Clouds Quote by Richard Yates
““How small and neat and comically serious the other men looked, with their grey-flecked crew cuts and their button-down collars and their brisk little hurrying feet! There were endless desperate swarms of them, hurrying through the station and the streets, and an hour from now they would all be still. The waiting mid-town office buildings would swallow them up and contain them, so that to stand in one tower looking out across the canyon to another would be to inspect a great silent insectarium displaying hundreds of tiny pink men in white shirts, forever shifting papers and frowning into telephones, acting out their passionate little dumb show under the supreme indifference of the rolling spring clouds.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: “Revolutionary Road,” 1961
The bustling city workers become tiny, indifferent insects in a vast, indifferent world.
In simple terms: City life feels like a meaningless, repetitive swarm.
Key Takeaway
See the absurdity in routine and seek deeper purpose.
Themes
urban life
alienation
routine
meaninglessness
Mood
melancholic
observational
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- commuting
- office work
- urban planning
- personal reflection
Key Concepts
existentialism
social observation
modernity
Questions to Reflect On
- Do you ever find meaning in the daily grind?
- How can one break the monotony of routine?
A Different Perspective
Focusing solely on absurdity may overlook moments of connection.
