--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He realized that all his life he had been…" description: "\"He realized that all his life he had been a nobody to everyone. What he now felt was the fear of his own oblivion. It was as though he did not exist.\" ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdf/patrick-s-skind-5195_fear_he-realized-that-all-his-life-he-had-bee_2967024.png" --- # He realized that all his life he had been a nobody to… ![“He realized that all his life he had been a nobody to everyone. What he now felt was the fear of his own oblivion. It was as though he did not exist.” quote by Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdf/patrick-s-skind-5195_fear_he-realized-that-all-his-life-he-had-bee_2967024.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdf/patrick-s-skind-5195_fear_he-realized-that-all-his-life-he-had-bee_2967024.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdf/patrick-s-skind-5195_fear_he-realized-that-all-his-life-he-had-bee_2967024.png) > “He realized that all his life he had been a nobody to everyone. What he now felt was the fear of his own oblivion. It was as though he did not exist.” [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Realizing one's insignificance can trigger existential fear, feeling invisible to others. **In simple terms:** Oblivion triggers fear. Key Takeaway Confront feelings of insignificance. Themes existential identity oblivion Mood melancholic introspective Type literary personal When to use this quote - mental health - creative writing - spiritual practice Key Concepts Psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope with feeling unnoticed? - What gives your life meaning? A Different Perspective It may overgeneralize personal experience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Oblivion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oblivion/) ## Related quotes > [I fear oblivion. I fear it like the proverbial blind man who's afraid of the dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-fear-oblivion-i-fear-it-like-the-proverbial-blind-man-who-s-afraid/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“I fear oblivion”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-fear-oblivion/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“I fear oblivion,” he said without a moment’s pause. “I fear it like the proverbial blind man who’s afraid of the dark.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-fear-oblivion-he-said-without-a-moment-s-pause-i-fear-it-like-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I fear oblivion' he said. "I fear it like a proverbial blind man fears the dark”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-waters-the-fault-in-our-stars/i-fear-oblivion-he-said-i-fear-it-like-a-proverbial-blind-man-fears/) Augustus Waters The Fault in Our Stars > [“I don’t believe we return to haunt or comfort the living or anything, but I think something becomes of us.” “But you fear oblivion.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-don-t-believe-we-return-to-haunt-or-comfort-the-living-or-anything/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“My fears?” “Yes.” “I fear oblivion,” he said without a moment’s pause. “I fear it like the proverbial blind man who’s afraid of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/my-fears-yes-i-fear-oblivion-he-said-without-a-moment-s-pause-i-fear/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I know fear is an oblivion to some people, but it is an obstacle to me .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-fear-is-an-oblivion-to-some-people-but-it-is-an-obstacle-to-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There's no need to fear the oblivion after we're gone if we never cared about the oblivion that came before we were born. Cheer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-jokinen/there-s-no-need-to-fear-the-oblivion-after-we-re-gone-if-we-never/) Tom Jokinen > [“Fear had an anatomy. A curious thought. It had genitals, a bladder and bowls. That was where you felt fear. Not in your head.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-cloete/fear-had-an-anatomy-a-curious-thought-it-had-genitals-a-bladder-and/) [Stuart Cloete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-cloete/) > [...I felt fear enter the halls of my mind, but I didn't give it the keys to every room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/i-felt-fear-enter-the-halls-of-my-mind-but-i-didn-t-give-it-the-keys/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“When some women felt fear, they covered it with an iron grate of courage, I thought. Men might be dangerous, but they were very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelsey-brickl/when-some-women-felt-fear-they-covered-it-with-an-iron-grate-of/) [Kelsey Brickl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelsey-brickl/) > [“ I felt that the world itself had changed and that it would never be steady under my feet again. I felt I understood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-voigt/i-felt-that-the-world-itself-had-changed-and-that-it-would-never-be/) [Cynthia Voigt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-voigt/) > [“She posed as being more indolent than she felt, for fear of finding herself less able than she could wish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/she-posed-as-being-more-indolent-than-she-felt-for-fear-of-finding/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [I felt the same fear in my first fight as I did in my last fight. It never goes away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-felt-the-same-fear-in-my-first-fight-as-i-did-in-my-last-fight-it/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [I am sorry I ran from you. I am still running, running from that knowledge, that eye, that love from which there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-sorry-i-ran-from-you-i-am-still-running-running-from-that/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## More by Patrick Süskind > [“He had no use for sensual gratification, unless that gratification consisted of pure, incorporeal odors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/he-had-no-use-for-sensual-gratification-unless-that-gratification/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [“...if you could not close a door behind you to take a shit in the city - even if it was just the door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/if-you-could-not-close-a-door-behind-you-to-take-a-shit-in-the-city/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [With one glance he had got himself trapped in the brown fundament of her eyes, he was in danger of sinking, as if into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/with-one-glance-he-had-got-himself-trapped-in-the-brown-fundament-of/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [“…in that moment, as he saw and smelled how irresistible its effect was and how with lightning speed it spread and made captives of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/in-that-moment-as-he-saw-and-smelled-how-irresistible-its-effect-was/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [“People even travelled to Lapland, up there in the North, with its eternal ice and savages who gorged themselves on raw fish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/people-even-travelled-to-lapland-up-there-in-the-north-with-its/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [When they finally did dare it, at first with stolen glances and then candid ones, they had to smile. They were uncommonly proud. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/when-they-finally-did-dare-it-at-first-with-stolen-glances-and-then/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [For people could close their eyes to greatness, to horrors, to beauty, and their ears to melodies or deceiving words. But they couldn't escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/for-people-could-close-their-eyes-to-greatness-to-horrors-to-beauty/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [“The wind blew cold, and he was freezing, but he did not notice that he was freezing, for within him was a counterfrost, fear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/the-wind-blew-cold-and-he-was-freezing-but-he-did-not-notice-that-he/) [Patrick Suskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [“Something was happening while you waited. The most essential thing was happening. And even if he himself was doing nothing, it was happening through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/something-was-happening-while-you-waited-the-most-essential-thing-was/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [“Although he had used it very sparingly, the perfume that he had mixed in Montpellier was slowly was slowly running out. He created a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/although-he-had-used-it-very-sparingly-the-perfume-that-he-had-mixed/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [He had withdrawn solely for his own personal pleasure, only to be near to himself. No longer distracted by anything external, he basked in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/he-had-withdrawn-solely-for-his-own-personal-pleasure-only-to-be-near/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [“This scent had a freshness, but not the freshness of limes or pomegranates, not the freshness of myrrh or cinnamon bark or curly mint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/this-scent-had-a-freshness-but-not-the-freshness-of-limes-or/) [Patrick Suskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [And because people are stupid and use their noses only for blowing, but believe absolutely anything they see with their eyes, they will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/and-because-people-are-stupid-and-use-their-noses-only-for-blowing/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [It was good, really, that this external world still existed, if only as a place of refuge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/it-was-good-really-that-this-external-world-still-existed-if-only-as/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [“And the awful thing was that Grenouille, although he knew that this odour was his odour, could not smell it. Virtually drowning in himself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/and-the-awful-thing-was-that-grenouille-although-he-knew-that-this/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) [Explore all 72 Patrick Süskind quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) ## More Fear quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [“That horrible stinging sensation returned, the muscles behind my eyes straining as the first tear began to fall. “I’m scared, too. 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Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [“Snip off the little worries and expressions of worry” like little branches atop a tall tree.28 If you are truly worried, sharing your concerns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-sanders/snip-off-the-little-worries-and-expressions-of-worry-like-little/) [Tim Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-sanders/) > [“Fear and desire for pleasure. Aggressiveness comes out of fear, predominantly, and sexuality predominantly out of the other. 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