--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I learned to move silently in the…" description: "\"“I learned to move silently in the background, a dirty, neglected little kid with no voice, no wants, and who made no trouble so as not to call the wra..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/laura-wiess-8970_survivor_i-learned-to-move-silently-in-the-backgr_3193053.jpg" --- # I learned to move silently in the background, a dirty… ![“I learned to move silently in the background, a dirty, neglected little kid with no voice, no wants, and who made no trouble so as not to call the wrath of the eight or so tweaking adults who lived there down on me. I drifted, faded, and became a listless, ghostlike scavenger who took what she…” quote by Laura Wiess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/laura-wiess-8970_survivor_i-learned-to-move-silently-in-the-backgr_3193053.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/laura-wiess-8970_survivor_i-learned-to-move-silently-in-the-backgr_3193053.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/laura-wiess-8970_survivor_i-learned-to-move-silently-in-the-backgr_3193053.jpg) > ““I learned to move silently in the background, a dirty, neglected little kid with no voice, no wants, and who made no trouble so as not to call the wrath of the eight or so tweaking adults who lived there down on me. I drifted, faded, and became a listless, ghostlike scavenger who took what she could get. I lived mostly in my head and for a while actually convinced myself that I was a survivor of one of those catastrophic earthquakes or tornadoes I used to see on the Weather Channel,a dazed, bewildered, and emotionless girl picking her way through an endless landscape of foul and stinking rubble to try and come out on the other side.”” [Laura Wiess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wiess/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator describes feeling invisible and powerless, coping by retreating into imagination, likening survival to enduring natural disasters. **In simple terms:** Feeling ignored, the narrator hides in imagination, likening life to disaster survival. Key Takeaway Acknowledge hidden struggles and seek support. Themes identity survival isolation Mood empathetic reflective Type personal psychological When to use this quote - school bullying - family neglect - mental health counseling - creative writing Key Concepts psychology trauma resilience imagination Questions to Reflect On - What coping mechanisms help when feeling invisible? - How can others notice silent struggles? A Different Perspective May romanticize trauma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Survivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survivor/) ## Related quotes > [“You're a survivor. Each one of you. And survivors don't have the luxury of acting like regular people. We do what we have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-roy/you-re-a-survivor-each-one-of-you-and-survivors-don-t-have-the-luxury/) [Deanna Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deanna-roy/) > [I don't care who you talk about down south, Boosie gonna win. 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That's a fact that hopefully I'll be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-armstrong/regardless-of-one-victory-two-victories-four-victories-there-s-never/) [Lance Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-armstrong/) > [“He wasn’t raising a child with dreams for her future. He was raising a survivor. - Cori”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-r-arroyo/he-wasn-t-raising-a-child-with-dreams-for-her-future-he-was-raising-a/) E.R. Arroyo > [If writing with a goal - whether it be evangelistic, apologetic, or didactic - implies propaganda, then all recorded history is propaganda. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-copan/if-writing-with-a-goal-whether-it-be-evangelistic-apologetic-or/) [Paul Copan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-copan/) > [I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. 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What fun.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wiess/oh-there-s-a-wholesome-outing-i-say-let-s-all-skip-down-to-the-cop/) [Laura Wiess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wiess/) > [“Yeah, I know I've changed. Nothing gets to me anymore. Well, okay, except for stuff in the past. Back then I was all innocent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wiess/yeah-i-know-i-ve-changed-nothing-gets-to-me-anymore-well-okay-except/) [Laura Wiess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wiess/) > [“Silence was the key to self-preservation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wiess/silence-was-the-key-to-self-preservation/) [Laura Wiess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wiess/) > [“Hate the behavior, not the individual.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wiess/hate-the-behavior-not-the-individual/) [Laura Wiess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wiess/) > [“We wait to be rescued, but for whatever reason, no one comes. 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He was raising a survivor. - Cori”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-r-arroyo/he-wasn-t-raising-a-child-with-dreams-for-her-future-he-was-raising-a/) E.R. Arroyo > [Regardless of one victory, two victories, four victories, there's never been a victory by a cancer survivor. That's a fact that hopefully I'll be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-armstrong/regardless-of-one-victory-two-victories-four-victories-there-s-never/) [Lance Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-armstrong/) > [The aim of torture is to destroy a person as a human being, to destroy their identity and soul. It is more evil than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/inge-genefke/the-aim-of-torture-is-to-destroy-a-person-as-a-human-being-to-destroy/) Inge Genefke > [I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. 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Me, my great-grandmother - a Holocaust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brett-ratner/miami-beach-that-s-where-i-grew-up-in-a-middle-class-jewish-family/) [Brett Ratner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brett-ratner/) [Browse all 927 Survivor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survivor/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I learned to move silently in the background, a dirty, neglected little kid with no voice, no wants, and who made no trouble so as not to call the wrath of the eight or so tweaking adults who lived there down on me. I drifted, faded, and became a listless, ghostlike scavenger who took what she could get. 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