---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Had I given equal weight to everyone who…"
description: "\"“Had I given equal weight to everyone who had something to say, every story would have turned into a terrible game of Twister (left”\" — Ann Patchett"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/ann-patchett-670_twister_had-i-given-equal-weight-to-everyone-who_3138309.jpg"
---

#  Had I given equal weight to everyone who had something to…

![“Had I given equal weight to everyone who had something to say, every story would have turned into a terrible game of Twister (left” quote by Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/ann-patchett-670_twister_had-i-given-equal-weight-to-everyone-who_3138309.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/ann-patchett-670_twister_had-i-given-equal-weight-to-everyone-who_3138309.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/ann-patchett-670_twister_had-i-given-equal-weight-to-everyone-who_3138309.jpg)

> ““Had I given equal weight to everyone who had something to say, every story would have turned into a terrible game of Twister (left””

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

If you try to give equal importance to every voice, the narrative becomes chaotic and loses focus.

**In simple terms:** Giving all opinions equal weight creates chaos.

Key Takeaway

Prioritize voices that add value.

Themes

communication balance focus

Mood

thoughtful analytical

Type

advice philosophical

When to use this quote

- team meetings
- editorial decisions
- family discussions
- public debates

Key Concepts

dialogue hierarchy storytelling

Questions to Reflect On

- Which voices should be amplified?
- How do you decide whose input matters?

A Different Perspective

Not all perspectives are equally relevant or constructive.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Twister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twister/)

## Related quotes

> [“ What's happened to the world? she was thinking. Everything has turned terrible...and the bits that aren't terrible have gone mad. I don't understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mahy/what-s-happened-to-the-world-she-was-thinking-everything-has-turned/)

[Margaret Mahy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mahy/)

> [To see my story turned into a movie is mind-blowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susannah-cahalan/to-see-my-story-turned-into-a-movie-is-mind-blowing/)

[Susannah Cahalan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susannah-cahalan/)

> [Perhaps there could be no joy on this planet without an equal weight of pain to balance it out on some unknown scale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/perhaps-there-could-be-no-joy-on-this-planet-without-an-equal-weight/)

[Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/)

> [I really strived to give equal weight to the two halves of my genre's name: science and fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-j-sawyer/i-really-strived-to-give-equal-weight-to-the-two-halves-of-my-genre-s/)

[Robert J. Sawyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-j-sawyer/)

> [They have equal weight and you do the same work you'd do if you were playing a dramatic role.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-keitel/they-have-equal-weight-and-you-do-the-same-work-you-d-do-if-you-were/)

[Harvey Keitel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-keitel/)

> [Our marriage works because we each carry clubs of equal weight and size.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-newman/our-marriage-works-because-we-each-carry-clubs-of-equal-weight-and/)

[Paul Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-newman/)

> [Another day at work...I'm having as much fun as a colorblind person playing twister.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/another-day-at-work-i-m-having-as-much-fun-as-a-colorblind-person/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Hermione uses all these big long tongue twister words. I don't know what she's going on about half the time!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-watson/hermione-uses-all-these-big-long-tongue-twister-words-i-don-t-know/)

[Emma Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-watson/)

> [“Zane Parata,” she said, settling into the seat opposite him. “I thought you’d gotten swallowed up in a twister and settled among the indigenous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mcintyre/zane-parata-she-said-settling-into-the-seat-opposite-him-i-thought/)

[Katherine McIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mcintyre/)

> [One man's pet-stained carpet is another man's Twister game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emo-philips/one-man-s-pet-stained-carpet-is-another-man-s-twister-game/)

[Emo Philips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emo-philips/)

> [“Love? The Doctor Sneered. What do you know about love? I read it in the mind of this creature. He has such love for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-morris/love-the-doctor-sneered-what-do-you-know-about-love-i-read-it-in-the/)

[Mark Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-morris/)

> [Constant repetition of tongue-twisters was like lifting weights for me, but patience and persistence have paid off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-brendon/constant-repetition-of-tongue-twisters-was-like-lifting-weights-for/)

[Nicholas Brendon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-brendon/)

> [ ...\[T\]he Constitution conferred only a few specific powers on the federal government, all others being denied to it (as the Tenth Amendment would make… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/t-he-constitution-conferred-only-a-few-specific-powers-on-the-federal/)

[Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/)

> [“A proper Indiana twister looks something like God got fed up with his spinach. God in this instance is about six years old .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kimberling/a-proper-indiana-twister-looks-something-like-god-got-fed-up-with-his/)

[Brian kimberling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kimberling/)

> [It's awkward doing it with anybody, but it's like Twister.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pattinson/it-s-awkward-doing-it-with-anybody-but-it-s-like-twister/)

[Robert Pattinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pattinson/)

## More by Ann Patchett

> [She sang as if she was saving the life of every person in the room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/she-sang-as-if-she-was-saving-the-life-of-every-person-in-the-room/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [If I had problems, I kept them to myself. I didn't make a scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-had-problems-i-kept-them-to-myself-i-didn-t-make-a-scene/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [I can't write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-can-t-write-the-book-i-want-to-write-but-i-can-and-will-write-the/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“Without worry to protect me, every thought that came into my mind received real attention.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/without-worry-to-protect-me-every-thought-that-came-into-my-mind/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“I wrote the last sentence of The Patron Saint of Liars in early April and stumbled out of my apartment and into the beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-wrote-the-last-sentence-of-the-patron-saint-of-liars-in-early-april/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“In the future, he will try to say her name enough, but he never can.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/in-the-future-he-will-try-to-say-her-name-enough-but-he-never-can/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [My novels are very much the same, as I think many people's novels are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/my-novels-are-very-much-the-same-as-i-think-many-people-s-novels-are/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“He was in love, and never had he felt such kindness towards another person.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/he-was-in-love-and-never-had-he-felt-such-kindness-towards-another/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“Gen was sleeping the sleep of the heavily drugged.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/gen-was-sleeping-the-sleep-of-the-heavily-drugged/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [If I was a waitress, I was too tired at the end of the day when I came home to try to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-was-a-waitress-i-was-too-tired-at-the-end-of-the-day-when-i-came/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“She didn't know how to hate her mother yet, but every time she left her father crying in the airport she came that much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/she-didn-t-know-how-to-hate-her-mother-yet-but-every-time-she-left/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“When you think of love you think as an American. You must think like a Russian. It is a more expansive view.' 'Americans havea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/when-you-think-of-love-you-think-as-an-american-you-must-think-like-a/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“...Nebraska was white, a page as still as fallen snow. It was not crosshatched with roads, overrun with the hard lines of interstate systems.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/nebraska-was-white-a-page-as-still-as-fallen-snow-it-was-not/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“Clearly he needed a father, but some other father, any other father, would have been preferable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/clearly-he-needed-a-father-but-some-other-father-any-other-father/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“I don't have any talent for vacations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-don-t-have-any-talent-for-vacations/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

[Explore all 413 Ann Patchett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

## More Twister quotes

> [It's awkward doing it with anybody, but it's like Twister.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pattinson/it-s-awkward-doing-it-with-anybody-but-it-s-like-twister/)

[Robert Pattinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pattinson/)

> [“A proper Indiana twister looks something like God got fed up with his spinach. God in this instance is about six years old .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kimberling/a-proper-indiana-twister-looks-something-like-god-got-fed-up-with-his/)

[Brian kimberling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kimberling/)

> [ ...\[T\]he Constitution conferred only a few specific powers on the federal government, all others being denied to it (as the Tenth Amendment would make… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/t-he-constitution-conferred-only-a-few-specific-powers-on-the-federal/)

[Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/)

> [Constant repetition of tongue-twisters was like lifting weights for me, but patience and persistence have paid off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-brendon/constant-repetition-of-tongue-twisters-was-like-lifting-weights-for/)

[Nicholas Brendon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-brendon/)

> [“Love? The Doctor Sneered. What do you know about love? I read it in the mind of this creature. He has such love for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-morris/love-the-doctor-sneered-what-do-you-know-about-love-i-read-it-in-the/)

[Mark Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-morris/)

> [One man's pet-stained carpet is another man's Twister game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emo-philips/one-man-s-pet-stained-carpet-is-another-man-s-twister-game/)

[Emo Philips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emo-philips/)

> [“Zane Parata,” she said, settling into the seat opposite him. “I thought you’d gotten swallowed up in a twister and settled among the indigenous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mcintyre/zane-parata-she-said-settling-into-the-seat-opposite-him-i-thought/)

[Katherine McIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mcintyre/)

> [Hermione uses all these big long tongue twister words. I don't know what she's going on about half the time!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-watson/hermione-uses-all-these-big-long-tongue-twister-words-i-don-t-know/)

[Emma Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-watson/)

> [Another day at work...I'm having as much fun as a colorblind person playing twister.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/another-day-at-work-i-m-having-as-much-fun-as-a-colorblind-person/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Watch very closely as the magical angel and I are swallowed by the rainbow twister, and left stranded on the glitter way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/watch-very-closely-as-the-magical-angel-and-i-are-swallowed-by-the/)

[Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/)

> [If I get clear of my debts, I care not though men call me bold, glib of tongue, audacious, impudent, shameless, a fabricator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/if-i-get-clear-of-my-debts-i-care-not-though-men-call-me-bold-glib-of/)

[Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/)

> [“Well, you never can tell with a twister. They are as mean, as ornery, and as unpredictable as an unhappy woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-joseph-adams/well-you-never-can-tell-with-a-twister-they-are-as-mean-as-ornery-and/)

[John Joseph Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-joseph-adams/)

> [I remember when yoga was called Twister. . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-sutter/i-remember-when-yoga-was-called-twister/)

[Rick Sutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-sutter/)

> [There is more good writing and good acting in any ten minutes of Twister than in, say, all of Citizen Kane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/there-is-more-good-writing-and-good-acting-in-any-ten-minutes-of/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [Life is like the game TWISTER… Because sometimes hand and hand don't go together… ;-)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddy-espinoza/life-is-like-the-game-twister-because-sometimes-hand-and-hand-don-t/)

[Freddy Espinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddy-espinoza/)

[Browse all 25 Twister quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twister/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Had I given equal weight to everyone who had something to say, every story would have turned into a terrible game of Twister (left”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Ann Patchett"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/had-i-given-equal-weight-to-everyone-who-had-something-to-say-every/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Twister"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/had-i-given-equal-weight-to-everyone-who-had-something-to-say-every/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/ann-patchett-670_twister_had-i-given-equal-weight-to-everyone-who_3138309.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/ann-patchett-670_twister_had-i-given-equal-weight-to-everyone-who_3138309.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/ann-patchett-670_twister_had-i-given-equal-weight-to-everyone-who_3138309.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Had I given equal weight to everyone who had something to say, every story would have turned into a terrible…” — Ann Patchett",
                "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": "Ann Patchett",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Had I given equal weight to...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/had-i-given-equal-weight-to-everyone-who-had-something-to-say-every/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/had-i-given-equal-weight-to-everyone-who-had-something-to-say-every/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```