--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ennui. Nevertheless, when he heard the…" description: "\"“ennui. Nevertheless, when he heard the screech of gulls he”\" — Martin Cruz Smith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdc/martin-cruz-smith-18650_quote_ennui-nevertheless-when-he-heard-the-scr_1228287.jpg" --- # ennui. Nevertheless, when he heard the screech of gulls he ![“ennui. Nevertheless, when he heard the screech of gulls he” quote by Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdc/martin-cruz-smith-18650_quote_ennui-nevertheless-when-he-heard-the-scr_1228287.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdc/martin-cruz-smith-18650_quote_ennui-nevertheless-when-he-heard-the-scr_1228287.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdc/martin-cruz-smith-18650_quote_ennui-nevertheless-when-he-heard-the-scr_1228287.jpg) > ““ennui. Nevertheless, when he heard the screech of gulls he”” [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even in boredom, sensory details like gulls can awaken awareness. **In simple terms:** Details can break monotony. Key Takeaway Pay attention to small sensory cues. Themes perception detail mindfulness Mood reflective observational Type literary psychological When to use this quote - creative writing - mindfulness practice - environmental design Key Concepts ennui sensory perception environmental cues Questions to Reflect On - How do sensory details affect mood? - When does detail become unnecessary? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on detail may distract from main narrative. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ennui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ennui/) [Ennui Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ennui-heard-3788704/) [Gulls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gulls/) [Heard Screech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heard-screech-2842479/) [Screech Gulls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/screech-gulls-3788703/) ## Related quotes > [“With the wind blowing through the windows, we all had to remove our caps. My hair was whipping around my face. I heard a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawthorne/with-the-wind-blowing-through-the-windows-we-all-had-to-remove-our/) [Rachel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawthorne/) > [“A falcon hovers at the edge of the sky. Two gulls drift slowly up the river. Vulnerable while they ride the wind, they coast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-falcon-hovers-at-the-edge-of-the-sky-two-gulls-drift-slowly-up-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“So. Avelaval. My leaves have drifted from me. All. But one clings still. I'll bear it on me. To remind me of. Lff! So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/so-avelaval-my-leaves-have-drifted-from-me-all-but-one-clings-still-i/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-masefield/i-must-down-to-the-seas-again-to-the-vagrant-gypsy-life-to-the-gull-s/) [John Masefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-masefield/) > [“Sleep on your stone pillow, and let the gulls peck out your eyes while the crabs feast on your flesh. You've feasted on enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/sleep-on-your-stone-pillow-and-let-the-gulls-peck-out-your-eyes-while/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [“Lines of gulls standing on glassy blue patches of wet sand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathleen-schine/lines-of-gulls-standing-on-glassy-blue-patches-of-wet-sand/) [Cathleen Schine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathleen-schine/) > [First, a poem must be magical, then musical as a sea-gull and it must hold fire as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-garcia-villa/first-a-poem-must-be-magical-then-musical-as-a-sea-gull-and-it-must/) [Jose Garcia Villa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-garcia-villa/) > [Jonathan Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull's life is so short, and with those gone from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/jonathan-seagull-discovered-that-boredom-and-fear-and-anger-are-the/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [Alone in her shelter, she allowed herself tears. When her shelter cooled to the touch she called to Gull, “Coming out!” She eased her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/alone-in-her-shelter-she-allowed-herself-tears-when-her-shelter/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [“Gulls, aeroplaning above the chimney pots, were calling that he must talk to Laura about his plans. He needed no telling, for once in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-sillitoe/gulls-aeroplaning-above-the-chimney-pots-were-calling-that-he-must/) [Alan Sillitoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-sillitoe/) > [“White-crested waves crash on the shore. The masts sway violently, every which way. In the gray sky the gulls are circling like white flakes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/white-crested-waves-crash-on-the-shore-the-masts-sway-violently-every/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [Leaves like rusty tin for the desolate mind that has seen the end- the barest glimmerings. Leaves aswirl with gulls made wild by winter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgos-seferis/leaves-like-rusty-tin-for-the-desolate-mind-that-has-seen-the-end-the/) [Giorgos Seferis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgos-seferis/) > [“Closer at hand, the wheeling gulls were as surly and lackadaisical as the day promised to make most men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/closer-at-hand-the-wheeling-gulls-were-as-surly-and-lackadaisical-as/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [One sparrow is worth a thousand gulls, When it sings. The gull sits on chimney-tops. He mocks the guinea, challenges The crow, inciting various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/one-sparrow-is-worth-a-thousand-gulls-when-it-sings-the-gull-sits-on/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“Around them, sky and air wove the ancient song of the meeting place of earth and sea—wave-rush on the shore, gulls mewing and sobbing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-fox/around-them-sky-and-air-wove-the-ancient-song-of-the-meeting-place-of/) [Harper Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-fox/) ## More by Martin Cruz Smith > [“Find the crime, Arkady thought: trying to kill Stalin or missing him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/find-the-crime-arkady-thought-trying-to-kill-stalin-or-missing-him/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [ “She \[Kali\] does according to her wisdom in destroying what is useless or what has lived its destined time.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/she-kali-does-according-to-her-wisdom-in-destroying-what-is-useless/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [“The gaja might despise the Romany, but no Rom ever forgot his dead. For him, roaming over the earth were not only the half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/the-gaja-might-despise-the-romany-but-no-rom-ever-forgot-his-dead-for/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [Happiness is the maximum agreement of reality and desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/happiness-is-the-maximum-agreement-of-reality-and-desire/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [If you take the contempt some Americans have for yuppies and multiply it by 10 you might come close to understanding their attitude towards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/if-you-take-the-contempt-some-americans-have-for-yuppies-and-multiply/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [It was like passing the scene of a highway accident and being relieved to learn that nobody had been seriously injured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/it-was-like-passing-the-scene-of-a-highway-accident-and-being/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [“it swallows gas like a drunk, but a man who lets guilt ruin pleasure is the pincushion of fate.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/it-swallows-gas-like-a-drunk-but-a-man-who-lets-guilt-ruin-pleasure/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [Kali is the goddess of destruction, the Clawed Hands, the Blood Drinker... And that's one side of her, as it is for any god.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/kali-is-the-goddess-of-destruction-the-clawed-hands-the-blood-drinker/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [Of course the biggest mafia in Russia has always been the government; in Soviet times, the Communist Party, and now a circle of former…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/of-course-the-biggest-mafia-in-russia-has-always-been-the-government/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [The research is the most interesting part… That’s how I work. I go some place and I walk it and I talk to people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/the-research-is-the-most-interesting-part-that-s-how-i-work-i-go-some/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [“The chief investigator for Special Cases was a composite of the most ordinary features, a stencil of a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/the-chief-investigator-for-special-cases-was-a-composite-of-the-most/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [As a novelist, I tell stories and people give me money. Then financial planners tell me stories and I give them money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/as-a-novelist-i-tell-stories-and-people-give-me-money-then-financial/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [To capture the human cost of fallen empire with all its horror and absurdity, Sheets offers the right combination: the political insight of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/to-capture-the-human-cost-of-fallen-empire-with-all-its-horror-and/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [“Stalin gothic was not so much an architectural style as a form of worship. Elements of Greek, French, Chinese and Italian masterpieces had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/stalin-gothic-was-not-so-much-an-architectural-style-as-a-form-of/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) > [I have another Russian idea, too, with a place and a period, so I guess I have enough to keep me busy for quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cruz-smith/i-have-another-russian-idea-too-with-a-place-and-a-period-so-i-guess/) [Martin Cruz Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) [Explore all 34 Martin Cruz Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cruz-smith/) ## More Ennui quotes > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [In the aftermath of 9/11, people had not a good time, but a deep, profound, rousing time, woke up from their ennui and isolation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/in-the-aftermath-of-9-11-people-had-not-a-good-time-but-a-deep/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-love-to-read-is-to-exchange-hours-of-ennui-for-hours-of-delight/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One receives as reward for much ennui, despondency, boredom -such as a solitude without friends, books, duties, passions must bring with it -those quarter-hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-receives-as-reward-for-much-ennui-despondency-boredom-such-as-a/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Sitting to think of what to write will only set your ass on fire, give you headache, twist your face to look stupid, instead,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/sitting-to-think-of-what-to-write-will-only-set-your-ass-on-fire-give/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [You cannot give me an instance of any man who is permitted to lay out his own time contriving not to have tedious hours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-cannot-give-me-an-instance-of-any-man-who-is-permitted-to-lay-out/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“From the time I arrived in British East Africa at the indifferent age of four and went through the barefoot stage of early youth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/from-the-time-i-arrived-in-british-east-africa-at-the-indifferent-age/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Pain, indolence, sterility, endless ennui have also their lesson for you, if you are great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/pain-indolence-sterility-endless-ennui-have-also-their-lesson-for-you/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Life creates itself in delirium and is undone in ennui.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/life-creates-itself-in-delirium-and-is-undone-in-ennui/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [“She could, she thinks, have entered a different life. She could have had a life as potent and dangerous as literature itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/she-could-she-thinks-have-entered-a-different-life-she-could-have-had/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [As the gout seems privileged to attack the bodies of the wealthy, so ennui seems to exert a similar prerogative over their minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/as-the-gout-seems-privileged-to-attack-the-bodies-of-the-wealthy-so/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [“It seemed to Rosa Lublin that the whole peninsula of Florida was weighted down with regret. Everyone had left behind a real life. Here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/it-seemed-to-rosa-lublin-that-the-whole-peninsula-of-florida-was/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [If you want to live in 'white world,' if you want to experience the stultifying boredom and penetrating ennui that homogeneity can bring, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-proops/if-you-want-to-live-in-white-world-if-you-want-to-experience-the/) [Greg Proops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-proops/) > [Rousseau and his disciples were resolved to force men to be free; in most of the world, they triumphed; men are set free from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/rousseau-and-his-disciples-were-resolved-to-force-men-to-be-free-in/) [Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/) > [Condition de l'homme: inconstance, ennui, inquie tude. Man's condition. Inconstancy, boredom, anxiety.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/condition-de-l-homme-inconstance-ennui-inquie-tude-man-s-condition/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) [Browse all 132 Ennui quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ennui/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“ennui. 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