--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I can remember watching large, tentative…" description: "\"“I can remember watching large, tentative, individual flakes of snow falling and blowing around aimlessly in the wind generated by the train through th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a80/david-foster-wallace-161_human-life_i-can-remember-watching-large-tentative_2633591.jpg" --- # I can remember watching large, tentative, individual… ![“I can remember watching large, tentative, individual flakes of snow falling and blowing around aimlessly in the wind generated by the train through the window of the CTA commuter line from Lincoln Park back up to Libertyville, and thinking, 'This is my crude approximation of a human life.” quote by David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a80/david-foster-wallace-161_human-life_i-can-remember-watching-large-tentative_2633591.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a80/david-foster-wallace-161_human-life_i-can-remember-watching-large-tentative_2633591.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a80/david-foster-wallace-161_human-life_i-can-remember-watching-large-tentative_2633591.jpg) > ““I can remember watching large, tentative, individual flakes of snow falling and blowing around aimlessly in the wind generated by the train through the window of the CTA commuter line from Lincoln Park back up to Libertyville, and thinking, 'This is my crude approximation of a human life.”” [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. Observing snowflakes evokes a metaphor for life's fleeting, chaotic nature. **In simple terms:** Snowflakes symbolize fragile, chaotic life. Key Takeaway Find meaning in everyday moments. Themes existence observation metaphor Mood contemplative poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - journaling - mindfulness - artistic inspiration Key Concepts philosophical reflection creative writing Questions to Reflect On - What small moments feel profound? - How does chaos shape your perception? A Different Perspective Interpretations may vary. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cta Commuter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cta-commuter-2210378/) [Flakes Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flakes-snow-304877/) [Human life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) [Libertyville Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libertyville-thinking-2210377/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Snow falling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snow-falling/) [Train Window](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train-window-1692361/) ## Related quotes > [“No doubt, the flakes of snow falling over him carried ashen nuclei. John tried to concentrate on those tiny flecks of carbon at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginn-hale/no-doubt-the-flakes-of-snow-falling-over-him-carried-ashen-nuclei/) [Ginn Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginn-hale/) > [...the long train ride was like traveling through limbo. You weren't anywhere when you were on a train, she decided. You weren't where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/the-long-train-ride-was-like-traveling-through-limbo-you-weren-t/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [The towns and countryside that the traveller sees through a train window do not slow down the train, nor does the train affect them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/the-towns-and-countryside-that-the-traveller-sees-through-a-train/) [Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/) > [“As I stared out of the train window, the scenery became a blur, as unclear as my thoughts and feelings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-gillard/as-i-stared-out-of-the-train-window-the-scenery-became-a-blur-as/) [Linda Gillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-gillard/) > [“And with that, Kat closed her eyes. She didn't see the first flakes of snow fall outside her window. 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The words were summer on the tongue. The wine was summer caught and stoppered...sealed away for opening on a January day with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/dandelion-wine-the-words-were-summer-on-the-tongue-the-wine-was/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Silently, like thoughts that come and go, the snowflakes fall, each one a gem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hamilton-gibson/silently-like-thoughts-that-come-and-go-the-snowflakes-fall-each-one/) [William Hamilton Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hamilton-gibson/) > [“Huge, dizzying, clumps and clusters of snow falling through the air, patches of white against an iron-gray sky, snow that touches your tongue with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/huge-dizzying-clumps-and-clusters-of-snow-falling-through-the-air/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## More by David Foster Wallace > [“I felt more solidly composed, now that I was horizontal. 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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 Human life quotes > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“Conception is the beginning of human life. From the time that an ovum is fertilized a new life begins that is neither that of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declaration-on-procured-abortion-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith-1974/conception-is-the-beginning-of-human-life-from-the-time-that-an-ovum/) [Declaration on Procured Abortion Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 1974](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/declaration-on-procured-abortion-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith-1974/) > [To hurry through the rise and fall of a fine, full sentence is like defying the role of time in human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/to-hurry-through-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-fine-full-sentence-is-like/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Art is not a pleasure, a solace, or an amusement; art is great matter. Art is an organ of human life, transmitting man's reasonable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/art-is-not-a-pleasure-a-solace-or-an-amusement-art-is-great-matter/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I free slaves because I believe we are all created equal. I just can't think of anything that has a higher purpose than putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-williams/i-free-slaves-because-i-believe-we-are-all-created-equal-i-just-can-t/) [Virginia Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-williams/) > [Human life consists of doing certain things ... to take part in the life of the community; to be able to talk about subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/human-life-consists-of-doing-certain-things-to-take-part-in-the-life/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [There seems to be a kind of order in the universe…in the movement of the stars and the turning of the Earth and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/there-seems-to-be-a-kind-of-order-in-the-universe-in-the-movement-of/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [I think we are not spend our life as it pick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankit-narwal/i-think-we-are-not-spend-our-life-as-it-pick/) [ANKIT NARWAL](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankit-narwal/) > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. 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Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-s-smith/) > [“You finally fell in love, I see,” said Salo. “Only an Earthling year ago,” said Constant. “It took us that long to realize that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/you-finally-fell-in-love-i-see-said-salo-only-an-earthling-year-ago/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [In these years we are witnessing the gigantic spectacle of innumerable human lives wandering about lost in their own labyrinths, through not having anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-these-years-we-are-witnessing-the-gigantic-spectacle-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) [Browse all 2,309 Human life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I can remember watching large, tentative, individual flakes of snow falling and blowing around aimlessly in the wind generated by the train through the window of the CTA commuter line from Lincoln Park back up to Libertyville, and thinking, 'This is my crude approximation of a human life.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Foster Wallace" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-can-remember-watching-large-tentative-individual-flakes-of-snow/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Human life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-can-remember-watching-large-tentative-individual-flakes-of-snow/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a80/david-foster-wallace-161_human-life_i-can-remember-watching-large-tentative_2633591.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a80/david-foster-wallace-161_human-life_i-can-remember-watching-large-tentative_2633591.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a80/david-foster-wallace-161_human-life_i-can-remember-watching-large-tentative_2633591.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I can remember watching large, tentative, individual flakes of snow falling and blowing around aimlessly in…” — David Foster Wallace", "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": "David Foster Wallace", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I can remember watching large, tentative,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-can-remember-watching-large-tentative-individual-flakes-of-snow/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-can-remember-watching-large-tentative-individual-flakes-of-snow/#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 } } ] } ```