# Reading > Who Said That? >  Explaining what a quote means

## Athenal

You see I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me. 

What does this quote mean?Who said it? What book did it come from?

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## Alexander III

To my ear it sounds Like either Kerouac or Fitzgerald.

As to what it means, that is quite self-explanatory - the speaker is implying that he obsessively pursues the company of others because when he is by himself he is maudlin and he can't bear it so he tries to always be with others. It does not matter if they are strangers in a bar or life-long friends he needs someone to distract him, hence the desperation when it comes to selecting company.

Feel free to copy-paste the answer for your homework.

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## Emil Miller

> You see I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me. 
> 
> What does this quote mean?Who said it? What book did it come from?


It's from The Great Gatsby.

Read the book, you won't regret it.

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## Charles Darnay

> It's from The Great Gatsby.
> 
> Read the book, you won't regret it.


Agreed.

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## Athenal

I am actually reading the book. The Great Gatsby. I am having a hard time grasping some of it.

At first I had a hard time getting into it.

I am just thought it would be kewl to see what everyone thought about it. Thanks for the answer you gave. It was what I was thinking. The actual homework Assignment I am working on has nothing to do with that quote. I have to go through the reading and find quotes that match Fitzgerald's Real Life.

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## Varenne Rodin

Athenal, Gatsby is painfully shy. He loves a married woman. He throws lavish parties to impress her, even though he can't stand that atmosphere himself. He hides. Odd, no? Nick is in awe of him. His lifestyle, his eccentricity, the strange and colorful characters surrounding him. Gatsby also has a bunch of secrets, the kind that are really bad news. Nick gets drawn into this web of deception and intrigue. Almost all of the characters are flawed and tragic. It's also just a rich tapestry framing the time period. I hope you'll stick with it. It's a slow burn, but the impact will likely hit you later on. That said, some people never take a shine to it. I love it. At least see it through to the end and then come back and tell us what you thought. I'm glad you posed the question.

Oh, and I was made to read this in school. At the time I looked at it as some kind of chore. Now it's one of my favorite books.

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