--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The thought washed over me like water on…" description: "\"“The thought washed over me like water on a flower shop window, like a soothing, cool lotion after you've showered and spent the whole day in the sun, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/andre-aciman-459_andre-aciman_the-thought-washed-over-me-like-water-on_392175.png" --- # The thought washed over me like water on a flower shop… ![“The thought washed over me like water on a flower shop window, like a soothing, cool lotion after you've showered and spent the whole day in the sun, loving the sun but loving the balsam more.” quote by André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/andre-aciman-459_andre-aciman_the-thought-washed-over-me-like-water-on_392175.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/andre-aciman-459_andre-aciman_the-thought-washed-over-me-like-water-on_392175.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/andre-aciman-459_andre-aciman_the-thought-washed-over-me-like-water-on_392175.png) > ““The thought washed over me like water on a flower shop window, like a soothing, cool lotion after you've showered and spent the whole day in the sun, loving the sun but loving the balsam more.”” [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 fleeting, soothing sensation follows intense exposure, blending comfort with lingering warmth. **In simple terms:** After intense experiences, calm follows. Key Takeaway Savor moments of quiet after intensity. Themes comfort reflection contrast Mood peaceful nostalgic Type poetic inspirational When to use this quote - sunny days - post‑exercise relaxation - emotional healing Key Concepts sensory perception memory Questions to Reflect On - What simple pleasures bring you calm after stress? - How do you balance intensity with tranquility? A Different Perspective The metaphor may be too poetic for practical application. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Andre-aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/andre-aciman/) [Call-me-by-your-name](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/call-me-by-your-name/) [Description](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/description/) [Imagery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagery/) [Loving Balsam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loving-balsam-3536103/) [Motif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motif/) [Showered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/showered-533592/) [Showered Spent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/showered-spent-3536105/) [Simile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simile/) [Sun Loving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun-loving-3536104/) [Thought Washed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-washed-1530882/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [Outside, the ocean was crashing, waves hitting sand, then pulling back to sea. I thought of everything being washed away, again and again. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/outside-the-ocean-was-crashing-waves-hitting-sand-then-pulling-back/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [When I love somebody, I like him to be around; I like him to take me out to dinner; I like to look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/when-i-love-somebody-i-like-him-to-be-around-i-like-him-to-take-me/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“It was not a jolly place at all for a sun-loving soul”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/it-was-not-a-jolly-place-at-all-for-a-sun-loving-soul/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [“It was so quiet, I could hear my own breathing, loud in my ears. Outside, the ocean was crashing, waves hitting sand, then pulling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/it-was-so-quiet-i-could-hear-my-own-breathing-loud-in-my-ears-outside/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [“God’s will; rather, God’s will was accomplished in spite of the conflict. Another important motif is that “the older will serve the younger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-h-sailhamer/god-s-will-rather-god-s-will-was-accomplished-in-spite-of-the/) [John H. Sailhamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-h-sailhamer/) > [I have a thing about stars, they are my favourite motif.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-willoughby/i-have-a-thing-about-stars-they-are-my-favourite-motif/) [Holly Willoughby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-willoughby/) > [I have no motif, only motivation. I believe that motivation is the real thing, the natural thing, and that the motif is old-fashioned, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-have-no-motif-only-motivation-i-believe-that-motivation-is-the-real/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [I should like to take the wind and water and sand as a motif and work with them, but it has to be simplified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-dove/i-should-like-to-take-the-wind-and-water-and-sand-as-a-motif-and-work/) [Arthur Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-dove/) > [That's the kind of motif I bring to the books - that people take charge of their own lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maeve-binchy/that-s-the-kind-of-motif-i-bring-to-the-books-that-people-take-charge/) [Maeve Binchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maeve-binchy/) > [The motif must always be set down in a simple way, easily grasped and understood by the beholder. By the elimination of superfluous detail,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-sisley/the-motif-must-always-be-set-down-in-a-simple-way-easily-grasped-and/) [Alfred Sisley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-sisley/) > [The way one sees is also dependent upon one's emotional state of mind. This is why a motif can be looked at in so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edvard-munch/the-way-one-sees-is-also-dependent-upon-one-s-emotional-state-of-mind/) [Edvard Munch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edvard-munch/) > [“I know so little, she tells herself again, searching her mother's face. In the end, we know so little. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-richler/i-know-so-little-she-tells-herself-again-searching-her-mother-s-face/) [Emma Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-richler/) > [motif, n. You don’t love me as much as I love you. You don’t love me as much as I love you. You don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/motif-n-you-don-t-love-me-as-much-as-i-love-you-you-don-t-love-me-as/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [If, while I'm painting, I distort or destroy a motif, it is not a planned or conscious act, but rather it has a different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/if-while-i-m-painting-i-distort-or-destroy-a-motif-it-is-not-a/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [“been sitting there showered him with irate”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-bray-weber/been-sitting-there-showered-him-with-irate/) [Jennifer Bray-Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-bray-weber/) ## 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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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 Andre-aciman quotes > [“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/) > [“But this thing that almost never was still beckons, I wanted to tell him. They can never undo it, never unwrite it, never unlive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/but-this-thing-that-almost-never-was-still-beckons-i-wanted-to-tell/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“It was just that I was hoping we'd go together.' 'You mean like the other day?' he added, as though to help me say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/it-was-just-that-i-was-hoping-we-d-go-together-you-mean-like-the/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“Finally his voice came through. 'Elio,' he said. I could hear my parents and the voices of children in the background. No one could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/finally-his-voice-came-through-elio-he-said-i-could-hear-my-parents/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“If I put my foot on the floor and pretend that his is just behind the leg of the table, will that foot, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/if-i-put-my-foot-on-the-floor-and-pretend-that-his-is-just-behind-the/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I’m not wise at all. I told you, I know nothing. I know books, and I know how to string words together—it doesn’t mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-m-not-wise-at-all-i-told-you-i-know-nothing-i-know-books-and-i-know/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“We were too close, I thought, I'd never been so close to him except in a dream or when he cupped his hand to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/we-were-too-close-i-thought-i-d-never-been-so-close-to-him-except-in/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I look back on those days and regret none of it, not the risks, not the shame, not the total lack of foresight. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-look-back-on-those-days-and-regret-none-of-it-not-the-risks-not-the/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“This felt special. Like showing someone your private chapel, your secret haunt, the place where, as with the berm, one comes to be alone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/this-felt-special-like-showing-someone-your-private-chapel-your/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“The picture would remind Oliver of the morning when I first spoke out. Or of the day when we rode by the berm pretending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/the-picture-would-remind-oliver-of-the-morning-when-i-first-spoke-out/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“Looking at him now from the balustrade, I felt something so tender for him that it reminded me how eagerly I had rushed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/looking-at-him-now-from-the-balustrade-i-felt-something-so-tender-for/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I was happy that the room would revert to me. In my/his room, it would be easier to remember our nights. No, better keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-was-happy-that-the-room-would-revert-to-me-in-my-his-room-it-would/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“What had been in my head for so long would now be out in the real world, no longer afloat in my foreverland of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/what-had-been-in-my-head-for-so-long-would-now-be-out-in-the-real/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“And on that evening when we grow older still we'll speak about these two young men as though they were two strangers we met…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/and-on-that-evening-when-we-grow-older-still-we-ll-speak-about-these/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“He is right, there is no denying it,' said my father under his breath, as though mimicking the part of a cowered Galileo forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/he-is-right-there-is-no-denying-it-said-my-father-under-his-breath-as/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) [Browse all 65 Andre-aciman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/andre-aciman/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The thought washed over me like water on a flower shop window, like a soothing, cool lotion after you've showered and spent the whole day in the sun, loving the sun but loving the balsam more.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "André Aciman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/the-thought-washed-over-me-like-water-on-a-flower-shop-window-like-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Andre-aciman" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/the-thought-washed-over-me-like-water-on-a-flower-shop-window-like-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/andre-aciman-459_andre-aciman_the-thought-washed-over-me-like-water-on_392175.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/andre-aciman-459_andre-aciman_the-thought-washed-over-me-like-water-on_392175.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/andre-aciman-459_andre-aciman_the-thought-washed-over-me-like-water-on_392175.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The thought washed over me like water on a flower shop window, like a soothing, cool lotion after you've…” — 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": "“The thought washed over me like...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/the-thought-washed-over-me-like-water-on-a-flower-shop-window-like-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/the-thought-washed-over-me-like-water-on-a-flower-shop-window-like-a/#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 } } ] } ```