--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One Sunday evening when it was very hot…" description: "\"“One Sunday evening when it was very hot and breathlessly still we sere sitting here in this room in the dusk. He switched on the record player. Liszt...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/laird-koenig-55499_sunday-evening_one-sunday-evening-when-it-was-very-hot_403335.jpg" --- # One Sunday evening when it was very hot and breathlessly… ![“One Sunday evening when it was very hot and breathlessly still we sere sitting here in this room in the dusk. He switched on the record player. Liszt. We sat. As I say, here. In this very room. We listened to the piece. Neither of us said a word. That's when he took my hand and we went out into…” quote by Laird Koenig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/laird-koenig-55499_sunday-evening_one-sunday-evening-when-it-was-very-hot_403335.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/laird-koenig-55499_sunday-evening_one-sunday-evening-when-it-was-very-hot_403335.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/laird-koenig-55499_sunday-evening_one-sunday-evening-when-it-was-very-hot_403335.jpg) > ““One Sunday evening when it was very hot and breathlessly still we sere sitting here in this room in the dusk. He switched on the record player. Liszt. We sat. As I say, here. In this very room. We listened to the piece. Neither of us said a word. That's when he took my hand and we went out into the garden. In a quiet voice he said that I wasn't like any other person in the world and that some people wouldn't understand that. They wouldn't want me to be the way I was. They'd want to change me. They'd try to order me about and make me into the kind of person they wanted me to be. Since I was still a child there would be little I could do except stay alone, stay out of trouble, and make myself very small in the world.”” [Laird Koenig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-koenig/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A child feels isolated because others try to force conformity, leading to self‑withdrawal as self‑protection. **In simple terms:** Feeling different makes one hide to avoid pressure. Key Takeaway Accept yourself and seek supportive company. Themes identity conformity isolation self‑protection Mood melancholic reflective Type narrative personal When to use this quote - school environments - family dynamics - creative writing - mental health counseling Key Concepts social pressure personal authenticity childhood trauma Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance authenticity with social expectations? - What safe spaces can you create for yourself? A Different Perspective Not all isolation is harmful; sometimes it fosters resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Listened Piece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/listened-piece-3611335/) [Liszt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liszt-1381039/) [Piece Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/piece-said-1748265/) [Player Liszt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/player-liszt-3611336/) [Record Player](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/record-player/) [Room Listened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/room-listened-3471131/) [Stay Alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stay-alone/) [Sunday evening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunday-evening/) ## Related quotes > [“I got home from the FBi that day, put on my pajamas got a pint of Chunky Monkey, and watched 'The Notebook'. Five times.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabel-monaghan/i-got-home-from-the-fbi-that-day-put-on-my-pajamas-got-a-pint-of/) [Annabel Monaghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabel-monaghan/) > [I could not do what I do, and teach a class, and never miss a deadline, never be late for anything if I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-could-not-do-what-i-do-and-teach-a-class-and-never-miss-a-deadline/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“That's a sweet piece," said Jean, briefly forgetting to be aggravated. "You didn't snatch that off a street." "No," said Locke, before taking another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-lynch/that-s-a-sweet-piece-said-jean-briefly-forgetting-to-be-aggravated/) [Scott Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-lynch/) > [Someone has somewhere commented on the fact that millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-ertz/someone-has-somewhere-commented-on-the-fact-that-millions-long-for/) [Susan Ertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-ertz/) > [For 10 years while I was at ESPN, I lived at the Residence Inn in Southington, Connecticut, near Bristol. I did that because my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skip-bayless/for-10-years-while-i-was-at-espn-i-lived-at-the-residence-inn-in/) [Skip Bayless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skip-bayless/) > [“Who buffs the floors? Who picks up the bulletins as you leave them in a mess here on a Sunday evening? Who makes sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/who-buffs-the-floors-who-picks-up-the-bulletins-as-you-leave-them-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [After my parents' divorce when I was 4, I spent weekends with my dad before we finally moved to California. By the time Sunday…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/after-my-parents-divorce-when-i-was-4-i-spent-weekends-with-my-dad/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [A serious warning to all my friends. drinking & driving is extremely dangerous . Sunday evening while driving, My friend took his arm out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-verma/a-serious-warning-to-all-my-friends-drinking-driving-is-extremely/) [Amit Verma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-verma/) > [There is only one thing about which I shall have no regrets when my life ends. I have savored to the full all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-sligh-turnbull/there-is-only-one-thing-about-which-i-shall-have-no-regrets-when-my/) [Agnes Sligh Turnbull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-sligh-turnbull/) > [“Our innate imbalances are further aggravated by practical demands. Our jobs make relentless calls on a narrow band of our faculties, reducing our chances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/our-innate-imbalances-are-further-aggravated-by-practical-demands-our/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [I was sent to boarding school - a grim place. The only good thing the headmaster did for us was every Sunday evening in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brownlow/i-was-sent-to-boarding-school-a-grim-place-the-only-good-thing-the/) [Kevin Brownlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brownlow/) > [“Oh God,was all Keeley could think. Oh God, get me out of here. When they swung through the stone pillars at Royal Meadows,she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/oh-god-was-all-keeley-could-think-oh-god-get-me-out-of-here-when-they/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [“When, on a Sunday evening in May 1876, Anna throws herself under the freight train, she has existed more than four years since the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/when-on-a-sunday-evening-in-may-1876-anna-throws-herself-under-the/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“Some of the dairy people, who were also out of doors on the first Sunday evening after their engagement, heard her impulsive speeches, ecstasized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/some-of-the-dairy-people-who-were-also-out-of-doors-on-the-first/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“Bowl viewing parties and tailgate meals. Others, including Arvada Church of Christ in Arvada, Colo., have canceled Sunday evening services for the big”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/bowl-viewing-parties-and-tailgate-meals-others-including-arvada/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Laird Koenig > [“Giving and taking comfort in everything they could give and take, every part of them sought to make themselves one till it was impossible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-koenig/giving-and-taking-comfort-in-everything-they-could-give-and-take/) [Laird Koenig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-koenig/) > [“How did I know how to do that to a body? Is that what you want to know?" The boy, holding the tea tray,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-koenig/how-did-i-know-how-to-do-that-to-a-body-is-that-what-you-want-to-know/) [Laird Koenig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-koenig/) > [“The night, a living presence, was in constant motion, shifting itself, sighing, breathing. She wondered if perhaps it, too, was trying to get warm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-koenig/the-night-a-living-presence-was-in-constant-motion-shifting-itself/) [Laird Koenig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-koenig/) > [“The game is pretending. It's going through the motions of life. But it's not living. The game is for people who want rules because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-koenig/the-game-is-pretending-it-s-going-through-the-motions-of-life-but-it/) [Laird Koenig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-koenig/) > [“My father says most people who say they like poetry only pretend to like it.' 'I guess you like it?' 'I love it very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-koenig/my-father-says-most-people-who-say-they-like-poetry-only-pretend-to/) [Laird Koenig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-koenig/) [Explore all 6 Laird Koenig quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-koenig/) ## More Sunday evening quotes > [There is only one thing about which I shall have no regrets when my life ends. I have savored to the full all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-sligh-turnbull/there-is-only-one-thing-about-which-i-shall-have-no-regrets-when-my/) [Agnes Sligh Turnbull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-sligh-turnbull/) > [“Some of the dairy people, who were also out of doors on the first Sunday evening after their engagement, heard her impulsive speeches, ecstasized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/some-of-the-dairy-people-who-were-also-out-of-doors-on-the-first/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“When, on a Sunday evening in May 1876, Anna throws herself under the freight train, she has existed more than four years since the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/when-on-a-sunday-evening-in-may-1876-anna-throws-herself-under-the/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“Oh God,was all Keeley could think. Oh God, get me out of here. When they swung through the stone pillars at Royal Meadows,she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/oh-god-was-all-keeley-could-think-oh-god-get-me-out-of-here-when-they/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [I was sent to boarding school - a grim place. The only good thing the headmaster did for us was every Sunday evening in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brownlow/i-was-sent-to-boarding-school-a-grim-place-the-only-good-thing-the/) [Kevin Brownlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brownlow/) > [“Our innate imbalances are further aggravated by practical demands. Our jobs make relentless calls on a narrow band of our faculties, reducing our chances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/our-innate-imbalances-are-further-aggravated-by-practical-demands-our/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [A serious warning to all my friends. drinking & driving is extremely dangerous . Sunday evening while driving, My friend took his arm out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-verma/a-serious-warning-to-all-my-friends-drinking-driving-is-extremely/) [Amit Verma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-verma/) > [After my parents' divorce when I was 4, I spent weekends with my dad before we finally moved to California. By the time Sunday…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/after-my-parents-divorce-when-i-was-4-i-spent-weekends-with-my-dad/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [“Who buffs the floors? Who picks up the bulletins as you leave them in a mess here on a Sunday evening? Who makes sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/who-buffs-the-floors-who-picks-up-the-bulletins-as-you-leave-them-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For 10 years while I was at ESPN, I lived at the Residence Inn in Southington, Connecticut, near Bristol. I did that because my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skip-bayless/for-10-years-while-i-was-at-espn-i-lived-at-the-residence-inn-in/) [Skip Bayless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skip-bayless/) > [Someone has somewhere commented on the fact that millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-ertz/someone-has-somewhere-commented-on-the-fact-that-millions-long-for/) [Susan Ertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-ertz/) > [“Bowl viewing parties and tailgate meals. Others, including Arvada Church of Christ in Arvada, Colo., have canceled Sunday evening services for the big”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/bowl-viewing-parties-and-tailgate-meals-others-including-arvada/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Bannon and the Breitbart editors had the same reaction and immediately turned on Megyn Kelly, with a fusillade of negative articles. She became the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-green/bannon-and-the-breitbart-editors-had-the-same-reaction-and/) [Joshua Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-green/) > [I found the pearl of the Orient slightly less exciting than a rainy Sunday evening in Rochester.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-perelman/i-found-the-pearl-of-the-orient-slightly-less-exciting-than-a-rainy/) [S. J. Perelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-perelman/) > [“New Yorkers who had gone to bed on Sunday evening to the sound of rain were startled on Monday morning to find snow sifting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-cable/new-yorkers-who-had-gone-to-bed-on-sunday-evening-to-the-sound-of/) [Mary Cable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-cable/) [Browse all 22 Sunday evening quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunday-evening/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“One Sunday evening when it was very hot and breathlessly still we sere sitting here in this room in the dusk. He switched on the record player. Liszt. We sat. As I say, here. In this very room. We listened to the piece. Neither of us said a word. That's when he took my hand and we went out into the garden. In a quiet voice he said that I wasn't like any other person in the world and that some people wouldn't understand that. They wouldn't want me to be the way I was. They'd want to change me. They'd try to order me about and make me into the kind of person they wanted me to be. Since I was still a child there would be little I could do except stay alone, stay out of trouble, and make myself very small in the world.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Laird Koenig" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-koenig/one-sunday-evening-when-it-was-very-hot-and-breathlessly-still-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Sunday evening" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-koenig/one-sunday-evening-when-it-was-very-hot-and-breathlessly-still-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/laird-koenig-55499_sunday-evening_one-sunday-evening-when-it-was-very-hot_403335.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/laird-koenig-55499_sunday-evening_one-sunday-evening-when-it-was-very-hot_403335.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/laird-koenig-55499_sunday-evening_one-sunday-evening-when-it-was-very-hot_403335.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One Sunday evening when it was very hot and breathlessly still we sere sitting here in this room in the…” — Laird Koenig", "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": "Laird Koenig", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-koenig/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“One Sunday evening when it was...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-koenig/one-sunday-evening-when-it-was-very-hot-and-breathlessly-still-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-koenig/one-sunday-evening-when-it-was-very-hot-and-breathlessly-still-we/#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 } } ] } ```