--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And except on a certain kind of winter…" description: "\"“And except on a certain kind of winter evening—six-thirty in the Seventies, say, already dark and bitter with a wind off the river, when I would be wa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7f/joan-didion-497_cities_and-except-on-a-certain-kind-of-winter-e_2741360.jpg" --- # And except on a certain kind of winter evening—six-thirty… ![“And except on a certain kind of winter evening—six-thirty in the Seventies, say, already dark and bitter with a wind off the river, when I would be walking very fast toward a bus and would look in the bright windows of brownstones and see cooks working in clean kitchens and and imagine women…” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7f/joan-didion-497_cities_and-except-on-a-certain-kind-of-winter-e_2741360.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7f/joan-didion-497_cities_and-except-on-a-certain-kind-of-winter-e_2741360.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7f/joan-didion-497_cities_and-except-on-a-certain-kind-of-winter-e_2741360.jpg) > ““And except on a certain kind of winter evening—six-thirty in the Seventies, say, already dark and bitter with a wind off the river, when I would be walking very fast toward a bus and would look in the bright windows of brownstones and see cooks working in clean kitchens and and imagine women lighting candles on the floor above and beautiful children being bathed on the floor above that—except on nights like those, I never felt poor; I had the feeling that if I needed money I could always get it.”” [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He reflects on feeling secure that money would always be available during certain evenings. **In simple terms:** He felt assured of money on specific nights. Key Takeaway Acknowledge moments of perceived security. Themes economic anxiety memory urban life Mood introspective nostalgic Type reflective philosophical When to use this quote - budgeting - nighttime routines Key Concepts psychology socioeconomics Questions to Reflect On - When do you feel financially safe? - How do memories shape financial confidence? A Different Perspective Security may be illusory. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Felt Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-poor-3030220/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [New york](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-york/) [Nights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nights/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Seventies Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seventies-say-3030221/) [Thirty Seventies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirty-seventies-3030222/) [Winter Evening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winter-evening-1112153/) ## Related quotes > [When people say, 'Your music was the music of the Seventies,' I say, 'So was discoteque.' The Seventies was also the highest peak of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-beckley/when-people-say-your-music-was-the-music-of-the-seventies-i-say-so/) [Gerry Beckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-beckley/) > [Never in the history of the world have so many people been so rich; never in the history of the world have so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/never-in-the-history-of-the-world-have-so-many-people-been-so-rich/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [My mom always brought home a present once a week for all of us. We never felt like we ever needed anything. We never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muggsy-bogues/my-mom-always-brought-home-a-present-once-a-week-for-all-of-us-we/) [Muggsy Bogues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muggsy-bogues/) > [“As a child in poverty you never know that you're poor, the slums are the slums. They're home. They're what is. So I'd never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lawrence/as-a-child-in-poverty-you-never-know-that-you-re-poor-the-slums-are/) [Mark Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lawrence/) > [I never felt poor. Our family euphemism was that we were broke, which I think psychologically gave you a different feeling. There were people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-r-lansdale/i-never-felt-poor-our-family-euphemism-was-that-we-were-broke-which-i/) [Joe R. Lansdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-r-lansdale/) > [On a lone winter evening, when the frost Has wrought a silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/on-a-lone-winter-evening-when-the-frost-has-wrought-a-silence/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [“I, who am perpetually making notes in the margin of my mind for some final statement, make this mark, waiting for some winter's evening.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/i-who-am-perpetually-making-notes-in-the-margin-of-my-mind-for-some/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [The winter evening settles down With smell of steaks in passageways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-winter-evening-settles-down-with-smell-of-steaks-in-passageways-2/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Never are voices so beautiful as on a winter's evening, when dusk almost hides the body, and they seem to issue from nothingness with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/never-are-voices-so-beautiful-as-on-a-winter-s-evening-when-dusk/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [The winter evening settles down With smell of steaks in passageways. Six o'clock. The burnt-out ends of smoky days. And now a gusty shower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-winter-evening-settles-down-with-smell-of-steaks-in-passageways/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What does it cost to lose those weeks, that light, the very nights in the year preferred over all others? Can you evade the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/what-does-it-cost-to-lose-those-weeks-that-light-the-very-nights-in/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Those nights lying alone are not discontinuous with this cold hectic dawn. It is who I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-carson/those-nights-lying-alone-are-not-discontinuous-with-this-cold-hectic/) [Anne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-carson/) > [“Night: and once again, the nightly grapple with death, the room shaking with daemonic orchestras, the snatches of fearful sleep, the voices outside the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-lowry/night-and-once-again-the-nightly-grapple-with-death-the-room-shaking/) [Malcolm Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-lowry/) > [“After nine nights must come ten and every desperate meeting only leaves you desperate for another. There is never enough to eat, never enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/after-nine-nights-must-come-ten-and-every-desperate-meeting-only/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) ## More by Joan Didion > [To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-shift-the-structure-of-a-sentence-alters-the-meaning-of-that/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I work every day. Sometimes I don't accomplish anything every day, but if I don't work every day, I get depressed and get afraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-work-every-day-sometimes-i-don-t-accomplish-anything-every-day-but/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Style is character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/style-is-character/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [California is a place in which a boom mentality and a sense of Chekhovian loss meet in uneasy suspension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/california-is-a-place-in-which-a-boom-mentality-and-a-sense-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I went because I was interested in the alchemy of issues.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-went-because-i-was-interested-in-the-alchemy-of-issues/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/why-did-i-write-it-down-in-order-to-remember-of-course-but-exactly/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I no longer want reminders of what was, what got broken, what got lost, what got wasted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-no-longer-want-reminders-of-what-was-what-got-broken-what-got-lost/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [My mother 'gave teas' the way other mothers breathed. Her own mother 'gave teas.' All of their friends 'gave teas,' each involving butter cookies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/my-mother-gave-teas-the-way-other-mothers-breathed-her-own-mother/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I'm not very interested in people. I recognize it in myself - there is a basic indifference toward people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-m-not-very-interested-in-people-i-recognize-it-in-myself-there-is-a/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Was there ever in anyone's life span a point free in time, devoid of memory, a point when choice was any more than sum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/was-there-ever-in-anyone-s-life-span-a-point-free-in-time-devoid-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Research to date has shown that, like many other stressors, grief frequently leads to changes in the endocrine, immune, autonomic nervous, and cardiovascular systems;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/research-to-date-has-shown-that-like-many-other-stressors-grief/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“By the end of the week she was thinking constantly about where her body stopped and the air began about the exact point in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/by-the-end-of-the-week-she-was-thinking-constantly-about-where-her/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I just can't see the upside in this," I heard myself say by way of explanation. Later he said that if John had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-just-can-t-see-the-upside-in-this-i-heard-myself-say-by-way-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [ I read so ravenously that I would read through whole categories. I was crazy about reading biographies. \[...\] I think biographies are very urgent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-read-so-ravenously-that-i-would-read-through-whole-categories-i-was/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [To those of us who remained committed mainly to the exploration of moral distinctions and ambiguities, the feminist analysis may have seemed a particularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-those-of-us-who-remained-committed-mainly-to-the-exploration-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Explore all 515 Joan Didion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ## More Cities quotes > [Public infrastructure around the world is facing unprecedented stress, with hurricanes, cyclones, floods and forest fires all increasing in frequency and intensity. It's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/public-infrastructure-around-the-world-is-facing-unprecedented-stress/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [Surely, if Mother Nature had been consulted, she would never have consented to building a city in New Orleans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-zuckerman/surely-if-mother-nature-had-been-consulted-she-would-never-have/) [Mortimer Zuckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-zuckerman/) > [Cities are 2% of the earth's crust, but they are 50% of the world's population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-ratti/cities-are-2-of-the-earth-s-crust-but-they-are-50-of-the-world-s/) [Carlo Ratti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-ratti/) > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [All Germany was in turmoil. Revolutionaries seized power in the cities of Munich, Hanover and Cologne. One regional German government after another was toppled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cross-giblin/all-germany-was-in-turmoil-revolutionaries-seized-power-in-the-cities/) [James Cross Giblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cross-giblin/) > [Nice is a city of ghosts and specters, but I hope not to become one of them right away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-modiano/nice-is-a-city-of-ghosts-and-specters-but-i-hope-not-to-become-one-of/) [Patrick Modiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-modiano/) > [I know of not one Republican candidate that would not appear publicly with Mitt Romney and I know many Democrats that don't even want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-sessions/i-know-of-not-one-republican-candidate-that-would-not-appear-publicly/) [Pete Sessions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-sessions/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [We will neglect our cities to our peril, for in neglecting them we neglect the nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/we-will-neglect-our-cities-to-our-peril-for-in-neglecting-them-we/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [I didn't know the city at all, but I was so happy to be in New York I cried. I was so excited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-gerwig/i-didn-t-know-the-city-at-all-but-i-was-so-happy-to-be-in-new-york-i/) [Greta Gerwig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-gerwig/) > [Outside of Paris, there is no hope for the cultured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/outside-of-paris-there-is-no-hope-for-the-cultured/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Vienna is a handsome, lively city, and pleases me exceedingly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-chopin/vienna-is-a-handsome-lively-city-and-pleases-me-exceedingly/) [Frederic Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-chopin/) > [“We have grace of strength to work, to clear our cities of any dirt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-have-grace-of-strength-to-work-to-clear-our-cities-of-any-dirt/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I was too tired to think. I merely felt the town as a unique unreality. What was it? I knew -- the moon's picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-too-tired-to-think-i-merely-felt-the-town-as-a-unique-unreality/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 7,153 Cities quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And except on a certain kind of winter evening—six-thirty in the Seventies, say, already dark and bitter with a wind off the river, when I would be walking very fast toward a bus and would look in the bright windows of brownstones and see cooks working in clean kitchens and and imagine women lighting candles on the floor above and beautiful children being bathed on the floor above that—except on nights like those, I never felt poor; I had the feeling that if I needed money I could always get it.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/and-except-on-a-certain-kind-of-winter-evening-six-thirty-in-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cities" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/and-except-on-a-certain-kind-of-winter-evening-six-thirty-in-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7f/joan-didion-497_cities_and-except-on-a-certain-kind-of-winter-e_2741360.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7f/joan-didion-497_cities_and-except-on-a-certain-kind-of-winter-e_2741360.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7f/joan-didion-497_cities_and-except-on-a-certain-kind-of-winter-e_2741360.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And except on a certain kind of winter evening—six-thirty in the Seventies, say, already dark and bitter…” — Joan Didion", "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": "Joan Didion", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“And except on a certain kind...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/and-except-on-a-certain-kind-of-winter-evening-six-thirty-in-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/and-except-on-a-certain-kind-of-winter-evening-six-thirty-in-the/#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 } } ] } ```