--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I went to sleep each night, I…" description: "\"“When I went to sleep each night, I imagined myself at the bottom, thousands of feet down, the weight of all that water but I was gliding just above gr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/david-vann-31426_quote_when-i-went-to-sleep-each-night-i-imagin_275951.jpg" --- # When I went to sleep each night, I imagined myself at the… ![“When I went to sleep each night, I imagined myself at the bottom, thousands of feet down, the weight of all that water but I was gliding just above ground, something like a manta ray, flying soundless and weightless over endless plains that fell away into deep canyons of darker black and then rose…” quote by David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/david-vann-31426_quote_when-i-went-to-sleep-each-night-i-imagin_275951.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/david-vann-31426_quote_when-i-went-to-sleep-each-night-i-imagin_275951.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/david-vann-31426_quote_when-i-went-to-sleep-each-night-i-imagin_275951.jpg) > ““When I went to sleep each night, I imagined myself at the bottom, thousands of feet down, the weight of all that water but I was gliding just above ground, something like a manta ray, flying soundless and weightless over endless plains that fell away into deep canyons of darker black and then rose up in spires and new plateaus, and I could be anywhere in this world, off Mexico or Guam or under the Arctic or all the way to Africa, all in the one element, all home, shadows on all sides of me gliding also, great wings without sound or sight but felt and known.”” [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) ## 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 imagines floating weightlessly above vast, dark landscapes, feeling connected to the world despite distance. **In simple terms:** Imagining weightless freedom over endless terrain. Key Takeaway Embrace mental freedom and perspective shifts. Themes imagination freedom perspective connection Mood dreamy contemplative Type poetic inspirational When to use this quote - meditation - creative writing - travel planning - stress relief Key Concepts mindfulness visualization existential awe Questions to Reflect On - What does this weightlessness symbolize for you? - How can you apply this sense of freedom in daily life? A Different Perspective Such visions may detach from practical realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gliding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gliding/) ## Related quotes > [“To get through the night, I sometimes imagined the sky filled with a canopy of stars. I imagined that each star contained the soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-bialosky/to-get-through-the-night-i-sometimes-imagined-the-sky-filled-with-a/) [Jill Bialosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-bialosky/) > [Ruin, eldest daughter of Zeus, she blinds us all, that fatal madness—she with those delicate feet of hers, never touching the earth, gliding over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/ruin-eldest-daughter-of-zeus-she-blinds-us-all-that-fatal-madness-she/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Of all the men who attacked the flying problem in the 19th century, Otto Lilienthal was easily the most important. ... It is true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-lilienthal/of-all-the-men-who-attacked-the-flying-problem-in-the-19th-century/) [Otto Lilienthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-lilienthal/) > [There is nothing in the whole world which abides. All things are in a state of ebb and flow, and every shadow passes away.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/there-is-nothing-in-the-whole-world-which-abides-all-things-are-in-a/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Richard began to understand darkness: darkness as something solid and real, so much more than a simple absence of light. He felt it touch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/richard-began-to-understand-darkness-darkness-as-something-solid-and/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [But the owls themselves are not hard to find, silent and on the wing, with their ear tufts flat against their heads as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/but-the-owls-themselves-are-not-hard-to-find-silent-and-on-the-wing/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [And I ran after that voice through the streets so as not to lose sight of the splendid wreath of bodies gliding over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/and-i-ran-after-that-voice-through-the-streets-so-as-not-to-lose/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Later in life, one of the compensations is gliding effortlessly into focus in a thing. Since it is who we are, anything that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/later-in-life-one-of-the-compensations-is-gliding-effortlessly-into/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I'm not a risk taker physically. I just have no interest in swinging myself off a mountaintop or parachute gliding or skiing down a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/i-m-not-a-risk-taker-physically-i-just-have-no-interest-in-swinging/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [But I almost think we are all of us ghosts. It is not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/but-i-almost-think-we-are-all-of-us-ghosts-it-is-not-only-what-we/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [I love skiing, scuba diving and hang-gliding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewan-mcgregor/i-love-skiing-scuba-diving-and-hang-gliding/) [Ewan McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewan-mcgregor/) > [With Crazy Horse, it's all one big, growing, smoldering sound, and I'm part of it. It's like gliding, or some sort of natural surfing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-young/with-crazy-horse-it-s-all-one-big-growing-smoldering-sound-and-i-m/) [Neil Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-young/) > [Goethe said that the worst thing in art is technical facility accompanied by triteness. Many an artist, like God, has never needed to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/goethe-said-that-the-worst-thing-in-art-is-technical-facility/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [Beneath those stars is a universe of gliding monsters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/beneath-those-stars-is-a-universe-of-gliding-monsters/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Have you seen a duck gliding smoothly on water? Does it ever look like it is paddling furiously underneath the surface? I don't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-khan/have-you-seen-a-duck-gliding-smoothly-on-water-does-it-ever-look-like/) [Salman Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-khan/) ## More by David Vann > [“What if everything was unfinished? What if everything was made incomplete?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/what-if-everything-was-unfinished-what-if-everything-was-made/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [“She had made him into a kind of husband,her own son.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/she-had-made-him-into-a-kind-of-husband-her-own-son/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [“A city holds all that we want and a million times what we don't want.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/a-city-holds-all-that-we-want-and-a-million-times-what-we-don-t-want/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [“A favored bit from "A Legend of Good Men" "My mother and I each had our routines. She taught high school, took long hikes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/a-favored-bit-from-a-legend-of-good-men-my-mother-and-i-each-had-our/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [“This table felt extremely dangerous. He understood now that what held his family together was violence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/this-table-felt-extremely-dangerous-he-understood-now-that-what-held/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [“What do we owe for what has come before us, the previous generation?... The problem is that we can never enter this shadow world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/what-do-we-owe-for-what-has-come-before-us-the-previous-generation/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [“WE THINK OF CAIN AS THE ONE WHO KILLED HIS BROTHER, but who else was around to kill? They were the first two born.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/we-think-of-cain-as-the-one-who-killed-his-brother-but-who-else-was/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [“That night longer than all my life before it. No scale or measure in this world can ever be held constant. We are always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/that-night-longer-than-all-my-life-before-it-no-scale-or-measure-in/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [“One night becomes sixty nights. This is the price of hiding. Just hold your breath for one minute and find out what a minute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/one-night-becomes-sixty-nights-this-is-the-price-of-hiding-just-hold/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [“The point was the struggle. The earth thickened here so that he would labor. The shovel felt heavy so that he could feel he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/the-point-was-the-struggle-the-earth-thickened-here-so-that-he-would/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [“The entire legacy of humanity will be only one thing, a line of red goop in the paleo-oceanographic record, a time of no calcium…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/the-entire-legacy-of-humanity-will-be-only-one-thing-a-line-of-red/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [“We're not supposed to touch the dead. This is why we make a comfortable afterlife for them, so they will not reach out. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/we-re-not-supposed-to-touch-the-dead-this-is-why-we-make-a/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [“Low branches, dead and snapping against us. On the lookout for rattlesnakes. But the path was short enough, and soon we were on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/low-branches-dead-and-snapping-against-us-on-the-lookout-for/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [“I thought that was a wonderful idea, that one could be on hell without being in it, like “Just Visiting” on the Monopoly board.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/i-thought-that-was-a-wonderful-idea-that-one-could-be-on-hell-without/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) [Explore all 15 David Vann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) ## More Gliding quotes > [Ruin, eldest daughter of Zeus, she blinds us all, that fatal madness—she with those delicate feet of hers, never touching the earth, gliding over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/ruin-eldest-daughter-of-zeus-she-blinds-us-all-that-fatal-madness-she/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Beneath those stars is a universe of gliding monsters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/beneath-those-stars-is-a-universe-of-gliding-monsters/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Goethe said that the worst thing in art is technical facility accompanied by triteness. Many an artist, like God, has never needed to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/goethe-said-that-the-worst-thing-in-art-is-technical-facility/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [With Crazy Horse, it's all one big, growing, smoldering sound, and I'm part of it. It's like gliding, or some sort of natural surfing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-young/with-crazy-horse-it-s-all-one-big-growing-smoldering-sound-and-i-m/) [Neil Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-young/) > [I love skiing, scuba diving and hang-gliding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewan-mcgregor/i-love-skiing-scuba-diving-and-hang-gliding/) [Ewan McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewan-mcgregor/) > [But I almost think we are all of us ghosts. It is not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/but-i-almost-think-we-are-all-of-us-ghosts-it-is-not-only-what-we/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [I'm not a risk taker physically. I just have no interest in swinging myself off a mountaintop or parachute gliding or skiing down a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/i-m-not-a-risk-taker-physically-i-just-have-no-interest-in-swinging/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [Later in life, one of the compensations is gliding effortlessly into focus in a thing. Since it is who we are, anything that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/later-in-life-one-of-the-compensations-is-gliding-effortlessly-into/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [And I ran after that voice through the streets so as not to lose sight of the splendid wreath of bodies gliding over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/and-i-ran-after-that-voice-through-the-streets-so-as-not-to-lose/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [But the owls themselves are not hard to find, silent and on the wing, with their ear tufts flat against their heads as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/but-the-owls-themselves-are-not-hard-to-find-silent-and-on-the-wing/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Richard began to understand darkness: darkness as something solid and real, so much more than a simple absence of light. He felt it touch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/richard-began-to-understand-darkness-darkness-as-something-solid-and/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There is nothing in the whole world which abides. All things are in a state of ebb and flow, and every shadow passes away.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/there-is-nothing-in-the-whole-world-which-abides-all-things-are-in-a/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Of all the men who attacked the flying problem in the 19th century, Otto Lilienthal was easily the most important. ... It is true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-lilienthal/of-all-the-men-who-attacked-the-flying-problem-in-the-19th-century/) [Otto Lilienthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-lilienthal/) > [Have you seen a duck gliding smoothly on water? Does it ever look like it is paddling furiously underneath the surface? I don't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-khan/have-you-seen-a-duck-gliding-smoothly-on-water-does-it-ever-look-like/) [Salman Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-khan/) > [To be aroused in the dark by five feet of cold, green snake gliding over one's face is unpleasant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-livingstone/to-be-aroused-in-the-dark-by-five-feet-of-cold-green-snake-gliding/) [David Livingstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-livingstone/) [Browse all 72 Gliding quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gliding/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When I went to sleep each night, I imagined myself at the bottom, thousands of feet down, the weight of all that water but I was gliding just above ground, something like a manta ray, flying soundless and weightless over endless plains that fell away into deep canyons of darker black and then rose up in spires and new plateaus, and I could be anywhere in this world, off Mexico or Guam or under the Arctic or all the way to Africa, all in the one element, all home, shadows on all sides of me gliding also, great wings without sound or sight but felt and known.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Vann" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/when-i-went-to-sleep-each-night-i-imagined-myself-at-the-bottom/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Gliding" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/when-i-went-to-sleep-each-night-i-imagined-myself-at-the-bottom/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/david-vann-31426_quote_when-i-went-to-sleep-each-night-i-imagin_275951.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/david-vann-31426_quote_when-i-went-to-sleep-each-night-i-imagin_275951.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/david-vann-31426_quote_when-i-went-to-sleep-each-night-i-imagin_275951.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I went to sleep each night, I imagined myself at the bottom, thousands of feet down, the weight of all…” — David Vann", "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 Vann", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“When I went to sleep each...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/when-i-went-to-sleep-each-night-i-imagined-myself-at-the-bottom/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/when-i-went-to-sleep-each-night-i-imagined-myself-at-the-bottom/#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 } } ] } ```