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About this quote

What does it mean?
An elderly man nods with difficulty, suggesting physical or mental fatigue.
In plain terms
He moves his head slowly as if it is too heavy for his neck.
What can you take from it?
Physical signs can reveal unspoken exhaustion or frailty.

Where it applies

  • observing elders
  • reading body language
  • medical settings

Putting it to work

  • notice physical strain
  • respect limits
  • act on fatigue

Questions to consider

  • What does this gesture tell you?
  • How do you show fatigue?

Another view

A single gesture might not fully indicate the extent of someone's condition.

More from Raymond Chandler

  1. A few locks of dry white hair clung to his scalp, like wild flowers fighting for life on a bare rock.

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  2. Even on Central Avenue, not the quietest dressed street in the world, he looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food.

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  3. The plants filled the place, a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men.

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