--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We were in a middle space then, in a cone…" description: "\"“We were in a middle space then, in a cone of white, father and son moving forward at a certain speed. Side by side, not truly quiet but quiescent, two..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/107/jonathan-lethem-1403_father-and-son_we-were-in-a-middle-space-then-in-a-cone_924877.png" --- # We were in a middle space then, in a cone of white, father… ![“We were in a middle space then, in a cone of white, father and son moving forward at a certain speed. Side by side, not truly quiet but quiescent, two gnarls of human scribble, human cipher, human dream.” quote by Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/107/jonathan-lethem-1403_father-and-son_we-were-in-a-middle-space-then-in-a-cone_924877.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/107/jonathan-lethem-1403_father-and-son_we-were-in-a-middle-space-then-in-a-cone_924877.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/107/jonathan-lethem-1403_father-and-son_we-were-in-a-middle-space-then-in-a-cone_924877.png) > ““We were in a middle space then, in a cone of white, father and son moving forward at a certain speed. Side by side, not truly quiet but quiescent, two gnarls of human scribble, human cipher, human dream.”” [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A vivid scene of a father and son traveling together, suspended in a surreal, quiet yet active space, symbolizing shared human experience and imagination. **In simple terms:** Father and son move together in a quiet, surreal space, representing shared humanity. Key Takeaway Embrace shared journeys and the quiet moments of connection. Themes family journey surrealism humanity imagination Mood reflective poetic introspective Type literary descriptive philosophical When to use this quote - parent-child bonding - creative writing - mindful travel - shared experiences Key Concepts existentialism symbolism narrative perspective Questions to Reflect On - How does shared silence deepen relationships? - What does the “cone of white” symbolize for you? A Different Perspective The description may be too abstract for practical application without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Father and son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father-and-son/) [Moving forward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving-forward/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Side by side](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/side-by-side/) ## Related quotes > [What my work is, is my approach to it. It's the practice. 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I have no middle space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/when-i-m-up-i-m-over-exuberant-when-i-m-down-i-just-wander-round-on/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [Few persons can be made to believe that it is not quite an easy thing to invent a method of secret writing that shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/few-persons-can-be-made-to-believe-that-it-is-not-quite-an-easy-thing/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“Eliminate the concept of division by class, skills, race, income, and nationality. We are all equals with a common pulse to survive. Every human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/eliminate-the-concept-of-division-by-class-skills-race-income-and/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [“We become increasingly aware that the human dream, the human drama, with all its questionable, damaging, and often malevolent intention is not real life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-goddard/we-become-increasingly-aware-that-the-human-dream-the-human-drama/) [Donna Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-goddard/) > [To meet God or Medusa face to face, even if it means risking everything human in myself. I dream of a hard and brutal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/to-meet-god-or-medusa-face-to-face-even-if-it-means-risking/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“We as human being do dream & do expect a lot for what we are not entitled but there comes a phase when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-as-human-being-do-dream-do-expect-a-lot-for-what-we-are-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is there some meaning to this life? What purpose lies behind the strife? Whence do we come, where are we bound? These cold questions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/is-there-some-meaning-to-this-life-what-purpose-lies-behind-the/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Every human being has a dream. I think what's special about the American Dream is that it implies, given everything that's happened with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audra-mcdonald/every-human-being-has-a-dream-i-think-what-s-special-about-the/) [Audra McDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audra-mcdonald/) > [To realize the American dream, the most important thing to understand is that it belongs to everybody. It's a human dream. If you understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-saralegui/to-realize-the-american-dream-the-most-important-thing-to-understand/) [Cristina Saralegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-saralegui/) > [This is a universal human dream - that brains, not brawn, will rule - and the fact that America has the world's finest institutions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ignatius/this-is-a-universal-human-dream-that-brains-not-brawn-will-rule-and/) [David Ignatius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ignatius/) > [“There are things that humans cannot stop a human's will, dream, and the change of an era. As long a humans long for freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monkey-d-dragon/there-are-things-that-humans-cannot-stop-a-human-s-will-dream-and-the/) Monkey D. Dragon > [Today at school I will learn to read at once; then tomorrow I will begin to write, and the day after tomorrow to cipher.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-collodi/today-at-school-i-will-learn-to-read-at-once-then-tomorrow-i-will/) [Carlo Collodi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-collodi/) > [Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/ancient-societies-had-anthropomorphic-gods-a-huge-pantheon-expanding/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) ## More by Jonathan Lethem > [It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false beginnings, bluff declarations of arrival to destinations not even glimpsed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of-a-series-of-false-beginnings/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I've been an advocate against the view of the writer as a partitioned genius hanging in conceptual space, or up on a mountain, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-ve-been-an-advocate-against-the-view-of-the-writer-as-a-partitioned/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“I suppose there was never a reason for tearing down a cabin or scrapping a stopped automobile, if you had all those acres.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-suppose-there-was-never-a-reason-for-tearing-down-a-cabin-or/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [Life is fundamentally up for grabs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/life-is-fundamentally-up-for-grabs/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [My heart, to put it more simply, got nostalgic for the present. Always a bad sign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/my-heart-to-put-it-more-simply-got-nostalgic-for-the-present-always-a/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [It's impossible to overstate how my relationship to music forms a preserve for the esoteric or even spiritual aspect of my relationship to cultural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-s-impossible-to-overstate-how-my-relationship-to-music-forms-a/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“If. If Mingus Rude could be kept in this place, kept somehow in Dylan's pocket, in his stinging, smudgy hands, then summer wouldn't give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/if-if-mingus-rude-could-be-kept-in-this-place-kept-somehow-in-dylan-s/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I had always wanted to be a writer who confused genre boundaries and who was read in multiple contexts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-had-always-wanted-to-be-a-writer-who-confused-genre-boundaries-and/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Memory is a rehearsal for a show that never goes on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/memory-is-a-rehearsal-for-a-show-that-never-goes-on/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“There is nothing Tourettic about the New York City subways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/there-is-nothing-tourettic-about-the-new-york-city-subways/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Mingus Rude, Arthur Lomb, Gabriel Stern and Tim Vandertooth, even Aaron K. Doily: Dylan never met anyone who wasn't about to change immediately into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/mingus-rude-arthur-lomb-gabriel-stern-and-tim-vandertooth-even-aaron/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I try to write every day. I don't beat myself up about word counts, or how many hours are ticking by on the clock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-try-to-write-every-day-i-don-t-beat-myself-up-about-word-counts-or/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Enough of this. Does every conversation with you have to be the director's cut? Get out of the car.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/enough-of-this-does-every-conversation-with-you-have-to-be-the/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“The stumbling block will turn out to be the traditional one for students of consciousness: the flashlight is incapable of shining on itself, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/the-stumbling-block-will-turn-out-to-be-the-traditional-one-for/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“May one plead, Your Honor, postmodernism as an involuntary condition?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/may-one-plead-your-honor-postmodernism-as-an-involuntary-condition/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) [Explore all 241 Jonathan Lethem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## More Father and son quotes > [Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/ancient-societies-had-anthropomorphic-gods-a-huge-pantheon-expanding/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [Today at school I will learn to read at once; then tomorrow I will begin to write, and the day after tomorrow to cipher.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-collodi/today-at-school-i-will-learn-to-read-at-once-then-tomorrow-i-will/) [Carlo Collodi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-collodi/) > [When you put a halo on concepts - gender roles, religion, nationality or pride - or you put a halo on any topic -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/when-you-put-a-halo-on-concepts-gender-roles-religion-nationality-or/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [Perhaps host and guest is really the happiest relation for father and son.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/perhaps-host-and-guest-is-really-the-happiest-relation-for-father-and/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [Taking Care Of My Son Is My Top Priority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerrell-flowers/taking-care-of-my-son-is-my-top-priority/) Gerrell Flowers > [Nothing's really changed for me over the years. I like telling stories about people with problems. I can't really put it much simpler than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-buscemi/nothing-s-really-changed-for-me-over-the-years-i-like-telling-stories/) [Steve Buscemi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-buscemi/) > [“The good son imitates the father with such passion that father and son become each other's chief stumbling block - a situation the indifferent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-girard/the-good-son-imitates-the-father-with-such-passion-that-father-and/) [René Girard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-girard/) > [Frank Capra was a prop man, I think. John Ford was a prop man. It was a little bit of a father and son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-ford-coppola/frank-capra-was-a-prop-man-i-think-john-ford-was-a-prop-man-it-was-a/) [Francis Ford Coppola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-ford-coppola/) > [My dad - I mean, we've had our ups and downs, you know, just like any father and son probably has. But, you know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brady-jandreau/my-dad-i-mean-we-ve-had-our-ups-and-downs-you-know-just-like-any/) [Brady Jandreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brady-jandreau/) > [“Dad?' 'Yeah?' 'Could you tell me a story?' 'Sure.' 'A good one.' 'As opposed to all the boring ones I tell.' 'Right.' I tucked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/dad-yeah-could-you-tell-me-a-story-sure-a-good-one-as-opposed-to-all/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“He was walking down a narrow street in Beirut, Lebanon, the air thick with the smell of Arabic coffee and grilled chicken. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-haynes/he-was-walking-down-a-narrow-street-in-beirut-lebanon-the-air-thick/) Gary Haynes > [I haven't done a lot of things in my career that my kids can watch, because they are 8, 6 and 3, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blair-underwood/i-haven-t-done-a-lot-of-things-in-my-career-that-my-kids-can-watch/) [Blair Underwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blair-underwood/) > [“Every man can provide provision to his children if he is committed and hardworking but a man who fails to enter into the depths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fahad-basheer/every-man-can-provide-provision-to-his-children-if-he-is-committed/) [Fahad Basheer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fahad-basheer/) > [“The call of Jesus teaches us that our relation to the world has been built on an illusion. All the time we thought was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/the-call-of-jesus-teaches-us-that-our-relation-to-the-world-has-been/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [ \[My father\] loved me tenderly and shyly from a distance, and later on took a naive pride in seeing my name in print. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/my-father-loved-me-tenderly-and-shyly-from-a-distance-and-later-on/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) [Browse all 145 Father and son quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father-and-son/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We were in a middle space then, in a cone of white, father and son moving forward at a certain speed. 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