-zettl/ride-your-horse-calm-forward-and-then-make-him-straight/) [Walter Zettl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-zettl/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Religious work is one of the best ways to keep from facing your reality if you are Christian, if you are using it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-miller/religious-work-is-one-of-the-best-ways-to-keep-from-facing-your/) [Keith Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-miller/) [Browse all 3,074 Calm quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I wanted to be calm, like a mound with all its cities destroyed, and tranquil, like a full cemetery.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Yehuda Amichai" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/i-wanted-to-be-calm-like-a-mound-with-all-its-cities-destroyed-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Calm" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/i-wanted-to-be-calm-like-a-mound-with-all-its-cities-destroyed-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f60/yehuda-amichai-15231_calm_i-wanted-to-be-calm-like-a-mound-with-al_3008781.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f60/yehuda-amichai-15231_calm_i-wanted-to-be-calm-like-a-mound-with-al_3008781.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f60/yehuda-amichai-15231_calm_i-wanted-to-be-calm-like-a-mound-with-al_3008781.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I wanted to be calm, like a mound with all its cities destroyed, and tranquil, like a full cemetery.” — Yehuda Amichai", "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": "Yehuda Amichai", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-amichai/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I wanted to be calm, like...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/i-wanted-to-be-calm-like-a-mound-with-all-its-cities-destroyed-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-amichai/i-wanted-to-be-calm-like-a-mound-with-all-its-cities-destroyed-and/#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 } } ] } ```