--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I said nothing for a time, just ran my…" description: "\"I said nothing for a time, just ran my fingertips along the edge of the human-shaped emptiness that had been left inside me.\" — Haruki Murakami" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/haruki-murakami-21_emptiness_i-said-nothing-for-a-time-just-ran-my-fi_2235425.jpg" --- # I said nothing for a time, just ran my fingertips along… ![“I said nothing for a time, just ran my fingertips along the edge of the human-shaped emptiness that had been left inside me.” quote by Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/haruki-murakami-21_emptiness_i-said-nothing-for-a-time-just-ran-my-fi_2235425.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/haruki-murakami-21_emptiness_i-said-nothing-for-a-time-just-ran-my-fi_2235425.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/haruki-murakami-21_emptiness_i-said-nothing-for-a-time-just-ran-my-fi_2235425.jpg) > “I said nothing for a time, just ran my fingertips along the edge of the human-shaped emptiness that had been left inside me.” [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator describes an inner void, feeling detached and empty after loss, trying to sense the lingering absence. **In simple terms:** Feeling empty inside after loss. Key Takeaway Acknowledge emptiness and seek connection. Themes loneliness loss self‑reflection Mood melancholic introspective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - grief counseling - creative writing - mindfulness practice - personal journaling Key Concepts existential emptiness emotional numbness Questions to Reflect On - What does the “human‑shaped emptiness” represent for you? - How can you gently fill that space? 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If you LOVE to run with the kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-lindgren/we-didn-t-keep-track-of-how-many-miles-we-ran-back-then-we-just-ran/) [Gerry Lindgren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-lindgren/) ## More by Haruki Murakami > [I always feel like I'm struggling to become someone else. 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Some people make huge model boats out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/some-people-get-a-kick-out-of-reading-railway-timetables-and-that-s/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When the time comes, everybody’s got to end up where they belong. Only me, I didn’t have a place to call my own. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-the-time-comes-everybody-s-got-to-end-up-where-they-belong-only/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“You let something out of the bag before yourself knew what it was all about”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/you-let-something-out-of-the-bag-before-yourself-knew-what-it-was-all/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Explore all 2,928 Haruki Murakami quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## 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 > [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. 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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": "I said nothing for a time, just ran my fingertips along the edge of the human-shaped emptiness that had been left inside me.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Haruki Murakami" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-said-nothing-for-a-time-just-ran-my-fingertips-along-the-edge-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Emptiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-said-nothing-for-a-time-just-ran-my-fingertips-along-the-edge-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/haruki-murakami-21_emptiness_i-said-nothing-for-a-time-just-ran-my-fi_2235425.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/haruki-murakami-21_emptiness_i-said-nothing-for-a-time-just-ran-my-fi_2235425.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/haruki-murakami-21_emptiness_i-said-nothing-for-a-time-just-ran-my-fi_2235425.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I said nothing for a time, just ran my fingertips along the edge of the human-shaped emptiness that had been…” — Haruki Murakami", "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": "Haruki Murakami", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I said nothing for a time,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-said-nothing-for-a-time-just-ran-my-fingertips-along-the-edge-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-said-nothing-for-a-time-just-ran-my-fingertips-along-the-edge-of/#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 } } ] } ```