--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm a child in that respect: able to…" description: "\"I'm a child in that respect: able to live, physically speaking, on a crumb of anticipation for weeks at a time, but always in danger of crushing the wa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b5/zo-heller-19571_able_i-m-a-child-in-that-respect-able-to-live_2329267.jpg" --- # I'm a child in that respect: able to live, physically… ![“I'm a child in that respect: able to live, physically speaking, on a crumb of anticipation for weeks at a time, but always in danger of crushing the waited-for event with the freight of my excessive hope.” quote by Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b5/zo-heller-19571_able_i-m-a-child-in-that-respect-able-to-live_2329267.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b5/zo-heller-19571_able_i-m-a-child-in-that-respect-able-to-live_2329267.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b5/zo-heller-19571_able_i-m-a-child-in-that-respect-able-to-live_2329267.jpg) > “I'm a child in that respect: able to live, physically speaking, on a crumb of anticipation for weeks at a time, but always in danger of crushing the waited-for event with the freight of my excessive hope.” [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Living on anticipation creates tension; hope can both sustain and jeopardize the awaited event. **In simple terms:** Hope fuels but can also crush expectations. Key Takeaway Balance hope with realistic expectations. Themes anticipation hope risk psychology Mood anxious hopeful Type reflective cautionary When to use this quote - waiting for news - project deadlines - personal goals - relationship milestones Key Concepts expectation management emotional regulation Questions to Reflect On - How do you temper hope without losing motivation? - What signs show hope becoming harmful? A Different Perspective Excessive hope may lead to disappointment if outcomes differ. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Crush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crush/) [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Week](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/week/) ## Related quotes > [“The practice of overcoming hope is recognizing our positive qualities. With excessive hope, we begin to belittle what we have achieved. We might then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakyong-mipham/the-practice-of-overcoming-hope-is-recognizing-our-positive-qualities/) [Sakyong Mipham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sakyong-mipham/) > [The neo-conservatives, who are closely linked to the neo-corporatists, are rather different. They claim to be conservatives, when everything they stand for is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ralston-saul/the-neo-conservatives-who-are-closely-linked-to-the-neo-corporatists/) [John Ralston Saul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ralston-saul/) > [Certainly the Old Testament does not teach us that there is another life, and upon that question even the New is obscure and vague.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/certainly-the-old-testament-does-not-teach-us-that-there-is-another/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [These things don't just come, arrive and settle like a bird picking up a few bits of crumbs. They develop. I think the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macnee/these-things-don-t-just-come-arrive-and-settle-like-a-bird-picking-up/) [Patrick Macnee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macnee/) > [Let a man be of what side he may in politics, unless he be much more of a partisan than a patriot, he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/let-a-man-be-of-what-side-he-may-in-politics-unless-he-be-much-more/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/all-our-words-are-but-crumbs-that-fall-down-from-the-feast-of-the-mind/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [The crumbs from Nature Valley bars would probably end world hunger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-crumbs-from-nature-valley-bars-would-probably-end-world-hunger/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Watching everyone root through their psyche, it just delights me. 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And all my life I have been flattered by this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/all-my-life-i-have-been-the-sort-of-person-in-whom-people-confide-and/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [It's similar to the way you feel cuddling an infant or a kitten, when you want to squeeze it so hard you'd kill it...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/it-s-similar-to-the-way-you-feel-cuddling-an-infant-or-a-kitten-when/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [“Music, together with certain sorts of majestic landscape, had a well-known tendency to induce such faux-sublime moments: artificial intimations of transcendent truths, grandiose hunches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/music-together-with-certain-sorts-of-majestic-landscape-had-a-well/) [Zoe Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [We are bound by the secrets we share.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/we-are-bound-by-the-secrets-we-share/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [“Being alone is not the most awful thing in the world. 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