---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He's weeping, his face dissolving in his…"
description: "\"“He's weeping, his face dissolving in his hands. It's exhausting. People hiding behind the asteroid, like it's an excuse for poor conduct, for miserabl..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0b/ben-h-winters-14454_asteroid_he-s-weeping-his-face-dissolving-in-his_1856958.png"
---

#  He's weeping, his face dissolving in his hands. It's…

![“He's weeping, his face dissolving in his hands. It's exhausting. People hiding behind the asteroid, like it's an excuse for poor conduct, for miserable and desperate and selfish behavior, everybody ducking in its comet-tail like children in mommy's skirts.” quote by Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0b/ben-h-winters-14454_asteroid_he-s-weeping-his-face-dissolving-in-his_1856958.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0b/ben-h-winters-14454_asteroid_he-s-weeping-his-face-dissolving-in-his_1856958.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0b/ben-h-winters-14454_asteroid_he-s-weeping-his-face-dissolving-in-his_1856958.png)

> ““He's weeping, his face dissolving in his hands. It's exhausting. People hiding behind the asteroid, like it's an excuse for poor conduct, for miserable and desperate and selfish behavior, everybody ducking in its comet-tail like children in mommy's skirts.””

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The quote depicts people using external threats as excuses for selfish behavior, highlighting avoidance and emotional exhaustion.

**In simple terms:** People hide behind crises to justify bad actions.

Key Takeaway

Recognize and confront avoidance.

Themes

avoidance selfishness emotional exhaustion social critique

Mood

frustrated critical

Type

analytical observational

When to use this quote

- workplace conflict
- political rhetoric
- personal relationships
- crisis management

Key Concepts

psychology human behavior defense mechanisms

Questions to Reflect On

- What crisis do you use to avoid responsibility?
- How can you foster accountability in others?

A Different Perspective

It may overgeneralize and ignore genuine fear or trauma.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Asteroid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asteroid/) [Asteroid Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asteroid-like-2473601/) [Hiding Asteroid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hiding-asteroid-2473599/) [Weeping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weeping/) [Weeping Face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weeping-face-2473600/)

## Related quotes

> [“The one who can make full sense of love and lives within its narrow expections undresses no weeping face.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darmie-orem/the-one-who-can-make-full-sense-of-love-and-lives-within-its-narrow/)

[Darmie Orem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darmie-orem/)

> [POET If not in a place, where are the People weeping? LIBERAL They creep weeping in the face, not place. POET Is it something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/poet-if-not-in-a-place-where-are-the-people-weeping-liberal-they/)

[Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/)

> [“You have noticed that the truth comes into this world with two faces. One is sad with suffering, and the other laughs; but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/you-have-noticed-that-the-truth-comes-into-this-world-with-two-faces/)

[Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/)

> [“Respectfully, sir, the asteroid did not make you leave her. The asteroid is not making anyone do anything. It's just a big piece of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/respectfully-sir-the-asteroid-did-not-make-you-leave-her-the-asteroid/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [ Imagine a giant asteroid on a direct collision course with Earth. That is the equivalent of what we face now \[with climate change\], yet… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/imagine-a-giant-asteroid-on-a-direct-collision-course-with-earth-that/)

[James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/)

> [I've seen Australia and I've lived on an asteroid and I'd take the asteroid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-ve-seen-australia-and-i-ve-lived-on-an-asteroid-and-i-d-take-the/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [Lots of science fiction deals with distant times and places. Intrepid prospectors in the Asteroid Belt. Interstellar epics. Galactic empires. Trips to the remote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/lots-of-science-fiction-deals-with-distant-times-and-places-intrepid/)

[Edward M. Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/)

> [And you know, talk about something else is falling from the sky. And that is an asteroid. What's coming our way? Is this an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-feyerick/and-you-know-talk-about-something-else-is-falling-from-the-sky-and/)

[Deborah Feyerick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-feyerick/)

> [“50 light years from Earth, there is a 2,600-mile-long asteroid made of diamond.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bathroom-readers-institute/50-light-years-from-earth-there-is-a-2-600-mile-long-asteroid-made-of/)

[Bathroom Readers' Institute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bathroom-readers-institute/)

> [Back in the day, I've heard, particularly with the near-Earth asteroids, there were some asteroid hunters that knew the names of every one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/back-in-the-day-i-ve-heard-particularly-with-the-near-earth-asteroids/)

[Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/)

> [I only hope that we shall not wait to adopt the program until after our astronomers have reported a new and unsuspected asteroid moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wernher-von-braun/i-only-hope-that-we-shall-not-wait-to-adopt-the-program-until-after/)

[Wernher von Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wernher-von-braun/)

> [An asteroid impact in the worst case scenario is a terrifying thing. It seems very uncontrollable: in popular culture, it's often a metaphor for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/an-asteroid-impact-in-the-worst-case-scenario-is-a-terrifying-thing/)

[Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/)

> [“The world’s refusal to leave me out of its activities made me consider its destruction. Bring on the wave. Please, the asteroid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-nevill/the-world-s-refusal-to-leave-me-out-of-its-activities-made-me/)

[Adam Nevill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-nevill/)

> [There are all these interesting rules about asteroid nomenclature. Once you discover it, you have the right to name it, but there's a catch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/there-are-all-these-interesting-rules-about-asteroid-nomenclature/)

[Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/)

> [I don't want to be the embarrassment of the galaxy to have had the power to deflect an asteroid, and then not and end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-don-t-want-to-be-the-embarrassment-of-the-galaxy-to-have-had-the/)

[Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/)

## More by Ben H. Winters

> [It is part of what makes America great. That tradition of the free press, and also the tradition of this highly competitive market for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/it-is-part-of-what-makes-america-great-that-tradition-of-the-free/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [“and no more real Dunkin’ Donuts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/and-no-more-real-dunkin-donuts/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [Fiction has this special power. It has a power to clarify, to galvanize, to prophesy, and warn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/fiction-has-this-special-power-it-has-a-power-to-clarify-to-galvanize/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [“every choice forecloses on other choices; each step forward leaves a thousand dead possible universes behind you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/every-choice-forecloses-on-other-choices-each-step-forward-leaves-a/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [I think that one thing fiction can offer, and must offer, is a place where someone's mind and their imagination can come to rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/i-think-that-one-thing-fiction-can-offer-and-must-offer-is-a-place/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [It is really something, the extent to which we allow ourselves to live without thinking of things that we know, in the abstract, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/it-is-really-something-the-extent-to-which-we-allow-ourselves-to-live/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [That one lesson that African American communities have learned over the centuries in America is that you can't just take for granted that things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/that-one-lesson-that-african-american-communities-have-learned-over/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [A pool of melancholy blooms in my chest and rushes into my body like deep-blue blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/a-pool-of-melancholy-blooms-in-my-chest-and-rushes-into-my-body-like/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [“The perseverance in this world, despite it all, of things done right. Carefully”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/the-perseverance-in-this-world-despite-it-all-of-things-done-right/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [In terms of optimism, I am optimistic. I do think that, in the long term, that America will right itself. I have to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/in-terms-of-optimism-i-am-optimistic-i-do-think-that-in-the-long-term/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [“would strap you, hands and feet, to a machine, turn a wheel to make you talk. Or even not to, just to watch you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/would-strap-you-hands-and-feet-to-a-machine-turn-a-wheel-to-make-you/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [ Here in America we have a man \[Donald Trump\] who is a master of a medium that is all about self-aggrandizement and/or cruelty to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/here-in-america-we-have-a-man-donald-trump-who-is-a-master-of-a/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [We spend so much time, these days, on forms of literature that don't rise to be literature, and I'm speaking about Twitter posts and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/we-spend-so-much-time-these-days-on-forms-of-literature-that-don-t/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [“He books it into that little playground there. I mean the guy is zooming like the Road Runner, skidding through the gravel and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/he-books-it-into-that-little-playground-there-i-mean-the-guy-is/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

> [“She was reserved and cold, as if having been stolen from her native village in a burlap sack and made to be servant and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/she-was-reserved-and-cold-as-if-having-been-stolen-from-her-native/)

[Ben H. Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

[Explore all 46 Ben H. Winters quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/)

## More Asteroid quotes

> [I don't want to be the embarrassment of the galaxy to have had the power to deflect an asteroid, and then not and end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-don-t-want-to-be-the-embarrassment-of-the-galaxy-to-have-had-the/)

[Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/)

> [There are all these interesting rules about asteroid nomenclature. Once you discover it, you have the right to name it, but there's a catch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/there-are-all-these-interesting-rules-about-asteroid-nomenclature/)

[Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/)

> [“The world’s refusal to leave me out of its activities made me consider its destruction. Bring on the wave. Please, the asteroid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-nevill/the-world-s-refusal-to-leave-me-out-of-its-activities-made-me/)

[Adam Nevill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-nevill/)

> [An asteroid impact in the worst case scenario is a terrifying thing. It seems very uncontrollable: in popular culture, it's often a metaphor for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/an-asteroid-impact-in-the-worst-case-scenario-is-a-terrifying-thing/)

[Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/)

> [I only hope that we shall not wait to adopt the program until after our astronomers have reported a new and unsuspected asteroid moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wernher-von-braun/i-only-hope-that-we-shall-not-wait-to-adopt-the-program-until-after/)

[Wernher von Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wernher-von-braun/)

> [Back in the day, I've heard, particularly with the near-Earth asteroids, there were some asteroid hunters that knew the names of every one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/back-in-the-day-i-ve-heard-particularly-with-the-near-earth-asteroids/)

[Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/)

> [“50 light years from Earth, there is a 2,600-mile-long asteroid made of diamond.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bathroom-readers-institute/50-light-years-from-earth-there-is-a-2-600-mile-long-asteroid-made-of/)

[Bathroom Readers' Institute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bathroom-readers-institute/)

> [And you know, talk about something else is falling from the sky. And that is an asteroid. What's coming our way? Is this an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-feyerick/and-you-know-talk-about-something-else-is-falling-from-the-sky-and/)

[Deborah Feyerick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-feyerick/)

> [Lots of science fiction deals with distant times and places. Intrepid prospectors in the Asteroid Belt. Interstellar epics. Galactic empires. Trips to the remote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/lots-of-science-fiction-deals-with-distant-times-and-places-intrepid/)

[Edward M. Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/)

> [I've seen Australia and I've lived on an asteroid and I'd take the asteroid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-ve-seen-australia-and-i-ve-lived-on-an-asteroid-and-i-d-take-the/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [ Imagine a giant asteroid on a direct collision course with Earth. That is the equivalent of what we face now \[with climate change\], yet… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/imagine-a-giant-asteroid-on-a-direct-collision-course-with-earth-that/)

[James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/)

> [If we found a hazardous asteroid, we could nudge it out of the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-nugent/if-we-found-a-hazardous-asteroid-we-could-nudge-it-out-of-the-way/)

[Carrie Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-nugent/)

> [What happens if a big asteroid hits Earth ? Judging from realistic simulations involving a sledge hammer and a common laboratory frog, we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-happens-if-a-big-asteroid-hits-earth-judging-from-realistic/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [It's much more likely that an asteroid will strike the Earth and annihilate life as we know it than AI will turn evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oren-etzioni/it-s-much-more-likely-that-an-asteroid-will-strike-the-earth-and/)

[Oren Etzioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oren-etzioni/)

> [“Outside the port, the slashed rock of the unnamed asteroid tumbled and spun in dynamics known only to the gods of chaos mathematics.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/outside-the-port-the-slashed-rock-of-the-unnamed-asteroid-tumbled-and/)

[Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/)

[Browse all 53 Asteroid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asteroid/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“He's weeping, his face dissolving in his hands. It's exhausting. People hiding behind the asteroid, like it's an excuse for poor conduct, for miserable and desperate and selfish behavior, everybody ducking in its comet-tail like children in mommy's skirts.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Ben H. Winters"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/he-s-weeping-his-face-dissolving-in-his-hands-it-s-exhausting-people/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Asteroid"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/he-s-weeping-his-face-dissolving-in-his-hands-it-s-exhausting-people/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0b/ben-h-winters-14454_asteroid_he-s-weeping-his-face-dissolving-in-his_1856958.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0b/ben-h-winters-14454_asteroid_he-s-weeping-his-face-dissolving-in-his_1856958.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e0b/ben-h-winters-14454_asteroid_he-s-weeping-his-face-dissolving-in-his_1856958.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“He's weeping, his face dissolving in his hands. It's exhausting. People hiding behind the asteroid, like…” — Ben H. Winters",
                "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": "Ben H. Winters",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-h-winters/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“He's weeping, his face dissolving in...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/he-s-weeping-his-face-dissolving-in-his-hands-it-s-exhausting-people/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-h-winters/he-s-weeping-his-face-dissolving-in-his-hands-it-s-exhausting-people/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
