--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every now and then I picture a subway…" description: "\"“Every now and then I picture a subway train at night packed with people I used to know and random people whom I will meet by chance in some distant fu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/bae-suah-221925_acquaintances_every-now-and-then-i-picture-a-subway-tr_2339809.jpg" --- # Every now and then I picture a subway train at night… ![“Every now and then I picture a subway train at night packed with people I used to know and random people whom I will meet by chance in some distant future. Most of the people I knew long ago now live their lives without me, and those whom I will meet by chance one day do not know me now. They walk…” quote by Bae Suah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/bae-suah-221925_acquaintances_every-now-and-then-i-picture-a-subway-tr_2339809.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/bae-suah-221925_acquaintances_every-now-and-then-i-picture-a-subway-tr_2339809.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c06/bae-suah-221925_acquaintances_every-now-and-then-i-picture-a-subway-tr_2339809.jpg) > ““Every now and then I picture a subway train at night packed with people I used to know and random people whom I will meet by chance in some distant future. Most of the people I knew long ago now live their lives without me, and those whom I will meet by chance one day do not know me now. They walk by pathetically, their faces gloomy beneath the dim lights of the city hall subway station, jostling my shoulders as they pass.”” [Bae Suah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bae-suah/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Imagining future encounters with past acquaintances evokes melancholy and reflection on time’s flow. **In simple terms:** Recall past and future strangers. Key Takeaway Cherish fleeting connections. Themes memory time loneliness Mood melancholic poetic Type Acquaintances:1 City hall:0 Fitness:0 Future:1 Long ago:1 Past:1 Strangers:1 Time:1 Future People:0 Random People:1 Subway Train:1 Lives Meet:0 Picture Subway:0 When to use this quote - subway rides - reunions - personal journaling Key Concepts nostalgia existentialism urban life Questions to Reflect On - What does this scene reveal about you? - How do you cope with transient relationships? A Different Perspective Imagery may romanticize loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acquaintances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acquaintances/) [City hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/city-hall/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future/) [Future People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future-people-501657/) [Lives Meet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lives-meet-3079889/) [Long ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-ago/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Picture Subway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/picture-subway-5658813/) [Random People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/random-people-604829/) [Strangers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strangers/) [Subway Train](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subway-train-1793781/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I was 14, and I left on my own. Living in a subway train, and police used to come in with a nightstick and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bradley/i-was-14-and-i-left-on-my-own-living-in-a-subway-train-and-police/) [Charles Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bradley/) > [I remember finding this book, which showed a New York subway train that had been covered in so much graffiti you couldn't recognise it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-eine/i-remember-finding-this-book-which-showed-a-new-york-subway-train/) [Ben Eine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-eine/) > [New York is a city of conversations overheard, of people at the next restaurant table (micrometers away) checking your watch, of people reading the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/new-york-is-a-city-of-conversations-overheard-of-people-at-the-next/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It was on the two little seats facing each other that are always the last ones left on the train. I was going up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/it-was-on-the-two-little-seats-facing-each-other-that-are-always-the/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [The rumble of a subway train, the rattle of the taxis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-dubin/the-rumble-of-a-subway-train-the-rattle-of-the-taxis/) [Al Dubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-dubin/) > [“parallel lines meet in eternity parallel lives meet for tea”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-gach/parallel-lines-meet-in-eternity-parallel-lives-meet-for-tea/) [Gary Gach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-gach/) > [“There are two kinds of people we meet in our lives who make a difference: those who remain in our lives and those we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-eade/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-we-meet-in-our-lives-who-make-a/) [Kenneth Eade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-eade/) > [In the shaded portions where the two spheres of different lives meet, certain fundamentals- moods, loves, fears, angers- can't be hidden. That's the contract.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-the-shaded-portions-where-the-two-spheres-of-different-lives-meet/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I know so many people that were really able to lead 'perfect' lives. They meet the right person, they make the babies, they get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/i-know-so-many-people-that-were-really-able-to-lead-perfect-lives/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [We travel so far only to land where we are. We imagine other lives, only to meet who we are. We seek out love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/we-travel-so-far-only-to-land-where-we-are-we-imagine-other-lives/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [“Love is the ecstasy when the walls between two people crumble down, when two lives meet, when two lives unite.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/love-is-the-ecstasy-when-the-walls-between-two-people-crumble-down/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [Parallel lines meet in eternity but Parallel lives meet for tea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-gach/parallel-lines-meet-in-eternity-but-parallel-lives-meet-for-tea/) [Gary Gach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-gach/) > [If two lives meet it is not a test, but as such an opportunity to share what another failed with regrets and now most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-clark/if-two-lives-meet-it-is-not-a-test-but-as-such-an-opportunity-to/) [Denise Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-clark/) > [I wish I was the like button, then I could get pushed on by random people and see everybody's wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-wish-i-was-the-like-button-then-i-could-get-pushed-on-by-random/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm always much more inspired by random people on the street. I live down by NYU and The New School, and I'd almost say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bastian/i-m-always-much-more-inspired-by-random-people-on-the-street-i-live/) [Michael Bastian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bastian/) ## More Acquaintances quotes > [“But by the time those acquaintances became close friends, it was too late. Perhaps there was a perfect moment in between, when you were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-frankel/but-by-the-time-those-acquaintances-became-close-friends-it-was-too/) [Laurie Frankel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-frankel/) > [I have a few very close friends, then I have some good friends, lots of acquaintances and a large mass of people I tolerate!..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-a-few-very-close-friends-then-i-have-some-good-friends-lots-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But I believe we don't know folks, we're acquainted with them. There's always something in an individual you ain't never going to know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-fay-greene/but-i-believe-we-don-t-know-folks-we-re-acquainted-with-them-there-s/) [Melissa Fay Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-fay-greene/) > [With politics, everyone - your neighbour, acquaintances, anyone you ever meet - has an opinion. Particularly about what Arvind Kejriwal should be doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atishi/with-politics-everyone-your-neighbour-acquaintances-anyone-you-ever/) [Atishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atishi/) > [“Mr. Severin smiled, tiny constellations of reflected chandelier lights glinting in his eyes. "Since I've told you about my tastes... what are yours?" Cassandra…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/mr-severin-smiled-tiny-constellations-of-reflected-chandelier-lights/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [I use to have lots of friends; now I have less, but much more acquaintances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anag/i-use-to-have-lots-of-friends-now-i-have-less-but-much-more/) [AnaG](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anag/) > [“Acquaintances, in sort, represent a source of social power, and the more acquaintances you have the more powerful you are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/acquaintances-in-sort-represent-a-source-of-social-power-and-the-more/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [Who is everywhere is nowhere. When a person spends all his time in foreign travel, he ends by having many acquaintances, but no friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/who-is-everywhere-is-nowhere-when-a-person-spends-all-his-time-in/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Pessimism, she is a fond friend of yours, yes?" - That's uncalled for. I barely know her. Mere acquaintances, at best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/pessimism-she-is-a-fond-friend-of-yours-yes-that-s-uncalled-for-i/) [Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/) > [I love the acquaintance of young people; because, in the first place, I do not like to think myself growing old. In the next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/i-love-the-acquaintance-of-young-people-because-in-the-first-place-i/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Acquaintances represent a source of social power, and the more acquaintances you have the more powerful you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/acquaintances-represent-a-source-of-social-power-and-the-more/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [We may have many acquaintances, but we can have but few friends; this made Aristotle say that he that hath many friends hath none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/we-may-have-many-acquaintances-but-we-can-have-but-few-friends-this/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Saying that you do not remember something or someone is a less embarrassing or hurtful way of saying that you do not know it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/saying-that-you-do-not-remember-something-or-someone-is-a-less/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Friends are not a number. You can't collect connections. You can't just go out one day and be like, "Hey, I need some friends!"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connor-franta/friends-are-not-a-number-you-can-t-collect-connections-you-can-t-just/) [Connor Franta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connor-franta/) > [It suddenly seemed to me that I was lonely, that every one was forsaking me and going away from me. Of course, any one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-suddenly-seemed-to-me-that-i-was-lonely-that-every-one-was/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 130 Acquaintances quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acquaintances/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Every now and then I picture a subway train at night packed with people I used to know and random people whom I will meet by chance in some distant future. 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