--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I recalled the afternoon when the two of…" description: "\"“I recalled the afternoon when the two of us stood beating erasers, and Camille confided that she'd done penance for stories - stories that I'll never ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/884/stuart-dybek-30029_dreams_i-recalled-the-afternoon-when-the-two-of_3022066.jpg" --- # I recalled the afternoon when the two of us stood beating… ![“I recalled the afternoon when the two of us stood beating erasers, and Camille confided that she'd done penance for stories - stories that I'll never know if she wrote or only imagined writing. She'd wanted me to tell her a secret from my dreams, a secret from my dreams I hadn't had as yet, and so…” quote by Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/884/stuart-dybek-30029_dreams_i-recalled-the-afternoon-when-the-two-of_3022066.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/884/stuart-dybek-30029_dreams_i-recalled-the-afternoon-when-the-two-of_3022066.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/884/stuart-dybek-30029_dreams_i-recalled-the-afternoon-when-the-two-of_3022066.jpg) > ““I recalled the afternoon when the two of us stood beating erasers, and Camille confided that she'd done penance for stories - stories that I'll never know if she wrote or only imagined writing. She'd wanted me to tell her a secret from my dreams, a secret from my dreams I hadn't had as yet, and so I didn't quite understand what she was after. "It's about feeling," Camille had insisted. I didn't understand then that she was talking about risk.”” [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage explores the tension between imagination and reality, where storytelling becomes a risk‑laden act of revealing hidden feelings. **In simple terms:** Stories can expose vulnerable emotions. Key Takeaway Embrace creative risk. Themes creativity risk emotion Mood reflective introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - art therapy - personal reflection Key Concepts storytelling self‑discovery dream interpretation Questions to Reflect On - What secret does your art reveal? - How do you balance imagination with reality? A Different Perspective Risk can lead to exposure and uncertainty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Before I published anything, I dreamed of publication, but I didn't actually write for it. I imagined that writing for an audience was something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/before-i-published-anything-i-dreamed-of-publication-but-i-didn-t/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [I'd never imagined myself writing at all until I was almost 30. And horror films weren't to my taste, at least the super popular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-walton/i-d-never-imagined-myself-writing-at-all-until-i-was-almost-30-and/) [Karen Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-walton/) > [I've always done more than I ever thought I would. Becoming a professor - I never would have imagined that. Writing books - I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/i-ve-always-done-more-than-i-ever-thought-i-would-becoming-a/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [You will always have my soul. Hidden dreams and secret words. Missing you...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-maya/you-will-always-have-my-soul-hidden-dreams-and-secret-words-missing/) [Edward Maya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-maya/) > [“The man of my dreams is almost faded now. The one I have created in my mind. The sort of man each woman dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-matheson/the-man-of-my-dreams-is-almost-faded-now-the-one-i-have-created-in-my/) [Richard Matheson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-matheson/) > [I keep my wishes and dreams secret, like a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-tautou/i-keep-my-wishes-and-dreams-secret-like-a-child/) [Audrey Tautou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-tautou/) > [You have to knock on doors. You can't keep your dreams a secret. You have to put them out there on display and people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-d-jakes/you-have-to-knock-on-doors-you-can-t-keep-your-dreams-a-secret-you/) [T. D. Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-d-jakes/) > [Celebrate your own special spirit fly on the wings of your secret dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurel-burch/celebrate-your-own-special-spirit-fly-on-the-wings-of-your-secret/) [Laurel Burch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurel-burch/) > [“Stories are about secrets. We all have them. Secret dreams, fantasies, hopes and sometimes even desires. Occasionally a dream becomes reality and then maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-hopcott/stories-are-about-secrets-we-all-have-them-secret-dreams-fantasies/) Rob Hopcott > [Every one of us has secret dreams and desires along with seeds of greatness implanted within us. You too have gifts to share with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/every-one-of-us-has-secret-dreams-and-desires-along-with-seeds-of/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [Believe in your instinct, trust yourself and you will find someone trustworthy to share your inner world and your secret dreams in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/believe-in-your-instinct-trust-yourself-and-you-will-find-someone/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's risky to talk about one's most secret dreams a bit too early.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-jansson/it-s-risky-to-talk-about-one-s-most-secret-dreams-a-bit-too-early/) [Tove Jansson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-jansson/) > [If you do weave one-liners into a story, you have to have an overall story as well, otherwise it doesn't really count as narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/if-you-do-weave-one-liners-into-a-story-you-have-to-have-an-overall/) [Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/) > [“A disproportionate number of stories are love stories – and what is homosexuality but a special narrative of love?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/a-disproportionate-number-of-stories-are-love-stories-and-what-is/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“Anyway, it's a pretty good story," I said. "You have to admit." "Yeah?" He crumpled up the Kleenex, having dispatched the solitary tear. "You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/anyway-it-s-a-pretty-good-story-i-said-you-have-to-admit-yeah-he/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) ## More by Stuart Dybek > [Our plans for the future made us laugh and feel close, but those same plans somehow made anything more than temporary between us seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/our-plans-for-the-future-made-us-laugh-and-feel-close-but-those-same/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [Héctor Tobar's accomplished first novel affords a perspective that is overdue and urgently needed in North American literature- -an insider's vision of L.A. as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/h-ctor-tobar-s-accomplished-first-novel-affords-a-perspective-that-is/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [“Rather than feeling that every moment you’ve got to exert this enormous control, you can take the attitude that your job as a writer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/rather-than-feeling-that-every-moment-you-ve-got-to-exert-this/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [In 'Labor Day Hurricane, 1935,' Douglas Trevor vividly recreates a historical event. While that is the only story in A THIN TEAR IN THE…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/in-labor-day-hurricane-1935-douglas-trevor-vividly-recreates-a/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [“Perhaps it's something other than insomnia, to lie listening to children yelling as if they've re-created light; to try to dream, but succeed only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/perhaps-it-s-something-other-than-insomnia-to-lie-listening-to/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [Loaded with note cards for research papers that I was hopelessly behind on, I'd enter the Public Library only to end up wandering around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/loaded-with-note-cards-for-research-papers-that-i-was-hopelessly/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [“Sometimes, in a tight game with runners on, digging in at short, ready to break with the ball, a peace I'd never felt before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/sometimes-in-a-tight-game-with-runners-on-digging-in-at-short-ready/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [But we didn't, not in the moonlight, or by the phosphorescent lanterns of lightning bugs in your back yard, not beneath the constellations we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/but-we-didn-t-not-in-the-moonlight-or-by-the-phosphorescent-lanterns/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [The public library is where place and possibility meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/the-public-library-is-where-place-and-possibility-meet/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [“I had this sudden awareness,' she continues, 'of how the moments of our lives go out of existence before we're conscious of having lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/i-had-this-sudden-awareness-she-continues-of-how-the-moments-of-our/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [“In summer, waiting for night, we’d pose against the afterglow on corners, watching traffic cruise through the neighborhood. Sometimes, a car would go by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/in-summer-waiting-for-night-we-d-pose-against-the-afterglow-on/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [“What art does is give us the refinement, all the shades of meaning, of emoting, that we don’t have language for. What fascinates me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/what-art-does-is-give-us-the-refinement-all-the-shades-of-meaning-of/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [From its aptly noirish title on, Martin Preib's The Wagon has rightness of authenticity about it. From the perspective of a cop he fashions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/from-its-aptly-noirish-title-on-martin-preib-s-the-wagon-has/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [Love, it’s such a night, laced with running water, irreparable, riddled with a million leaks. A night shaped like a shadow thrown by your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/love-it-s-such-a-night-laced-with-running-water-irreparable-riddled/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) > [In creation myths, a god shapes mud or clay into living form, much like a potter throws a pot or a sculptor reveals the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-dybek/in-creation-myths-a-god-shapes-mud-or-clay-into-living-form-much-like/) [Stuart Dybek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) [Explore all 17 Stuart Dybek quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-dybek/) ## More Dreams quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“Once we become sensitive to dreams, we discover that every dynamic in a dream is manifesting itself in some way in our practical lives”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-johnson/once-we-become-sensitive-to-dreams-we-discover-that-every-dynamic-in/) [Robert A. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-johnson/) > [“Now you’re wet. You’re so wet you’re leaking down your ass. You’re soaking my pillow. I don’t think I’m ever washing it. I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-stoker/now-you-re-wet-you-re-so-wet-you-re-leaking-down-your-ass-you-re/) [Susan Stoker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-stoker/) > [“Not that it matters, when you dream, there's no outside or in. Your mind is an unimaginable bloom. A willow catkin as big as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-shapero/not-that-it-matters-when-you-dream-there-s-no-outside-or-in-your-mind/) [Rich Shapero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-shapero/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [“As dreams are the healing songs from the wilderness of our unconscious - So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes are the healing dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-pendell/as-dreams-are-the-healing-songs-from-the-wilderness-of-our/) [Dale Pendell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-pendell/) > [Alone in a world, With millions of souls Walking in circles Trapped in their dreams unhealthy, unclean walking in circles, now do not disturb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-bennington/alone-in-a-world-with-millions-of-souls-walking-in-circles-trapped-in/) [Chester Bennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-bennington/) > [“Doing the work to transform your dreams into reality is like walking across the earth. It can be that hard, and it can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dragos-bratasanu/doing-the-work-to-transform-your-dreams-into-reality-is-like-walking/) [Dragos Bratasanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dragos-bratasanu/) > [As far as Im concerned, I didnt dream - ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-sturgeon/as-far-as-im-concerned-i-didnt-dream-ever/) [Theodore Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-sturgeon/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Sometimes life seems like a dream, especially when I look down and see that I forgot to put on my pants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/sometimes-life-seems-like-a-dream-especially-when-i-look-down-and-see/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [“I had a dream. I had an awesome dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-had-a-dream-i-had-an-awesome-dream/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 40,599 Dreams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I recalled the afternoon when the two of us stood beating erasers, and Camille confided that she'd done penance for stories - stories that I'll never know if she wrote or only imagined writing. She'd wanted me to tell her a secret from my dreams, a secret from my dreams I hadn't had as yet, and so I didn't quite understand what she was after. \"It's about feeling,\" Camille had insisted. 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