--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He is thinking about asymmetry. This is a…" description: "\"“He is thinking about asymmetry. This is a world, he is thinking, where you can lie in bed, listening to a song as you dream about someone you love, an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/618/paul-murray-12593_butterfly-wings_he-is-thinking-about-asymmetry-this-is-a_1899169.jpg" --- # He is thinking about asymmetry. This is a world, he is… ![“He is thinking about asymmetry. This is a world, he is thinking, where you can lie in bed, listening to a song as you dream about someone you love, and your feelings and the music will resonate so powerfully and completely that it seems impossible that the beloved, whoever and wherever he or she…” quote by Paul Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/618/paul-murray-12593_butterfly-wings_he-is-thinking-about-asymmetry-this-is-a_1899169.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/618/paul-murray-12593_butterfly-wings_he-is-thinking-about-asymmetry-this-is-a_1899169.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/618/paul-murray-12593_butterfly-wings_he-is-thinking-about-asymmetry-this-is-a_1899169.jpg) > ““He is thinking about asymmetry. This is a world, he is thinking, where you can lie in bed, listening to a song as you dream about someone you love, and your feelings and the music will resonate so powerfully and completely that it seems impossible that the beloved, whoever and wherever he or she might be, should not know, should not pick up this signal as it pulsates from your heart, as if you and the music and the love and the whole universe have merged into one force that can be chanelled out into the darkness to bring them this message. But, in actuality, not only will he or she not know, there is nothing to stop that other person from lying on his or her bed at the exact moment listening to the exact same song and thinking about someone else entirely-from aiming those identical feelings in some completely opposite direction, at some totally other person, who may in turn be lying in the dark thinking of another person still, a fourth, who is thinking of a fifth, and so on, and so on, so that rather than a universe of neatly reciprocating pairs, love and love-returned fluttering through space nicely and symmetrically like so many pairs of butterfly wings, instead we get chains of yearning, which sprawl and meander and culminate in an infinite number of dead ends.”” [Paul Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-murray/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love and longing are complex, often unreciprocated, creating endless chains of yearning that rarely align perfectly. **In simple terms:** Love rarely mirrors itself perfectly. Key Takeaway Accept love’s unpredictable nature. Themes unrequited love longing communication Mood melancholic contemplative Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - relationships - artistic expression - personal reflection Key Concepts empathy psychology human connection Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope with unreciprocated feelings? - Can you find meaning in one‑sided love? A Different Perspective Some connections do find symmetry. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Asymmetry World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asymmetry-world-2791412/) [Butterfly wings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butterfly-wings/) [Dead end](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-end/) [Dream Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream-love/) [Identical Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identical-feelings-2791413/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Opposite direction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposite-direction/) [Song Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song-thinking-1251189/) [Thinking Asymmetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-asymmetry-2791411/) ## Related quotes > [When I'm creating a song, I'm thinking of a hip-hop beat playing on a live drum set - kinda like the Roots would do.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trombone-shorty/when-i-m-creating-a-song-i-m-thinking-of-a-hip-hop-beat-playing-on-a/) [Trombone Shorty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trombone-shorty/) > [With my career, everything I do is me. 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This is a world, he is thinking, where you can lie in bed, listening to a song as you dream about someone you love, and your feelings and the music will resonate so powerfully and completely that it seems impossible that the beloved, whoever and wherever he or she might be, should not know, should not pick up this signal as it pulsates from your heart, as if you and the music and the love and the whole universe have merged into one force that can be chanelled out into the darkness to bring them this message. But, in actuality, not only will he or she not know, there is nothing to stop that other person from lying on his or her bed at the exact moment listening to the exact same song and thinking about someone else entirely-from aiming those identical feelings in some completely opposite direction, at some totally other person, who may in turn be lying in the dark thinking of another person still, a fourth, who is thinking of a fifth, and so on, and so on, so that rather than a universe of neatly reciprocating pairs, love and love-returned fluttering through space nicely and symmetrically like so many pairs of butterfly wings, instead we get chains of yearning, which sprawl and meander and culminate in an infinite number of dead ends.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Murray" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-murray/he-is-thinking-about-asymmetry-this-is-a-world-he-is-thinking-where/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Butterfly wings" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-murray/he-is-thinking-about-asymmetry-this-is-a-world-he-is-thinking-where/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/618/paul-murray-12593_butterfly-wings_he-is-thinking-about-asymmetry-this-is-a_1899169.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/618/paul-murray-12593_butterfly-wings_he-is-thinking-about-asymmetry-this-is-a_1899169.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/618/paul-murray-12593_butterfly-wings_he-is-thinking-about-asymmetry-this-is-a_1899169.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He is thinking about asymmetry. 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