--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Slick stayed where he was, looking up at…" description: "\"“Slick stayed where he was, looking up at Gentry’s pale eyes, gray in this light, his taut face. Why did he put up with Gentry anyway? Because you need..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/william-gibson-642_needed-somebody_slick-stayed-where-he-was-looking-up-at_1795523.png" --- # Slick stayed where he was, looking up at Gentry’s pale… ![“Slick stayed where he was, looking up at Gentry’s pale eyes, gray in this light, his taut face. Why did he put up with Gentry anyway? Because you needed somebody, in the Solitude. Not just for electricity; that whole landlord routine was really just a shuck. He guessed because you needed somebody…” quote by William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/william-gibson-642_needed-somebody_slick-stayed-where-he-was-looking-up-at_1795523.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/william-gibson-642_needed-somebody_slick-stayed-where-he-was-looking-up-at_1795523.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/william-gibson-642_needed-somebody_slick-stayed-where-he-was-looking-up-at_1795523.png) > ““Slick stayed where he was, looking up at Gentry’s pale eyes, gray in this light, his taut face. Why did he put up with Gentry anyway? Because you needed somebody, in the Solitude. Not just for electricity; that whole landlord routine was really just a shuck. He guessed because you needed somebody around.”” [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A character stays despite hardship because companionship in isolation provides purpose beyond mere utility. **In simple terms:** People need connection even in lonely, bleak settings. Key Takeaway Seek meaningful relationships in solitary environments. Themes loneliness connection survival humanity Mood melancholic thoughtful introspective Type fiction philosophical When to use this quote - Remote work - space missions - lonely artists - urban isolation Key Concepts Existential companionship social need Questions to Reflect On - What does “somebody” represent in your life? - How can you foster genuine connections in isolation? A Different Perspective Companionship may not solve deeper systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Did Gentry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/did-gentry-1984622/) [Gentry Needed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gentry-needed-1984620/) [Looking Gentry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looking-gentry-1984621/) [Needed Somebody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needed-somebody-571966/) [Somebody Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/somebody-solitude-1984619/) ## Related quotes > [What's agitating about solitude is the inner voice telling you that you should be mated to somebody, that solitude is a mistake. The inner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baxter/what-s-agitating-about-solitude-is-the-inner-voice-telling-you-that-2/) [Charles Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baxter/) > [What's agitating about solitude is the inner voice telling you that you should be mated to somebody, that solitude is a mistake. The inner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baxter/what-s-agitating-about-solitude-is-the-inner-voice-telling-you-that/) [Charles Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baxter/) > [I needed somebody to love me, and the people that I chose were my coaches. I would sacrifice my body to be successful for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-largent/i-needed-somebody-to-love-me-and-the-people-that-i-chose-were-my/) [Steve Largent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-largent/) > [“I just needed somebody to hold me, somebody to be kind to me, somebody to tell me exactly those words. It’s going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-roberts/i-just-needed-somebody-to-hold-me-somebody-to-be-kind-to-me-somebody/) [C.J. Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-roberts/) > [“He needed somebody to take care of. And she needed to be taken care of.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-fanetti/he-needed-somebody-to-take-care-of-and-she-needed-to-be-taken-care-of/) [Susan Fanetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-fanetti/) > [“She was sad and lost and alone in the dark," Cecil said. "She needed somebody to hold her." "And you think she's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-hansen/she-was-sad-and-lost-and-alone-in-the-dark-cecil-said-she-needed/) [Joseph Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-hansen/) > [“ Maybe I needed that somebody else could cry over my pain, to become able to cry over it myself. Nobody ever cried or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-liotti/maybe-i-needed-that-somebody-else-could-cry-over-my-pain-to-become/) [Giovanni Liotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-liotti/) > [A man needed somebody. There wasn't anybody around, so you had to make up somebody, make him up to be like a man should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/a-man-needed-somebody-there-wasn-t-anybody-around-so-you-had-to-make/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“I want to fill in the gaps, fight all the battles you can’t, because of whatever—your size or your gender. Maybe that’s sexist, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cara-mckenna/i-want-to-fill-in-the-gaps-fight-all-the-battles-you-can-t-because-of/) [Cara McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cara-mckenna/) > [“And he couldn’t remember the last time he’d needed somebody so badly, in so goddamn many ways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cara-mckenna/and-he-couldn-t-remember-the-last-time-he-d-needed-somebody-so-badly/) [Cara McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cara-mckenna/) > [“I needed somebody without any preconceived ideas. But I also needed somebody with a mind of her own.” The contradictory qualities we seek in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffery-deaver/i-needed-somebody-without-any-preconceived-ideas-but-i-also-needed/) [Jeffery Deaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffery-deaver/) > [I am more of a solo bass player and he needed somebody who would keep the role.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miroslav-vitous/i-am-more-of-a-solo-bass-player-and-he-needed-somebody-who-would-keep/) [Miroslav Vitous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miroslav-vitous/) > [We have all had a time in our life when we needed somebody to believe in us, or we finally had someone who believed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-swank/we-have-all-had-a-time-in-our-life-when-we-needed-somebody-to-believe/) [Hilary Swank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-swank/) > [I didn't so much think I needed to address the shooting need. What we needed was somebody who could come in and play the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dumars/i-didn-t-so-much-think-i-needed-to-address-the-shooting-need-what-we/) [Joe Dumars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dumars/) > [“It made me feel good to write about the Baron. A man needed somebody. There wasn't anybody around, so you had to make up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/it-made-me-feel-good-to-write-about-the-baron-a-man-needed-somebody/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) ## More by William Gibson > [“We have no idea, now, of who or what the inhabitants of our future might be. In that sense, we have no future. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/we-have-no-idea-now-of-who-or-what-the-inhabitants-of-our-future/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“No," said Blackwell, "she won't, because that would be a violation of the very personal terms I will have established in our conversation. 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Like someone who'd be invited quail shooting with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/hollis-thought-he-looked-like-william-burroughs-minus-the-bohemian/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Fiction is an illusion wrought with many small, conventionally symbolic marks, triggering visions in the minds of others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/fiction-is-an-illusion-wrought-with-many-small-conventionally/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [The experience of celebrity is gradually being democratized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/the-experience-of-celebrity-is-gradually-being-democratized/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [I don't generate a storyline and then fill it out in the course of writing. The story actually generates in the course of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/i-don-t-generate-a-storyline-and-then-fill-it-out-in-the-course-of/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“What happened to your arm?" she asked me one night in the Gentleman Loser, the three of us drinking at a small table in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/what-happened-to-your-arm-she-asked-me-one-night-in-the-gentleman/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“In Heathrow a vast chunk of memory detached itself from a blank bowl of airport sky and fell on him. He vomited into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/in-heathrow-a-vast-chunk-of-memory-detached-itself-from-a-blank-bowl/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [And, for an instant, she stared directly into those soft blue eyes and knew, with an instinctive mammalian certainty, that the exceedingly rich were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/and-for-an-instant-she-stared-directly-into-those-soft-blue-eyes-and/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [ \[When\] Johnny Mnemonic was coming out and I realized that all the kids that worked in 7-11 knew more - or thought they knew… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/when-johnny-mnemonic-was-coming-out-and-i-realized-that-all-the-kids/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“Andrea maintained that men like Alain lied so constantly, so passionately, that some basic distinction had been lost. They were artists in their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/andrea-maintained-that-men-like-alain-lied-so-constantly-so/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [“Because he had a good agent, he had a good contract. Because he had a good contract, he was in Singapore an hour after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/because-he-had-a-good-agent-he-had-a-good-contract-because-he-had-a/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) [Explore all 430 William Gibson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) ## More Needed Somebody quotes > [“It made me feel good to write about the Baron. A man needed somebody. There wasn't anybody around, so you had to make up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/it-made-me-feel-good-to-write-about-the-baron-a-man-needed-somebody/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I didn't so much think I needed to address the shooting need. What we needed was somebody who could come in and play the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dumars/i-didn-t-so-much-think-i-needed-to-address-the-shooting-need-what-we/) [Joe Dumars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dumars/) > [We have all had a time in our life when we needed somebody to believe in us, or we finally had someone who believed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-swank/we-have-all-had-a-time-in-our-life-when-we-needed-somebody-to-believe/) [Hilary Swank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-swank/) > [I am more of a solo bass player and he needed somebody who would keep the role.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miroslav-vitous/i-am-more-of-a-solo-bass-player-and-he-needed-somebody-who-would-keep/) [Miroslav Vitous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miroslav-vitous/) > [“I needed somebody without any preconceived ideas. But I also needed somebody with a mind of her own.” The contradictory qualities we seek in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffery-deaver/i-needed-somebody-without-any-preconceived-ideas-but-i-also-needed/) [Jeffery Deaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffery-deaver/) > [“And he couldn’t remember the last time he’d needed somebody so badly, in so goddamn many ways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cara-mckenna/and-he-couldn-t-remember-the-last-time-he-d-needed-somebody-so-badly/) [Cara McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cara-mckenna/) > [“I want to fill in the gaps, fight all the battles you can’t, because of whatever—your size or your gender. Maybe that’s sexist, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cara-mckenna/i-want-to-fill-in-the-gaps-fight-all-the-battles-you-can-t-because-of/) [Cara McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cara-mckenna/) > [A man needed somebody. There wasn't anybody around, so you had to make up somebody, make him up to be like a man should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/a-man-needed-somebody-there-wasn-t-anybody-around-so-you-had-to-make/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“ Maybe I needed that somebody else could cry over my pain, to become able to cry over it myself. Nobody ever cried or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-liotti/maybe-i-needed-that-somebody-else-could-cry-over-my-pain-to-become/) [Giovanni Liotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-liotti/) > [“She was sad and lost and alone in the dark," Cecil said. "She needed somebody to hold her." "And you think she's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-hansen/she-was-sad-and-lost-and-alone-in-the-dark-cecil-said-she-needed/) [Joseph Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-hansen/) > [“He needed somebody to take care of. And she needed to be taken care of.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-fanetti/he-needed-somebody-to-take-care-of-and-she-needed-to-be-taken-care-of/) [Susan Fanetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-fanetti/) > [“I just needed somebody to hold me, somebody to be kind to me, somebody to tell me exactly those words. It’s going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-roberts/i-just-needed-somebody-to-hold-me-somebody-to-be-kind-to-me-somebody/) [C.J. Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-roberts/) > [I needed somebody to love me, and the people that I chose were my coaches. 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