--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why hadn’t people been nicer when it…" description: "\"“Why hadn’t people been nicer when it mattered? I wondered.”\" — Akhil Sharma" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b7/akhil-sharma-14942_mattered_why-hadn-t-people-been-nicer-when-it-mat_1284078.png" --- # Why hadn’t people been nicer when it mattered? I wondered. ![“Why hadn’t people been nicer when it mattered? I wondered.” quote by Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b7/akhil-sharma-14942_mattered_why-hadn-t-people-been-nicer-when-it-mat_1284078.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b7/akhil-sharma-14942_mattered_why-hadn-t-people-been-nicer-when-it-mat_1284078.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b7/akhil-sharma-14942_mattered_why-hadn-t-people-been-nicer-when-it-mat_1284078.png) > ““Why hadn’t people been nicer when it mattered? I wondered.”” [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often fail to show kindness when it’s most needed, revealing human selfishness. **In simple terms:** Kindness is often missing in crises. Key Takeaway Offer help even when not asked. Themes kindness human nature empathy Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - family crises - workplace stress - public emergencies Key Concepts moral responsibility social neglect Questions to Reflect On - Why do we hold back kindness? - What would change if everyone acted kindly? A Different Perspective Kindness can be hard to give when you’re also struggling. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > ['Bloody do-gooders' is my expression for people who are nicer than me, who are better than me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-rowe/bloody-do-gooders-is-my-expression-for-people-who-are-nicer-than-me/) [Mike Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-rowe/) > [People were nicer to me when I was in the arts. I experienced extreme racism in small-town New Zealand. 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I don't want to embrace that fear; I prefer to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhil-sharma/it-s-easy-when-you-grow-up-in-fear-to-act-out-of-fear-i-don-t-want-to/) [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) > [I think that books are fundamentally educational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhil-sharma/i-think-that-books-are-fundamentally-educational/) [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) > [As a teacher, I can help my students see what is working and not working. I can show them certain solutions. I can guide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhil-sharma/as-a-teacher-i-can-help-my-students-see-what-is-working-and-not/) [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) > [Exposition suggests a great trust in the reader, and this expression of trust makes a book feel tender.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhil-sharma/exposition-suggests-a-great-trust-in-the-reader-and-this-expression/) [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) > [My wife is the most wonderful woman in the world, and my parents are the most extraordinary father and mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhil-sharma/my-wife-is-the-most-wonderful-woman-in-the-world-and-my-parents-are/) [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) > [Novels should be judged rigorously. Either a book works or it doesn't. The fact that something is true in the real world should not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhil-sharma/novels-should-be-judged-rigorously-either-a-book-works-or-it-doesn-t/) [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) > [“We have to keep trusting God. We can’t just trust God when he’s doing what we want. We have to trust him even when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhil-sharma/we-have-to-keep-trusting-god-we-can-t-just-trust-god-when-he-s-doing/) [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) > [It is hard to write about physically difficult things without causing the reader to disengage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhil-sharma/it-is-hard-to-write-about-physically-difficult-things-without-causing/) [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) > [During my breakdown, many things, tiny things I had not even registered before, had begun to torment me with guilt. I used to steal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhil-sharma/during-my-breakdown-many-things-tiny-things-i-had-not-even-registered/) [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) > [“History repeats itself and mine is full of failures, so I am not surprised.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhil-sharma/history-repeats-itself-and-mine-is-full-of-failures-so-i-am-not/) [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) > [It is hard to create a first-person narrator that can be a child and yet is able to take in enough information for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhil-sharma/it-is-hard-to-create-a-first-person-narrator-that-can-be-a-child-and/) [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) > [I need to tell the things that are important but which don't make sense in terms of the narrative, things that would destroy symmetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhil-sharma/i-need-to-tell-the-things-that-are-important-but-which-don-t-make/) [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) > [As a human being living one's life, one is more open to relief when there is rain or the expectation of rain. That readiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akhil-sharma/as-a-human-being-living-one-s-life-one-is-more-open-to-relief-when/) [Akhil Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) [Explore all 44 Akhil Sharma quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akhil-sharma/) ## More Mattered quotes > [“History mattered. But it could not guarantee what might happen next.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-gable/history-mattered-but-it-could-not-guarantee-what-might-happen-next/) [Michelle Gable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-gable/) > [“Climbing mattered. The danger bathed the world in a halogen glow that caused everything—the sweep of the rock, the orange and yellow lichens, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-krakauer/climbing-mattered-the-danger-bathed-the-world-in-a-halogen-glow-that/) [Jon Krakauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-krakauer/) > [“Knowing you don’t have much time left changes things. You get kind of philosophical. 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If it mattered to me even one bit, I wouldn't be here with you, Nakano-san!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maki-murakami/i-don-t-if-it-mattered-to-me-even-one-bit-i-wouldn-t-be-here-with-you/) [Maki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maki-murakami/) > [His face was in my neck and he was breathing hard. Was he grieving me? Already? Would he miss me? Had I, in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/his-face-was-in-my-neck-and-he-was-breathing-hard-was-he-grieving-me/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [He was the closest thing I'd ever had to something, or someone, that mattered. But in the end, close didn't count. You were either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/he-was-the-closest-thing-i-d-ever-had-to-something-or-someone-that/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [“Your first kiss isn’t as important as your last. The math test really didn’t matter. The pie really did. The stuff you’re good at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-wate/your-first-kiss-isn-t-as-important-as-your-last-the-math-test-really/) Ethan Wate > [At this point in my life I'd like to live as if only love mattered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-chapman/at-this-point-in-my-life-i-d-like-to-live-as-if-only-love-mattered/) [Tracy Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-chapman/) > [ All I cared about was the music, like hearing Townes \[ Van Zandt\] talking about "For the sake of the song"; it's all that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-young/all-i-cared-about-was-the-music-like-hearing-townes-van-zandt-talking/) [Steve Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-young/) > [We'd grown up without any money. I mean, everything was a struggle; our lives were a struggle, and dancing changed all of that. Nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlene-phillips/we-d-grown-up-without-any-money-i-mean-everything-was-a-struggle-our/) [Arlene Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlene-phillips/) > [“She had realized something over the recent months: it didn’t matter who you were or what you’d accomplished in life; none of that mattered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindy-zart/she-had-realized-something-over-the-recent-months-it-didn-t-matter/) [Lindy Zart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindy-zart/) > [It was a recession when I graduated, but I was so unequipped to have a job anyway, I don't think it would have mattered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/it-was-a-recession-when-i-graduated-but-i-was-so-unequipped-to-have-a/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) Browse all 263 Mattered quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Why hadn’t people been nicer when it mattered? 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