Body Quote by Richard Siken
“Knot the tie and go to work, unknot the tie and go to sleep. I sleep. I dream. I wake. I sing. I get out the hammer and start knocking in the wooden pegs that affix the meaning to the landscape, the inner life to the body, the names to the things. I float too much to wander, like you, in the real world. I envy it but that’s the dealio—you’re a train and I’m a trainstation and when I try to guess your trajectory I end up telling my own story.”
About This Quote
Source Poem: "The Book of My Lives" by Richard Siken, 2015
The passage juxtaposes daily routines with creative impulses, illustrating how ordinary actions can become metaphors for shaping identity and perceiving reality.
In simple terms: Every actions can reflect inner meaning.
Key Takeaway
Notice how routine reveals self.
Themes
identity
creativity
routine
perception
metaphor
Mood
reflective
introspective
Type
poetic
philosophical
When to use this quote
- morning rituals
- artistic practice
- self‑reflection
- narrative writing
Key Concepts
existentialism
symbolism
self‑construction
Questions to Reflect On
- How do daily habits shape your self‑story?
- What does the train‑station metaphor suggest about agency?
A Different Perspective
The metaphor may obscure practical clarity.
![“I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. I've also done some gravity tests with ZERO-G [a charter-flight service in Arlington, Va., that uses modified Boeing 727s to simulate weightlessness], which went great.” quote by Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/aa1/richard-branson-256_adventure_i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-repl_903.jpg)
