--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Disappeared' is the only way to describe…" description: "\"“Disappeared' is the only way to describe it-it was as if he dissolved into thin air without so much as a whimper. I wouldn't have believed that a huma..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/yoko-ogawa-15791_communication_disappeared-is-the-only-way-to-describe_2646087.jpg" --- # Disappeared' is the only way to describe it-it was as if… ![“Disappeared' is the only way to describe it-it was as if he dissolved into thin air without so much as a whimper. I wouldn't have believed that a human being with a brain, a heart, with arms and legs and the power of speech could have simple vanished like that. There was nothing about him that…” quote by Yōko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/yoko-ogawa-15791_communication_disappeared-is-the-only-way-to-describe_2646087.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/yoko-ogawa-15791_communication_disappeared-is-the-only-way-to-describe_2646087.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bce/yoko-ogawa-15791_communication_disappeared-is-the-only-way-to-describe_2646087.jpg) > ““Disappeared' is the only way to describe it-it was as if he dissolved into thin air without so much as a whimper. I wouldn't have believed that a human being with a brain, a heart, with arms and legs and the power of speech could have simple vanished like that. There was nothing about him that suggested he would disappear.”” [Yōko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ogawa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A person can vanish without warning, defying expectations based on their physical presence and humanity. **In simple terms:** Someone can disappear unexpectedly. Key Takeaway Expect the unexpected in others. Themes mystery humanity unexpectedness Mood eerie thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - investigations - relationships - psychological tension Key Concepts existentialism perception identity Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions do we make about people's stability? - How do we cope with sudden loss? A Different Perspective The disappearance may be metaphorical, not literal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Disappeared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappeared/) [Disappeared Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappeared-way-2311011/) [Gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gone/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Missing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/missing/) [Power of speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-of-speech/) [Simple Vanished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simple-vanished-2311012/) [Vanished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vanished/) [Vanished Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vanished-like-2311010/) ## Related quotes > [I stared at him, unable to believe this was happening. That he could just disappear, along with everything rich and strange he’d brought into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/i-stared-at-him-unable-to-believe-this-was-happening-that-he-could/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [“They're gone. I let them chase me. I led them like a sunbeam and vanished like a shadow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-bow/they-re-gone-i-let-them-chase-me-i-led-them-like-a-sunbeam-and/) [Erin Bow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-bow/) > [“Vanished like inhibitions at a bachelorette party.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-vickers/vanished-like-inhibitions-at-a-bachelorette-party/) [Dennis Vickers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-vickers/) > [“I Have Vanished In the early morning, A lover asked her beloved, “Do you love me more than yourself?” “More than myself? For sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/i-have-vanished-in-the-early-morning-a-lover-asked-her-beloved-do-you/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“And then--with the curse, or, in this case, blessing, of the unpopular, the unathletic, the overweight, the strange--they vanished like shadows into the spring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/and-then-with-the-curse-or-in-this-case-blessing-of-the-unpopular-the/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“But what happened to Vol - sorry - I mean, You-Know-Who?' 'Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling/but-what-happened-to-vol-sorry-i-mean-you-know-who-good-question/) [J.K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling/) > [“You came suddenly shook me from my sleep and vanished. In my heart you rose like the moon but as I glanced at you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/you-came-suddenly-shook-me-from-my-sleep-and-vanished-in-my-heart-you/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [The worst kind of person is one whose power of speech is greater than his power of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/the-worst-kind-of-person-is-one-whose-power-of-speech-is-greater-than/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [She had lost the art of conversation but not, unfortunately, the power of speech.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/she-had-lost-the-art-of-conversation-but-not-unfortunately-the-power/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“You don't know about falling off cliffs, Prep­pie,' she said. 'You never fell off one in your god­damn life.' 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I don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-i-say-to-him-lord-make-an-exception-of-me-since-you-are-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This suspension of one's own reality, this being entirely alone in a strange city (at times I wondered if I had lost the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/this-suspension-of-one-s-own-reality-this-being-entirely-alone-in-a/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Particularly the broad masses of the people can be moved only by the power of speech.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/particularly-the-broad-masses-of-the-people-can-be-moved-only-by-the/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) ## More by Yōko Ogawa > [“I couldn't reach him from here even if I tried.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ogawa/i-couldn-t-reach-him-from-here-even-if-i-tried/) [Yōko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ogawa/) > [“A problem isn't finished just because you've found the right answer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ogawa/a-problem-isn-t-finished-just-because-you-ve-found-the-right-answer/) [Yoko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ogawa/) > [“Are all things quantifiable, and all numbers fraught with poetic possibility?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ogawa/are-all-things-quantifiable-and-all-numbers-fraught-with-poetic/) [Yōko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ogawa/) > [“Solving a problem for which you know there's an answer is like climbing a mountain with a guide, along a trail someone else has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ogawa/solving-a-problem-for-which-you-know-there-s-an-answer-is-like/) [Yoko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ogawa/) > [“When we grow up, we find ways to hide our anxieties, our loneliness, our fear and sorrow. But children hide nothing, putting everything into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ogawa/when-we-grow-up-we-find-ways-to-hide-our-anxieties-our-loneliness-our/) [Yoko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ogawa/) > [“He preferred smart questions to smart answers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ogawa/he-preferred-smart-questions-to-smart-answers/) [Yoko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ogawa/) > [“Since that time, I've had many similar moments, and I can never hear the words "family" and "home" without feeling that they sound strange,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ogawa/since-that-time-i-ve-had-many-similar-moments-and-i-can-never-hear/) [Yōko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ogawa/) > [“He seemed convinced that children's questions were much more important than those of an adult. He preferred smart questions to smart answers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ogawa/he-seemed-convinced-that-children-s-questions-were-much-more/) [Yoko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ogawa/) > [“The room was filled with a kind of stillness. Not simply an absence of noise, but an accumulation of layers of silence...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ogawa/the-room-was-filled-with-a-kind-of-stillness-not-simply-an-absence-of/) [Yôko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ogawa/) > [The truly correct proof is one that strikes a harmonious balance between strength and flexibility. There are plenty of proofs that are technically correct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ogawa/the-truly-correct-proof-is-one-that-strikes-a-harmonious-balance/) [Yoko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ogawa/) > [“The ancient Greeks thought there was no need to count something that was nothing. And since it was nothing, they held that it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ogawa/the-ancient-greeks-thought-there-was-no-need-to-count-something-that/) [Yōko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ogawa/) > [“Sometimes I wish I could describe how wonderful I feel in those few seconds from the time he spreads his arms above his head,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ogawa/sometimes-i-wish-i-could-describe-how-wonderful-i-feel-in-those-few/) [Yōko Ogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ogawa/) > [“He treated Root exactly as he treated prime numbers. 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Smashing heads does not open minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/in-dialogue-there-is-opposition-yes-but-no-head-on-collision-smashing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I've been in a serious conversation with one of my children, and a fan has come up. 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