--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I’ll wait for you. Come back. The words…" description: "\"I’ll wait for you. Come back. The words were not meaningless, but they didn’t touch him now. It was clear enough - one person waiting for another was l..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94e/ian-mcewan-494_clear_i-ll-wait-for-you-come-back-the-words-we_2075439.png" --- # I’ll wait for you. Come back. The words were not… ![“I’ll wait for you. Come back. The words were not meaningless, but they didn’t touch him now. It was clear enough - one person waiting for another was like an arithmetical sum, and just as empty of emotion. Waiting. Simply one person doing nothing, over time, while another approached. Waiting was a…” quote by Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94e/ian-mcewan-494_clear_i-ll-wait-for-you-come-back-the-words-we_2075439.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94e/ian-mcewan-494_clear_i-ll-wait-for-you-come-back-the-words-we_2075439.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94e/ian-mcewan-494_clear_i-ll-wait-for-you-come-back-the-words-we_2075439.png) > “I’ll wait for you. Come back. The words were not meaningless, but they didn’t touch him now. It was clear enough - one person waiting for another was like an arithmetical sum, and just as empty of emotion. Waiting. Simply one person doing nothing, over time, while another approached. Waiting was a heavy word.” [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Waiting can feel like an empty calculation, a passive state that lacks emotional connection. **In simple terms:** Waiting feels empty and passive. Key Takeaway Recognize when waiting becomes unproductive. Themes patience emptiness relationships Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - long-distance relationships - waiting for news - anticipation in therapy - delayed gratification Key Concepts existentialism emotional distance Questions to Reflect On - What emotions are you avoiding by waiting? - How can you transform passive waiting into active involvement? A Different Perspective Waiting may mask underlying avoidance of engagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doing nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-nothing/) [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [This is how the entire course of a life can be changed: by doing nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/this-is-how-the-entire-course-of-a-life-can-be-changed-by-doing/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“I’ve been waiting to have you since I knew you existed. But I’ve been waiting for someone like you for ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-ashley/i-ve-been-waiting-to-have-you-since-i-knew-you-existed-but-i-ve-been/) [Kristen Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-ashley/) > [Serenity and inner beauty come when we wait upon God. "Waiting" like that is not merely wasting time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-burrows/serenity-and-inner-beauty-come-when-we-wait-upon-god-waiting-like/) [Eva Burrows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-burrows/) > [“ 'You must've been waiting for someone like me to come along,' I said. I meant, because of the big bed. But Larry looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-merrow/you-must-ve-been-waiting-for-someone-like-me-to-come-along-i-said-i/) [J.L. Merrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-merrow/) > [Waiting. Like it or not, it's a skill all spies have to master eventually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-carter/waiting-like-it-or-not-it-s-a-skill-all-spies-have-to-master/) [Ally Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-carter/) > [“A person waiting for you somewhere is like a match you strike at night in the couuntryside. It may not be able to light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-iturbe/a-person-waiting-for-you-somewhere-is-like-a-match-you-strike-at/) [Antonio Iturbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-iturbe/) > [Your love made it all worth waiting for some like you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-martin/your-love-made-it-all-worth-waiting-for-some-like-you/) [Dean Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-martin/) > [Dear you , I want to see you and waiting for you seems like a thousand years trying to tell you how much I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalya-johnson/dear-you-i-want-to-see-you-and-waiting-for-you-seems-like-a-thousand/) [Natalya Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalya-johnson/) > [Waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought. 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Useless and disappointing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/waiting-for-you-is-like-waiting-for-rain-in-a-drought-useless-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Single Ladies; every man is NOT like the one who did you wrong. Get over him quick. They're many that are waiting for someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/single-ladies-every-man-is-not-like-the-one-who-did-you-wrong-get/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think you realize just how long I've been waiting for someone like you. The lows the highs I've made it throw it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-think-you-realize-just-how-long-i-ve-been-waiting-for-someone/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [That moment when waiting for you is like a decade. Im fucking miss you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yvonne-urlanda/that-moment-when-waiting-for-you-is-like-a-decade-im-fucking-miss-you/) [Yvonne Urlanda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yvonne-urlanda/) ## More by Ian Mcewan > [“As you will see, we do not believe that artists have an obligation to strike up attitudes to the war. Indeed, they are wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-you-will-see-we-do-not-believe-that-artists-have-an-obligation-to/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/you-could-say-that-all-novels-are-spy-novels-and-all-novelists-are/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-ve-never-had-a-moment-s-doubt-i-love-you-i-believe-in-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It is shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-is-shaming-sometimes-how-the-body-will-not-or-cannot-lie-about/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Once, on a walk by a river- Eskdale in low reddish sunlight, with a dusting of snow- his daughter quoted to him an opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/once-on-a-walk-by-a-river-eskdale-in-low-reddish-sunlight-with-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Perhaps it's one of those cases of a microcosm giving you the whole world. 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