--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For several seconds, they stand there…" description: "\"“For several seconds, they stand there, ...just four feet apart now, but separated by a thick granite counter, by fifty years and two fully lived lives..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/jess-walter-2228_quote_for-several-seconds-they-stand-there-jus_1385573.jpg" --- # For several seconds, they stand there, ...just four feet… ![“For several seconds, they stand there, ...just four feet apart now, but separated by a thick granite counter, by fifty years and two fully lived lives. No one speaks. No one breathes.” quote by Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/jess-walter-2228_quote_for-several-seconds-they-stand-there-jus_1385573.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/jess-walter-2228_quote_for-several-seconds-they-stand-there-jus_1385573.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64c/jess-walter-2228_quote_for-several-seconds-they-stand-there-jus_1385573.jpg) > ““For several seconds, they stand there, ...just four feet apart now, but separated by a thick granite counter, by fifty years and two fully lived lives. No one speaks. No one breathes.”” [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A brief, tense pause highlights how time and experience can separate people despite physical closeness. **In simple terms:** Physical closeness doesn't erase emotional distance. Key Takeaway Recognize unseen gaps in relationships. Themes loneliness time relationships Mood melancholic reflective Type literary dramatic When to use this quote - family gatherings - first dates - reunions Key Concepts existentialism human connection Questions to Reflect On - How do you bridge emotional gaps? - What unspoken histories affect your interactions? A Different Perspective The moment may be fleeting, but the underlying tension can linger. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apart Separated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apart-separated-569152/) [Feet Apart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feet-apart-3209233/) [Seconds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seconds/) [Seconds Stand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seconds-stand-4812992/) [Separated Granite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/separated-granite-4812993/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) ## Related quotes > [“HANDS UP, FEET APART, MOUTHS SHUT. 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When that drone shot carried us through… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aisha-hinds/i-became-an-instant-fan-of-the-show-underground-seconds-into-the/) [Aisha Hinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aisha-hinds/) > [Breakaway goals are fun. When you score a quick one in front of the net, it just happens, but during a breakaway, there's about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-crosby/breakaway-goals-are-fun-when-you-score-a-quick-one-in-front-of-the/) [Sidney Crosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-crosby/) > [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. It might be two seconds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/talented-people-can-predict-with-great-accuracy-what-s-about-to/) [Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/) ## More by Jess Walter > [For many people it's Facebook, or sports on TV, whatever it is. I have my own demons that I battle. But whatever they are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/for-many-people-it-s-facebook-or-sports-on-tv-whatever-it-is-i-have/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [Without sounding overly sentimental about the process, I'd say trying to describe how you tend to conceive of a book is like describing how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/without-sounding-overly-sentimental-about-the-process-i-d-say-trying/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [“What person who has enjoyed life could possibly think one is enough?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/what-person-who-has-enjoyed-life-could-possibly-think-one-is-enough/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [For me, movies and television are interesting because they are the dominant storytelling form of our time. 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It was like prying a magnet off steel, but he did it: he turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/and-pasquale-forced-himself-to-look-away-from-her-then-it-was-like/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [I've been simultaneously drawn to and repelled from Hollywood for years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/i-ve-been-simultaneously-drawn-to-and-repelled-from-hollywood-for/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [I cling to the idea that Herman Melville had to work at the end of his career watching ships in a dock, as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/i-cling-to-the-idea-that-herman-melville-had-to-work-at-the-end-of/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [I come from a newspaper background, so maybe I'm attuned to current events.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/i-come-from-a-newspaper-background-so-maybe-i-m-attuned-to-current/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [Maybe every couple lived in the gaps between conversations, unable to say the important things for fear they had already been said, or couldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/maybe-every-couple-lived-in-the-gaps-between-conversations-unable-to/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [“How do you think it should end?” Young Pasquale considered the question. “Well, instead of going back to America during the war, he could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/how-do-you-think-it-should-end-young-pasquale-considered-the-question/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) [Explore all 177 Jess Walter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) ## More Seconds quotes > [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. 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Because, if you keep on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diem-brown/no-matter-how-organized-your-ducks-are-life-can-turn-on-2-seconds-so/) [Diem Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diem-brown/) > [I never root for a failure. I learned that when we were on 'Felicity.' There was a show that failed on the lot, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-grunberg/i-never-root-for-a-failure-i-learned-that-when-we-were-on-felicity/) [Greg Grunberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-grunberg/) > [Our mind is a flowing something. It oscillates. Concentration is merely the continuous return to the same problem from a million angles… So my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-laubach/our-mind-is-a-flowing-something-it-oscillates-concentration-is-merely/) [Frank Laubach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-laubach/) > [Paul Taylor's 'Offenbach Overtures' has lots of zip and charm, and its pair of dueling soldiers in red, who end up starry-eyed about each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/paul-taylor-s-offenbach-overtures-has-lots-of-zip-and-charm-and-its/) [Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/) > [“The New Year is made up of seconds, and if you don't make good use of even seconds, you won't make good use of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/the-new-year-is-made-up-of-seconds-and-if-you-don-t-make-good-use-of/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [He had one uniform practice, and a very bad one it was, during the time of family worship, and just three or four seconds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hogg/he-had-one-uniform-practice-and-a-very-bad-one-it-was-during-the-time/) [James Hogg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hogg/) > [ How can \[actors\] learn their lines and be honest in front of 30 people and all the lights? 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