--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When Espinoza was left alone (his flight…" description: "\"“When Espinoza was left alone (his flight was an hour later), his thoughts turned to Liz Norton and his real chances of wooing her. He imagined her and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/roberto-bola-o-725_left-alone_when-espinoza-was-left-alone-his-flight_304744.jpg" --- # When Espinoza was left alone (his flight was an hour… ![“When Espinoza was left alone (his flight was an hour later), his thoughts turned to Liz Norton and his real chances of wooing her. He imagined her and then he imagined himself, side by side, sharing an apartment in Madrid, going to the supermarket, both of them working in the German department. He…” quote by Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/roberto-bola-o-725_left-alone_when-espinoza-was-left-alone-his-flight_304744.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/roberto-bola-o-725_left-alone_when-espinoza-was-left-alone-his-flight_304744.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d9b/roberto-bola-o-725_left-alone_when-espinoza-was-left-alone-his-flight_304744.jpg) > ““When Espinoza was left alone (his flight was an hour later), his thoughts turned to Liz Norton and his real chances of wooing her. He imagined her and then he imagined himself, side by side, sharing an apartment in Madrid, going to the supermarket, both of them working in the German department. He imagined his office and her office, separated by a wall, and nights in Madrid next to her, eating with friends at good restaurants, and, back at home, an enormous bathtub, an enormous bed. •”” [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator imagines an idealized future with a love interest, using fantasy to escape present loneliness. **In simple terms:** He dreams of a perfect life with her. Key Takeaway Recognize when daydreams replace action. Themes loneliness fantasy desire future planning Mood melancholic hopeful Type literary contemplative When to use this quote - romantic pursuit - career planning - creative writing - relationship expectations Key Concepts idealization escapism imagination Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take toward that vision? - How does fantasy affect your current decisions? A Different Perspective Dreams may hinder real progress if they remain unacted. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Espinoza Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/espinoza-left-2904007/) [Imagined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined/) [Imagined Imagined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined-imagined-348473/) [Imagined Sharing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined-sharing-2904006/) [Left alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-alone/) [Side by side](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/side-by-side/) [Thoughts Turned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts-turned-341515/) ## Related quotes > [“I like to think about how my parents' lives once shimmered in front of them, half hidden, like buried gold. Back then the future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/i-like-to-think-about-how-my-parents-lives-once-shimmered-in-front-of/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [I'm of the opinion that the real is imagined and the imagined is quite real. The real is imagined, in the sense that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-of-the-opinion-that-the-real-is-imagined-and-the-imagined-is/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [The success of 'Take Me To Church,' I never imagined it. I never imagined that it would work on radio, that it would find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hozier/the-success-of-take-me-to-church-i-never-imagined-it-i-never-imagined/) [Hozier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hozier/) > [“It's better than I imagined--and I imagined it a lot. Tucked away in a corner at school. On the track during gym class. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassie-mae/it-s-better-than-i-imagined-and-i-imagined-it-a-lot-tucked-away-in-a/) [Cassie Mae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassie-mae/) > [“That's what happened when your heart broke. You remembered the good things first. The things you'd miss. 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My master \[Virgil\] asked, 'What do you care of they… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/what-is-it-that-had-caught-your-interest-so-and-makes-you-lag-behind/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [You have made yr mark on me you are in my dreams my heart my thoughts you have turned into my everything](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/savannah-j/you-have-made-yr-mark-on-me-you-are-in-my-dreams-my-heart-my-thoughts/) [Savannah J](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/savannah-j/) > [“There Comes the Strangest Moment There comes the strangest moment in your life, when everything you thought before breaks free-- what you relied upon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-light/there-comes-the-strangest-moment-there-comes-the-strangest-moment-in/) [Kate Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-light/) > [“He rode well. I'm a good horsewoman, but he was good as I was or maybe better, I don't know. At the time I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/he-rode-well-i-m-a-good-horsewoman-but-he-was-good-as-i-was-or-maybe/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“Books never cease to astonish me. When I was a child, I knew--in the incontestable way that children know things--that God was an author…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-cooley/books-never-cease-to-astonish-me-when-i-was-a-child-i-knew-in-the/) [Martha Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-cooley/) > [Joel Lane documents a life we don’t quite live, in a city we can’t quite find: half glimpsed and half imagined, we know it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-brenchley/joel-lane-documents-a-life-we-don-t-quite-live-in-a-city-we-can-t/) [Chaz Brenchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaz-brenchley/) > [Sometimes it's just enough for me to have the idea. I don't need to see it through to the end. When it actually happens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/sometimes-it-s-just-enough-for-me-to-have-the-idea-i-don-t-need-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) ## More by Roberto Bolaño > [Literature + Illness = Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/literature-illness-illness/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“Brief like beauty, Absolute beauty, That which contains all the world's majesty and misery And which is only visible to those who love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/brief-like-beauty-absolute-beauty-that-which-contains-all-the-world-s/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“There are books for when you’re bored. Plenty of them. There are books for when you’re calm. The best kind, in my opinion. 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What comes of love is always something better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/nothing-good-ever-comes-of-love-what-comes-of-love-is-always/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“book on Archimboldi, a book that might be the grand Archimboldian opus, the pilot fish that would swim for a long time beside the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/book-on-archimboldi-a-book-that-might-be-the-grand-archimboldian-opus/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [Literature is the product of a strange rain of blood, sweat, semen, and tears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/literature-is-the-product-of-a-strange-rain-of-blood-sweat-semen-and/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“The brief sound is like a color swallowed by a crack. But what color?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/the-brief-sound-is-like-a-color-swallowed-by-a-crack-but-what-color/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“All horrors are dulled by routine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/all-horrors-are-dulled-by-routine/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“The fourth dimension, he liked to say, encompasses the three dimensions and consequently puts them in their place, that is, it obliterates the dictatorship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/the-fourth-dimension-he-liked-to-say-encompasses-the-three-dimensions/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [Every book in the world is out there waiting to be read by me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/every-book-in-the-world-is-out-there-waiting-to-be-read-by-me/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“Y después de coger a mi general le gustaba salir al patio a fumarse su cigarro y a pensar en la tristeza poscoito, en…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/y-despu-s-de-coger-a-mi-general-le-gustaba-salir-al-patio-a-fumarse/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [“I enjoy vegetarian food like I enjoy a kick in the stomach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/i-enjoy-vegetarian-food-like-i-enjoy-a-kick-in-the-stomach/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) [Explore all 303 Roberto Bolaño quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) ## More Imagined quotes > [Sometimes it's just enough for me to have the idea. I don't need to see it through to the end. When it actually happens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/sometimes-it-s-just-enough-for-me-to-have-the-idea-i-don-t-need-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [Joel Lane documents a life we don’t quite live, in a city we can’t quite find: half glimpsed and half imagined, we know it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-brenchley/joel-lane-documents-a-life-we-don-t-quite-live-in-a-city-we-can-t/) [Chaz Brenchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaz-brenchley/) > [“Books never cease to astonish me. When I was a child, I knew--in the incontestable way that children know things--that God was an author…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-cooley/books-never-cease-to-astonish-me-when-i-was-a-child-i-knew-in-the/) [Martha Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-cooley/) > [I remember the early 1980s, when I first got one of these fabulous film critic jobs. The downside was sitting through 'Splatteria III: The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hunter/i-remember-the-early-1980s-when-i-first-got-one-of-these-fabulous/) [Stephen Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hunter/) > [There are powers inside of you which, if you could discover and use, would make of you everything you ever dreamed or imagined you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/there-are-powers-inside-of-you-which-if-you-could-discover-and-use/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Live life the way you have imagined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-saquan-wren-iii/live-life-the-way-you-have-imagined/) [Mike Saquan Wren III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-saquan-wren-iii/) > [So basketball has always taken me places that I could have never imagined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaylen-brown/so-basketball-has-always-taken-me-places-that-i-could-have-never/) [Jaylen Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaylen-brown/) > [“We were feeling something they never had—a physical link into the world of the fictional—through the skeletal muscles of the arm to the joystick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-grossman/we-were-feeling-something-they-never-had-a-physical-link-into-the/) [Austin Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-grossman/) > [I never imagined myself as an actor who would be in films. 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Even in translation, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/the-sound-of-things-falling-may-be-a-page-turner-but-it-s-also-a-deep/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [There is, to be sure, sometimes only a small difference between being alert to possible danger and allowing oneself to become terrified to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwin-b-nuland/there-is-to-be-sure-sometimes-only-a-small-difference-between-being/) [Sherwin B. 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The real is imagined, in the sense that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-of-the-opinion-that-the-real-is-imagined-and-the-imagined-is/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Browse all 580 Imagined quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When Espinoza was left alone (his flight was an hour later), his thoughts turned to Liz Norton and his real chances of wooing her. He imagined her and then he imagined himself, side by side, sharing an apartment in Madrid, going to the supermarket, both of them working in the German department. 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