--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No matter how awful it is to be sitting…" description: "\"“No matter how awful it is to be sitting in this Terrible magazine office, and talking to this Circular-saw-voiced West side girl in a dirt- Stiff Mari..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/l-e-sissman-60526_first-time_no-matter-how-awful-it-is-to-be-sitting_1547619.jpg" --- # No matter how awful it is to be sitting in this Terrible… ![“No matter how awful it is to be sitting in this Terrible magazine office, and talking to this Circular-saw-voiced West side girl in a dirt- Stiff Marimekko and lavender glasses, and this Cake-bearded boy in short-rise Levi’s, and hearing The drip and rasp of their tones on the softening Stone of…” quote by L.E. Sissman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/l-e-sissman-60526_first-time_no-matter-how-awful-it-is-to-be-sitting_1547619.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/l-e-sissman-60526_first-time_no-matter-how-awful-it-is-to-be-sitting_1547619.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/l-e-sissman-60526_first-time_no-matter-how-awful-it-is-to-be-sitting_1547619.jpg) > ““No matter how awful it is to be sitting in this Terrible magazine office, and talking to this Circular-saw-voiced West side girl in a dirt- Stiff Marimekko and lavender glasses, and this Cake-bearded boy in short-rise Levi’s, and hearing The drip and rasp of their tones on the softening Stone of my brain, and losing The thread of their circular words, and looking Out through their faces and soot on the window to Winter in University Place, where a blue- Faced man, made of rags and old newspapers, faces A horrible grill, looking in at the food and the faces It disappears into, and feeling, Perhaps, for the first time in days, a hunger instead Of a thirst; where two young girls in peacoats and hair As long as your arm and snow-sanded sandals Proceed to their hideout, a festering cold-water flat Animated by roaches, where their lovers, loafing in wait To warm and be warmed by brainless caresses, Stake out a state Of suspension; and where a black Cadillac 75 Stands by the curb to collect a collector of rents, Its owner, the owner of numberless tenement flats; And swivelling back To the editorial pad Of Chaos, a quarter-old quarterly of the arts, And its brotherly, sisterly staff, told hardly apart In their listlessly colored sackcloth, their ash-colored skins, Their resisterly sullenness, I suddenly think That no matter how awful it is, it’s better than it Would be to be dead. But who can be sure about that?”” [L.E. Sissman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-e-sissman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Amid chaotic, bleak surroundings, the narrator finds a fragile hope that life, despite its absurdity, is preferable to death. **In simple terms:** Even in darkness, life feels better than death. Key Takeaway Recognize small reasons to keep going. Themes despair hope existence urban life artistic expression Mood melancholic hopeful introspective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - late-night writing - urban observation - mental health coping - creative expression - finding meaning Key Concepts existentialism nihilism social critique Questions to Reflect On - What small moments give you hope? - How do you cope with overwhelming environments? 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