--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What could be lonelier than trying to…" description: "\"What could be lonelier than trying to communicate?\" — Denis Johnson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/denis-johnson-2135_communicate_what-could-be-lonelier-than-trying-to-co_2456617.png" --- # What could be lonelier than trying to communicate? ![“What could be lonelier than trying to communicate?” quote by Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/denis-johnson-2135_communicate_what-could-be-lonelier-than-trying-to-co_2456617.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/denis-johnson-2135_communicate_what-could-be-lonelier-than-trying-to-co_2456617.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/denis-johnson-2135_communicate_what-could-be-lonelier-than-trying-to-co_2456617.png) > “What could be lonelier than trying to communicate?” [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. A deep sense of isolation arises when attempts at communication fail, highlighting human loneliness. **In simple terms:** Feeling alone when you can't be understood. Key Takeaway Seek genuine connection, listen actively. Themes loneliness communication human connection Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - mental health counseling - online interactions - cross‑cultural dialogue Key Concepts existentialism empathy Questions to Reflect On - How do you respond when you feel unheard? - What barriers prevent effective communication? A Different Perspective Even with effort, misunderstandings may persist, causing frustration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Communicate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communicate/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Lonelier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lonelier/) [Lonelier Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lonelier-trying-616313/) [Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Trying Communicate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying-communicate-470639/) ## Related quotes > [For it is probable that when people talk aloud, the selves (of which there may be more than two thousand) are conscious of disserverment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/for-it-is-probable-that-when-people-talk-aloud-the-selves-of-which/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [During your communications with others always give them time to communicate their issues as well. Remaining focused on what they are trying to communicate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dranil-kr-sinha/during-your-communications-with-others-always-give-them-time-to/) [DrAnil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dranil-kr-sinha/) > [“No matter how good you are with words, it’s inevitable that meaning is lost between your mind and someone else’s. Trying to communicate is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-novak/no-matter-how-good-you-are-with-words-it-s-inevitable-that-meaning-is/) [Jacqueline Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-novak/) > [We are trying to communicate a fulfilled ideal. Does anybody remember laughter?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-plant/we-are-trying-to-communicate-a-fulfilled-ideal-does-anybody-remember/) [Robert Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-plant/) > [I'm trying to communicate with other people about humanity and stuff, man!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-eggers/i-m-trying-to-communicate-with-other-people-about-humanity-and-stuff/) [Robert Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-eggers/) > [I'm not sure I'm trying to communicate a message. I'm just trying to be part of the movement away from the unacceptable present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-m-not-sure-i-m-trying-to-communicate-a-message-i-m-just-trying-to/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [“People told me not to get married; I didn´t listen. No one ever listens, it seems to me now. Perhaps people should stop trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-finnamore/people-told-me-not-to-get-married-i-didn-t-listen-no-one-ever-listens/) [Suzanne Finnamore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-finnamore/) > [A writer out of loneliness is trying to communicate like a distant star sending signals. He isn't telling or teaching or ordering. Rather he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-writer-out-of-loneliness-is-trying-to-communicate-like-a-distant-3/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“If your body is trying to communicate with you by expressing pain or illness...best you slow down and give it the attention it needs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-leigh/if-your-body-is-trying-to-communicate-with-you-by-expressing-pain-or/) [Tina Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-leigh/) > [Your inner being already knows. It's trying to communicate with you. But it needs to shift you into a different state of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/your-inner-being-already-knows-it-s-trying-to-communicate-with-you/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think that my work is my attempt, I suppose, is to try and become a piece of connective tissue. 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Rather, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-writer-out-of-loneliness-is-trying-to-communicate-like-a-distant/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [If you start trying to communicate ideas, I think you don't allow the audience to see themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-isaac/if-you-start-trying-to-communicate-ideas-i-think-you-don-t-allow-the/) [Oscar Isaac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-isaac/) ## 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 Communicate quotes > [Verbs allow you to communicate a story in a much more converged or involuntary way for a reader. The verbs allow you to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/verbs-allow-you-to-communicate-a-story-in-a-much-more-converged-or/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [I have learned so much from my dad. Perhaps the biggest thing I've learned from my dad is how to be prepared at all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-sekulow/i-have-learned-so-much-from-my-dad-perhaps-the-biggest-thing-i-ve/) [Jay Sekulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-sekulow/) > [Even people who can't communicate can fall in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaejoong/even-people-who-can-t-communicate-can-fall-in-love/) [Jaejoong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaejoong/) > [Our communications reflect in our countenance. Therefore, we must be careful not only what we communicate, but also how we do so. Souls can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-lionel-kendrick/our-communications-reflect-in-our-countenance-therefore-we-must-be/) [L. Lionel Kendrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-lionel-kendrick/) > [Always being on the move has strange consequences. I meet so many amazing people, for a night, or sometimes just a few days. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaspar-claus/always-being-on-the-move-has-strange-consequences-i-meet-so-many/) [Gaspar Claus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaspar-claus/) > [“Even without words, you communicate through touch, body language, and facial expression.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmel-sheridan/even-without-words-you-communicate-through-touch-body-language-and/) [Carmel Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmel-sheridan/) > [I could say that making clothes is my way of communicating, because I was always so shy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-gaultier/i-could-say-that-making-clothes-is-my-way-of-communicating-because-i/) [Jean Paul Gaultier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-gaultier/) > [I think there's confusion around what the point of social networks is. A lot of different companies characterized as social networks have different goals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/i-think-there-s-confusion-around-what-the-point-of-social-networks-is/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > [Language just gradually came in, one or two stressed words a time. Before then, I would just scream. I couldn't talk. I couldn't get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/language-just-gradually-came-in-one-or-two-stressed-words-a-time/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [Had Elijah Muhammad tried to introduce an orthodox form of Arab-oriented Islam, I doubt if he would have attracted 500 people, but he introduced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/had-elijah-muhammad-tried-to-introduce-an-orthodox-form-of-arab/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [Must whales and dolphins be subjected to deafening noise that will cause more than 3.5 million instances of temporary and/or permanent hearing loss? For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brosnan/must-whales-and-dolphins-be-subjected-to-deafening-noise-that-will/) [Pierce Brosnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brosnan/) > [My wish for humanity is to invent a way to communicate between us and whatever comes next. 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He encourages his team, is a great motivator and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-shastri/sourav-s-greatest-asset-is-his-ability-to-communicate-he-is-a/) [Ravi Shastri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-shastri/) [Browse all 2,325 Communicate quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communicate/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What could be lonelier than trying to communicate?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Denis Johnson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/what-could-be-lonelier-than-trying-to-communicate/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Communicate" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/what-could-be-lonelier-than-trying-to-communicate/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/denis-johnson-2135_communicate_what-could-be-lonelier-than-trying-to-co_2456617.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/denis-johnson-2135_communicate_what-could-be-lonelier-than-trying-to-co_2456617.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/denis-johnson-2135_communicate_what-could-be-lonelier-than-trying-to-co_2456617.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What could be lonelier than trying to communicate?” — Denis Johnson", "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": "Denis Johnson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What could be lonelier than trying...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/what-could-be-lonelier-than-trying-to-communicate/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/what-could-be-lonelier-than-trying-to-communicate/#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 } } ] } ```