--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wished we hadn’t slept together. Even…" description: "\"“I wished we hadn’t slept together. Even his body left me indifferent. On the rock where we sat now I looked at his body as one looks at old shirts and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbb/andre-aciman-459_indifferent_i-wished-we-hadn-t-slept-together-even-h_1329234.png" --- # I wished we hadn’t slept together. Even his body left me… ![“I wished we hadn’t slept together. Even his body left me indifferent. On the rock where we sat now I looked at his body as one looks at old shirts and trousers being boxed for pick up by the Salvation Army.” quote by André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbb/andre-aciman-459_indifferent_i-wished-we-hadn-t-slept-together-even-h_1329234.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbb/andre-aciman-459_indifferent_i-wished-we-hadn-t-slept-together-even-h_1329234.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbb/andre-aciman-459_indifferent_i-wished-we-hadn-t-slept-together-even-h_1329234.png) > ““I wished we hadn’t slept together. Even his body left me indifferent. On the rock where we sat now I looked at his body as one looks at old shirts and trousers being boxed for pick up by the Salvation Army.”” [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. Intimacy can become detached, reducing a lover to an object, reflecting emotional numbness after loss. **In simple terms:** Love can feel like an object. Key Takeaway Acknowledge lingering feelings. Themes love loss detachment Mood melancholic poetic Type literary emotive When to use this quote - breakups - grief counseling - creative writing Key Concepts psychology memory Questions to Reflect On - What does the objectification reveal about grief? - Can you reclaim intimacy after loss? A Different Perspective May overlook lingering emotional wounds. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hadn Slept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hadn-slept-3187028/) [Indifferent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indifferent/) [Salvation army](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/salvation-army/) [Slept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slept/) [Slept Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slept-body-4455063/) [Wished Hadn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wished-hadn-740819/) ## Related quotes > [I hadn't slept in 20 years. I would sleep a couple hours a night, and I went from specialist to specialist and they could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-regal/i-hadn-t-slept-in-20-years-i-would-sleep-a-couple-hours-a-night-and-i/) [William Regal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-regal/) > [“The whole time I hadn't slept with anyone at university had made it harder and harder to finally do it. Like spending too long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-sudjic/the-whole-time-i-hadn-t-slept-with-anyone-at-university-had-made-it/) [Olivia Sudjic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-sudjic/) > [“The city was waking up to another day. I hadn't slept or changed my clothes in six days. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cope-moyers/the-city-was-waking-up-to-another-day-i-hadn-t-slept-or-changed-my/) [William Cope Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cope-moyers/) > [“I hadn’t slept with anyone in two years. Frankly, it was unnatural. The way I reacted to Will made me think that I really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renee-carlino/i-hadn-t-slept-with-anyone-in-two-years-frankly-it-was-unnatural-the/) [Renée Carlino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renee-carlino/) > [“The world was a hard place and she needed someone to look out for her. I just wished that she hadn’t picked me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-harvey-berrick/the-world-was-a-hard-place-and-she-needed-someone-to-look-out-for-her/) [Jane Harvey-Berrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-harvey-berrick/) > [I certainly wished I hadn't stressed quite as much or had such insecurity at times. I wish I had trusted my instincts on some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylie-minogue/i-certainly-wished-i-hadn-t-stressed-quite-as-much-or-had-such/) [Kylie Minogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylie-minogue/) > [“Brigan had been unshaven, in black clothing, his boots spattered with mud. His light eyes standing out in a weary face. She’d very much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/brigan-had-been-unshaven-in-black-clothing-his-boots-spattered-with/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [“There was nothing I wished I'd said to him. There was nothing I wished I hadn't said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-flood/there-was-nothing-i-wished-i-d-said-to-him-there-was-nothing-i-wished/) [C.J. Flood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-flood/) > [“But of course they hadn't done anything. They'd all be born to the right parents, in the right neighborhoods, they went to the right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/but-of-course-they-hadn-t-done-anything-they-d-all-be-born-to-the/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) > [“You know, this is the first time in many years that I really wished I hadn’t given up smoking. It would give me something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-goldstick/you-know-this-is-the-first-time-in-many-years-that-i-really-wished-i/) [Gary Goldstick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-goldstick/) > [He wished he hadn't pulled me from the path of Tyler's van - there was no other conclusion I could come to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/he-wished-he-hadn-t-pulled-me-from-the-path-of-tyler-s-van-there-was/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) > [“He wondered whether he had done right. He was dissatisfied with himself and with all his circumstances. He asked himself dully whether whenever you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham-2/he-wondered-whether-he-had-done-right-he-was-dissatisfied-with/) [W Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham-2/) > [If you didn't remember something happening, was it because it never had happened? Or because you wished it hadn't?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/if-you-didn-t-remember-something-happening-was-it-because-it-never/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [If this TV success had come in my twenties and I'd become a heart-throb, I would have been very stupid. I would have got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-coyle/if-this-tv-success-had-come-in-my-twenties-and-i-d-become-a-heart/) [Brendan Coyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-coyle/) > [“came from the Salvation Army. It's purple. It's an ugly sofa, Tom." "Then I'll sleep with my eyes closed," he said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/came-from-the-salvation-army-it-s-purple-it-s-an-ugly-sofa-tom-then-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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 Indifferent quotes > [The corporate state is an immensely powerful machine, ordered, legalistic, rational, yet utterly out of human control, wholly and perfectly indifferent to any human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/the-corporate-state-is-an-immensely-powerful-machine-ordered/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) > [Wisdom views with an indifferent eye all finite joys, all blessings born to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/wisdom-views-with-an-indifferent-eye-all-finite-joys-all-blessings/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [Was man made stupid to see his own stupidity? Is God by definition indifferent, beyond us all? Is the eternal truth man's fighting soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-eberhart/was-man-made-stupid-to-see-his-own-stupidity-is-god-by-definition/) [Richard Eberhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-eberhart/) > [Further conceive, I beg, that a stone, while continuing in motion, should be capable of thinking and knowing, that it is endeavoring, as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/further-conceive-i-beg-that-a-stone-while-continuing-in-motion-should/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I only asked my friends to be friendly and polite, I found them indifferent and censorious; The one I left to silence, the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-smith/i-only-asked-my-friends-to-be-friendly-and-polite-i-found-them/) [Stevie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-smith/) > [To be wise was to be above joy and sorrow, fear and pity, ambition and humiliation. It was to hate nothing and to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/to-be-wise-was-to-be-above-joy-and-sorrow-fear-and-pity-ambition-and/) [Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/) > [Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses; whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future, predominate over the present, advances us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/whatever-withdraws-us-from-the-power-of-our-senses-whatever-makes-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Insect politics, indifferent universe. Bang your head against the wall, but apathy is worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-henley/insect-politics-indifferent-universe-bang-your-head-against-the-wall/) [Don Henley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-henley/) > [As her time in Florence drew to a close she was only at ease amongst those to whom she felt indifferent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-her-time-in-florence-drew-to-a-close-she-was-only-at-ease-amongst/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are some people, who place enormous value on their home and feel that it defines them, that a stain on the carpet is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/there-are-some-people-who-place-enormous-value-on-their-home-and-feel/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [So You Want to Know All about her. Who she really is. (Was?) Why she swerved off the high road. Hard left to nowhere,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-hopkins/so-you-want-to-know-all-about-her-who-she-really-is-was-why-she/) [Ellen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-hopkins/) > [“the fear of being indifferent is not the same as indifference itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-landweber/the-fear-of-being-indifferent-is-not-the-same-as-indifference-itself/) [Michael Landweber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-landweber/) > [Everyone's gonna have their opinion, everyone's gonna have their favorite bands. The best way I can describe it is music is like food, either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-anselmo/everyone-s-gonna-have-their-opinion-everyone-s-gonna-have-their/) [Phil Anselmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-anselmo/) > [One and the same thing can at the same time be good, bad, and indifferent, e.g., music is good to the melancholy, bad to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/one-and-the-same-thing-can-at-the-same-time-be-good-bad-and/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [“When I pretended to be precocious, people started the rumor that I was precocious. When I acted like an idler, rumor had it I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/when-i-pretended-to-be-precocious-people-started-the-rumor-that-i-was/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) [Browse all 777 Indifferent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indifferent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I wished we hadn’t slept together. Even his body left me indifferent. On the rock where we sat now I looked at his body as one looks at old shirts and trousers being boxed for pick up by the Salvation Army.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "André Aciman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-wished-we-hadn-t-slept-together-even-his-body-left-me-indifferent/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Indifferent" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-wished-we-hadn-t-slept-together-even-his-body-left-me-indifferent/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbb/andre-aciman-459_indifferent_i-wished-we-hadn-t-slept-together-even-h_1329234.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbb/andre-aciman-459_indifferent_i-wished-we-hadn-t-slept-together-even-h_1329234.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbb/andre-aciman-459_indifferent_i-wished-we-hadn-t-slept-together-even-h_1329234.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I wished we hadn’t slept together. Even his body left me indifferent. On the rock where we sat now I looked…” — 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": "“I wished we hadn’t slept together....", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-wished-we-hadn-t-slept-together-even-his-body-left-me-indifferent/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-wished-we-hadn-t-slept-together-even-his-body-left-me-indifferent/#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 } } ] } ```