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I Know It Was More Than That. But It Was Also Less Than That, Too.
-David Levithan
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I Know It Was

David Levithan
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I Know It Was More Than That. But It Was Also Less Than That, Too.

Understanding the Quote: "i know it was more than that. but it was also less..."

This quote by David Levithan reflects deeply on the theme of great aunt. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Great Aunt, Knows, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how David Levithan interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About David Levithan

David Levithan is celebrated for insightful thoughts on great aunt and knows. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Great Aunt
Knows
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I Couldn't Remember Ordinary Moments, Only The Ones That Had Made An Impression. Ordinary Moments Were The Ones That Fell Away First.
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That Strange, Twisted, Torn Love. That Conflict Between What Your Heart Knows Is Right And What Your Mind Is Told Is Right.
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Want
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Want
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Feelings
Way
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Bravery
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Aquariums
People
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Able
Steps
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Lovable
Good Place
Placid, Adj. Sometimes I Love It When We Just Lie On Our Backs, Gaze Off, Stay Still.
Lying
Sometimes
Placid
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Memories
Long
Want
And As We Drift Into Sleep, I Feel Something I’ve Never Felt Before. A Closeness That Isn’t Merely Physical. A Connection That Defies The Fact That We’ve Only Just Met. A Sensation That Can Only Come From The Most Euphoric Of Feelings: Belonging.
Sleep
Feelings
Connections
When The Shock Wears Off, You Always Hope There's Understanding Underneath.
Understanding
Shock
It Daunted Me That You Were So Beautiful, That You Were So At Ease In Social Situations, As If Every Room Was Heliotropic, With You At The Center. And I Guess It Daunted You That I Had So Many More Friends Than You, That I Could Put My Words Together Like This, On Paper, And Could Sometimes Conjure A Certain Sense Out Of Things. The Key Is To Never Recognize These Imbalances. To Not Let The Dauntingness Daunt Us.
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Keys
Together
But There Was Something About You That Made Me Think Of Sparks And Motion.
Thinking
Sparks
Made
Yearning N. And Adj. At Te Core Of This Desire Is The Belief That Everything Can Be Perfect.
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Desire
Belief
She Is Carrying Herself Through The Day, And It’s Not An Easy Task.
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Easy
Easy Tasks
Even Though It Was Hard To See You, It Was Good To See You.
Hard
Yes, Time Can Be Buoyed By Wordlessness, But It Needs To Be Anchored In Words.
Needs
Her Mind Is An Unquiet One, Words And Thoughts And Impulses Constantly Crashing Into Each Other.
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Impulse
One Word
Do You Know When You Cross Against Traffic? You Look Down The Street And See A Car Coming, But You Know You Can Get Across Before It Gets To You. So Even Though There’s A Don’t Walk Sign, You Cross Anyway. And There’s Always A Split Second When You Turn And See That Car Coming, And You Know That If You Don’t Continue Moving, It Will All Be Over. That’s How I Feel A Lot Of The Time. I Know I’ll Make It Across. I Always Make It Across. But The Car Is Always There, And I Always Stop To Watch It Coming.
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Car
Watches
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Phones
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Littles
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Scare Tactics
Flesh
It Feels Like We’ve Stepped Outside Of Time. Even Though There Is No Such Place.
Feels
Elliptical, Adj. The Kiss I Like The Most Is One Of The Slow Ones. It’s As Much Breath As Touch, As Much No As Yes. You Lean In From The Side, And I Have To Turn A Little To Make It Happen.
Kissing
Littles
Sides
I Never Have People Tell Me Their Stories. I Usually Have To Figure Them Out Myself. Because I Know That If People Tell Me Stories, They Will Expect Them To Be Remembered. And I Cannot Guarantee That. There Is No Way To Know If The Stories Stay After I'm Gone. And How Devastating Would It Be To Confide In Someone And Have The Confidence Disappear? I Don't Want To Be Responsible For That.
Guarantees That
People
Gone
You Can't Deny That There's Something Between Us." "no. There Is. When I Saw You Today--i Didn't Know I'd Been Waiting For You Until You Were There. And Then All Of That Waiting Rushed Through Me In A Second. That's Something... But I Don't Know If It's Certainty.
Waiting
Today
Saws
Belonging. Togetherness. These Words Are As Complicated And Confusing As The Word Love. It’s Probably All The Same Thing. Or It Would Be If We Let It Be. I Can Only Guess From Observation.
Confusing
Would Be
Complicated
There Is A Part Of Childhood That Is Childish, And A Part That Is Sacred. Suddenly We Are Touching The Sacred Part -- Running To The Shoreline, Feeling The First Cold Burst Of Water On Our Ankles, Reaching Into The Tide To Catch At Shells Before They Ebb Away From Our Fingers. We Have Returned To A World That Is Capable Of Glistening, And We Are Wading Deeper Within It.
Running
Water
Childhood
But Whether Or Not You Are Here, You Are Here—because These Words Are For You, And They Wouldn't Exist If You Weren't Here In Some Way.
Way
Ifs
It Was A Mistake," You Said. But The Cruel Thing Was, It Felt Like The Mistake Was Mine, For Trusting You.
Trust
Betrayal
Mistake
Are You Going To Be Playing For The Pure Thrill Of Unreluctant Desire?
Desire
Thrill
Pure
And Yes, Holden Would Keep Those Kids From Falling Off The Cliff, But Who Wouldn't? Does She Think I Would Just Fold My Arms Or Give Them A Pat On The Back Before They Sailed Headfirst To The Ground? We Are All Catchers, And It's Sad That She Doesn't See It. Instead She Sees The Phoniness, She Deplores The World Even After I Point Out That I Am In It.
Fall
Kids
Thinking
My Pride Shut Me Up, My Hurt Shut Me Down, And Together They Ganged Up On My Hope And Let Her Get Away.
Hurt
Pride
Together
I Am Learning That A Life Isn't Real Unless Someone Else Knows Its Reality. And I Want My Life To Be Real.
Real
Want
Knows
Simon: That's Disgusting! Me: What's Disgusting? Simon: You Know. You Put Your Thing In The Place Where He, Um, Defecates.
Disgusting
Knows
There Is Something So Intimate About Saying The Truth Out Loud. There Is Something So Intimate About Hearing The Truth Said. There Is Something So Intimate About Sharing The Truth, Even If You Are Not Entirely Sure What It Means.
Mean
Hearing
Intimate
We Stay This Way Until Twilight Colours The Window And The Hour Calls Me Home
Twilight
Home
Way
This Is A Difference Between Us: You Desire What Other People Have, While I Desire The Things I Used To Have, Or Think I Might Have One Day.
Thinking
Differences
People
This Is What Love Does: It Makes You Want To Rewrite The World. It Makes You Want To Choose The Characters, Build The Scenery, Guide The Plot. The Person You Love Sits Across From You, And You Want To Do Everything In Your Power To Make It Possible, Endlessly Possible. And When It’s Just The Two Of You, Alone In A Room, You Can Pretend That This Is How It Is, This Is How It Will Be.
Writing
Character
Two
We Always Loved To Say 'if I'd Had A Monday-morning Class, I Never Would Have Met You'. Or 'if You'd Been Reading Something Else, None Of This Would Have Happened'. We Didn't Believe In Fate, But We Believed In Serendipity. We Felt Very Lucky.
Monday
Morning
Believe
I Have Become Very Good At Clearing Histories.
Very Good
Clearing
I Wake Up Feverish, Sore, Uncomfortable. Is It Sickness Or Is It Heartbreak? I Can't Tell. The Thermometer Says I'm Normal, But I'm Clearly Not.
Wake Up
Normal
Sickness
Maybe That's What History Is, You Go From One I Can't Believe It The Next. And Sometimes The I Can't Believe Its Are Good, And Sometimes They're Bad. But The Sum Total Of Positive Ones Always Outweighs The Negative Ones.
Believe
Negative
Next
If I Lose It Now, I Will Lose You, Too. I Know That. I Hate It.
Hate
Knows
Ifs
Part Of Growing Up Is Making Sure Your Sense Of Reality Isn't Entirely Grounded In Your Own Mind.
Growing Up
Reality
Mind
After Tiny Has Tried Ballerina Pose, Swing-batter-batter Pose, Pump-up-the-jam Pose, And Top-of-the-mountain-sound-of-music Pose In The Reflection Of The Bean, He Walks Us To A Bench Overlooking Lake Shore Drive.
Reflection
Lakes
Swings
I Close My Eyes. And I Scream. If My Whole World Is Crashing Down Around Me, Then I Am Going To Make The Sound Of The Crashing. I Want To Scream Until All My Bones Break.
Eye
Sound
World
This Is My Life, I Think. I Am An Accumulation Of Objects.
Thinking
Accumulation
Objects
There Is No Reason That We Should Ever Be Ashamed Of Our Bodies Or Ashamed Of Our Love.
Body
Our Love
Reason
Anchor, V.: I Drift, I Drift, I Drift, You Stay.
Anchors
It Was One Of Those Moments When You Feel The Future So Much That It Humbles The Present.
Moments
Feels
Gone Is Not Forgotten, But Our Lives Cannot Be A Memorial. This City Cannot Be A Memorial. This City Has To Be A City. Our Lives Have To Be Our Lives.
Cities
Memorial
Gone
We Were Painting By Numbers, Starting With The Greens. Because That Happened To Be Our Favorite Color. And This, We Figured, Had To Mean Something.
Mean
Color
Numbers
If You Tell Me, I Will Leave You Alone," I Said. "and If You Don't Tell Me, I Am Going To Grab The Nearest Ghostwritten James Patterson Romance Novel And I Am Going To Follow You Through This Store Reading It Out Loud Until You Relent. Would You Prefer Me To Read From Daphne's Three Tender Months With Harold Or Cindy And John's House Of Everlasting Love? I Guarantee, Your Sanity And Your Indie Street Cred Won't Last A Chapter. And They Are Very, Very Short Chapters." Now I Could See The Fright Beneath The Defiance.
Reading
House
Romance
Detachment, N. Even When I Detach, I Care. You Can Be Separate From A Thing And Still Care About It.
Care
I Care
Detachment
Told Her She Was Beautiful. Didn't Give Up When She Didn't Believe Me.
Beautiful
Giving Up
Believe
Me: Just Don't Ask About His Forty-three Ex-boyfriends, Okay? Or Ask Him About Why He's Carrying Around An Axe. Mom:... Me: I'm Kidding About The Axe Part.
Mom
Ex Boyfriend
Three
Please May This Not Be A Game. Please May This Not Be A Game. Because If It’s A Game, I Know I’m Going To Lose.
Games
May
Please
This Is Not Something Insignificant. This Is Real. This Is Happening, And This Is Ours.
Real
Happenings
Insignificant
These Words Are Now Mine, But Soon They’ll Be Ours.
Mines
Beauty Comes Naturally, But It's Hard To Be Stunning By Accident.
Stunning
Accidents
Hard
Game Over," You Say, And I Don't Know Which I Take More Exception To-- The Fact That You Say Its Over, Or The Fact That You Say It's A Game.
Games
Over You
Facts
That's What It Felt Like - That If I Let A Little Of The Hurt Out, It Would Keep Pouring Out Until I Was A Deflated Balloon Of A Person, With A Big Monster Of Hurt In Front Of Me.
Hurt
Monsters
Pouring
When Someone Breaks Up With You, Their Beauty-- Which You Took Such Satisfaction In-- Suddenly Becomes Unfair.
Satisfaction
Unfair
Break
Only Adj. Thats The Dilemma Isn't It? When You're Single, There's The Sadness And Joy Of Only Me. And When You're Paired, There's The Sadness And Joy Of Only You.
Sadness
Joy
Dilemma
Deep Down, You See, I Long To Be Arcane, Esoteric. I Would Love To Confound People With Their Own Language.
Long
People
Esoteric
It Was The Most Amazing Feeling In The World. To Know That Something Right Happened, And To Know That It Had Happened Not Through Luck Or Command But Simply Because It Was Right.
Feelings
Luck
World
Such A Strange Thing, To Hold A Six-year-old's Hand. Especially A Six-year-old You've Only Just Met. A Toddler Will Grab Hold Of Your Finger, And Someone Your Own Age Will Clasp On To Your Whole Hand, But With Six-year-olds It's Something In Between, This Acknowledgment That They Can't Be The One To Take Hold, So You Have To Do All The Holding, Folding Your Hand Around Theirs, Feeling So Much Bigger And Responsible.
Hands
Years
Feelings
I Have Always Been Aware Of How I Break. I Know What Kind Of Situations Will Break Me. I Know What Kind Of People Will Do It. I Know How Much It Will Hurt.
Hurt
People
Kind
I See Nick's Number. I Debate Whether To Assign A Name To His Number. If I Commit To That, Then I Will Truly Be Heartbroken If He Never Calls Me Again; My Heart Will Knot Each And Every Time I Use This Phone And See His Name In There. I Would Probably End Up Having To Trash The Phone Entirely.
Heartbroken
Names
Numbers
Maybe There's A Way To Keep Us In This Moment. Not The Sad Part. But The Coming Together Part.
Together
Way
Moments
I Had No Idea What I Wanted, Only That I Wanted Something, Which Is The Worst Kind Of Wanting.
Ideas
Kind
Worst
I Would Always Wait To Take You Home.
Home
Waiting
There Has To Be A Moment At The Beginning When You Wonder Whether You’re In Love With The Person Or In Love With The Feeling Of Love Itself.
Feelings
Wonder
Moments
It Feels Like I Am Wasting Time. I Mean, That's Always The Case. My Life Doesn't Add Up To Anything.
Mean
Add
Wasting Time
I Know It Was More Than That. But It Was Also Less Than That, Too.
Great Aunt
Knows
After Working For So Long On Being Sure Of Each Other, Sure Of This Thing, Suddenly We Were Unsure Again.
Long
Unsure
Laughter Rarely Lasts Longer Than A Few Seconds, It's True. But How Enjoyable Those Few Seconds Are.
Laughter
Lasts
Enjoyable
These Teenager Looks Aren't Going To Last Forever, And That There Are Much Better Foundation To Build A Life Upon Than How Attractive You Are.
Teenager
Forever
Foundation
Because That's The Thing About Mean People: They Make You Think That The World Will Never Work, That There Are Divides That You Will Fall Into If You Approach. It Takes A Whole Lot Of Good People To Fill In The Breach Created By A Single Mean One.
Fall
Mean
Thinking
It’s Up To You, Not Fate. True. But It Was Also Up To Lily. That Was The Trickiest Part.
Fate
Up To You
Lilies
This Is What A Memorial Is: Standing Still, Staring At Something That Isn’t Ther
Memorial
Staring
Standing Still
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