--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are few things more subtly…" description: "\"There are few things more subtly distressing than an inappropriate gift from someone close to you.\" — Anatole Broyard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33b/anatole-broyard-14101_distressing_there-are-few-things-more-subtly-distres_2407823.jpg" --- # There are few things more subtly distressing than an… ![“There are few things more subtly distressing than an inappropriate gift from someone close to you.” quote by Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33b/anatole-broyard-14101_distressing_there-are-few-things-more-subtly-distres_2407823.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33b/anatole-broyard-14101_distressing_there-are-few-things-more-subtly-distres_2407823.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33b/anatole-broyard-14101_distressing_there-are-few-things-more-subtly-distres_2407823.jpg) > “There are few things more subtly distressing than an inappropriate gift from someone close to you.” [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Receiving an ill‑chosen present from a loved one can cause a subtle, lingering discomfort because it signals misunderstanding or misplaced intimacy. **In simple terms:** Bad gifts from close people feel oddly hurtful. Key Takeaway Consider the giver’s perspective before gifting. Themes relationships communication empathy Mood reflective slightly uneasy Type observational advice When to use this quote - family gatherings - friend birthdays - office celebrations Key Concepts social norms psychology of gifting Questions to Reflect On - What does the gift reveal about your relationship? - How can you express appreciation without focusing on the gift? A Different Perspective A gift may be well‑intentioned but still miss the mark, causing tension. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Distressing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distressing/) [Distressing Inappropriate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distressing-inappropriate-6051768/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Gift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gift/) [Gift Close](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gift-close-6051769/) [Inappropriate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inappropriate/) [Inappropriate Gift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inappropriate-gift-6051765/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Subtly Distressing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subtly-distressing-6051766/) [Things Subtly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-subtly-6051767/) ## Related quotes > [If you film a scene in a wide shot, especially a disturbing, distressing moment, I do feel like that helps you feel as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-karpovsky/if-you-film-a-scene-in-a-wide-shot-especially-a-disturbing/) [Alex Karpovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-karpovsky/) > [The evils which of necessity encompass the life of man are sufficiently numerous. Why should we add to them by voluntarily distressing and destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-evils-which-of-necessity-encompass-the-life-of-man-are/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“You're distressing Dani. No one distresses Dani but me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/you-re-distressing-dani-no-one-distresses-dani-but-me/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Twin primes: pairs of prime numbers that are close to each other, almost neighbors, but between them there is always an even number that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-giordano/twin-primes-pairs-of-prime-numbers-that-are-close-to-each-other/) [Paolo Giordano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-giordano/) > [The idea of Herman Melville in a writing class is always distressing to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/the-idea-of-herman-melville-in-a-writing-class-is-always-distressing/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [Nothing is more sweet than harmony in marriage, and nothing more distressing than dissension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/nothing-is-more-sweet-than-harmony-in-marriage-and-nothing-more/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [The attention deficit disorder of the culture is very distressing in America now and I think it puts a lot of things at risk,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/the-attention-deficit-disorder-of-the-culture-is-very-distressing-in/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [Java and C++ make you think that the new ideas are like the old ones. Java is the most distressing thing to hit computing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/java-and-c-make-you-think-that-the-new-ideas-are-like-the-old-ones/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [It seems that some consideration should be given to the cause of our mounting physical disabilities, but instead of going to the root of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-roloff/it-seems-that-some-consideration-should-be-given-to-the-cause-of-our/) [Lester Roloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-roloff/) > [What I saw in Baltimore was distressing and it tells me we need stronger policies in this country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/what-i-saw-in-baltimore-was-distressing-and-it-tells-me-we-need/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [What really worries me is that those who are in positions of power are not really affected by what we are writing. In the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/what-really-worries-me-is-that-those-who-are-in-positions-of-power/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [The old knowledge had been difficult but not distressing. It had been all paradox and myth, and it had made sense. The new knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-old-knowledge-had-been-difficult-but-not-distressing-it-had-been/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [At this very moment,... the most frightful horrors are taking place in every corner of the world. People are being crushed, slashed, disembowelled, mangled;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/at-this-very-moment-the-most-frightful-horrors-are-taking-place-in/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [There is nothing more distressing ... than the hard, scoffing spirit which treats the allegation of dishonesty in a public man as a cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-is-nothing-more-distressing-than-the-hard-scoffing-spirit-which/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [It's estimated that across Africa 100 elephants are killed for their tusks every day. It takes nothing more than simple math to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graydon-carter/it-s-estimated-that-across-africa-100-elephants-are-killed-for-their/) [Graydon Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graydon-carter/) ## More by Anatole Broyard > [The more I like a book, the more reluctant I am to turn the page. Lovers, even book lovers, tend to cling. No one-night…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/the-more-i-like-a-book-the-more-reluctant-i-am-to-turn-the-page/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [If a book is really good, it deserves to be read again, and if it's great, it should be read at least three times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/if-a-book-is-really-good-it-deserves-to-be-read-again-and-if-it-s/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [It is one of the paradoxes of American literature that our writers are forever looking back with love and nostalgia at lives they couldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/it-is-one-of-the-paradoxes-of-american-literature-that-our-writers/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [“The contents of someone's bookcase are part of his history, like and ancestral portrait.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/the-contents-of-someone-s-bookcase-are-part-of-his-history-like-and/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [A whole generation of writers dined out on the dialectic between original cultures and their culture by "progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/a-whole-generation-of-writers-dined-out-on-the-dialectic-between/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [“When we were in bed, the only part of me she touched was my penis, because it was the most detached.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/when-we-were-in-bed-the-only-part-of-me-she-touched-was-my-penis/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [The contents of someone's bookcase are part of his history, like an ancestral portrait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/the-contents-of-someone-s-bookcase-are-part-of-his-history-like-an/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [There is something about seeing real people on a stage that makes a bad play more intimately, more personally offensive than any other art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/there-is-something-about-seeing-real-people-on-a-stage-that-makes-a/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [Travel is like adultery: one is always tempted to be unfaithful to one's own country. To have imagination is inevitably to be dissatisfied with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/travel-is-like-adultery-one-is-always-tempted-to-be-unfaithful-to-one/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [The tension between 'yes' and no', between 'I can' and 'I cannot,' makes us feel that, in so many instances, human life is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/the-tension-between-yes-and-no-between-i-can-and-i-cannot-makes-us/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [Paranoids are the only ones who notice things anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/paranoids-are-the-only-ones-who-notice-things-anymore/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [To choose a writer for a friend is like palling around with your cardiologist, who might be musing as you talk to him that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/to-choose-a-writer-for-a-friend-is-like-palling-around-with-your/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [Lapped in poetry, wrapped in the picturesque, armed with logical sentences and inalienable words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/lapped-in-poetry-wrapped-in-the-picturesque-armed-with-logical/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [“The most dangerous part of lending books lies in the returning. At such times, friendships hang by a thread. I look for agony, ecstasy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/the-most-dangerous-part-of-lending-books-lies-in-the-returning-at/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [In an age like ours, which is not given to letter-writing, we forget what an important part it used to play in people's lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/in-an-age-like-ours-which-is-not-given-to-letter-writing-we-forget/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) [Explore all 48 Anatole Broyard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) ## More Distressing quotes > [If you film a scene in a wide shot, especially a disturbing, distressing moment, I do feel like that helps you feel as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-karpovsky/if-you-film-a-scene-in-a-wide-shot-especially-a-disturbing/) [Alex Karpovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-karpovsky/) > [There is nothing more distressing ... than the hard, scoffing spirit which treats the allegation of dishonesty in a public man as a cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-is-nothing-more-distressing-than-the-hard-scoffing-spirit-which/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [At this very moment,... the most frightful horrors are taking place in every corner of the world. People are being crushed, slashed, disembowelled, mangled;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/at-this-very-moment-the-most-frightful-horrors-are-taking-place-in/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [The old knowledge had been difficult but not distressing. It had been all paradox and myth, and it had made sense. The new knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-old-knowledge-had-been-difficult-but-not-distressing-it-had-been/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [What really worries me is that those who are in positions of power are not really affected by what we are writing. In the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/what-really-worries-me-is-that-those-who-are-in-positions-of-power/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [What I saw in Baltimore was distressing and it tells me we need stronger policies in this country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/what-i-saw-in-baltimore-was-distressing-and-it-tells-me-we-need/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [It seems that some consideration should be given to the cause of our mounting physical disabilities, but instead of going to the root of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-roloff/it-seems-that-some-consideration-should-be-given-to-the-cause-of-our/) [Lester Roloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-roloff/) > [Java and C++ make you think that the new ideas are like the old ones. Java is the most distressing thing to hit computing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/java-and-c-make-you-think-that-the-new-ideas-are-like-the-old-ones/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [The attention deficit disorder of the culture is very distressing in America now and I think it puts a lot of things at risk,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/the-attention-deficit-disorder-of-the-culture-is-very-distressing-in/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [Nothing is more sweet than harmony in marriage, and nothing more distressing than dissension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/nothing-is-more-sweet-than-harmony-in-marriage-and-nothing-more/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [The idea of Herman Melville in a writing class is always distressing to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/the-idea-of-herman-melville-in-a-writing-class-is-always-distressing/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [Twin primes: pairs of prime numbers that are close to each other, almost neighbors, but between them there is always an even number that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-giordano/twin-primes-pairs-of-prime-numbers-that-are-close-to-each-other/) [Paolo Giordano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-giordano/) > [“You're distressing Dani. No one distresses Dani but me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/you-re-distressing-dani-no-one-distresses-dani-but-me/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [The evils which of necessity encompass the life of man are sufficiently numerous. Why should we add to them by voluntarily distressing and destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-evils-which-of-necessity-encompass-the-life-of-man-are/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [It's estimated that across Africa 100 elephants are killed for their tusks every day. It takes nothing more than simple math to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graydon-carter/it-s-estimated-that-across-africa-100-elephants-are-killed-for-their/) [Graydon Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graydon-carter/) [Browse all 117 Distressing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distressing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are few things more subtly distressing than an inappropriate gift from someone close to you.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anatole Broyard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/there-are-few-things-more-subtly-distressing-than-an-inappropriate/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Distressing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/there-are-few-things-more-subtly-distressing-than-an-inappropriate/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33b/anatole-broyard-14101_distressing_there-are-few-things-more-subtly-distres_2407823.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33b/anatole-broyard-14101_distressing_there-are-few-things-more-subtly-distres_2407823.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33b/anatole-broyard-14101_distressing_there-are-few-things-more-subtly-distres_2407823.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are few things more subtly distressing than an inappropriate gift from someone close to you.” — Anatole Broyard", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anatole Broyard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There are few things more subtly...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/there-are-few-things-more-subtly-distressing-than-an-inappropriate/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/there-are-few-things-more-subtly-distressing-than-an-inappropriate/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```