--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When Lee has a certain look on his face…" description: "\"“When Lee has a certain look on his face, eyes kind of amused, mouth small and tight, he finds himself thinking of his father. He believes it is a look..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc2/don-delillo-294_father_when-lee-has-a-certain-look-on-his-face_79288.jpg" --- # When Lee has a certain look on his face, eyes kind of… ![“When Lee has a certain look on his face, eyes kind of amused, mouth small and tight, he finds himself thinking of his father. He believes it is a look his father may have used. It feels like his father. A curious sensation, the look coming upon him, taking hold in an unmistakable way, and then his…” quote by Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc2/don-delillo-294_father_when-lee-has-a-certain-look-on-his-face_79288.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc2/don-delillo-294_father_when-lee-has-a-certain-look-on-his-face_79288.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc2/don-delillo-294_father_when-lee-has-a-certain-look-on-his-face_79288.jpg) > ““When Lee has a certain look on his face, eyes kind of amused, mouth small and tight, he finds himself thinking of his father. He believes it is a look his father may have used. It feels like his father. A curious sensation, the look coming upon him, taking hold in an unmistakable way, and then his old man is here, eerie and forceful and whole, a meeting across worlds.”” [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 fleeting facial expression triggers a vivid, almost physical presence of the speaker's father, blurring the line between memory and present perception. **In simple terms:** A look summons a father's presence. Key Takeaway Physical cues can evoke powerful ancestral connections. Themes memory identity intergenerational connection perception nostalgia psychology Mood reflective wistancholy intimate Type narrative philosophical When to use this quote - reflecting on family while looking at a child - seeing a familiar expression in a stranger - experiencing a sudden recollection of a parent Key Concepts embodied memory visual trigger psychological presence Practical Applications - therapeutic storytelling - creative writing prompts Questions to Reflect On - What facial cues most strongly remind you of a loved one? - How do such moments shape our sense of self? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Father Curious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father-curious-1016395/) [Like Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-father/) [Look Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look-father-421401/) [Old man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-man/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Thinking Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-father-252364/) ## Related quotes > [But my father is a very curious man. If he develops an interest in something, he makes sure that he learns it. And that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jubin-nautiyal/but-my-father-is-a-very-curious-man-if-he-develops-an-interest-in/) [Jubin Nautiyal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jubin-nautiyal/) > [“There are points in time when you grow older than your parents. Or come up on them at least. I look at my father,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-mcnamara/there-are-points-in-time-when-you-grow-older-than-your-parents-or/) [Amy McNamara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-mcnamara/) > [When I look in my father's eyes, man, I know that I made him proud. 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When I had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/french-montana/before-i-had-a-son-i-used-to-look-at-my-father-s-example-he-left-me/) [French Montana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/french-montana/) > [It used to be that a son could look at the father, and pretty much know what life was gonna be like as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clancy-brown/it-used-to-be-that-a-son-could-look-at-the-father-and-pretty-much/) [Clancy Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clancy-brown/) > [“I hear my father's voice faintly, over the telephone, answering for me in a soft drawl. "He's my son." He reaches out his hand,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolee-dean/i-hear-my-father-s-voice-faintly-over-the-telephone-answering-for-me/) [Carolee Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolee-dean/) > [You can never truly enjoy Christmas until you can look up into the Father's face and tell him you have received his Christmas gift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-rice/you-can-never-truly-enjoy-christmas-until-you-can-look-up-into-the/) [John R. Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-rice/) ## 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. 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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. 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [(knitting while on a motorcycle) "For several years she knitted in secret (my father would not approve; she was to concentrate on motorcycling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-zimmermann/knitting-while-on-a-motorcycle-for-several-years-she-knitted-in/) [Elizabeth Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-zimmermann/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [My parents were not musical, and they were not effervescent people; everything was very quiet. 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They were made of kindness, and silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-observed-the-strangeness-of-her-foster-father-s-eyes-they-were/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) [Browse all 19,784 Father quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When Lee has a certain look on his face, eyes kind of amused, mouth small and tight, he finds himself thinking of his father. He believes it is a look his father may have used. It feels like his father. 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