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It Is Funny How You Do Not Miss Affection Until It Is Given, But Once It Is, It Can Never Be Enough; You Would Drown In It If Possible.
-Libba Bray
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It Is Funny How

Libba Bray
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It Is Funny How You Do Not Miss Affection Until It Is Given, But Once It Is, It Can Never Be Enough; You Would Drown In It If Possible.

Understanding the Quote: "it is funny how you do not miss affection until it is..."

This quote by Libba Bray reflects deeply on the theme of missing. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Missing, Affection, Enough, 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 Libba Bray 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 Libba Bray

Libba Bray is celebrated for insightful thoughts on missing and affection. 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
Missing
Affection
Enough
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Done
Acid
Theta Crashed Next To Them On The Thick Zebra-skin Rug. “i’m Embalmed.” “potted And Splificated?” “ossified To The Gills. Time For Night-night.
Zebras
Night
Skins
Jericho Lay Back Down On His Side, Watching Her Breathe Just An Arm's Length From Him. She Was Not Beautiful While She Slept; Her Mouth Hung Open And She Snored Very Lightly, And This, Despite Everything That Had Happened, Made Him Smile.
Beautiful
Mouths
Arms
Beauty, Grace, And Charm My Foot. It's A School For Sadists With Good Tea-serving Skills.
School
Skills
Feet
Nobody Wants To Be Themselves. That's Why There's Tv. -ephigenia.
Want
Tvs
When You Peeled Back The Skin, You Were Dealing With Bone And Muscle, Blood And Nerve Endings. It Was All The Same. She Liked The Beautiful Logic Of The Circulatory System, The Elegance Of The Neurological, And The Fierce Warrior Spirit Of The Heart. The Body Had Rules And It Had Quirks.
Beautiful
Heart
Warrior
You Are Absolute Angels Of The First Order. If I Were Pope, I’d Canonize You.” “the Pope Would Probably Love To Turn A Cannon On You!
Angel
Order
Firsts
We Create The Illusions We Need To Go On. And One Day, When They No Longer Dazzle Or Comfort, We Tear Them Down, Brick By Glittering Brick, Until We Are Left With Nothing But The Bright Light Of Honesty. The Light Is Liberating. Necessary. Terrifying. We Stand Naked And Emptied Before It. And When It Is Too Much For Our Eyes To Take, We Build A New Illusion To Shield Us From Its Relentless Truth.
Honesty
Eye
Light
We've Barley Stepped Into The Bright Glow Of The Realms When Everything Goes Dark.
Dark
Barley
Realms
We Sit And Listen And Are Enthralled Anew, For Good Stories, It Seems, Never Lose Their Magic.
Magic
Stories
Good Story
And When It Comes, Her Kiss Is Like Something Not So Much Felt As Found.
Kissing
Found
Like Something
My Platform's Called Don't Even Think About It. I Go To Schools And I Say, 'whatever Bad Thing It Is You're Thinking Of Doing, Don't Even Think About It. 'cause I Can See Into Your Soul, And I Will Hide In Your Closet And Come For You In The Night, And The Last Sound You Ever Hear Will Be My Sharp Teeth Popping Through The Flesh Of My Gums, Ready To Eat You.' Their Eyes Get All Big. It's Awesome. I Love Little Kids, Man. They're The Cutest
Eye
School
Kids
Brought To You By The Corporation: In Your Homes And In Your Pants.
Home
Corporations
Pants
There Is No Greater Power On This Earth Than Story.
Stories
Earth
Storytelling
Retribution Is A Dog Chasing Its Tail.
Dog
Tails
Retribution
She Loved Attention. It Was Like A Glass Of The Best Champagne—bubbly And Intoxicating—and As With Champagne, She Always Wanted More Of It. Still, She Didn’t Want To Seem Like An Easy Mark. “if You Must Know, I’ve Come To Join A Convent,” Evie Said, Testing Him.
Glasses
Attention
Want
One Can Never Go Back. One Always Has To Move Forward.
Moving
Moving Forward
Dammit!" "what?" Gonzo Sounds Panicked. "we're Out Of Gas." "you're Shithenging Me." "i Shithenge You Not.
Sound
Gonzo
Gas
Agent Jones Held Sinjin’s Face In His Hands. “i’m Going To Make Balloon Animals. People Need Balloon Animals.” “how Right You Are, Strange Delusional Man,” Sinjin Said.
Men
Animal
Hands
Or Perhaps It Is Some Combination Of Spirit And Desire, Love And Hope, Some Alchemy That We Each Possess And Can Put To Use, If We First Know Where To Look Without Flinching.
Desire Love
Looks
Use
We're Like Pretty Horses, And Just As On Horses, They Mean To Put Blinders On Us So We Can't Look Left Or Right But Only Straight Ahead Where They Would Lead.
Horse
Mean
Looks
It's Always Darkest Before The Ultimate Sparkle.
Sparkle
Ultimate
It Isn't That We Do What We Want. It's That We're Allowed To Want At All.
Want
Maybe That's What Real Friendship Is -- Getting So Used To People That You Need To Be Annoyed By Them.
Real
People
Annoyed
Discomfortwear™, Shapewear Designed To Eliminate Rills, Ripples, And Muffin Tops. In Some Cases Known To Eliminate Circulation And Breathing. If You’re Not Uncomfortable, It’s Not Discomfortwear™.
Breathing
Muffins
Cases
In Each Of Us Lie Good And Bad, Light And Dark, Art And Pain, Choice And Regret, Cruelty And Sacrifice... No One Can Live In The Light All The Time.
Art
Pain
Regret
The Wolf Was At The Door. His Shadow Spilled Into The Room, Taking It Over.
Doors
Shadow
Rooms
People Have A Habit Of Inventing Fictions They Will Believe Wholeheartedly In Order To Ignore The Truth They Cannot Accept.
Believe
Order
People
I'm Just Saying It's Not All Sand Castles And Ninjas.
Castles
Ninja
Just Saying
Instead, I Try To Adjust To The Dawn, Letting The Tears Fall Where They May, Because It Is Morning; It Is Morning And There Is So Much To See.
Morning
Fall
Tears
You Can’t Blame A Fella For Kissing The Prettiest Girl In New York, Can You, Sister?” Sam’s Grin Was Anything But Apologetic. Evie Brought Up Her Knee Quickly And Decisively, And He Dropped To The Floor Like A Grain Sack. “you Can’t Blame A Girl For Her Quick Reflexes Now, Can You, Pal?
Girl
New York
Kissing
Gemma~was He Really Looking At Me That Way? Kartik~what Way? Gemma~like A Piece Of Ripe Fruit? Katrik~you'd Best Be On Your Guard With Him.
Pieces
Way
Fruit
With Each Shimmy, The Bugle Beads On Their Scandalously Revealing Costumes Swung And Shook. It Was The Sort Of Display Evie Knew Her Mother Would Have Found Appalling—an Example Of The Moral Decay Of The Young Generation. It Was Sexual And Dangerous And Thrilling, And Evie Wanted More Of It.
Mother
Young Generation
Example
No Person Has Ever Held All The Power. There Must Be A Balance Between Chaos And Order, Dark And Light. With The Temple Magic Bound To You, The Realms Are No Longer In Balance. The Power Could Change You... And You Could Change The Magic.
Dark
Light
Order
A Gentle Breeze Catches In The Branches Then And I Hear It, Soft And Low, A Murmured Prayer--gem-ma, Gem-ma--and Then The Leaves Bend Down And Trail Delicate Fingers Across My Cold Cheeks.
Prayer
Branches
Down And
In Them, She Saw The Sham Of Her Life Laid Out Like A Book, The Foolish Belief That She, That Anyone, Could Escape The Consequences Of This World, Could Flee From Death. That Was The Deceit. The True Serpent In The Garden.
Book
Garden
Deceit
All The Small, Simple, Conscious Acts Of Living A Sudden Defense Against The Dying We Do Every Day.
Simple
Dying
Defense
Scoring Well On Tests Is The Sort Of Happy Thing That Gets The School District The Greenbacks They Crave. Understanding And Appreciating The Material Are Secondary.
School
Appreciate
Understanding
Truth Casts A Spell Of Its Own.
Casts
Spells
Come Awake, Tom. Fathers Can Willfully Hurt Their Children. They Can Be Addicts Too Weak To Give Up Their Vices, No Matter The Pain It Causes. Mothers Can Turn You Invisible With Neglect. They Can Erase You With A Denial, A Refusal To See. Friends Can Deceive You. People Lie. It Is A Cold, Hard World. I Do Not Blame Nell Hawkins For Retreating From It Into A Madness Of Her Own Choosing.
Mother
Hurt
Pain
I'd Like To Thank Readers. Every Time You Open A Book, It Is A Strike Against Ignorance. Unless You're Reading Sarah Palin.
Book
Reading
Ignorance
You Are Truly Satan's Sequined Spawn.
Satan
Spawn
A Man Bumps Me On His Busy Way Without So Much As An Apology. But That Is All Right. I Forgive You, Busy Man About Town With The Sharp Elbows. Hail And Farewell To You! For I, Gemma Doyle, Am To Have A Splendid Christmas In London Town. All Shall Be Well. God Rest Us Merry Gentlemen. And Gentlewomen.
Farewell
Apology
Men
I Will Tell You The Story Of How We Found Ourselves In A Realm Where Dreams Are Formed, Destiny Is Chosen, And Magic Is As Real As A Handprint In The Snow.
Dream
Real
Destiny
She Holds Up A Finger. "i'm Getting To It. Don't Rush A Girl In The Middle Of Her Exposition.
Girl
Middle
Fingers
The Library Card Is A Passport To Wonders And Miracles, Glimpses Into Other Lives, Religions, Experiences, The Hopes And Dreams And Strivings Of All Human Beings, And It Is This Passport That Opens Our Eyes And Hearts To The World Beyond Our Front Doors, That Is One Of Our Best Hopes Against Tyranny, Xenophobia, Hopelessness, Despair, Anarchy, And Ignorance.
Dream
Xenophobia
Book
She Was Chosen,' Mae Insists. No, You're Wrong,' I Say. 'she Was Only A Girl.'... She Was Gone For Some Time. You Were The Only Force That Kept Her From Turning Completely. That's Magic. Perhaps The Most Powerful I've Seen.' -in Response To Felicity's Love For Pippa Keeping Her From Turning Into A Winterland Creature.
Girl
Powerful
Magic
You Can Never Know About About Your Own Destiny: Are The People You Meet There To Play A Part On Your Oun Destiny, Or Do You Exist Just To Play A Role In Theirs?
Destiny
Play
People
Wow, You're Awesome And The Universe Loves A Winner, So The Universe Must Really Love You!
Love You
Wow
Winner
A Pair Of Blue Noses On The Next Bench Glared Their Disapproval At Evie’s Knee-length Dress. Evie Decided To Give Them A Real Show. She Hiked Her Skirt And, Humming Jauntily, Rolled Down Her Stockings, Exposing Her Legs. It Had The Desired Effect On The Blue Noses, Who Moved Down The Platform, Clucking About The “disgrace Of The Young.” She Would Not Miss This Place.
Real
Blue
Giving
Please Do Not Strain Yourself, Miss Doyle. I Won't Have My Girls Going Cross-eyed In The Name Of Art.
Girl
Art
Names
Gemma, You See How It Is. They've Planned Our Entire Lives, From What We Shall Wear To Whom We Shall Marry And Where We Shall Live. It's One Lump Of Sugar In Your Tea Whether You Like It Or Not And You'd Best Smile Even If You're Dying Deep Inside. We're Like Pretty Horses, And Just As On Horses, They Mean To Put Blinders On Us So We Can't Look Left Or Right But Only Straight Ahead Where They Would Lead. Please, Please, Please, Gemma, Let's Not Die Inside Before We Have To.
Horse
Mean
Tea
The World Expected Girls To Pluck And Primp And Put On Heels. Meanwhile, Boys Dressed In Rumpled T-shirts And Baggy Pants And Misplace Their Combs, And Yet You Were Suppose To Fall At Their Feet? Unacceptable.
Girl
Fall
Boys
He Said To Tell You To Remember Your Heart In All Things, That It Is Where Your Honor And Your Destiny Will Be Found. Does It Mean Anything To You?' It Is Something He Would Say From Time To Time-that The Eye Could Be Misled, But That The Heart Was True.
Heart
Mean
Eye
We're In English Class, Which For Most Of Us Is An Excruciating Exercise In Staying Awake Through The Great Classics Of Literature. These Works - Groundbreaking, Incendiary, Timeless - Have Been Pureed By The Curriculum Monsters Into A Digestible Pabulum Of Themes And Factoids We Can Spew Back On A Test. Scoring Well On Tests Is The Sort Of Happy Thing That Gets The School District The Greenbacks They Crave. Understanding And Appreciating The Material Are Secondary.
School
Exercise
Class
Memphis—it’s Just A Bird. Birds Fly Around, Brother. It’s What They Do. It’s Not Following You, And It’s Not A Sign. Unless You Really Did Give It Candy And Flowers, In Which Case You Are One Strange Brother.
Brother
Flower
Giving
There Is An Ancient Tribal Proverb I Once Heard In India. It Says That Before We Can See Properly We Must First Shed Our Tears To Clear The Way.
Tears
India
Way
As One, They Leap, Laughing, And That Is Where We Leave Them - Mouths Open, Arms Spread Wide, Fingers Splayed To Take In The Whole World, Bodies Flying High In Defiance Of Gravity, As If They Will Never Fall.
Fall
Flying High
Laughing
She Is The Elephant’s Eyebrows,” Evie Whispered Appreciatively. “those Jewels! How Her Neck Must Ache.” “that’s Why Bayer Makes Aspirin,” Mabel Whispered Back, And Evie Smiled, Knowing That Even A Socialist Wasn’t Immune To The Dazzle Of A Movie Star.
Stars
Knowing
Jewels
Free The Snow Globes!
Snow
Globes
Going Bovine
Power Changes Everything Till It Is Difficult To Say Who Are The Heroes And Who The Villains.
Hero
Power
Villain
This Is How The Fire Starts. This Is How We Burn.
Fire
He Took Comfort In The Neon Signs, The Wild Strands Of Jazz Creeping Out Of Clubs Whenever Happy Swells Of People Pushed Through The Doors In Their Finery.
Doors
People
Comfort
Careful There, Poet. I Might Start To Believe You.
Believe
Might
Poet
Discord Need Not Be An Impediment. Differences Can Bring Strength.
Differences
Needs
Discord
Will Was Making A Speech, Something About Having Been Young And Careless Once, The Sort Of Thing Old-timers Said When They Issued A Deathblow, As If They Thought Their Sanctimonious Ramblings Disguised As Empathy Would Be Welcomed, But Evie Was Only Half Listening.
Empathy
Listening
Would Be
Writers Are Also Sort Of Like Vultures, But With Fewer Ethics.
Ethics
Vulture
Fewer
I Do Not Want To Pass The Time. I Want To Grab Hold Of It And Leave My Mark Upon The World.
World
Want
Mark
Yes, Go On. Leave. You're Always Coming And Going. The Rest Of Us Are Stuck Here. Do You Think He'd Still Love You If He Knew Who You Are? He Doesn't Really Care—only When It Suits Him.
Love You
Thinking
Goes On
You're Special. I'm Special. The Whole World's Special, So Don't You Forget It. The Universe Wants Us All To Be Happy, Full Of Smiles And All That Stuff, All That Stuff That's Happy And Smiley. So Get Happy, Happy, Happy Right Now! Get Happy, Happy, Happy Right Now! Get Happy, Happy, Happy Right Now!
Special
World
Want
It Occurs To Me That Cricket Is Not The True Sport In London - Gossip Is.
Sports
Gossip
London
Do Not Be Tempted By English Roses. Their Beauty Fades, But Their Thorns Are Forever.
Rose
Forever
Thorns
Everyone's Dying. A Little, Every Day. Make It Count.
Dying
Littles
Make It Count
J.t Woodland, Known As “the Cute One” In The Corporation’s Seventh-grade Boy Band, Boyz Will B Boyz. Due To The Success Of Their Triple-platinum Hit, “let Me Shave Your Legs Tonight, Girl,” Boyz Will B Boyz Ruled The Charts For A Solid Eleven Months Before Hitting Puberty And Losing Ground To Hot Vampire Boyz.
Cute
Girl
Boys
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