--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He walked around all the useless things…" description: "\"“He walked around all the useless things in the courtyard and touched them with his hands; for some reason, he wished that these would remember him, an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80b/andrei-platonov-22807_childhood-memories_he-walked-around-all-the-useless-things_2184918.jpg" --- # He walked around all the useless things in the courtyard… ![“He walked around all the useless things in the courtyard and touched them with his hands; for some reason, he wished that these would remember him, and love him. But he didn't believe they would. From childhood memories he knew how strange and sad it is after a long absence to see a familiar place…” quote by Andrei Platonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80b/andrei-platonov-22807_childhood-memories_he-walked-around-all-the-useless-things_2184918.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80b/andrei-platonov-22807_childhood-memories_he-walked-around-all-the-useless-things_2184918.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80b/andrei-platonov-22807_childhood-memories_he-walked-around-all-the-useless-things_2184918.jpg) > ““He walked around all the useless things in the courtyard and touched them with his hands; for some reason, he wished that these would remember him, and love him. But he didn't believe they would. From childhood memories he knew how strange and sad it is after a long absence to see a familiar place again, for these unmoving objects have no memory and do not recognize the stirrings of a stranger's heart.”” [Andrei Platonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-platonov/) ## 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 longs for in objects to remember him, highlighting human desire for connection with the inanimate and the melancholy of returning to a place that cannot reciprocate feeling. **In simple terms:** He wishes objects could remember and love him, but they cannot. Key Takeaway Accept that some things cannot hold memory. Themes loneliness memory longing Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - returning home - reflecting on past - contemplating loss - seeking meaning Key Concepts existentialism nostalgia Questions to Reflect On - Do you seek validation from unresponsive things? - How does nostalgia shape your sense of self? A Different Perspective Objects cannot truly remember; human projection may be futile. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Childhood memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood-memories/) [Courtyard Touched](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtyard-touched-4734905/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memories Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories-knew-1464909/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Stirrings Stranger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stirrings-stranger-4734907/) [Useless things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useless-things/) [Wished Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wished-remember-4734906/) ## Related quotes > [Life was an uncertain thing, and there were some moments one wished to remember, to imprint upon one's mind that the memory might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/life-was-an-uncertain-thing-and-there-were-some-moments-one-wished-to-2/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [“She was a woman who made mistakes, who sometimes cried on a Monday morning or at night alone in bed. 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And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-van-ronk/one-of-my-earliest-memories-i-knew-three-full-verses-of-the-star/) [Dave Van Ronk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-van-ronk/) > [“The cold buried deep inside the bones of her hands, her feet, her head, her back…everywhere. Viola felt old, chilled, and exflunctified. She brushed away her snow-white hair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheridan-brown/the-cold-buried-deep-inside-the-bones-of-her-hands-her-feet-her-head/) [Sheridan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheridan-brown/) > [“Maybe we tried to leave as much memories of ourselves with each other because we knew one day we wouldn't be together any more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/makoto-shinkai/maybe-we-tried-to-leave-as-much-memories-of-ourselves-with-each-other/) [Makoto Shinkai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/makoto-shinkai/) > [“On the dresser was a row of blue-and-white jars that weren't very useful for anything. They'd been left to her mother by an elderly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/on-the-dresser-was-a-row-of-blue-and-white-jars-that-weren-t-very/) [terry pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [The world needed more fireworks- especially now that there was going to be a shortage of beautiful, useless things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-westerfeld/the-world-needed-more-fireworks-especially-now-that-there-was-going/) [Scott Westerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-westerfeld/) > [“In spring, hundreds of flowers; in autumn, a harvest moon; In summer, a refreshing breeze; in winter, snow will accompany you. If useless things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mu-mon/in-spring-hundreds-of-flowers-in-autumn-a-harvest-moon-in-summer-a/) [Mu-mon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mu-mon/) > [We get a deal o' useless things about us, only because we've got the money to spend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/we-get-a-deal-o-useless-things-about-us-only-because-we-ve-got-the/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [I was a very good dribbler as a young player, but now that I've got more experience, there are some useless things that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadio-mane/i-was-a-very-good-dribbler-as-a-young-player-but-now-that-i-ve-got/) [Sadio Mane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadio-mane/) > [“There are only two perfectly useless things in the world,” he quipped. “One is an appendix and the other is Poincaré!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/there-are-only-two-perfectly-useless-things-in-the-world-he-quipped/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [“Forgive me, I have yet to introduce myself.” The Human spread his arms expansively and bowed in his chair. He made grand gestures at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-g-night/forgive-me-i-have-yet-to-introduce-myself-the-human-spread-his-arms/) [S.G. Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-g-night/) > [We think we need so many useless things, when all we really need is time to breathe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-think-we-need-so-many-useless-things-when-all-we-really-need-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Andrei Platonov > [I want my word to be up to the scale of the feat of arms performed by the Russian soldier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-platonov/i-want-my-word-to-be-up-to-the-scale-of-the-feat-of-arms-performed-by/) [Andrei Platonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-platonov/) > [I lived and languished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-platonov/i-lived-and-languished/) [Andrei Platonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-platonov/) > [“O masses, o masses! 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And nothing’s come of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-platonov/do-you-know-how-much-thinking-and-feeling-i-ve-done-it-s-terrible-and/) [Andrei Platonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-platonov/) > [My body gets weak without truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-platonov/my-body-gets-weak-without-truth/) [Andrei Platonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-platonov/) > [Without truth I feel ashamed to be alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-platonov/without-truth-i-feel-ashamed-to-be-alive/) [Andrei Platonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-platonov/) > [If kids can forget their own mothers but still have a sense of comrade Lenin, then Soviet power really is here to stay!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-platonov/if-kids-can-forget-their-own-mothers-but-still-have-a-sense-of/) [Andrei Platonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-platonov/) > [If they don't think, people act senselessly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-platonov/if-they-don-t-think-people-act-senselessly/) [Andrei Platonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-platonov/) > [Does the world have nothing inside but sorrow?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-platonov/does-the-world-have-nothing-inside-but-sorrow/) [Andrei Platonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-platonov/) > [From our ugliness will grow the soul of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-platonov/from-our-ugliness-will-grow-the-soul-of-the-world/) [Andrei Platonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-platonov/) > [“Then she would wander through fields, over simple, poor land, looking carefully and keenly all round her, still getting used to being alive in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-platonov/then-she-would-wander-through-fields-over-simple-poor-land-looking/) [Andrei Platonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-platonov/) > [We can't feel anything - all that's left inside us is dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-platonov/we-can-t-feel-anything-all-that-s-left-inside-us-is-dust/) [Andrei Platonov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-platonov/) [Explore all 25 Andrei Platonov quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-platonov/) ## More Childhood memories quotes > [“It must have been an endless breathing in: between the wish to know and the wish to praise there was no seam.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-must-have-been-an-endless-breathing-in-between-the-wish-to-know/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I have the most wonderful childhood memories of holidays in the golden age before foreign package holidays were even a glint in Michael O'Leary's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-hartley-brewer/i-have-the-most-wonderful-childhood-memories-of-holidays-in-the/) [Julia Hartley-Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-hartley-brewer/) > [If there is any realm where distinction is especially difficult, it is the realm of childhood memories, the realm of beloved images harbored in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/if-there-is-any-realm-where-distinction-is-especially-difficult-it-is/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Some of my most vivid childhood memories involve cards: loud, energetic, often brutally competitive games of racing demon, played at high speed and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-hartley-brewer/some-of-my-most-vivid-childhood-memories-involve-cards-loud-energetic/) [Julia Hartley-Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-hartley-brewer/) > [In childhood, we press our nose to the pane, looking out. 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