--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We were both satellites orbiting Denny’s…" description: "\"“We were both satellites orbiting Denny’s sun, struggling for gravitational supremacy. Of course, she had the advantage of her tongue and her thumbs, a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/garth-stein-1965_devotion_we-were-both-satellites-orbiting-denny-s_2734115.png" --- # We were both satellites orbiting Denny’s sun, struggling… ![“We were both satellites orbiting Denny’s sun, struggling for gravitational supremacy. Of course, she had the advantage of her tongue and her thumbs, and when I watched her kiss and fondle him sometimes she would glance at me and wink as if to gloat: Look at my thumbs! See what they can do!” quote by Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/garth-stein-1965_devotion_we-were-both-satellites-orbiting-denny-s_2734115.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/garth-stein-1965_devotion_we-were-both-satellites-orbiting-denny-s_2734115.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/garth-stein-1965_devotion_we-were-both-satellites-orbiting-denny-s_2734115.png) > ““We were both satellites orbiting Denny’s sun, struggling for gravitational supremacy. Of course, she had the advantage of her tongue and her thumbs, and when I watched her kiss and fondle him sometimes she would glance at me and wink as if to gloat: Look at my thumbs! See what they can do!”” [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Two people compete for influence, using subtle power like language and gestures, revealing relational dynamics. **In simple terms:** Competing for influence through subtle cues. Key Takeaway Notice how small actions affect relationships. Themes power communication relationships Mood reflective analytical Type literary insightful When to use this quote - romantic tension - workplace dynamics Key Concepts social hierarchy nonverbal cues Questions to Reflect On - How do you assert influence? - What subtle signals do you use? A Different Perspective May exaggerate metaphorical language. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Devotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devotion/) [Dogs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dogs/) [Orbiting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orbiting-454049/) [Orbiting Denny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orbiting-denny-2976282/) [Satellites Orbiting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satellites-orbiting-2976283/) [Thumbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thumbs/) [Thumbs Watched](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thumbs-watched-2976285/) [Tongue Thumbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tongue-thumbs-2976284/) ## Related quotes > [Using a dog as a narrator has limitations and it has advantages. The limitations are that a dog cannot speak. A dog has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/using-a-dog-as-a-narrator-has-limitations-and-it-has-advantages-the/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [When I return to the world, I will be a man. I will walk among you. I will lick my lips with my small,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/when-i-return-to-the-world-i-will-be-a-man-i-will-walk-among-you-i/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [Those monkey-thumbs were meant for dogs. Give me my thumbs, you fu\*\*ing monkeys!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/those-monkey-thumbs-were-meant-for-dogs-give-me-my-thumbs-you-fu-ing/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [“I'm just a guy on a planet, orbiting a sun, surrounded by a vast space extending in every direction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-uyttebrouck/i-m-just-a-guy-on-a-planet-orbiting-a-sun-surrounded-by-a-vast-space/) [Paul Uyttebrouck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-uyttebrouck/) > [In less than a hundred years, we have found a new way to think of ourselves. From sitting at the center of the universe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/in-less-than-a-hundred-years-we-have-found-a-new-way-to-think-of/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [“The astronaut in his technical and complex machine, effortlessly orbiting the earth, alone and weightless in the emptiness of space, is the perfect symbol…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-batchelor/the-astronaut-in-his-technical-and-complex-machine-effortlessly/) [Stephen Batchelor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-batchelor/) > [“Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the-2/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [We are just a speck, on a speck, orbiting a speck, in the corner of a speck, in the middle of nowhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/we-are-just-a-speck-on-a-speck-orbiting-a-speck-in-the-corner-of-a/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [“They would continue to live in New Tiamaat, orbiting Crucible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-reynolds/they-would-continue-to-live-in-new-tiamaat-orbiting-crucible/) [Alastair Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-reynolds/) > [“You’ve been orbiting my life like a minor planet — no atmosphere, no gravity, just enough proximity to feel important without ever being relevant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niedria-d-kenny/you-ve-been-orbiting-my-life-like-a-minor-planet-no-atmosphere-no/) [Niedria D. Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niedria-d-kenny/) > [Well, the ultimate fantasy for us is to have a cruise ship in orbit, maybe around the year 2015. A cruise ship implies that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bigelow/well-the-ultimate-fantasy-for-us-is-to-have-a-cruise-ship-in-orbit/) [Robert Bigelow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bigelow/) > [I think after orbiting for a while and looking at the surface, I think the natural tendency is to want to experience it, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunita-williams/i-think-after-orbiting-for-a-while-and-looking-at-the-surface-i-think/) [Sunita Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunita-williams/) > [“Ansel, I'm not the sun, stop orbiting and get in here.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-cremer/ansel-i-m-not-the-sun-stop-orbiting-and-get-in-here/) [Andrea Cremer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-cremer/) > [“In my mind, we were two asteroids orbiting around each other. I thought I was the sun and you were earth, but now I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-j-shen/in-my-mind-we-were-two-asteroids-orbiting-around-each-other-i-thought/) [L.J. Shen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-j-shen/) > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) ## More by Garth Stein > [What I want now is what I've always wanted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/what-i-want-now-is-what-i-ve-always-wanted/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [“Man's closest relative is not the chimpanzee, as the TV people believe, but is, in fact, the dog. "Enzo" I admire the female sex.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/man-s-closest-relative-is-not-the-chimpanzee-as-the-tv-people-believe/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [“There is no dishonor in losing the race, Don said. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose. ~p 227”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/there-is-no-dishonor-in-losing-the-race-don-said-there-is-only/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [It’s so hard to communicate because there are so many moving parts. There’s presentation and there’s interpretation and they’re so dependent on each other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/it-s-so-hard-to-communicate-because-there-are-so-many-moving-parts/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [“This is what I love to do: I love to run through a field of wet grass that has not been mowed recently, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/this-is-what-i-love-to-do-i-love-to-run-through-a-field-of-wet-grass/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [There is no dishonor in losing the race. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/there-is-no-dishonor-in-losing-the-race-there-is-only-dishonor-in-not/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [In racing, they say that your car goes where your eyes go. The driver who cannot tear his eyes away from the wall as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/in-racing-they-say-that-your-car-goes-where-your-eyes-go-the-driver/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [When I return to the world, I will be a man. I will walk among you. I will lick my lips with my small,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/when-i-return-to-the-world-i-will-be-a-man-i-will-walk-among-you-i/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [My soul has learned what it came to learn, and all the other things are just things. We can't have everything we want. Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/my-soul-has-learned-what-it-came-to-learn-and-all-the-other-things/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [I hear hundreds of years of life. I hear wind and rain and fire and beetles. I hear the seasons changing and birds and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/i-hear-hundreds-of-years-of-life-i-hear-wind-and-rain-and-fire-and/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [“What I have always liked best is when he talks about having no memory. No memory of things he'd done just a second before.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/what-i-have-always-liked-best-is-when-he-talks-about-having-no-memory/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [“Know who is driving next to you. Any problems that may occur have ultimately been caused by you, because you are responsible for where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/know-who-is-driving-next-to-you-any-problems-that-may-occur-have/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [“Pretend you are a dog like me and listen to other people rather than steal their stories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/pretend-you-are-a-dog-like-me-and-listen-to-other-people-rather-than/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [That which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/that-which-we-manifest-is-before-us-we-are-the-creators-of-our-own/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [The race is long. It is better to drive within oneself and finish the race behind the other than it is to drive too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/the-race-is-long-it-is-better-to-drive-within-oneself-and-finish-the/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) [Explore all 187 Garth Stein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) ## More Devotion quotes > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Devotion required by the Gita is no soft-hearted effusiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/devotion-required-by-the-gita-is-no-soft-hearted-effusiveness/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [In freedom can be found many devotions: a devotion to love, a desire to believe, a willingness to be happy, a perseverance to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-freedom-can-be-found-many-devotions-a-devotion-to-love-a-desire-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can remember coming downstairs before school every day and my mom would be reading her Bible and doing her devotion and praying. Both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-fisher/i-can-remember-coming-downstairs-before-school-every-day-and-my-mom/) [Mike Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-fisher/) > [I have fallen in love with you my angel. I sought nothing of you but only to see that dazzling smile of yours once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahmoud-el-hallab/i-have-fallen-in-love-with-you-my-angel-i-sought-nothing-of-you-but/) [Mahmoud El Hallab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahmoud-el-hallab/) > [The discipline of daily devotion to God undergirds decisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-louis-cole/the-discipline-of-daily-devotion-to-god-undergirds-decisions/) [Edwin Louis Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-louis-cole/) > [I’d never known it was possible to love as he did— with complete devotion yet devoid of promises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-aguirre/i-d-never-known-it-was-possible-to-love-as-he-did-with-complete/) [Ann Aguirre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-aguirre/) > [Every Holy Mass, heard with devotion, produces in our souls marvelous effects, abundant spiritual and material graces which we, ourselves, do not know...It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/every-holy-mass-heard-with-devotion-produces-in-our-souls-marvelous/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [Daily simple, sincere, and mighty prayers lift our lives to a higher spiritual altitude. In our prayers we praise God, give thanks to Him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/daily-simple-sincere-and-mighty-prayers-lift-our-lives-to-a-higher/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [True love is like religion. It is full of devotion and free of doubt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/true-love-is-like-religion-it-is-full-of-devotion-and-free-of-doubt/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [Never despise a drink because it is easy to make and/or uses commercial mixes. Unquestioning devotion to authenticity is, in any department of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley-amis/never-despise-a-drink-because-it-is-easy-to-make-and-or-uses/) [Kingsley Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley-amis/) > [“It didn’t break the trance. She wasn’t sure that anything could, and briefly wondered if they’d stay like this until flesh rotted away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashton-morgan/it-didn-t-break-the-trance-she-wasn-t-sure-that-anything-could-and/) [Ashton Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashton-morgan/) > [“Godliness is a devotion to God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/godliness-is-a-devotion-to-god/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Devotion is when your involvement with life is so absolute that you yourself do not matter anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaggi-vasudev/devotion-is-when-your-involvement-with-life-is-so-absolute-that-you/) [Jaggi Vasudev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaggi-vasudev/) > [The general public have a warped view of the speed at which an investigation proceeds. They like to imagine tense conversations going on behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-aaronovitch/the-general-public-have-a-warped-view-of-the-speed-at-which-an/) [Ben Aaronovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-aaronovitch/) [Browse all 1,481 Devotion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devotion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We were both satellites orbiting Denny’s sun, struggling for gravitational supremacy. Of course, she had the advantage of her tongue and her thumbs, and when I watched her kiss and fondle him sometimes she would glance at me and wink as if to gloat: Look at my thumbs! 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