--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We were—and he must have recognized the…" description: "\"“We were—and he must have recognized the signs long before I did—flirting.”\" — André Aciman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/andre-aciman-459_flirting_we-were-and-he-must-have-recognized-the_2721922.png" --- # We were—and he must have recognized the signs long before… ![“We were—and he must have recognized the signs long before I did—flirting.” quote by André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/andre-aciman-459_flirting_we-were-and-he-must-have-recognized-the_2721922.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/andre-aciman-459_flirting_we-were-and-he-must-have-recognized-the_2721922.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/andre-aciman-459_flirting_we-were-and-he-must-have-recognized-the_2721922.png) > ““We were—and he must have recognized the signs long before I did—flirting.”” [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. Flirting can be recognized by others before we notice ourselves. **In simple terms:** Others may see flirtation first. Key Takeaway Be aware of subtle social cues. Themes romance perception social interaction Mood intimate observant Type literary social When to use this quote - Dating - friendship - self-awareness Key Concepts Literature human relationships Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize your own signals? - What role do observers play in relationships? A Different Perspective Misinterpretation risk. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Flirting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flirting/) ## Related quotes > [As long as we have deaf people on earth, we will have signs. And as long as we have our films, we can preserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-veditz/as-long-as-we-have-deaf-people-on-earth-we-will-have-signs-and-as/) George Veditz > [In shamanic cultures, sychronicities are recognized as signs that you are on the right path.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/in-shamanic-cultures-sychronicities-are-recognized-as-signs-that-you/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [“It was not flirting, just verbal ping-pong. I was dying to slam the ball but too polite to stop the back-and-forth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/it-was-not-flirting-just-verbal-ping-pong-i-was-dying-to-slam-the/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [I get recognized so much. It happens mostly when Im in Starbucks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katee-sackhoff/i-get-recognized-so-much-it-happens-mostly-when-im-in-starbucks/) [Katee Sackhoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katee-sackhoff/) > [Seattle is a place I've lived only a couple of years, but I feel like I've been adopted by this city. It's like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kondabolu/seattle-is-a-place-i-ve-lived-only-a-couple-of-years-but-i-feel-like/) [Hari Kondabolu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kondabolu/) > [I am deeply honored that my team is being recognized by H.S.H. Prince Albert II and the Festival de Television de Monte-Carlo for Disney/ABC's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sweeney/i-am-deeply-honored-that-my-team-is-being-recognized-by-h-s-h-prince/) [Anne Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sweeney/) > [What I recognized is that you can't put it together. It's already together, and what you have to do is experience it being together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/what-i-recognized-is-that-you-can-t-put-it-together-it-s-already/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [Neighbor is no longer confined to the vocabulary of the individual. It is a national word. Modern inventions have annihilated distance. Commercial relations have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/neighbor-is-no-longer-confined-to-the-vocabulary-of-the-individual-it/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) > [To me, I feel like your accomplishments have been recognized when you make the cover of a videogame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-ovechkin/to-me-i-feel-like-your-accomplishments-have-been-recognized-when-you/) [Alexander Ovechkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-ovechkin/) > [You don't get recognized that much unless you want to get recognized, like if you go to the fancy joints and that. It's like,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-fimmel/you-don-t-get-recognized-that-much-unless-you-want-to-get-recognized/) [Travis Fimmel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-fimmel/) > [No one can stop the advancement of a country wheretalent is recognized properly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/no-one-can-stop-the-advancement-of-a-country-wheretalent-is/) Mak\_786 > [I'm in a great position now where I've got recognition. I'm not recognized too much. I think I'm recognized enough by the industry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-chandler/i-m-in-a-great-position-now-where-i-ve-got-recognition-i-m-not/) [Kyle Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-chandler/) > [I would like beautiful gymnastics to be recognized as the best. I want the judges to appreciate things that are not necessarily winning points.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kohei-uchimura/i-would-like-beautiful-gymnastics-to-be-recognized-as-the-best-i-want/) [Kohei Uchimura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kohei-uchimura/) > [We are very fortunate to be recognized here in such an extraordinary manner for work that we enjoy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-altman/we-are-very-fortunate-to-be-recognized-here-in-such-an-extraordinary/) [Sidney Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-altman/) > [I don't want to be famous famous. I'm happy on the second tier, where I have autonomy on a professional level but I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-reece/i-don-t-want-to-be-famous-famous-i-m-happy-on-the-second-tier-where-i/) [Gabrielle Reece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-reece/) ## 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 Flirting quotes > [“Dude, now you’re flirting? Even to my own ears, my comment sounds suggestive. The sad thing is, it was meant that way. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-leighton/dude-now-you-re-flirting-even-to-my-own-ears-my-comment-sounds/) [M. Leighton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-leighton/) > [“It's not who, it's when”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-taubas/it-s-not-who-it-s-when/) Alejandro Taubas > [“It was wonderful flirting with him, all the razor-edged literary banter, like Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. A battle of wit,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wein/it-was-wonderful-flirting-with-him-all-the-razor-edged-literary/) [Elizabeth Wein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wein/) > [~You told me that you have feelings me then next thing you know you ignore me then I see you flirting with other girls……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-eyes/you-told-me-that-you-have-feelings-me-then-next-thing-you-know-you/) Angel\_eyes > [Hi I like you lets fuck……ing cuddle ;)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zaynab/hi-i-like-you-lets-fuck-ing-cuddle/) [Zaynab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zaynab/) > [“There are plenty of secrets I would like to know about you, Daphne.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-hodnett/there-are-plenty-of-secrets-i-would-like-to-know-about-you-daphne/) [Brenda Hodnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-hodnett/) > [I think Illium can take care of himself.” “Not if he keeps flirting with you.” A fine, almost elegant tendril of heat, champagne and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/i-think-illium-can-take-care-of-himself-not-if-he-keeps-flirting-with/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [“And Zeus said: “Hera, you can choose some other time for paying your visit to Oceanus — for the present let us devote ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/and-zeus-said-hera-you-can-choose-some-other-time-for-paying-your/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [“Unfortunately, he still hadn’t asked for my number, or a date, or my hand in marriage, and my drink was getting low.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-novosel/unfortunately-he-still-hadn-t-asked-for-my-number-or-a-date-or-my/) [Kimberly Novosel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-novosel/) > [The longer you stay in the friend zone, the harder it is to get out. If you want the girl, man up, and get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-longer-you-stay-in-the-friend-zone-the-harder-it-is-to-get-out-if/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I am a mathematician and I can confidently say that the best figure ever produced is your phone number.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/i-am-a-mathematician-and-i-can-confidently-say-that-the-best-figure/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [FLIRTING WORDS = Big Head , Punk, Ugly, We gone fight !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shae/flirting-words-big-head-punk-ugly-we-gone-fight/) [Shae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shae/) > [Don't tell me you love me when you are flirting with somebody else!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-tell-me-you-love-me-when-you-are-flirting-with-somebody-else/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A picture of you is worth more than a thousand words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babloo/a-picture-of-you-is-worth-more-than-a-thousand-words/) [Babloo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babloo/) > [“Rowena Clark and I had met on the first day of our mixed media class. I’d sat down at her table and said, “Mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/rowena-clark-and-i-had-met-on-the-first-day-of-our-mixed-media-class/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) [Browse all 943 Flirting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flirting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We were—and he must have recognized the signs long before I did—flirting.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "André Aciman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/we-were-and-he-must-have-recognized-the-signs-long-before-i-did/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Flirting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/we-were-and-he-must-have-recognized-the-signs-long-before-i-did/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/andre-aciman-459_flirting_we-were-and-he-must-have-recognized-the_2721922.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/andre-aciman-459_flirting_we-were-and-he-must-have-recognized-the_2721922.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/andre-aciman-459_flirting_we-were-and-he-must-have-recognized-the_2721922.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We were—and he must have recognized the signs long before I did—flirting.” — 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": "“We were—and he must have recognized...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/we-were-and-he-must-have-recognized-the-signs-long-before-i-did/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/we-were-and-he-must-have-recognized-the-signs-long-before-i-did/#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 } } ] } ```