--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...and suddenly it occurred to him that…" description: "\"...and suddenly it occurred to him that the birds, whose twitters and repeated songs sounded so pretty and affirming of nature and the coming day, migh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1f/david-foster-wallace-161_affirming_and-suddenly-it-occurred-to-him-that-the_2459221.jpg" --- # ...and suddenly it occurred to him that the birds, whose… ![“...and suddenly it occurred to him that the birds, whose twitters and repeated songs sounded so pretty and affirming of nature and the coming day, might actually, in a code known only to other birds, be the birds each saying 'Get away' or 'This branch is mine!' or 'This tree is mine! I'll kill…” quote by David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1f/david-foster-wallace-161_affirming_and-suddenly-it-occurred-to-him-that-the_2459221.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1f/david-foster-wallace-161_affirming_and-suddenly-it-occurred-to-him-that-the_2459221.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1f/david-foster-wallace-161_affirming_and-suddenly-it-occurred-to-him-that-the_2459221.jpg) > “...and suddenly it occurred to him that the birds, whose twitters and repeated songs sounded so pretty and affirming of nature and the coming day, might actually, in a code known only to other birds, be the birds each saying 'Get away' or 'This branch is mine!' or 'This tree is mine! I'll kill you! Kill, kill!' Or any other manner of dark, brutal, or self-protective stuff—they might be listening to war cries. The thought came from nowhere and made his spirits dip for some reason.” [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Birdsong may conceal aggressive signals, showing nature's complexity and our tendency to anthropomorphize **In simple terms:** Birds might be communicating conflict, not just melody Key Takeaway Consider hidden meanings behind everyday sounds Themes nature communication misinterpretation conflict Mood reflective uneasy Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - birdwatching - urban noise - personal anxiety Key Concepts ethology signal theory anthropomorphism Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions do you make about natural sounds? - How does this shift your view of conflict? A Different Perspective Assuming hostility can distort perception of reality ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affirming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affirming/) [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Birds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds/) [Birds Saying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds-saying-636188/) [Birds Twitters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds-twitters-636189/) [Branches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/branches/) [Brutal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutal/) [Code](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/code/) [Cry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cry/) [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Dip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dip/) [Get away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/get-away/) [Listening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/listening/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Occurred Birds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occurred-birds-636190/) [Protective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protective/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Stuff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stuff/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War Cries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-cries-636191/) [War cry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-cry/) ## Related quotes > [“...it occurred that the birds, whose twitters and repeated songs sounded so pretty and affirming of nature and the coming day, might actually, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-occurred-that-the-birds-whose-twitters-and-repeated-songs-sounded/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [ I feel great about \[War Cries regular series\]. It's my third year with the show and every season the part's sort of increased and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-ferrer/i-feel-great-about-war-cries-regular-series-it-s-my-third-year-with/) [Miguel Ferrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-ferrer/) > [Our war cries opened the deaf ears of the almighty government and its accomplices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subcomandante-marcos/our-war-cries-opened-the-deaf-ears-of-the-almighty-government-and-its/) [Subcomandante Marcos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subcomandante-marcos/) > [Sharley felt his strength ebbing away, and his weak leg throbbed painfully, but then a tingling sensation thrilled through his frame and the fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-hill/sharley-felt-his-strength-ebbing-away-and-his-weak-leg-throbbed/) [Stuart Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-hill/) > [“He held the flag like a banner of defiance. ‘You can take our lives but you’ll never take our freedom!’ he screamed. Carcer’s men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/he-held-the-flag-like-a-banner-of-defiance-you-can-take-our-lives-but/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [All pity choked with custom of fell deeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/all-pity-choked-with-custom-of-fell-deeds/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Right," said Fat Charlie conversationally. "You realize, of course, that this means war." It was the traditional war cry of a rabbit when pushed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/right-said-fat-charlie-conversationally-you-realize-of-course-that/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Left with nothing but my own bloody fingertips, I let out a war cry of my own, raked my nails over its face, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-lynn-barnes/left-with-nothing-but-my-own-bloody-fingertips-i-let-out-a-war-cry-of/) [Jennifer Lynn Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-lynn-barnes/) > [Even when I am gone, I shall remain in people's minds the star of their rights, my name will be the war cry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/even-when-i-am-gone-i-shall-remain-in-people-s-minds-the-star-of/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [Cry "havoc!" and let loose the dogs of war, That this foul deed shall smell above the earth With carrion men, groaning for burial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/cry-havoc-and-let-loose-the-dogs-of-war-that-this-foul-deed-shall/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“single-handed, through the bathrooms of the big bungalow in Segowlee cantonment. Darzee, the Tailorbird, helped him, and Chuchundra, the musk-rat, who never comes out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/single-handed-through-the-bathrooms-of-the-big-bungalow-in-segowlee/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [Whatever the label on the parties, or the war cries issuing from the demagogues who lead them, the practical choice is between the plutocracy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/whatever-the-label-on-the-parties-or-the-war-cries-issuing-from-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Organize, agitate, educate, must be our war cry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/organize-agitate-educate-must-be-our-war-cry/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [“And we screamed. We screamed our war cry, our shout of slaughter, our joy of being men in battle who are driven by terror.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-cornwell/and-we-screamed-we-screamed-our-war-cry-our-shout-of-slaughter-our/) [Bernard Cornwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-cornwell/) > [Buried was the bloody hatchet; Buried was the dreadful war-club; Buried were all warlike weapons, And the war-cry was forgotten. Then was peace among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/buried-was-the-bloody-hatchet-buried-was-the-dreadful-war-club-buried/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) ## More by David Foster Wallace > [“I felt more solidly composed, now that I was horizontal. I was impossible to knock down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-felt-more-solidly-composed-now-that-i-was-horizontal-i-was/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“We all have our little solipsistic delusions, ghastly intuitions of utter singularity: that we are the only one in the house who ever fills…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/we-all-have-our-little-solipsistic-delusions-ghastly-intuitions-of/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“It's no accident that in a bureaucracy getting fired is called 'termination,' as in ontological erasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-s-no-accident-that-in-a-bureaucracy-getting-fired-is-called/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Footnote: 79) The anchor is gigantic and must weigh a hundred tons, and -- delightfully -- it really is anchor-shaped, i.e. the same shape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/footnote-79-the-anchor-is-gigantic-and-must-weigh-a-hundred-tons-and/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“The paradoxical intercourse of audience and celebrity. The suppressed awareness that the whole reason ordinary people found celebrity fascinating was that they were not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-paradoxical-intercourse-of-audience-and-celebrity-the-suppressed/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“I am coming to see that the sensation of the worst nightmares, a sensation that can be felt asleep or awake, is identical to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-am-coming-to-see-that-the-sensation-of-the-worst-nightmares-a/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“He cranks the condo’s AC way down at night and still most mornings wakes up soaked, fetally curled, entombed in that kind of psychic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/he-cranks-the-condo-s-ac-way-down-at-night-and-still-most-mornings/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“If you’re subjected to enough great salesmen and salespitches and marketing concepts for long enough—like from your earliest Saturday-morning cartoons, let’s say—it is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/if-you-re-subjected-to-enough-great-salesmen-and-salespitches-and/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Why is the truth usually not just un- but anti-interesting?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/why-is-the-truth-usually-not-just-un-but-anti-interesting/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“She almost reminds the engineer of certain types in high school whom everyone adored because you sensed it made no difference to them whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/she-almost-reminds-the-engineer-of-certain-types-in-high-school-whom/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [To be, in a word, unborable… It is the key to modern life. If you are immune to boredom, there is literally nothing you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-be-in-a-word-unborable-it-is-the-key-to-modern-life-if-you-are/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“It is within your power to experience a crowded, loud, slow, consumer-hell-type situation as not only meaningful but sacred, on fire with the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-is-within-your-power-to-experience-a-crowded-loud-slow-consumer/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“The happy pleasure of the person alone, yes?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-happy-pleasure-of-the-person-alone-yes/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [There is such a thing as raw, unalloyed, agendaless kindness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/there-is-such-a-thing-as-raw-unalloyed-agendaless-kindness/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) [Explore all 999 David Foster Wallace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## More Affirming quotes > [I don't think that writing, real writing, has much to do with affirming belief--if anything it causes rifts and gaps in belief which make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-evenson/i-don-t-think-that-writing-real-writing-has-much-to-do-with-affirming/) [Brian Evenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-evenson/) > [Change your thoughts, change your life. —LAO TZU When I was fighting depression, I remember hearing this expression and not understanding it at first.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demi-lovato/change-your-thoughts-change-your-life-lao-tzu-when-i-was-fighting/) [Demi Lovato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demi-lovato/) > [Where a generation ago people felt entitled to a chance at education, they now feel entitled to the credential affirming that they have completed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-a-henry-iii/where-a-generation-ago-people-felt-entitled-to-a-chance-at-education/) [William A. Henry III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-henry-iii/) > [To create something beautiful about despair or out of a feeling of despair is for me the most hopeful life affirming thing a person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-kane/to-create-something-beautiful-about-despair-or-out-of-a-feeling-of/) [Sarah Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-kane/) > [“By affirming that all 'meaning,' every assertion about the significance of life and reality, must be judged by reference to a brief succession of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/by-affirming-that-all-meaning-every-assertion-about-the-significance/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [It feels intimate and life affirming to me when someone tweets things that appear to just be insane thoughts they had and typed out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-gonzalez/it-feels-intimate-and-life-affirming-to-me-when-someone-tweets-things/) [Mira Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-gonzalez/) > [ \[F\]or academic men to be happy, the universe would have to take shape. All of philosophy has no other goal: it is a matter… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/f-or-academic-men-to-be-happy-the-universe-would-have-to-take-shape/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [It is so inspiring to see a new group coming together not to focus on a particular war or weapons system, but on all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/medea-benjamin/it-is-so-inspiring-to-see-a-new-group-coming-together-not-to-focus-on/) [Medea Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/medea-benjamin/) > [I think we're in a new era where the advancing tide is towards human unity, where people all around the world want to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-kucinich/i-think-we-re-in-a-new-era-where-the-advancing-tide-is-towards-human/) [Dennis Kucinich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-kucinich/) > [Despite two decisions, in 2008 and 2010, by the U.S. Supreme Court unequivocally affirming that the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees an individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-barr/despite-two-decisions-in-2008-and-2010-by-the-u-s-supreme-court/) [Bob Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-barr/) > [To be honest, I am not theatre-trained and though I am confident in my skill set, to do theatre requires a better-tuned set of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamlyn-tomita/to-be-honest-i-am-not-theatre-trained-and-though-i-am-confident-in-my/) [Tamlyn Tomita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamlyn-tomita/) > [The fact that you have a policy of such consequence directly affecting millions of people and you have a legal question of great consequence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-verrilli-jr/the-fact-that-you-have-a-policy-of-such-consequence-directly/) [Donald Verrilli Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-verrilli-jr/) > [Action eradicates fear. No matter what you fear,--- positive, self-affirming action can diminish or completely cancel that which you are fearful of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-victor-hansen/action-eradicates-fear-no-matter-what-you-fear-positive-self/) [Mark Victor Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-victor-hansen/) > [Coming out to gays is a way of affirming sanity and self-worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-weinberg/coming-out-to-gays-is-a-way-of-affirming-sanity-and-self-worth/) [George Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-weinberg/) > [“we are affirming our trust that creation means well within us all, and that whatever painful growth and change may lie ahead, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-silf/we-are-affirming-our-trust-that-creation-means-well-within-us-all-and/) [Margaret Silf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-silf/) [Browse all 167 Affirming quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affirming/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "...and suddenly it occurred to him that the birds, whose twitters and repeated songs sounded so pretty and affirming of nature and the coming day, might actually, in a code known only to other birds, be the birds each saying 'Get away' or 'This branch is mine!' or 'This tree is mine! 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