--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People disappear, leaving only bodies…" description: "\"“People disappear, leaving only bodies that flicker on and off in beds in time with the steady toggle of the dark.”\" — Mark Haddon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/mark-haddon-1056_disappear_people-disappear-leaving-only-bodies-tha_3145361.png" --- # People disappear, leaving only bodies that flicker on and… ![“People disappear, leaving only bodies that flicker on and off in beds in time with the steady toggle of the dark.” quote by Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/mark-haddon-1056_disappear_people-disappear-leaving-only-bodies-tha_3145361.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/mark-haddon-1056_disappear_people-disappear-leaving-only-bodies-tha_3145361.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/mark-haddon-1056_disappear_people-disappear-leaving-only-bodies-tha_3145361.png) > ““People disappear, leaving only bodies that flicker on and off in beds in time with the steady toggle of the dark.”” [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote evokes a haunting image of people fading away, leaving only fleeting, ghostly presences in a dark, toggling environment. **In simple terms:** People vanish, leaving only flickering shadows. Key Takeaway Notice the fleeting nature of existence. Themes loss impermanence darkness Mood melancholic reflective Type literary poetic When to use this quote - grief counseling - nighttime reflections - creative writing - psychological analysis Key Concepts existentialism transience Questions to Reflect On - How do you interpret the flickering bodies? - What does darkness symbolize for you? A Different Perspective The metaphor may be too abstract for concrete understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Must a people disappear for us to know they exist? 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They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plachy/as-a-relentless-gatherer-of-moments-i-find-that-my-favorite-images/) [Sylvia Plachy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plachy/) > [Sometimes you don't realize how dependent you are on just a few people, and if they disappear, suddenly you can be thrown on your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whit-stillman/sometimes-you-don-t-realize-how-dependent-you-are-on-just-a-few/) [Whit Stillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whit-stillman/) > [That kind of woman who used to be there at the time is not here any longer. In 10 years, people disappear. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manolo-blahnik/that-kind-of-woman-who-used-to-be-there-at-the-time-is-not-here-any/) [Manolo Blahnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manolo-blahnik/) > [“People disappear all the time. Ask any policeman. Better yet, ask a journalist. Disappearances are bread-and-butter to journalists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/people-disappear-all-the-time-ask-any-policeman-better-yet-ask-a/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [We should be protected from the people who will leave us in the end, from all the people who will disappear or forget us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/we-should-be-protected-from-the-people-who-will-leave-us-in-the-end/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [You are here and so am I. Maybe millions and millions and millions of people go by but they all disappear from view because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-troutman/you-are-here-and-so-am-i-maybe-millions-and-millions-and-millions-of/) [Roger Troutman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-troutman/) > [Magic trick: to make people disappear, ask them to fulfill their promises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/magic-trick-to-make-people-disappear-ask-them-to-fulfill-their/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [In a city this size, every year, hundreds of husbands walk away. Kids leave home. Wives escape. People disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/in-a-city-this-size-every-year-hundreds-of-husbands-walk-away-kids/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [People disappear quickly when you show them that you need them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blossom/people-disappear-quickly-when-you-show-them-that-you-need-them/) [Blossom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blossom/) > [People say you never remember anybody who dies in movies, and it's true, you don't. You don't even remember people who disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-boyle/people-say-you-never-remember-anybody-who-dies-in-movies-and-it-s/) [Danny Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-boyle/) > [“People disappear when they die. Their voice, their laughter, the warmth of their breath. Their flesh. Eventually their bones. All living memory of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/people-disappear-when-they-die-their-voice-their-laughter-the-warmth/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [People only disappear when they have somewhere to go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/people-only-disappear-when-they-have-somewhere-to-go/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [Hope rises and dreams flicker and die. Love plans for tomorrow and loneliness thinks of yesterday. Life is beautiful and living is pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/hope-rises-and-dreams-flicker-and-die-love-plans-for-tomorrow-and/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) ## More by Mark Haddon > [But I said that you could still want something that is very unlikely to happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/but-i-said-that-you-could-still-want-something-that-is-very-unlikely/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“So often these days she seemed to hover between worlds, none of them wholly real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/so-often-these-days-she-seemed-to-hover-between-worlds-none-of-them/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [And I know I can do this because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery…and I was brave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/and-i-know-i-can-do-this-because-i-went-to-london-on-my-own-and/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [And what he meant was that maths wasn't like life because in life there are no straightforward answers in the end](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/and-what-he-meant-was-that-maths-wasn-t-like-life-because-in-life/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [You love someone, you've got to let something go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/you-love-someone-you-ve-got-to-let-something-go/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“when you describe something by using a word for something that it isn’t. This means that the word metaphor is a metaphor. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/when-you-describe-something-by-using-a-word-for-something-that-it-isn/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/they-are-very-logical-but-you-could-never-work-out-the-rules-even-if/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“Places remained and time flowed through them like wind through the grass. Right now. This was the future turning into the past. One thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/places-remained-and-time-flowed-through-them-like-wind-through-the/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [I suffer depression only in the sense that I am a writer. We don't have proper jobs to go to. We are on our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/i-suffer-depression-only-in-the-sense-that-i-am-a-writer-we-don-t/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [I better make the plot good. I wanted to make it grip people on the first page and have a big turning point in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/i-better-make-the-plot-good-i-wanted-to-make-it-grip-people-on-the/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“And it was strange because he was calling, "Christopher. . . ? Christopher. . . ?" and I could see my name written out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/and-it-was-strange-because-he-was-calling-christopher-christopher-and/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [A lot of roles for people with disabilities are quite patronising. It's a real pity when they are just used to give dull PC…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/a-lot-of-roles-for-people-with-disabilities-are-quite-patronising-it/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [I do not like strangers because I do not like people I have never met before. They are hard to understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/i-do-not-like-strangers-because-i-do-not-like-people-i-have-never-met/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“Lots of people wrote to the magazine to say that Marilyn vos Savant was wrong, even when she explained very carefully why she was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/lots-of-people-wrote-to-the-magazine-to-say-that-marilyn-vos-savant/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [I read very, very little fiction as a kid. All the books I can remember are junior science books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/i-read-very-very-little-fiction-as-a-kid-all-the-books-i-can-remember/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) [Explore all 278 Mark Haddon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) ## More Disappear quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [I'm at the edge of the world, Where do I go from here? Do I disappear? Edge of the world, Should I sink or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bring-me-the-horizon/i-m-at-the-edge-of-the-world-where-do-i-go-from-here-do-i-disappear/) [Bring Me The Horizon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bring-me-the-horizon/) > [Nothing old is ever reborn but neither does it totally disappear. And that which has once been born, will always reappear in a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvar-aalto/nothing-old-is-ever-reborn-but-neither-does-it-totally-disappear-and/) [Alvar Aalto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvar-aalto/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Pain results from a judgment you have made about a thing. Remove the judgment and the pain disappears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/pain-results-from-a-judgment-you-have-made-about-a-thing-remove-the/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [“I am disappearing, maybe I'm already gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-niven/i-am-disappearing-maybe-i-m-already-gone/) [Jennifer Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-niven/) > [“Must a people disappear for us to know they exist? Mano Dayak”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mano-dayak/must-a-people-disappear-for-us-to-know-they-exist-mano-dayak/) Mano Dayak > [When I step into the batters box. The fans, the noise, the cheers, they all disappear. For that moment, the world is just a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/when-i-step-into-the-batters-box-the-fans-the-noise-the-cheers-they/) [Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/) > [I am sympathetic to developing countries’ concerns: because of our emissions it’s their crops that will disappear; because of our inaction, it’s their fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/i-am-sympathetic-to-developing-countries-concerns-because-of-our/) [John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/) > [Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/although-i-don-t-have-anything-against-people-from-other-countries/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't like magic - but I have been known to make guys disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mr-t/i-don-t-like-magic-but-i-have-been-known-to-make-guys-disappear/) [Mr. T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mr-t/) > [It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of true humility and its power in the spiritual life. For the beginning of humility is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/it-is-almost-impossible-to-overestimate-the-value-of-true-humility/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The pace of global warming is accelerating and the scale of the impact is devastating. The time for action is limited - we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-spitzer/the-pace-of-global-warming-is-accelerating-and-the-scale-of-the/) [Eliot Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-spitzer/) > [I definitely have a different perspective on music in general. But once I actually have a guitar in my hands, I think I disappear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-orcutt/i-definitely-have-a-different-perspective-on-music-in-general-but/) [Bill Orcutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-orcutt/) Browse all 2,209 Disappear quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“People disappear, leaving only bodies that flicker on and off in beds in time with the steady toggle of the dark.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Haddon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/people-disappear-leaving-only-bodies-that-flicker-on-and-off-in-beds/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Disappear" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/people-disappear-leaving-only-bodies-that-flicker-on-and-off-in-beds/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/mark-haddon-1056_disappear_people-disappear-leaving-only-bodies-tha_3145361.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/mark-haddon-1056_disappear_people-disappear-leaving-only-bodies-tha_3145361.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba2/mark-haddon-1056_disappear_people-disappear-leaving-only-bodies-tha_3145361.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People disappear, leaving only bodies that flicker on and off in beds in time with the steady toggle of the…” — Mark Haddon", "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": "Mark Haddon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“People disappear, leaving only bodies that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/people-disappear-leaving-only-bodies-that-flicker-on-and-off-in-beds/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/people-disappear-leaving-only-bodies-that-flicker-on-and-off-in-beds/#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 } } ] } ```