--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the city, he had been just another…" description: "\"“In the city, he had been just another kid. He had never known how exhausting it was to be conspicuous.”\" — Lisa Ko" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/lisa-ko-19640_quote_in-the-city-he-had-been-just-another-kid_1719710.jpg" --- # In the city, he had been just another kid. He had never… ![“In the city, he had been just another kid. He had never known how exhausting it was to be conspicuous.” quote by Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/lisa-ko-19640_quote_in-the-city-he-had-been-just-another-kid_1719710.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/lisa-ko-19640_quote_in-the-city-he-had-been-just-another-kid_1719710.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/lisa-ko-19640_quote_in-the-city-he-had-been-just-another-kid_1719710.jpg) > ““In the city, he had been just another kid. He had never known how exhausting it was to be conspicuous.”” [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A youth feels invisible in a bustling city, unaware of the fatigue of standing out. **In simple terms:** Being noticed can be draining. Key Takeaway Recognize the hidden struggles of those who seem ordinary. Themes identity urban life invisibility Mood reflective empathetic Type narrative social commentary When to use this quote - school - workplace - public spaces Key Concepts social pressure self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - How does city life affect personal identity? - What supports help those feeling overexposed? A Different Perspective Not everyone experiences conspicuousness the same way. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“He had never known how exhausting it was to be conspicuous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/he-had-never-known-how-exhausting-it-was-to-be-conspicuous/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [My father got a phone call to bring me in to meet with Spielberg for 'E.T.,' partially because they knew I was a physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-thomas-howell/my-father-got-a-phone-call-to-bring-me-in-to-meet-with-spielberg-for/) [C. Thomas Howell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-thomas-howell/) > [You always want that as a kid - known as a sports star - but it can be a little front confronting at some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-kerr/you-always-want-that-as-a-kid-known-as-a-sports-star-but-it-can-be-a/) [Sam Kerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-kerr/) > [I've always been the kid who's known what they wanted to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/little-simz/i-ve-always-been-the-kid-who-s-known-what-they-wanted-to-do/) [Little Simz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/little-simz/) > [I'm OK being the veteran, but I'm still just a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-zito/i-m-ok-being-the-veteran-but-i-m-still-just-a-kid/) [Barry Zito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-zito/) > [I was just a kid then. But I won't forget. Nor will others. There's lots of people with reason to hate the Church.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/i-was-just-a-kid-then-but-i-won-t-forget-nor-will-others-there-s-lots/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [I'm just the same kid on the field. Nothing's going to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-tatis-jr/i-m-just-the-same-kid-on-the-field-nothing-s-going-to-change/) [Fernando Tatis Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-tatis-jr/) > [Maybe I’m just a kid in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-mendes/maybe-i-m-just-a-kid-in-love/) [Shawn Mendes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-mendes/) > [I'm just a kid - I've got a lot of stuff to do yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-eastwood/i-m-just-a-kid-i-ve-got-a-lot-of-stuff-to-do-yet/) [Clint Eastwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-eastwood/) > [You can't kid the public. When they see me they see I'm just a kid off a council estate - no more, no less.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-hatton/you-can-t-kid-the-public-when-they-see-me-they-see-i-m-just-a-kid-off/) [Ricky Hatton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-hatton/) > [A scientist is just a kid who never grew up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/a-scientist-is-just-a-kid-who-never-grew-up/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [I'll cover just about anything - except for a Kid Rock song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-malkmus/i-ll-cover-just-about-anything-except-for-a-kid-rock-song/) [Stephen Malkmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-malkmus/) > [Well somebody has to take care of me! I'm just a kid!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gia-carangi/well-somebody-has-to-take-care-of-me-i-m-just-a-kid/) [Gia Carangi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gia-carangi/) > [There are people who take fashion at different levels, but personally, I'm just a kid with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-scott/there-are-people-who-take-fashion-at-different-levels-but-personally/) [Travis Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-scott/) > [No, I ain't a star - I'm just a kid from Brooklyn, living his dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astro/no-i-ain-t-a-star-i-m-just-a-kid-from-brooklyn-living-his-dream/) [Astro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astro/) ## More by Lisa Ko > [“You could try to do all the right things and still feel wrong inside.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/you-could-try-to-do-all-the-right-things-and-still-feel-wrong-inside/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“In Ridgeborough, when Deming Guo was no longer a name that was said aloud, he used to picture the Other Deming and Other Mama,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/in-ridgeborough-when-deming-guo-was-no-longer-a-name-that-was-said/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“Daniel was malleable, everyone and no one, a collector of moods, a careful observer of the right thing to say. He watched other people’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/daniel-was-malleable-everyone-and-no-one-a-collector-of-moods-a/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“If he could just talk to his mother in person, maybe he could figure out who he should be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/if-he-could-just-talk-to-his-mother-in-person-maybe-he-could-figure/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“The other instructors, even his mother, laughed at him for making work harder for himself and not teaching the workbook. But his students were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/the-other-instructors-even-his-mother-laughed-at-him-for-making-work/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“The boat rocked in the waves, and as I saw the lights of Kowloon come through the fog, I held the railing, breathless. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/the-boat-rocked-in-the-waves-and-as-i-saw-the-lights-of-kowloon-come/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“He had never known how exhausting it was to be conspicuous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/he-had-never-known-how-exhausting-it-was-to-be-conspicuous/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“Daniel was malleable, everyone and no one, a collector of moods, a careful observer of the right thing to say.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/daniel-was-malleable-everyone-and-no-one-a-collector-of-moods-a-2/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“Always be prepared, she liked to say. Never rely on anyone else to give you things you could get yourself. She despised laziness, softness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/always-be-prepared-she-liked-to-say-never-rely-on-anyone-else-to-give/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“Deming and his mother loved everything bagels, the sheer balls of it, the New York audacity that a bagel could proclaim to be everything,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/deming-and-his-mother-loved-everything-bagels-the-sheer-balls-of-it/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“It was that kind of mindfuck: to be too visible and invisible at the same time, in the ways it mattered the most.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/it-was-that-kind-of-mindfuck-to-be-too-visible-and-invisible-at-the/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“My father used to say women yapped too much, that some women would be better off not talking at all. So I’d grown up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/my-father-used-to-say-women-yapped-too-much-that-some-women-would-be/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“It was a funny thing, forgiveness. You could spend years being angry with someone and then realize you no longer felt the same, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/it-was-a-funny-thing-forgiveness-you-could-spend-years-being-angry/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“Then the shoreline would grown dimmer and the blue would shoot in all directions, filling the frame around me, the sky so big it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/then-the-shoreline-would-grown-dimmer-and-the-blue-would-shoot-in-all/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) > [“The disc of a record was hardier yet more delicate than plasticky CDs. A record was to be treasured, its circle scratches a mysterious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/the-disc-of-a-record-was-hardier-yet-more-delicate-than-plasticky-cds/) [Lisa Ko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) [Explore all 32 Lisa Ko quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/) ## More Exhausting quotes > [I talk a lot, and that is probably exhausting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodie-whittaker/i-talk-a-lot-and-that-is-probably-exhausting/) [Jodie Whittaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodie-whittaker/) > [I'm OK with my appearance. I have made my peace with it after a long and frankly exhausting battle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-perkins/i-m-ok-with-my-appearance-i-have-made-my-peace-with-it-after-a-long/) [Sue Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-perkins/) > [Friendship is a difficult, dangerous job. It is also (though we rarely admit it) extremely exhausting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bibesco/friendship-is-a-difficult-dangerous-job-it-is-also-though-we-rarely/) [Elizabeth Bibesco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bibesco/) > [“It was exhausting being a schizophrenic, which he was still convinced he was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-wolitzer/it-was-exhausting-being-a-schizophrenic-which-he-was-still-convinced/) [Meg Wolitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-wolitzer/) > [It is utterly exhausting being Black in America - physically, mentally, and emotionally. While many minority groups and women feel similar stress, there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-wright-edelman/it-is-utterly-exhausting-being-black-in-america-physically-mentally/) [Marian Wright Edelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-wright-edelman/) > [One day I would want to be an Egyptologist, the next day an ornithologist. I was an exhausting child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-perkins/one-day-i-would-want-to-be-an-egyptologist-the-next-day-an/) [Sue Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-perkins/) > [It's exhausting trying to impress someone and be a version of yourself that might be attractive to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mae-martin/it-s-exhausting-trying-to-impress-someone-and-be-a-version-of/) [Mae Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mae-martin/) > [Seeing people I've been friends with for well over a decade just turn on me. It was just so exhausting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-sandoval/seeing-people-i-ve-been-friends-with-for-well-over-a-decade-just-turn/) [Tom Sandoval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-sandoval/) > [Today's competitiveness, so much imposed from without, is exhausting, not exhilarating; is unending-a part of one's social life, one's solitude, one's sleep, one's sleeplessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-kronenberger/today-s-competitiveness-so-much-imposed-from-without-is-exhausting/) [Louis Kronenberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-kronenberger/) > [“Existing is exhausting. I want to live - How to be”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-a-bitez/existing-is-exhausting-i-want-to-live-how-to-be/) [P.A. Bitez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-a-bitez/) > [It's literally, if I'm not working out, I eat the whole time I'm not working out. It's exhausting. You have to force-feed. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-j-watt/it-s-literally-if-i-m-not-working-out-i-eat-the-whole-time-i-m-not/) [J. J. Watt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-j-watt/) > [The endless definitions for feminism are exhausting. It's this, it isn't this, it's only this if you're this, etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cazzie-david/the-endless-definitions-for-feminism-are-exhausting-it-s-this-it-isn/) [Cazzie David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cazzie-david/) > [“To be in a long-term state of limbo, not knowing the outcome or length of time waiting, is utterly, shatteringly exhausting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanya-marlow/to-be-in-a-long-term-state-of-limbo-not-knowing-the-outcome-or-length/) [Tanya Marlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanya-marlow/) > [Oh, but my treasure, it is so much less exhausting. You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman-2/oh-but-my-treasure-it-is-so-much-less-exhausting-you-only-have-to/) [M. L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman-2/) > [Playing live, you can't survive, certainly not in England. We used to work daytime jobs and play gigs at night. It was very exhausting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-rossdale/playing-live-you-can-t-survive-certainly-not-in-england-we-used-to/) [Gavin Rossdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-rossdale/) Browse all 485 Exhausting quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In the city, he had been just another kid. He had never known how exhausting it was to be conspicuous.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lisa Ko" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/in-the-city-he-had-been-just-another-kid-he-had-never-known-how/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Exhausting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/in-the-city-he-had-been-just-another-kid-he-had-never-known-how/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/lisa-ko-19640_quote_in-the-city-he-had-been-just-another-kid_1719710.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/lisa-ko-19640_quote_in-the-city-he-had-been-just-another-kid_1719710.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/lisa-ko-19640_quote_in-the-city-he-had-been-just-another-kid_1719710.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the city, he had been just another kid. He had never known how exhausting it was to be conspicuous.” — Lisa Ko", "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": "Lisa Ko", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-ko/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In the city, he had been...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/in-the-city-he-had-been-just-another-kid-he-had-never-known-how/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-ko/in-the-city-he-had-been-just-another-kid-he-had-never-known-how/#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 } } ] } ```