--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I brought the bathing suit to my face…" description: "\"“I brought the bathing suit to my face, then rubbed my face inside of it, as if I were trying to snuggle into it and lose myself inside its folds—So th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/andre-aciman-459_bathing-suit_i-brought-the-bathing-suit-to-my-face-th_1297097.png" --- # I brought the bathing suit to my face, then rubbed my face… ![“I brought the bathing suit to my face, then rubbed my face inside of it, as if I were trying to snuggle into it and lose myself inside its folds—So this is what he smells like when his body isn’t covered in suntan lotion, this is what he smells like, this is what he smells like, I kept repeating…” quote by André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/andre-aciman-459_bathing-suit_i-brought-the-bathing-suit-to-my-face-th_1297097.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/andre-aciman-459_bathing-suit_i-brought-the-bathing-suit-to-my-face-th_1297097.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/andre-aciman-459_bathing-suit_i-brought-the-bathing-suit-to-my-face-th_1297097.png) > ““I brought the bathing suit to my face, then rubbed my face inside of it, as if I were trying to snuggle into it and lose myself inside its folds—So this is what he smells like when his body isn’t covered in suntan lotion, this is what he smells like, this is what he smells like, I kept repeating to myself, looking inside the suit for something more personal yet than his smell and then kissing every corner of it, almost wishing to find hair, anything, to lick it, to put the whole bathing suit into my mouth, and, if I could only steal it, keep it with me forever, never ever let Mafalda wash it, turn to it in the winter months at home and, on sniffing it, bring him back to life, as naked as he was with me at this very moment.”” [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. The narrator obsessively clings to a lover’s scent via a bathing suit, seeking to preserve intimacy and resurrect the lost connection. **In simple terms:** He tries to hold onto a lover’s memory through an object. Key Takeaway Preserve cherished moments before they fade. Themes memory desire loss intimacy Mood melancholic intense reflective Type literary emotional sensory When to use this quote - Grief processing - relationship reflection - creative writing - therapeutic journaling Key Concepts Sensory attachment nostalgia object symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What objects help you remember loved ones? - How does scent trigger emotional recall? A Different Perspective Objects cannot fully replace a person’s presence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bathing suit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bathing-suit/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [“It is blissfully silent as Matt flutters his hands across my stomach and up the insides of my thigs, making me shiver. 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The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/it-smells-like-rain-in-the-morning-the/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [It's Fendi. French, Fendi, both start with an F... I fell in love with it. Smells like grown-man cologne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/french-montana/it-s-fendi-french-fendi-both-start-with-an-f-i-fell-in-love-with-it/) [French Montana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/french-montana/) > [Don't you hate it when you get on a elevator and someone smells like they took a bath in perfume or cologne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jreyes/don-t-you-hate-it-when-you-get-on-a-elevator-and-someone-smells-like/) JREYES ## 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. 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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 Bathing suit quotes > [“One hundred and thirteen seconds." "I am in extreme dislike ..." Gasp. "... of this process at the present moment." Gasp. "And also, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-portes/one-hundred-and-thirteen-seconds-i-am-in-extreme-dislike-gasp-of-this/) [Andrea Portes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-portes/) > [My fitness goals are different than most peoples. 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