--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He would never know, just as the people…" description: "\"“He would never know, just as the people we buy the newspaper from and then fantasize about all night have no idea that this particular inflection on t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee5/andre-aciman-459_fantasize_he-would-never-know-just-as-the-people-w_2977266.png" --- # He would never know, just as the people we buy the… ![“He would never know, just as the people we buy the newspaper from and then fantasize about all night have no idea that this particular inflection on their face or that tan along their exposed shoulder will give us no end of pleasure when we’re alone.” quote by André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee5/andre-aciman-459_fantasize_he-would-never-know-just-as-the-people-w_2977266.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee5/andre-aciman-459_fantasize_he-would-never-know-just-as-the-people-w_2977266.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee5/andre-aciman-459_fantasize_he-would-never-know-just-as-the-people-w_2977266.png) > ““He would never know, just as the people we buy the newspaper from and then fantasize about all night have no idea that this particular inflection on their face or that tan along their exposed shoulder will give us no end of pleasure when we’re alone.”” [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A narrator describes secret, private desire that is intensified by observing strangers, highlighting how personal fantasies can be detached from reality. **In simple terms:** Secret desire is fueled by observing strangers. Key Takeaway Recognize when fantasies detach from reality. Themes desire observation fantasy loneliness Mood melancholy introspective Type literary reflective When to use this quote - unrequited love - personal reflection - private moments - social isolation Key Concepts psychology sexuality subjectivity Questions to Reflect On - What does this secret desire reveal about your inner needs? - How might you channel such feelings constructively? A Different Perspective The pleasure described may be fleeting and unreciprocated, leading to loneliness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“I fantasize the night sky to be like a cosmic blue print of my life as I close my eyes and unbutton my heart….…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-elisabeth/i-fantasize-the-night-sky-to-be-like-a-cosmic-blue-print-of-my-life/) [Jennifer Elisabeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-elisabeth/) > [“So if you understand that where there is a search for pleasure there must be pain, live that way if you want to, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/so-if-you-understand-that-where-there-is-a-search-for-pleasure-there/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Are these things good for any other reason except that they end in pleasure, and get rid of and avert pain? Are you looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/are-these-things-good-for-any-other-reason-except-that-they-end-in/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“His wide mouth falls into amused lines. “Everything dies. There’s no way to stop that tide. In the end, all we have is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-aguirre/his-wide-mouth-falls-into-amused-lines-everything-dies-there-s-no-way/) [Ann Aguirre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-aguirre/) > [Reading is a pleasure, but to finish reading, to come to the blank space at the end, is also a pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/reading-is-a-pleasure-but-to-finish-reading-to-come-to-the-blank/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [Pain is filtered in a poem so that it becomes finally, in the end, pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/pain-is-filtered-in-a-poem-so-that-it-becomes-finally-in-the-end/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [The end of pleasure is to support the offices of life, to relieve the fatigues of business, to reward a regular action, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-collier/the-end-of-pleasure-is-to-support-the-offices-of-life-to-relieve-the/) [Jeremy Collier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-collier/) > [Here is Heimel's Law: Anything you fantasize about won't come true. 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Nuland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwin-b-nuland/) > [We all fantasize about work that uses our creativity, is self-directed, happens during the hours we choose, and occurs in an attractively lit setting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-tsing-loh/we-all-fantasize-about-work-that-uses-our-creativity-is-self-directed/) [Sandra Tsing Loh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-tsing-loh/) > [Is the destiny of the human species to sit back and play with our mouse and computer and imagine, fantasize?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buzz-aldrin/is-the-destiny-of-the-human-species-to-sit-back-and-play-with-our/) [Buzz Aldrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buzz-aldrin/) > [I think that we all fantasize about that teeny tiny time in the film industry when women ruled, back in the '40s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sissy-spacek/i-think-that-we-all-fantasize-about-that-teeny-tiny-time-in-the-film/) [Sissy Spacek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sissy-spacek/) > [“I like to fantasize about how far I’ll have come in a year. A year from now, I’ll be 12 months further than where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-like-to-fantasize-about-how-far-i-ll-have-come-in-a-year-a-year/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Say she fantasize bout Spectac. I fucked a week ago she still got her back (back).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pretty-ricky/say-she-fantasize-bout-spectac-i-fucked-a-week-ago-she-still-got-her/) [Pretty Ricky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pretty-ricky/) ## More by André Aciman > [Don't all writers have a hidden nerve, call it a secret chamber, something irreducibly theirs, which stirs their prose and makes it tick and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/don-t-all-writers-have-a-hidden-nerve-call-it-a-secret-chamber/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I wanted him to remember the morning on Monet's berm when I'd kissed him not the first but the second time and given him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-wanted-him-to-remember-the-morning-on-monet-s-berm-when-i-d-kissed/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [Rituals are how we step into our private field of dreams, a small Elysium all our own. Rituals are made not just for us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/rituals-are-how-we-step-into-our-private-field-of-dreams-a-small/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I desperately wanted to give him something. By contrast, taking seemed so bland, so facile, so mechanical.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-desperately-wanted-to-give-him-something-by-contrast-taking-seemed/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“The man who'll lay the last stone here isn't even born yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/the-man-who-ll-lay-the-last-stone-here-isn-t-even-born-yet/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [Proust is interested in minutiae because life, as he sees it, is seldom ever about things but about our impression of things, not about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/proust-is-interested-in-minutiae-because-life-as-he-sees-it-is-seldom/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“Well, since you're not going to do anything with me—can you at least read me a story? I'd settle for that. I wanted him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/well-since-you-re-not-going-to-do-anything-with-me-can-you-at-least/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“This is heaven.” And I wouldn’t hear him say another word for at least an hour. There was nothing I loved more in life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/this-is-heaven-and-i-wouldn-t-hear-him-say-another-word-for-at-least/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“He loved the sticky taste. What had I done? I told him and pointed to the bruised evidence sitting on my desk. “Let me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/he-loved-the-sticky-taste-what-had-i-done-i-told-him-and-pointed-to/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“When had they separated us, you and me, Oliver? And why did I know it, and why didn't you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/when-had-they-separated-us-you-and-me-oliver-and-why-did-i-know-it/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“As we were swimming back, he asked as though it were an afterthought, “Are you going to hold last night against me?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/as-we-were-swimming-back-he-asked-as-though-it-were-an-afterthought/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“To be with you. To be with you, Oliver. With or without my bathing suit. To be with you on my bed. In your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/to-be-with-you-to-be-with-you-oliver-with-or-without-my-bathing-suit/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I thought I could ever want another living soul, gently, softly, and, with the kindness one Jew extends to another, work his way into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-thought-i-could-ever-want-another-living-soul-gently-softly-and/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“Oliver: But there's the catch: you're still twenty years younger than those gathered around you, which is why I can be twenty-four in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/oliver-but-there-s-the-catch-you-re-still-twenty-years-younger-than/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [I cannot write if there is a sense of plenitude. I have to hypothesize that there is a loss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-cannot-write-if-there-is-a-sense-of-plenitude-i-have-to-hypothesize/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) [Explore all 527 André Aciman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) ## More Fantasize quotes > [Say she fantasize bout Spectac. I fucked a week ago she still got her back (back).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pretty-ricky/say-she-fantasize-bout-spectac-i-fucked-a-week-ago-she-still-got-her/) [Pretty Ricky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pretty-ricky/) > [“I like to fantasize about how far I’ll have come in a year. A year from now, I’ll be 12 months further than where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-like-to-fantasize-about-how-far-i-ll-have-come-in-a-year-a-year/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [I think that we all fantasize about that teeny tiny time in the film industry when women ruled, back in the '40s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sissy-spacek/i-think-that-we-all-fantasize-about-that-teeny-tiny-time-in-the-film/) [Sissy Spacek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sissy-spacek/) > [Is the destiny of the human species to sit back and play with our mouse and computer and imagine, fantasize?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buzz-aldrin/is-the-destiny-of-the-human-species-to-sit-back-and-play-with-our/) [Buzz Aldrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buzz-aldrin/) > [We all fantasize about work that uses our creativity, is self-directed, happens during the hours we choose, and occurs in an attractively lit setting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-tsing-loh/we-all-fantasize-about-work-that-uses-our-creativity-is-self-directed/) [Sandra Tsing Loh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-tsing-loh/) > [There are resurrection themes in every society that has ever been studied, and it is because not just only do we fantasize about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwin-b-nuland/there-are-resurrection-themes-in-every-society-that-has-ever-been/) [Sherwin B. Nuland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwin-b-nuland/) > [Look, I like to fantasize that there's more to reality than what we have here, and that's why, from a young age, I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-coscarelli/look-i-like-to-fantasize-that-there-s-more-to-reality-than-what-we/) [Don Coscarelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-coscarelli/) > [Here is Heimel's Law: Anything you fantasize about won't come true. So just cut it out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-heimel/here-is-heimel-s-law-anything-you-fantasize-about-won-t-come-true-so/) [Cynthia Heimel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-heimel/) > [I just close my eyes and I fantasize what I would like to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-winding-refn/i-just-close-my-eyes-and-i-fantasize-what-i-would-like-to-see/) [Nicolas Winding Refn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-winding-refn/) > [“I fantasize about my own mini-van on a daily basis, complete with automatic sliding doors,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-o-bryant/i-fantasize-about-my-own-mini-van-on-a-daily-basis-complete-with/) [Robin O'Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-o-bryant/) > [Well, I'll say I have an incredible ability to fantasize - I really do. I don't have to have things tangible to be able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-summer/well-i-ll-say-i-have-an-incredible-ability-to-fantasize-i-really-do-i/) [Donna Summer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-summer/) > [“Don't ever quit pretending.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/don-t-ever-quit-pretending/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [When I was a kid, I used to fantasize about death. Not that I was suicidal, but there was an attraction there. I went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/when-i-was-a-kid-i-used-to-fantasize-about-death-not-that-i-was/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [You can dream and fantasize all you want but reality will always welcome you back with open arms and a pin to burst your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-tibs/you-can-dream-and-fantasize-all-you-want-but-reality-will-always/) [Jimmy Tibs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-tibs/) > [I fantasize and idealize myself as Bugs Bunny, but I know deep down I'm Daffy Duck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patton-oswalt/i-fantasize-and-idealize-myself-as-bugs-bunny-but-i-know-deep-down-i/) [Patton Oswalt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patton-oswalt/) Browse all 90 Fantasize quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He would never know, just as the people we buy the newspaper from and then fantasize about all night have no idea that this particular inflection on their face or that tan along their exposed shoulder will give us no end of pleasure when we’re alone.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "André Aciman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/he-would-never-know-just-as-the-people-we-buy-the-newspaper-from-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fantasize" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/he-would-never-know-just-as-the-people-we-buy-the-newspaper-from-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee5/andre-aciman-459_fantasize_he-would-never-know-just-as-the-people-w_2977266.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee5/andre-aciman-459_fantasize_he-would-never-know-just-as-the-people-w_2977266.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee5/andre-aciman-459_fantasize_he-would-never-know-just-as-the-people-w_2977266.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He would never know, just as the people we buy the newspaper from and then fantasize about all night have no…” — André Aciman", "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": "André Aciman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“He would never know, just as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/he-would-never-know-just-as-the-people-we-buy-the-newspaper-from-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/he-would-never-know-just-as-the-people-we-buy-the-newspaper-from-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 } } ] } ```