--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You had felt idle in this city through…" description: "\"“You had felt idle in this city through which you had paced only to kill time. But the emptiness that you believed yourself confronted with was an illu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/douard-lev-10437_emptiness_you-had-felt-idle-in-this-city-through-w_396194.jpg" --- # You had felt idle in this city through which you had paced… ![“You had felt idle in this city through which you had paced only to kill time. But the emptiness that you believed yourself confronted with was an illusion: you had filled those moments with sensations all the more powerful in that nothing and no one had distracted you from them.” quote by Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/douard-lev-10437_emptiness_you-had-felt-idle-in-this-city-through-w_396194.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/douard-lev-10437_emptiness_you-had-felt-idle-in-this-city-through-w_396194.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/942/douard-lev-10437_emptiness_you-had-felt-idle-in-this-city-through-w_396194.jpg) > ““You had felt idle in this city through which you had paced only to kill time. But the emptiness that you believed yourself confronted with was an illusion: you had filled those moments with sensations all the more powerful in that nothing and no one had distracted you from them.”” [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Idle moments in a city feel empty, but they are filled with powerful sensations when one pays attention. **In simple terms:** Emptiness is an illusion; sensations fill it. Key Takeaway Notice subtle experiences. Themes loneliness perception urban life Mood contemplative melancholic Type literary reflective When to use this quote - travel - daily routines Key Concepts mindfulness existential reflection Questions to Reflect On - What unnoticed sensations enrich your day? - How can you balance awareness with engagement? A Different Perspective Focusing on sensations may distract from deeper connections. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) [Emptiness Believed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness-believed-3564090/) [Felt Idle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-idle-3564089/) [Idle City](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idle-city-3564092/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-emptiness-3564091/) ## Related quotes > [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [I got this emptiness inside that got me fighting for approval because I missed out on my daddy saying, Way to Go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/i-got-this-emptiness-inside-that-got-me-fighting-for-approval-because/) [Lecrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [But what was there to say? Only that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/but-what-was-there-to-say-only-that-there-were-tears-only-that/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [What I was trying to convey there was the kind of waste land that was left after the war. It was a bit like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-martin/what-i-was-trying-to-convey-there-was-the-kind-of-waste-land-that-was/) [George Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-martin/) > [“Only the thirsty knows the real taste of water; only the lonely knows the real weight of emptiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/only-the-thirsty-knows-the-real-taste-of-water-only-the-lonely-knows/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/buddhist-words-such-as-compassion-and-emptiness-don-t-mean-much-until/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“I close my eyes and I let my body shut itself down and I let my mind wander. It wanders to a familiar place.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/i-close-my-eyes-and-i-let-my-body-shut-itself-down-and-i-let-my-mind/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/anyone-whose-goal-is-something-higher-must-expect-someday-to-suffer-2/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“those of little merit would not even have doubts about this doctrine of emptiness. even suspicion that objects are empty wrecks the seeds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aryadeva/those-of-little-merit-would-not-even-have-doubts-about-this-doctrine/) [aryadeva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aryadeva/) > [“ Desolation would not be the proper word to describe his feelings now; it was more the sense of emptiness he imagined he might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shusaku-endo/desolation-would-not-be-the-proper-word-to-describe-his-feelings-now/) [Shusaku Endo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shusaku-endo/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/go-into-emptiness-strike-voids-bypass-what-he-defends-hit-him-where/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [“As we see it, space is possible only when the primordial Being swallows emptiness. Space is born when the Being accepts emptiness, the Nonbeing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/as-we-see-it-space-is-possible-only-when-the-primordial-being/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) ## More by Édouard Levé > [“Once you confessed to someone that you had been very depressed when dining with her several months earlier. She was stunned, discovering her blindness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/once-you-confessed-to-someone-that-you-had-been-very-depressed-when/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“You couldn’t have been said to dance, exactly. Despite the music sounding around you, bodies being carried away by the whirling bass, it didn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-couldn-t-have-been-said-to-dance-exactly-despite-the-music/) [Edouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“Only the living seem incoherent. Death closes the series of events that constitutes their lives. So we resign ourselves to finding a meaning for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/only-the-living-seem-incoherent-death-closes-the-series-of-events/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I am slow to notice when someone mistreats me, it’s always so surprising: evil is somehow unreal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-am-slow-to-notice-when-someone-mistreats-me-it-s-always-so/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“You directed toward yourself a violence that you did not feel toward others. For them you reserved all your patience and tolerance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-directed-toward-yourself-a-violence-that-you-did-not-feel-toward/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I have never attended a nudist funeral.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-have-never-attended-a-nudist-funeral/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“You didn’t identify with happy people, and in your excessiveness you projected onto those who had failed in everything, or succeeded in nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-didn-t-identify-with-happy-people-and-in-your-excessiveness-you/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I want this epitaph engraved on my tombstone: “See you soon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-want-this-epitaph-engraved-on-my-tombstone-see-you-soon/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“In their beginnings, events preserve the potential that they lose in their completion. Desire prolongs itself so long as it is not achieved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/in-their-beginnings-events-preserve-the-potential-that-they-lose-in/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I wonder whether anyone besides old people like riot police.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-wonder-whether-anyone-besides-old-people-like-riot-police/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“You were said to have died of suffering. But there was not as much sadness in you as there is now in those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/you-were-said-to-have-died-of-suffering-but-there-was-not-as-much/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“Only once can I say “I’m dying” without telling a lie. The best day of my life may already be behind me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/only-once-can-i-say-i-m-dying-without-telling-a-lie-the-best-day-of/) [Edouard Leve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“I have never considered sleeping with a nun.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/i-have-never-considered-sleeping-with-a-nun/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“At a public urinal the presence of a neighbor delays my micturition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/at-a-public-urinal-the-presence-of-a-neighbor-delays-my-micturition/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) > [“When I am coming back from a trip, the best part isn’t going through the airport or getting home, but the taxi ride in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douard-lev/when-i-am-coming-back-from-a-trip-the-best-part-isn-t-going-through/) [Édouard Levé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) [Explore all 62 Édouard Levé quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douard-lev/) ## More Emptiness quotes > [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/go-into-emptiness-strike-voids-bypass-what-he-defends-hit-him-where/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“ Desolation would not be the proper word to describe his feelings now; it was more the sense of emptiness he imagined he might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shusaku-endo/desolation-would-not-be-the-proper-word-to-describe-his-feelings-now/) [Shusaku Endo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shusaku-endo/) > [“those of little merit would not even have doubts about this doctrine of emptiness. even suspicion that objects are empty wrecks the seeds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aryadeva/those-of-little-merit-would-not-even-have-doubts-about-this-doctrine/) [aryadeva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aryadeva/) > [Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/anyone-whose-goal-is-something-higher-must-expect-someday-to-suffer-2/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“I close my eyes and I let my body shut itself down and I let my mind wander. It wanders to a familiar place.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/i-close-my-eyes-and-i-let-my-body-shut-itself-down-and-i-let-my-mind/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/buddhist-words-such-as-compassion-and-emptiness-don-t-mean-much-until/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“Only the thirsty knows the real taste of water; only the lonely knows the real weight of emptiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/only-the-thirsty-knows-the-real-taste-of-water-only-the-lonely-knows/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [What I was trying to convey there was the kind of waste land that was left after the war. It was a bit like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-martin/what-i-was-trying-to-convey-there-was-the-kind-of-waste-land-that-was/) [George Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-martin/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [But what was there to say? Only that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/but-what-was-there-to-say-only-that-there-were-tears-only-that/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [I got this emptiness inside that got me fighting for approval because I missed out on my daddy saying, Way to Go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/i-got-this-emptiness-inside-that-got-me-fighting-for-approval-because/) [Lecrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [“As we see it, space is possible only when the primordial Being swallows emptiness. Space is born when the Being accepts emptiness, the Nonbeing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/as-we-see-it-space-is-possible-only-when-the-primordial-being/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) [Browse all 1,374 Emptiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You had felt idle in this city through which you had paced only to kill time. 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