--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Something about the time of year…" description: "\"“Something about the time of year depressed him deeply. Overcast skies and cutting wind, leaves falling, dusk falling, dark too soon, night flying down..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/don-delillo-294_autumn_something-about-the-time-of-year-depress_2907269.jpg" --- # Something about the time of year depressed him deeply… ![“Something about the time of year depressed him deeply. Overcast skies and cutting wind, leaves falling, dusk falling, dark too soon, night flying down before you are ready. It's a terror. It's a bareness of the soul. He hears the rustle of nuns. Here comes winter in the bone. We've set it loose on…” quote by Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/don-delillo-294_autumn_something-about-the-time-of-year-depress_2907269.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/don-delillo-294_autumn_something-about-the-time-of-year-depress_2907269.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/don-delillo-294_autumn_something-about-the-time-of-year-depress_2907269.jpg) > ““Something about the time of year depressed him deeply. Overcast skies and cutting wind, leaves falling, dusk falling, dark too soon, night flying down before you are ready. It's a terror. It's a bareness of the soul. He hears the rustle of nuns. Here comes winter in the bone. We've set it loose on the land. There must be some song or poem, some folk magic we can use to ease this fear. Skelly Bone Pete. Here it is in the landscape and sky. We've set it loose. We've opened up the ground and here it is. He took Interstate 45 south. He didn't want them to kill Leon. He felt a saturating sense of death, a dread in the soft filling of his bones, the suckable part, approaching Galveston now.”” [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) ## 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 seasonal melancholy haunts the narrator, mixing dread of death with a yearning for ritual to soothe existential fear. **In simple terms:** Seasonal melancholy and fear of death. Key Takeaway Seek rituals or creative expression to confront dread. Themes mortality seasonality existential dread ritual solitude Mood somber reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - driving through a storm - confronting loss - creative writing - seeking comfort in art Key Concepts psychology thanology literary symbolism Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront seasonal sadness? - What rituals help you face existential fear? A Different Perspective The passage may romanticize despair without offering concrete coping strategies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Autumn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autumn/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Leaves Falling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leaves-falling/) [Libra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libra/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Something about the time of year depressed him deeply. Overcast skies and cutting wind, leaves falling, dusk falling, dark too soon, night flying down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/something-about-the-time-of-year-depressed-him-deeply-overcast-skies/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Sounds like a boring life." "I hope it lasts forever," she said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/sounds-like-a-boring-life-i-hope-it-lasts-forever-she-said/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“That clean but lonely feeling when there are no other cars. The traffic lights changing just for you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/that-clean-but-lonely-feeling-when-there-are-no-other-cars-the/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“All plots tend to move deathward. This is the nature of plots. Political plots, terrorist plots, lovers’ plots, narrative plots, plots that are part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/all-plots-tend-to-move-deathward-this-is-the-nature-of-plots-2/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Billy tried to imagine the birth of Cyril's wife's baby. It would happen in grim lights violently. A dripping thing trying to clutch to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/billy-tried-to-imagine-the-birth-of-cyril-s-wife-s-baby-it-would/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Dusk was falling quickly. It was just after 7 P.M., and the month was October.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/dusk-was-falling-quickly-it-was-just-after-7-p-m-and-the-month-was/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“People talk about nightfall, or night falling, or dusk falling, and it’s never seemed right to me. Perhaps they once meant befalling. As in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/people-talk-about-nightfall-or-night-falling-or-dusk-falling-and-it-s/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [“She wanted to stay focused, one thing following sensibly upon another. There were moments when she wasn't talking so much as fading into time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo-falling-man/she-wanted-to-stay-focused-one-thing-following-sensibly-upon-another/) Don DeLillo Falling Man > [“He picks up speed and seems to lose his gangliness, the slouchy funk of hormones and unbelonging and all the stammering things that seal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo-underworld/he-picks-up-speed-and-seems-to-lose-his-gangliness-the-slouchy-funk/) Don Delillo Underworld > ['Winter's Bone' really suited having a lower budget. It would be so hard rolling into a rural setting, a place where people are poor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/winter-s-bone-really-suited-having-a-lower-budget-it-would-be-so-hard/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [I loved Jennifer Lawrence's performance in 'Winter's Bone.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-collins/i-loved-jennifer-lawrence-s-performance-in-winter-s-bone/) [Lily Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-collins/) > [I've bumped into at least three people in town who all insist 'Winter's Bone' is about them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-woodrell/i-ve-bumped-into-at-least-three-people-in-town-who-all-insist-winter/) [Daniel Woodrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-woodrell/) > [The protagonist in 'Winter's Bone' was a really good role for a female. She was strong; she didn't have to conform to something or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/the-protagonist-in-winter-s-bone-was-a-really-good-role-for-a-female/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [I'm an actress that's game for anything. I would love to do a movie like 'Winter's Bone.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eiza-gonzalez/i-m-an-actress-that-s-game-for-anything-i-would-love-to-do-a-movie/) [Eiza Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eiza-gonzalez/) > [When I read Daniel Woodrell's novel 'Winter's Bone,' I was drawn to the characters, the setting, and the sound of the dialog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/when-i-read-daniel-woodrell-s-novel-winter-s-bone-i-was-drawn-to-the/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) ## More by Don DeLillo > [“We all know how the thing we secretly fear is not a secret at all but the open and eternal thing that predicts its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/we-all-know-how-the-thing-we-secretly-fear-is-not-a-secret-at-all-but/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Everything is barely weeks. Everything is days. We have minutes to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/everything-is-barely-weeks-everything-is-days-we-have-minutes-to-live/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The novel is the dream release, the suspension of reality that history needs to escape its own brutal confinements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-novel-is-the-dream-release-the-suspension-of-reality-that-history/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“As I listened I thought a featureless baggy man was striking me in slow motion with a well-polished stone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/as-i-listened-i-thought-a-featureless-baggy-man-was-striking-me-in/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Murray said, 'I don't trust anybody's nostalgia but my own. Nostalgia is a product of dissatisfaction and rage. It´s a settling of grievances between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/murray-said-i-don-t-trust-anybody-s-nostalgia-but-my-own-nostalgia-is/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“She is beginning to think it is possible that all creation is a spurt of blank matter that chances to make an emerald planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/she-is-beginning-to-think-it-is-possible-that-all-creation-is-a-spurt/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Those who have abandoned belief must still believe in us. They are sure that they are right not to believe but they know belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/those-who-have-abandoned-belief-must-still-believe-in-us-they-are/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“The plane had lost power in all three engines, dropped from thirty-four thousand feet to twelve thousand feet. Something like four miles. When the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-plane-had-lost-power-in-all-three-engines-dropped-from-thirty/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Grass: I live in a great steel tower that reflects the blazing sun. People catch fire just walking by. The more bodies that pile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/grass-i-live-in-a-great-steel-tower-that-reflects-the-blazing-sun/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“What people discard could make a nation”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/what-people-discard-could-make-a-nation/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Marriage is something we make from available materials. In this sense it’s improvised, it’s almost offhand. Maybe this is why we know so little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/marriage-is-something-we-make-from-available-materials-in-this-sense/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The true life is not reducible to words spoken or written, not by anyone, ever. The true life takes place when we're alone, thinking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-true-life-is-not-reducible-to-words-spoken-or-written-not-by/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [I've come to think of Europe as a hardcover book, America as the paperback version.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/i-ve-come-to-think-of-europe-as-a-hardcover-book-america-as-the/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [There is a set of balances and rhythms to a novel that we can't experience in real life. So I think there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-is-a-set-of-balances-and-rhythms-to-a-novel-that-we-can-t/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“There is no lie in war or preparation of war that can't be defended. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-is-no-lie-in-war-or-preparation-of-war-that-can-t-be-defended/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) [Explore all 699 Don DeLillo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) ## More Autumn quotes > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [The American spring is by no means so agreeable as the American autumn; both move with faltering step, and slow; but this lingering pace,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/the-american-spring-is-by-no-means-so-agreeable-as-the-american/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [“Flowers that had bloomed brilliant from spring through autumn blackened under the killing frost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/flowers-that-had-bloomed-brilliant-from-spring-through-autumn/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [“FALL I've never liked orange not even a hint of yellow though that doesn't mean I'm derange, you know. but it's still a riddle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kynna-claire/fall-i-ve-never-liked-orange-not-even-a-hint-of-yellow-though-that/) Kynna Claire > [The trees change their voices in autumn as well as their shapes. No longer do they whisper to one another in muffled tones as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patience-strong/the-trees-change-their-voices-in-autumn-as-well-as-their-shapes-no/) [Patience Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patience-strong/) > [The measured blood beats out the year's delay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/the-measured-blood-beats-out-the-year-s-delay/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last for ever. Even on the most beautiful days in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-crickets-felt-it-was-their-duty-to-warn-everybody-that-summertime/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-found-himself-wondering-at-times-especially-in-the-autumn-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Easter blessings All life’s sacrifices like autumn leaves awaken our senses and power to love and be whole Our Mother Earth, Our Father Sky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramon-ravenswood/easter-blessings-all-life-s-sacrifices-like-autumn-leaves-awaken-our/) [Ramon Ravenswood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramon-ravenswood/) > [The lush green of the fields became a rich gold that swayed sturdily under the wind and fell at last before the hands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/the-lush-green-of-the-fields-became-a-rich-gold-that-swayed-sturdily/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [The ascent of any route begins, in dreams at least, the autumn before. Our minds ring, involuntarily, with the alluring names of mountains, aiguilles,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-rebuffat/the-ascent-of-any-route-begins-in-dreams-at-least-the-autumn-before/) [Gaston Rebuffat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-rebuffat/) > [“Autumn eats its leaf out of my hand: we are friends. From the nuts we shell time and we teach it to walk: then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/autumn-eats-its-leaf-out-of-my-hand-we-are-friends-from-the-nuts-we/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [While cares will drop off like autumn leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/while-cares-will-drop-off-like-autumn-leaves/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [We must learn to do economic work from all who know how, no matter who they are. We must esteem them as teachers, learning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/we-must-learn-to-do-economic-work-from-all-who-know-how-no-matter-who/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) [Browse all 1,210 Autumn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autumn/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Something about the time of year depressed him deeply. Overcast skies and cutting wind, leaves falling, dusk falling, dark too soon, night flying down before you are ready. It's a terror. It's a bareness of the soul. He hears the rustle of nuns. Here comes winter in the bone. We've set it loose on the land. There must be some song or poem, some folk magic we can use to ease this fear. Skelly Bone Pete. Here it is in the landscape and sky. We've set it loose. We've opened up the ground and here it is. He took Interstate 45 south. He didn't want them to kill Leon. 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