--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No, he wasn’t waiting; he was merely…" description: "\"“No, he wasn’t waiting; he was merely there, had been there before I arrived and would be there when I’d left. I had the feeling I was of no more signi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/daniel-quinn-1786_shepherd_no-he-wasn-t-waiting-he-was-merely-there_402072.png" --- # No, he wasn’t waiting; he was merely there, had been there… ![“No, he wasn’t waiting; he was merely there, had been there before I arrived and would be there when I’d left. I had the feeling I was of no more significance to him than a passing cloud is to a shepherd resting on a hillside.” quote by Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/daniel-quinn-1786_shepherd_no-he-wasn-t-waiting-he-was-merely-there_402072.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/daniel-quinn-1786_shepherd_no-he-wasn-t-waiting-he-was-merely-there_402072.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/542/daniel-quinn-1786_shepherd_no-he-wasn-t-waiting-he-was-merely-there_402072.png) > ““No, he wasn’t waiting; he was merely there, had been there before I arrived and would be there when I’d left. I had the feeling I was of no more significance to him than a passing cloud is to a shepherd resting on a hillside.”” [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) ## 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 feels insignificant to another, like a fleeting cloud to a shepherd, highlighting human transience and relational humility. **In simple terms:** Feeling like an unimportant cloud to someone else. Key Takeaway Accept fleeting nature of relationships. Themes humility transience relationships Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - interpersonal dynamics - literary analysis Key Concepts existentialism subjectivity Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing insignificance change your behavior? - What value can be found in fleeting connections? A Different Perspective May overlook deeper mutual significance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cloud Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cloud-shepherd-3602395/) [Feeling Significance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling-significance-645976/) [Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shepherd/) [Shepherd Resting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shepherd-resting-3602394/) [Wasn Waiting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wasn-waiting-1434428/) ## Related quotes > [When you are so full that there is no emptiness in you, that you have started feeling the significance of the ordinary, day-to-day existence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/when-you-are-so-full-that-there-is-no-emptiness-in-you-that-you-have/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I was fascinated that one could have such perceptual changes, and also that they went with a certain feeling of significance, an almost numinous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/i-was-fascinated-that-one-could-have-such-perceptual-changes-and-also/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [Years bleach away the sense of things until all that's left is a bone-white past, stripped of feeling and significance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/years-bleach-away-the-sense-of-things-until-all-that-s-left-is-a-bone/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This whole time, I wasn't waiting for something in particular. Just someone who wanted me. Not sex. But me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-peterfreund/this-whole-time-i-wasn-t-waiting-for-something-in-particular-just/) [Diana Peterfreund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-peterfreund/) > [So give up waiting as a state of mind. When you catch yourself slipping into waiting . . . snap out of it. Come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/so-give-up-waiting-as-a-state-of-mind-when-you-catch-yourself/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [I don't remember a time when I wasn't waiting for a scab either to grow or to fall off my knee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/i-don-t-remember-a-time-when-i-wasn-t-waiting-for-a-scab-either-to/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [“This was different. This was living in the moment, with no expectations. For once, he wasn't waiting for everything to go to hell. Naturally,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-william-carter/this-was-different-this-was-living-in-the-moment-with-no-expectations/) [Scott William Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-william-carter/) > [“I finally understand, I wasn't waiting to kill people, I was waiting to be killed...by a man like you...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-benson/i-finally-understand-i-wasn-t-waiting-to-kill-people-i-was-waiting-to/) [Raymond Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-benson/) > [“So next time somebody says, “Sorry to have kept you waiting,” you can reply, “That’s all right, I wasn’t waiting. I was just standing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/so-next-time-somebody-says-sorry-to-have-kept-you-waiting-you-can-2/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [It bothered me that whatever was waiting wasn't waiting for me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/it-bothered-me-that-whatever-was-waiting-wasn-t-waiting-for-me/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [“So next time somebody says, “Sorry to have kept you waiting,” you can reply, “That’s all right, I wasn’t waiting. I was just standing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/so-next-time-somebody-says-sorry-to-have-kept-you-waiting-you-can/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“She wasn’t waiting for a knight— she was waiting for a sword.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atticus-poetry/she-wasn-t-waiting-for-a-knight-she-was-waiting-for-a-sword/) [Atticus Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atticus-poetry/) > [There will always be people who will first wait for somebody's comment and then attack them. I'll say they are just cowards. They have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soni-razdan/there-will-always-be-people-who-will-first-wait-for-somebody-s/) [Soni Razdan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soni-razdan/) > [The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david/the-lord-is-my-shepherd-i-shall-not-want-he-maketh-me-to-lie-down-in/) [David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david/) > [It is a fool of a shepherd who culls his dogs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-smith/it-is-a-fool-of-a-shepherd-who-culls-his-dogs/) [Jefferson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-smith/) ## More by Daniel Quinn > [“Because we imagine that we are what humanity was divinely destined to become, we assume that our prehistoric ancestors were trying to be us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/because-we-imagine-that-we-are-what-humanity-was-divinely-destined-to/) [daniel quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [The deer aren't our prey or our possessions -- they're us. They're us at one point in the cycle of life and we're them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/the-deer-aren-t-our-prey-or-our-possessions-they-re-us-they-re-us-at/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [ “\[N\]ow we have a clearer idea what this story is all about: The world was made for man, and man was made to rule… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/n-ow-we-have-a-clearer-idea-what-this-story-is-all-about-the-world/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [The premise of the Taker story is 'the world belongs to man'. … The premise of the Leaver story is 'man belongs to the world'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/the-premise-of-the-taker-story-is-the-world-belongs-to-man-the/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [“Pharaohs It took Khufu twenty-three years to build his Great Pyramid at Giza, where some eleven hundred stone blocks, each weighing about two and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/pharaohs-it-took-khufu-twenty-three-years-to-build-his-great-pyramid/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [Man's destiny was to conquer and rule the world, and this is what he's done.. almost. He hasn't quite made it, and it looks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/man-s-destiny-was-to-conquer-and-rule-the-world-and-this-is-what-he-s/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [“Many peoples practiced agriculture, but they were never obsessed by the delusion that what they were doing was \*right\*, that everyone in the entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/many-peoples-practiced-agriculture-but-they-were-never-obsessed-by/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [“No undesirable behavior has ever been eliminated by passing a law against it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/no-undesirable-behavior-has-ever-been-eliminated-by-passing-a-law/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [“How easy it is first to leap to a false conclusion about someone and then to view everything he does in light of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/how-easy-it-is-first-to-leap-to-a-false-conclusion-about-someone-and/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [Far and away the most futile admonition Christ ever offered was when he said, 'Have no care for tomorrow. Don't worry about whether you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/far-and-away-the-most-futile-admonition-christ-ever-offered-was-when/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [During your lifetime, the people of our culture are going to figure out how to live sustainably on this planet--or they're not. Either way,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/during-your-lifetime-the-people-of-our-culture-are-going-to-figure/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [“Everyone in your culture knows this. Man was born to turn the world into a paradise, but tragically he was born flawed. And so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/everyone-in-your-culture-knows-this-man-was-born-to-turn-the-world/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [Most beginning writers - and I was the same - are like chefs trying to cook great dishes that they've never tasted themselves. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/most-beginning-writers-and-i-was-the-same-are-like-chefs-trying-to/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [“Westereners often think that the East is one vast Buddhist temple, which is rather like thinking the West is one vast Carthusian monastery. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/westereners-often-think-that-the-east-is-one-vast-buddhist-temple/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [“Man's destiny was to conquer and rule the world, and this is what he's done--almost. 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They have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soni-razdan/there-will-always-be-people-who-will-first-wait-for-somebody-s/) [Soni Razdan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soni-razdan/) > [Sea Shepherd is to terrorism what Groucho was to Marxism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-watson/sea-shepherd-is-to-terrorism-what-groucho-was-to-marxism/) [Paul Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-watson/) > ['Killer Joe' provides a lot of red meat for the theater. Pam MacKinnon is the perfect director to shepherd a group of actors who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-letts/killer-joe-provides-a-lot-of-red-meat-for-the-theater-pam-mackinnon/) [Tracy Letts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-letts/) > [“The emerald life of shepherds always reminds us the romantic and humble life we have lost due to living in the cities!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/the-emerald-life-of-shepherds-always-reminds-us-the-romantic-and/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want him for long He maketh me to lie down in green pastures and there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-lord-is-my-shepherd-i-shall-not-want-him-for-long-he-maketh-me-to/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [It is true that many of the Sea Shepherd crewmembers are inexperienced, but the fact is that these volunteers bring a passion to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-watson/it-is-true-that-many-of-the-sea-shepherd-crewmembers-are/) [Paul Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-watson/) > [“God takes everyone he loves through a desert. It is his cure for our wandering hearts, restlessly searching for a new Eden... The best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-e-miller/god-takes-everyone-he-loves-through-a-desert-it-is-his-cure-for-our/) [Paul E. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-e-miller/) > [“A shepherd may like to travel, but he should never forget his sheep.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/a-shepherd-may-like-to-travel-but-he-should-never-forget-his-sheep/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [To be a good shepherd is to shear the flock, not skin it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiberius/to-be-a-good-shepherd-is-to-shear-the-flock-not-skin-it/) [Tiberius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiberius/) > [Do exactly the opposite of what the sheep are doing in order to become the Shepherd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-sylver/do-exactly-the-opposite-of-what-the-sheep-are-doing-in-order-to/) [Marshall Sylver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-sylver/) > [What can I give Him, Poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb. 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