--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Who am I doing it for,' I asked him. It…" description: "\"“Who am I doing it for,' I asked him. It was a fairly rhetorical question and the only reply it warranted was a shrug, which he supplied. I sat on the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7f/carrie-fisher-927_empty-space_who-am-i-doing-it-for-i-asked-him-it-was_753647.jpg" --- # Who am I doing it for,' I asked him. It was a fairly… ![“Who am I doing it for,' I asked him. It was a fairly rhetorical question and the only reply it warranted was a shrug, which he supplied. I sat on the floor engrossed in the empty space before me. He lay stretched out on the couch looking sturdy and sure. Maybe no man is an island, but some sure…” quote by Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7f/carrie-fisher-927_empty-space_who-am-i-doing-it-for-i-asked-him-it-was_753647.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7f/carrie-fisher-927_empty-space_who-am-i-doing-it-for-i-asked-him-it-was_753647.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7f/carrie-fisher-927_empty-space_who-am-i-doing-it-for-i-asked-him-it-was_753647.jpg) > ““Who am I doing it for,' I asked him. It was a fairly rhetorical question and the only reply it warranted was a shrug, which he supplied. I sat on the floor engrossed in the empty space before me. He lay stretched out on the couch looking sturdy and sure. Maybe no man is an island, but some sure look like one. All safe and dry and looming on your horizon. But the current was against me and who was I kidding? His island was already inhabited and here I was, a teenaged trespasser. All I had to do was make the most of being adrift.”” [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A reflective moment about purpose and feeling isolated while seeking meaning, recognizing one's outsider status. **In simple terms:** Feeling alone but seeking purpose. Key Takeaway Embrace your outsider perspective. Themes identity purpose isolation adventure Mood contemplative melancholic Type literary reflective When to use this quote - teenage self‑exploration - creative projects - personal growth - overcoming loneliness Key Concepts existentialism self‑discovery journey Questions to Reflect On - What purpose drives you when you feel isolated? - How can you turn feeling adrift into creative momentum? A Different Perspective The metaphor may romanticize isolation, ignoring the need for community support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Empty space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empty-space/) [Inhabited](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inhabited/) [Rhetorical question](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rhetorical-question/) ## Related quotes > [There's a small island, inhabited in the South Pacific that I will try to swim to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-arnett/there-s-a-small-island-inhabited-in-the-south-pacific-that-i-will-try/) [Peter Arnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-arnett/) > [Privacy is important to me. But it's not just about sticking two fingers up and saying I don't want anyone to know my business.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-dormer/privacy-is-important-to-me-but-it-s-not-just-about-sticking-two/) [Natalie Dormer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-dormer/) > [What the fossil record does do is to force us to contemplate our place on the planet. We are but one species of several…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-leakey/what-the-fossil-record-does-do-is-to-force-us-to-contemplate-our/) [Louise Leakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-leakey/) > [We are inhabited by as many as ten thousand bacterial species; these cells outnumber those which we consider our own by ten to one,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-specter/we-are-inhabited-by-as-many-as-ten-thousand-bacterial-species-these/) [Michael Specter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-specter/) > [We're incredibly excited to welcome the 500 millionth Poptropican into our virtual world. When we started in 2007, we never could have imagined that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-kinney/we-re-incredibly-excited-to-welcome-the-500-millionth-poptropican/) [Jeff Kinney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-kinney/) > [“Gladys. Places, of themselves, were rarely at fault, but rather the people who inhabited them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-mckenna/gladys-places-of-themselves-were-rarely-at-fault-but-rather-the/) [Christina McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-mckenna/) > [I wanted to have a personal life that I fully inhabited, not because I am such a great mom, but for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-hunt/i-wanted-to-have-a-personal-life-that-i-fully-inhabited-not-because-i/) [Helen Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-hunt/) > [Christopher Reeve so completely inhabited the character Superman when he was in that costume, and that had such a huge effect on me as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-frank/christopher-reeve-so-completely-inhabited-the-character-superman-when/) [Gary Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-frank/) > [I'm not personally obsessed with death. At a certain age, the light that you live in is inhabited by the shades - it 'tis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-m-not-personally-obsessed-with-death-at-a-certain-age-the-light/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [“We're not mad. We're inhabited”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-moorcroft/we-re-not-mad-we-re-inhabited/) Sue Moorcroft > [Portugal is a high hill with a white watch tower on it flying signal flags. It is apparently inhabited by one man who lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-h-davis/portugal-is-a-high-hill-with-a-white-watch-tower-on-it-flying-signal/) [Richard H. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-h-davis/) > [“We are alive and we resonate with idea of life elsewhere, but only careful accumulation and assessment of the evidence can tell us whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-are-alive-and-we-resonate-with-idea-of-life-elsewhere-but-only/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Architecture is inhabited sculpture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/constantin-brancusi/architecture-is-inhabited-sculpture/) [Constantin Brancusi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/constantin-brancusi/) > [My family immigrated when I was 3, and our predecessors inhabited the Korean Peninsula for as long as can be recalled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/my-family-immigrated-when-i-was-3-and-our-predecessors-inhabited-the/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [I have always lived in Amsterdam. During the war, we inhabited the Rivieren neighborhood where many Jews lived at the time. Our downstairs neighbors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/els-borst/i-have-always-lived-in-amsterdam-during-the-war-we-inhabited-the/) [Els Borst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/els-borst/) ## More by Carrie Fisher > [“I don’t just want you to like me, I want to be one of the most joy-inducing human beings that you’ve ever encountered. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-don-t-just-want-you-to-like-me-i-want-to-be-one-of-the-most-joy/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [It creates community when you talk about private things and you can find other people that have the same things. Otherwise, I don't know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/it-creates-community-when-you-talk-about-private-things-and-you-can/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [You can't find any true closeness in Hollywood, because everybody does the fake closeness so well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/you-can-t-find-any-true-closeness-in-hollywood-because-everybody-does/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [The only one who didn't know was George Lucas. We kept it from him, because we wanted to see what his face looked like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/the-only-one-who-didn-t-know-was-george-lucas-we-kept-it-from-him/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [I was born imagining myself with an apron on, with pies cooling on the window sill and babies crying upstairs. I thought that all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-was-born-imagining-myself-with-an-apron-on-with-pies-cooling-on-the/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [“If wishes were horses mine would be glue -”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/if-wishes-were-horses-mine-would-be-glue/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [I think of my body as a side effect of my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-think-of-my-body-as-a-side-effect-of-my-mind/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [“I thought you might supply some tenderness I lacked But out of all the things I offered you took my breath away and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-thought-you-might-supply-some-tenderness-i-lacked-but-out-of-all/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [I have the ability, occasionally, of being able to step out and see who you think I could end up being. And I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-have-the-ability-occasionally-of-being-able-to-step-out-and-see-who/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [It creates community when you talk about private things and you can find other people that have the same things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/it-creates-community-when-you-talk-about-private-things-and-you-can-2/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [He's a very strange guy, my father. I can't get mad at him because he's so adorable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/he-s-a-very-strange-guy-my-father-i-can-t-get-mad-at-him-because-he-s/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [Sometimes I feel like I've got my nose pressed up against the window of a bakery, only I'm the bread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/sometimes-i-feel-like-i-ve-got-my-nose-pressed-up-against-the-window/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [He doesn't move his face when he talks. His eyes are like shark eyes. Dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/he-doesn-t-move-his-face-when-he-talks-his-eyes-are-like-shark-eyes/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [“So it stood to reason that if I could disappoint my own father—if I couldn’t get my own father to love me enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/so-it-stood-to-reason-that-if-i-could-disappoint-my-own-father-if-i/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [Here's how men think. Sex, work - and those are reversible, depending on age - sex, work, food, sports and lastly, begrudgingly, relationships. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/here-s-how-men-think-sex-work-and-those-are-reversible-depending-on/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) [Explore all 326 Carrie Fisher quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) ## More Adrift quotes > [And if I can't be with you I would rather have a different face And if I can't be near you I would rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-finn/and-if-i-can-t-be-with-you-i-would-rather-have-a-different-face-and/) [Neil Finn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-finn/) > [And loneliness. I should say something of loneliness. The panic, the sweeping hysteria that comes not when you are without others, but when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/and-loneliness-i-should-say-something-of-loneliness-the-panic-the/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [Losing my parents really set me adrift in more ways than one. It's not just losing them. It's losing the possibility of family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/losing-my-parents-really-set-me-adrift-in-more-ways-than-one-it-s-not/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [Tell us what it is to be a woman so that we may know what it is to be a man. What moves at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/tell-us-what-it-is-to-be-a-woman-so-that-we-may-know-what-it-is-to-be/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Be for once a white boat adrift, in debt to no lighthouse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hyde/be-for-once-a-white-boat-adrift-in-debt-to-no-lighthouse/) Robin Hyde > [“Driving home after her first night course at San Francisco State University, Iris was adrift in the darkness. She rarely travelled this far south…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-mofina/driving-home-after-her-first-night-course-at-san-francisco-state/) [Rick Mofina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-mofina/) > [About 95% of people can be compared to ships without rudders. Subject to every shift of wind and tide, they're helplessly adrift. And while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/about-95-of-people-can-be-compared-to-ships-without-rudders-subject/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [How to check these unconstitutional invasions of rights by the Federal judiciary? Not by impeachment in the first instance, but by a strong protestation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/how-to-check-these-unconstitutional-invasions-of-rights-by-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I find myself regarding existence as though from beyond the tomb, from another world; all is strange to me; I am, as it were,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-frederic-amiel/i-find-myself-regarding-existence-as-though-from-beyond-the-tomb-from/) [Henri Frederic Amiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-frederic-amiel/) > [“It's the story that was to big for me to tell, the one that grew to fill the depths of my being the far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-kuehn/it-s-the-story-that-was-to-big-for-me-to-tell-the-one-that-grew-to/) [Stephanie Kuehn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-kuehn/) > [“So much anger in here. So much hate. So much to take out on someone. This time it's going to count. She's adrift in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/so-much-anger-in-here-so-much-hate-so-much-to-take-out-on-someone/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [With spirit we are all children of the cosmos; Without it we are orphaned and adrift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/with-spirit-we-are-all-children-of-the-cosmos-without-it-we-are/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [She cried out into his kiss, her hands clawing his shoulders, adrift now in a pleasure that threatened to consume her. In her sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lora-leigh/she-cried-out-into-his-kiss-her-hands-clawing-his-shoulders-adrift/) [Lora Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lora-leigh/) > [The very concept of solid ground is a myth. The galaxy itself is adrift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-davies/the-very-concept-of-solid-ground-is-a-myth-the-galaxy-itself-is-adrift/) [Luke Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-davies/) > [“Ever since I woke up in Faerie, I had felt sort of adrift between the two worlds. Seeing him was like finding an anchor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-lynch/ever-since-i-woke-up-in-faerie-i-had-felt-sort-of-adrift-between-the/) [Karen Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-lynch/) Browse all 93 Adrift quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Who am I doing it for,' I asked him. It was a fairly rhetorical question and the only reply it warranted was a shrug, which he supplied. I sat on the floor engrossed in the empty space before me. He lay stretched out on the couch looking sturdy and sure. Maybe no man is an island, but some sure look like one. All safe and dry and looming on your horizon. 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