--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The city was asleep on its right side and…" description: "\"The city was asleep on its right side and shaking with violent nightmares. Long puffs of snoring came out of the chimneys. Its feet were sticking out b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ba/anais-nin-288_bridges_the-city-was-asleep-on-its-right-side-an_2742833.jpg" --- # The city was asleep on its right side and shaking with… ![“The city was asleep on its right side and shaking with violent nightmares. Long puffs of snoring came out of the chimneys. Its feet were sticking out because the clouds did not cover it altogether. There was a hole in them and the white feathers were falling out. The city had untied all its…” quote by Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ba/anais-nin-288_bridges_the-city-was-asleep-on-its-right-side-an_2742833.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ba/anais-nin-288_bridges_the-city-was-asleep-on-its-right-side-an_2742833.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ba/anais-nin-288_bridges_the-city-was-asleep-on-its-right-side-an_2742833.jpg) > “The city was asleep on its right side and shaking with violent nightmares. Long puffs of snoring came out of the chimneys. Its feet were sticking out because the clouds did not cover it altogether. There was a hole in them and the white feathers were falling out. The city had untied all its bridges like so many buttons to feel at ease. Wherever there was a lamplight the city scratched itself until it went out.” [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The city is anthropomorphized, restless and chaotic, reflecting inner turmoil and fragmented identity. **In simple terms:** City as restless mind. Key Takeaway Observe inner chaos. Themes urban anxiety dreamscape identity fragmentation nightmares Mood melancholic surreal thoughtful Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - nighttime city walks - dream journaling - creative writing - urban exploration Key Concepts Surrealism psychological metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What does the city symbolize for you? - How do you calm inner turbulence? A Different Perspective Interpretation may be overly abstract. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Nightmare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/) [Violent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violent/) ## Related quotes > [“The city was asleep, and the bookshop felt like a boat adrift in a sea of silence and shadows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/the-city-was-asleep-and-the-bookshop-felt-like-a-boat-adrift-in-a-sea/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafón](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [“There was a moment of silence so profound that it seemed the city was asleep. No sound from the bazaars, no arguments among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/there-was-a-moment-of-silence-so-profound-that-it-seemed-the-city-was/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“THE CITY WAS ASLEEP. 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Not mentioning any names though...sooo tired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frankie-muniz/i-may-or-may-not-have-almost-body-slammed-one-of-my-band-mates-for/) [Frankie Muniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frankie-muniz/) > [I hope to one day co-sign a lease with another person but, well, it doesn't plague me that I have yet to do so.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/i-hope-to-one-day-co-sign-a-lease-with-another-person-but-well-it/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) > [A husband is a man who two minutes after his head touches the pillow is snoring like an overloaded omnibus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/a-husband-is-a-man-who-two-minutes-after-his-head-touches-the-pillow/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [I sing seriously to my mom on the phone. To put her to sleep, I have to sing 'Maria' from West Side Story. 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The car is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/meditation-is-not-concentration-it-is-simple-awareness-you-simply/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“Sleep in my arms like a little cat; I love your snoring and your smell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/sleep-in-my-arms-like-a-little-cat-i-love-your-snoring-and-your-smell/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [They say I killed six or seven men for snoring. Well, it ain't true. 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Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [My specialties are corpses, unconscious people and people snoring in spectacular epics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gig-young/my-specialties-are-corpses-unconscious-people-and-people-snoring-in/) Gig Young ## More by Anais Nin > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [“…For love it is never the same. What goes on inside is never the same just like this music which changes every instant. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/for-love-it-is-never-the-same-what-goes-on-inside-is-never-the-same/) [Anaïs Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Jazz is the music of the body. The breath comes through brass. It is the body's breath, and the strings' wails and moans are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/jazz-is-the-music-of-the-body-the-breath-comes-through-brass-it-is/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [I have so strong a sense of creation, of tomorrow, that I cannot get drunk, knowing I will be less alive, less well, less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-have-so-strong-a-sense-of-creation-of-tomorrow-that-i-cannot-get/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [We don't have a language for the senses. Feelings are images, sensations are like musical sounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/we-don-t-have-a-language-for-the-senses-feelings-are-images/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Strange, isn't it, that no chemical will give a human being the iridescence that illusions have given them? Give me your hat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/strange-isn-t-it-that-no-chemical-will-give-a-human-being-the/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [The personal, if it is deep enough, becomes universal, mythical, symbolic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-personal-if-it-is-deep-enough-becomes-universal-mythical-symbolic/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Introspection is a devouring monster. 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Most of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-role-of-the-writer-is-not-to-say-what-we-can-all-say-but-what-we/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [I say quotations are literary. They are good only when dealing with ideas, not with experience. Experience should be pure, unique.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-say-quotations-are-literary-they-are-good-only-when-dealing-with/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) [Explore all 715 Anais Nin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) ## More Bridges quotes > [Poetry has, in a way, been my bridge to my acting career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omari-hardwick/poetry-has-in-a-way-been-my-bridge-to-my-acting-career/) [Omari Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omari-hardwick/) > [Nothing teaches great writing like the very best books do. Yet, good teachers often help students cross that bridge, and I have to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/nothing-teaches-great-writing-like-the-very-best-books-do-yet-good/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [In my rear view mirror the sun is going down sinking behind bridges in the road and I think of all the good things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/in-my-rear-view-mirror-the-sun-is-going-down-sinking-behind-bridges/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/my-first-big-mistake-was-made-when-in-a-moment-of-weakness-i/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [The WPA was one of the most productive elements of FDR's alphabet soup of agencies because it put people to work building roads, bridges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-wpa-was-one-of-the-most-productive-elements-of-fdr-s-alphabet/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you walk, try to think nothing! You can then obtain the silence of a streetlight or a bridge; stop thinking; after that, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/when-you-walk-try-to-think-nothing-you-can-then-obtain-the-silence-of/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [Al Pacino and Jeff Bridges do it for me in a big way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-scanlon/al-pacino-and-jeff-bridges-do-it-for-me-in-a-big-way/) [Angela Scanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-scanlon/) > [Instead of building castles against your enemies, build bridges for them to come to you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/instead-of-building-castles-against-your-enemies-build-bridges-for/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Instead of finding himself in nerd heaven—where every nerd gets fifty-eight virgins to role-play with—he woke up in Robert Wood Johnson with two broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/instead-of-finding-himself-in-nerd-heaven-where-every-nerd-gets-fifty/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Each person is an island unto himself, in a very real sense; and he can only build bridges to other islands if he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rogers/each-person-is-an-island-unto-himself-in-a-very-real-sense-and-he-can/) [Carl Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rogers/) > [The real test of a bridge player isn’t in keeping out of trouble, but in escaping once he’s in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-sheinwold/the-real-test-of-a-bridge-player-isn-t-in-keeping-out-of-trouble-but/) [Alfred Sheinwold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-sheinwold/) > [The law ... allows rich as well as poor to sleep under bridges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-law-allows-rich-as-well-as-poor-to-sleep-under-bridges/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Guys like Todd Bridges never overcame being a child star. 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