--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was raining. Gigantic ferns leaned…" description: "\"“It was raining. Gigantic ferns leaned over us. The forest drifted down a hill. I could hear a creek rushing down among rocks. And you, you ridiculous ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/denis-johnson-2135_hallucination_it-was-raining-gigantic-ferns-leaned-ove_2774617.png" --- # It was raining. Gigantic ferns leaned over us. The forest… ![“It was raining. Gigantic ferns leaned over us. The forest drifted down a hill. I could hear a creek rushing down among rocks. And you, you ridiculous people, you expect me to help you.” quote by Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/denis-johnson-2135_hallucination_it-was-raining-gigantic-ferns-leaned-ove_2774617.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/denis-johnson-2135_hallucination_it-was-raining-gigantic-ferns-leaned-ove_2774617.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a9/denis-johnson-2135_hallucination_it-was-raining-gigantic-ferns-leaned-ove_2774617.png) > ““It was raining. Gigantic ferns leaned over us. The forest drifted down a hill. I could hear a creek rushing down among rocks. And you, you ridiculous people, you expect me to help you.”” [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He juxtaposes vivid natural beauty with absurd expectations, highlighting human absurdity amid nature. **In simple terms:** Nature is beautiful, people are often unreasonable. Key Takeaway Recognize absurdity and stay grounded. Themes absurdity nature human folly Mood thoughtful melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - hiking trips - creative writing - philosophical debates - travel experiences Key Concepts Existentialism environmental perception Questions to Reflect On - Why do we expect others to act against our expectations? - How does nature reflect our inner chaos? A Different Perspective May romanticize nature without addressing real challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hallucination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hallucination/) ## Related quotes > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“Contrary to what TV and movies have told you, it’s nearly impossible to have a hallucination that you can both see and hear—the mentally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/contrary-to-what-tv-and-movies-have-told-you-it-s-nearly-impossible/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [“At this point, the sequence of my memories is disrupted. I sank into a chaos of brief, incoherent and bizarre hallucinations, in which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-lorrain/at-this-point-the-sequence-of-my-memories-is-disrupted-i-sank-into-a/) [Jean Lorrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-lorrain/) > [“Of course it had been an hallucination. But when hallucinations start behaving like realities, with a score of coincidences to back them up, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/of-course-it-had-been-an-hallucination-but-when-hallucinations-start/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [I have suffered from migraines since childhood and have long been curious about my own aching head, my dizziness, my divine lifting feelings, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/i-have-suffered-from-migraines-since-childhood-and-have-long-been/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [People are said to believe in God, or to disbelieve in Adam and Eve. But in such cases what is believed or disbelieved is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/people-are-said-to-believe-in-god-or-to-disbelieve-in-adam-and-eve/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [The Graff Hallucination is a sculptural masterpiece; a celebration of the miracle of coloured diamonds. For many years I have thought about creating a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-graff/the-graff-hallucination-is-a-sculptural-masterpiece-a-celebration-of/) [Laurence Graff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-graff/) > [Memory creates a hallucination of the past, desire creates a hallucination of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaggi-vasudev/memory-creates-a-hallucination-of-the-past-desire-creates-a/) [Jaggi Vasudev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaggi-vasudev/) > [The hairline difference between imagination and hallucination is that imagination finds always limitless reality, whereas hallucination binds itself within the limits of confusion, illusion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj-somany/the-hairline-difference-between-imagination-and-hallucination-is-that/) [Anuj Somany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj-somany/) > [A hallucination is a species of reality, as capable of teaching you as a videotape about Kilimanjaro or anything else that falls through your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/a-hallucination-is-a-species-of-reality-as-capable-of-teaching-you-as/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [“It’s not real. The image of his creepy ant-hands was nothing more than a standard, slightly silly hallucination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christa-faust/it-s-not-real-the-image-of-his-creepy-ant-hands-was-nothing-more-than/) [Christa Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christa-faust/) > [“Insomuch as the structure of this book parallels that of my own mind, it boasts about as much order and linearity as a hallucination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-moezzi/insomuch-as-the-structure-of-this-book-parallels-that-of-my-own-mind/) Melody Moezzi > [I'm not completely sure we aren't all living in a hallucination now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-maron/i-m-not-completely-sure-we-aren-t-all-living-in-a-hallucination-now/) [Marc Maron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-maron/) > [The Internet is a collective hallucination: one of the best humanity has ever generated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/the-internet-is-a-collective-hallucination-one-of-the-best-humanity/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [“Tell me, how would you feel if everyone screamed and ran when they saw you coming, or hunted you down like a criminal? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-m-miller-jr/tell-me-how-would-you-feel-if-everyone-screamed-and-ran-when-they-saw/) [Walter M. Miller Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-m-miller-jr/) ## More by Denis Johnson > [“You’ve never felt good. Your suffering protects you. Pain is the ransom you have gladly paid not to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/you-ve-never-felt-good-your-suffering-protects-you-pain-is-the-ransom/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“He had laid his head back until his scalp had contacted his spine, that far back, and opened his throat, and a sound rose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/he-had-laid-his-head-back-until-his-scalp-had-contacted-his-spine/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“Everything is arranged," John Robertson told me. Thank God." I forgot to mention that we appear to have one small problem," he said. Okay..."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/everything-is-arranged-john-robertson-told-me-thank-god-i-forgot-to/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [Before this moment I'd lived as a mind. Body, heart, soul, intellect, so we care ourselves into parts. But the whole of us, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/before-this-moment-i-d-lived-as-a-mind-body-heart-soul-intellect-so/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [He got right down in the dark between heartbeats, and rested there. And then he saw that another one wasn't going to come. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/he-got-right-down-in-the-dark-between-heartbeats-and-rested-there-and/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [I’d been staying at the Holiday Inn with my girlfriend, honestly the most beautiful woman I’d even known, for three days under a phony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/i-d-been-staying-at-the-holiday-inn-with-my-girlfriend-honestly-the/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“All of this while I left lifted by a strange new medium, a strange element--I now tell you that I was newly buoyant in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/all-of-this-while-i-left-lifted-by-a-strange-new-medium-a-strange/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“He didn’t know what country he was in, but he was at home in the universe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/he-didn-t-know-what-country-he-was-in-but-he-was-at-home-in-the/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“There's a dizzying thrill in a philosophy that can only be tested by suicide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/there-s-a-dizzying-thrill-in-a-philosophy-that-can-only-be-tested-by/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [I really enjoy writing novels. It's like the ocean. You can just build a boat and take off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/i-really-enjoy-writing-novels-it-s-like-the-ocean-you-can-just-build/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“Who said it? – probably Confucius – “I can’t beat a sculpture from a stone with a sledgehammer; I can’t free the soul of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/who-said-it-probably-confucius-i-can-t-beat-a-sculpture-from-a-stone/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“A bus came. I climbed aboard and sat on the plastic seat while the things of our city turned in the windows like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/a-bus-came-i-climbed-aboard-and-sat-on-the-plastic-seat-while-the/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [I knew every raindrop by its name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/i-knew-every-raindrop-by-its-name/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“To find the people who've became truly sane, seek among those who've managed to do without sanity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/to-find-the-people-who-ve-became-truly-sane-seek-among-those-who-ve/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“eventually these encounters forced him to acknowledge the reality of fate, and the truth inherent in things of the imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/eventually-these-encounters-forced-him-to-acknowledge-the-reality-of/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) [Explore all 183 Denis Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) ## More Hallucination quotes > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The Internet is a collective hallucination: one of the best humanity has ever generated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/the-internet-is-a-collective-hallucination-one-of-the-best-humanity/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [I'm not completely sure we aren't all living in a hallucination now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-maron/i-m-not-completely-sure-we-aren-t-all-living-in-a-hallucination-now/) [Marc Maron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-maron/) > [“Insomuch as the structure of this book parallels that of my own mind, it boasts about as much order and linearity as a hallucination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-moezzi/insomuch-as-the-structure-of-this-book-parallels-that-of-my-own-mind/) Melody Moezzi > [“It’s not real. The image of his creepy ant-hands was nothing more than a standard, slightly silly hallucination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christa-faust/it-s-not-real-the-image-of-his-creepy-ant-hands-was-nothing-more-than/) [Christa Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christa-faust/) > [A hallucination is a species of reality, as capable of teaching you as a videotape about Kilimanjaro or anything else that falls through your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/a-hallucination-is-a-species-of-reality-as-capable-of-teaching-you-as/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The hairline difference between imagination and hallucination is that imagination finds always limitless reality, whereas hallucination binds itself within the limits of confusion, illusion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj-somany/the-hairline-difference-between-imagination-and-hallucination-is-that/) [Anuj Somany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj-somany/) > [Memory creates a hallucination of the past, desire creates a hallucination of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaggi-vasudev/memory-creates-a-hallucination-of-the-past-desire-creates-a/) [Jaggi Vasudev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaggi-vasudev/) > [The Graff Hallucination is a sculptural masterpiece; a celebration of the miracle of coloured diamonds. For many years I have thought about creating a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-graff/the-graff-hallucination-is-a-sculptural-masterpiece-a-celebration-of/) [Laurence Graff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-graff/) > [People are said to believe in God, or to disbelieve in Adam and Eve. But in such cases what is believed or disbelieved is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/people-are-said-to-believe-in-god-or-to-disbelieve-in-adam-and-eve/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [I have suffered from migraines since childhood and have long been curious about my own aching head, my dizziness, my divine lifting feelings, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/i-have-suffered-from-migraines-since-childhood-and-have-long-been/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [“Of course it had been an hallucination. But when hallucinations start behaving like realities, with a score of coincidences to back them up, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-leiber/of-course-it-had-been-an-hallucination-but-when-hallucinations-start/) [Fritz Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-leiber/) > [“At this point, the sequence of my memories is disrupted. I sank into a chaos of brief, incoherent and bizarre hallucinations, in which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-lorrain/at-this-point-the-sequence-of-my-memories-is-disrupted-i-sank-into-a/) [Jean Lorrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-lorrain/) > [“Contrary to what TV and movies have told you, it’s nearly impossible to have a hallucination that you can both see and hear—the mentally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/contrary-to-what-tv-and-movies-have-told-you-it-s-nearly-impossible/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [“Tell me, how would you feel if everyone screamed and ran when they saw you coming, or hunted you down like a criminal? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-m-miller-jr/tell-me-how-would-you-feel-if-everyone-screamed-and-ran-when-they-saw/) [Walter M. Miller Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-m-miller-jr/) [Browse all 123 Hallucination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hallucination/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was raining. Gigantic ferns leaned over us. The forest drifted down a hill. I could hear a creek rushing down among rocks. 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