--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Like most people, I'm fascinated by…" description: "\"Like most people, I'm fascinated by characters who are completely flawed personalities, riven by anguish and doubt, and are psychologically suspect.\" —..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af1/chang-rae-lee-3318_anguish_like-most-people-i-m-fascinated-by-chara_3190544.png" --- # Like most people, I'm fascinated by characters who are… ![“Like most people, I'm fascinated by characters who are completely flawed personalities, riven by anguish and doubt, and are psychologically suspect.” quote by Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af1/chang-rae-lee-3318_anguish_like-most-people-i-m-fascinated-by-chara_3190544.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af1/chang-rae-lee-3318_anguish_like-most-people-i-m-fascinated-by-chara_3190544.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af1/chang-rae-lee-3318_anguish_like-most-people-i-m-fascinated-by-chara_3190544.png) > “Like most people, I'm fascinated by characters who are completely flawed personalities, riven by anguish and doubt, and are psychologically suspect.” [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote celebrates complex, imperfect characters whose inner turmoil makes them compelling and relatable. **In simple terms:** Flawed characters are fascinating because of their inner conflict. Key Takeaway Embrace complexity in people. Themes character development psychology flaws Mood intrigued reflective Type literary psychological When to use this quote - Literary analysis - character study - creative writing - psychotherapy - film casting Key Concepts Human nature existential angst narrative depth Questions to Reflect On - What makes a flawed character compelling? - How does inner conflict drive narrative? A Different Perspective Flawed characters can become glorified, overlooking real consequences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Characters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characters/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Personalities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personalities/) ## Related quotes > [Like most people, Im fascinated by characters who are completely flawed personalities, riven by anguish and doubt, and are psychologically suspect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/like-most-people-im-fascinated-by-characters-who-are-completely/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [I'm still really fascinated with characters and people and telling their stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-monaghan/i-m-still-really-fascinated-with-characters-and-people-and-telling/) [Michelle Monaghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-monaghan/) > [I spent a lot of time quasi-fascinated with characters who were super-dumb and super-cocky. I always liked that combination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-arnett/i-spent-a-lot-of-time-quasi-fascinated-with-characters-who-were-super/) [Will Arnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-arnett/) > [I'm fascinated by characters who are faced with big losses and have to put their lives back together again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/i-m-fascinated-by-characters-who-are-faced-with-big-losses-and-have/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [I've always been drawn to playing characters that are a completely the opposite of myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-breckenridge/i-ve-always-been-drawn-to-playing-characters-that-are-a-completely/) [Alexandra Breckenridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-breckenridge/) > [That's what I'm drawn to: playing characters that are completely different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-sharp/that-s-what-i-m-drawn-to-playing-characters-that-are-completely/) [Alex Sharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-sharp/) > [ For \[people\] to be like "So what it's like dealing with female characters who are completely disgusting?" I don't think they are - does… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslye-headland/for-people-to-be-like-so-what-it-s-like-dealing-with-female/) [Leslye Headland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslye-headland/) > [You have to be able to get inside the heads of the characters and completely sympathize and understand them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlton-cuse/you-have-to-be-able-to-get-inside-the-heads-of-the-characters-and/) [Carlton Cuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlton-cuse/) > [“While I may not have been physically addicted, I was certainly psychologically hooked. I missed getting high so badly that it was the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-harris/while-i-may-not-have-been-physically-addicted-i-was-certainly/) [Dan Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-harris/) > [ When you know psychologically what \[characters\] are feeling, then that plays out on how you dress a lot of times. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-kidman/when-you-know-psychologically-what-characters-are-feeling-then-that/) [Nicole Kidman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-kidman/) > [Dance is not just good for you physically, but emotionally and psychologically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-rippon/dance-is-not-just-good-for-you-physically-but-emotionally-and/) [Angela Rippon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-rippon/) > [Gollum is entirely based on the notion of addiction. The way that the ring pervades him, makes him craving, lustful, depletes him physically, psychologically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/gollum-is-entirely-based-on-the-notion-of-addiction-the-way-that-the/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [I love mysteries on television - the more psychologically complex, the better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-eaton/i-love-mysteries-on-television-the-more-psychologically-complex-the/) [Rebecca Eaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-eaton/) > [Because there is something psychologically wrong with you on some level if you want to be on TV, if the only way you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-seder/because-there-is-something-psychologically-wrong-with-you-on-some/) [Sam Seder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-seder/) > [He's psychologically damaged, I suppose, if you stand back and look objectively at him, but then, who isn't?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-darrow/he-s-psychologically-damaged-i-suppose-if-you-stand-back-and-look/) [Paul Darrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-darrow/) ## More by Chang-Rae Lee > [The truth, finally, is who can tell it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/the-truth-finally-is-who-can-tell-it/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [I think my parents recognised that I'd always wanted to be a writer, and so they didn't think that this was some idle, faddish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/i-think-my-parents-recognised-that-i-d-always-wanted-to-be-a-writer/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [Some writers are writing one great, big book and just taking all these different avenues towards it. They might seem on the outside to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/some-writers-are-writing-one-great-big-book-and-just-taking-all-these/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [I try to be aware of what I'm concerned about, aware of how I feel about myself in the world, aware of how I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/i-try-to-be-aware-of-what-i-m-concerned-about-aware-of-how-i-feel/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [“Behold a fire from the opposite shore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/behold-a-fire-from-the-opposite-shore/) [Chang-rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [“I would give most anything to hear my father's talk again, the crash and bang and stop of his language, always hurtling by. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/i-would-give-most-anything-to-hear-my-father-s-talk-again-the-crash/) [Chang-rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [We have hopes and make plans, and if they are dashed or waylaid, we naturally rationalize and redraw the map to locate ourselves anew.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/we-have-hopes-and-make-plans-and-if-they-are-dashed-or-waylaid-we/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [I remember when I was in art classes, I hated following the assignments. And I would get in trouble for doing something totally different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/i-remember-when-i-was-in-art-classes-i-hated-following-the/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [The past, as you suggest, is absolutely present at all times and the present is born from the past. I wouldn't want to suggest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/the-past-as-you-suggest-is-absolutely-present-at-all-times-and-the/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [Most people don't think about race as much as I do. They don't have to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/most-people-don-t-think-about-race-as-much-as-i-do-they-don-t-have-to/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [Not to any really influential effect, but certainly there have been comments that have surprised me. It's surprising sometimes to get particular perspectives on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/not-to-any-really-influential-effect-but-certainly-there-have-been/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [My family immigrated when I was 3, and our predecessors inhabited the Korean Peninsula for as long as can be recalled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/my-family-immigrated-when-i-was-3-and-our-predecessors-inhabited-the/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [After college, I was living in New York and wrote furiously, a huge novel that I knew was a failure. I hoped that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/after-college-i-was-living-in-new-york-and-wrote-furiously-a-huge/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [Usually, when you're talking about work with other writers it's because something seriously bad is going on with your work and you've absolutely thrown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/usually-when-you-re-talking-about-work-with-other-writers-it-s/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [ I had a visceral connection to the period \[of Korean War\]. By visceral I suppose I mean emotional. But every fiction requires so much… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/i-had-a-visceral-connection-to-the-period-of-korean-war-by-visceral-i/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) [Explore all 133 Chang-Rae Lee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) ## More Anguish quotes > [“He put his forehead against hers. “Alannah, my heart is yours.” He said softly. “And yet, I must hand it over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-morin/he-put-his-forehead-against-hers-alannah-my-heart-is-yours-he-said/) [B.C. Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-morin/) > [Knowledge gives a wider choice and more anguish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-florman/knowledge-gives-a-wider-choice-and-more-anguish/) [Samuel Florman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-florman/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/being-human-we-would-expel-from-our-lives-physical-pain-and-mental/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [I saw my parents as gods whose every wish must be obeyed or I would suffer the penalty of anguish and guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/i-saw-my-parents-as-gods-whose-every-wish-must-be-obeyed-or-i-would/) [Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/) > [Every last cast is actually a first cast. The first cast and first chance to catch the next fish. The next time you anguish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/every-last-cast-is-actually-a-first-cast-the-first-cast-and-first/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [Journalism is an extraordinary and terrible privilege. Not by chance, if you are aware of it, does it consume you with a hundred feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/journalism-is-an-extraordinary-and-terrible-privilege-not-by-chance/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [I have discovered in my long life that there are many words and phrases which have more power than any spell of magick. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/i-have-discovered-in-my-long-life-that-there-are-many-words-and/) [David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/) > [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-marceau/i-have-designed-my-style-pantomimes-as-white-ink-drawings-on-black/) [Marcel Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-marceau/) > [So silently, peacefully, without hurry, without any tension, without any anguish, move into yourself instantly. It is urgent. Unless meditation becomes urgent to you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/so-silently-peacefully-without-hurry-without-any-tension-without-any/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-bush/it-breaks-my-heart-to-think-about-a-family-weeping-over-the-loss-of-a/) [George P. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-p-bush/) [Browse all 570 Anguish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Like most people, I'm fascinated by characters who are completely flawed personalities, riven by anguish and doubt, and are psychologically suspect.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Chang-Rae Lee" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/like-most-people-i-m-fascinated-by-characters-who-are-completely/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anguish" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/like-most-people-i-m-fascinated-by-characters-who-are-completely/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af1/chang-rae-lee-3318_anguish_like-most-people-i-m-fascinated-by-chara_3190544.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af1/chang-rae-lee-3318_anguish_like-most-people-i-m-fascinated-by-chara_3190544.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af1/chang-rae-lee-3318_anguish_like-most-people-i-m-fascinated-by-chara_3190544.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Like most people, I'm fascinated by characters who are completely flawed personalities, riven by anguish and…” — Chang-Rae Lee", "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": "Chang-Rae Lee", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Like most people, I'm fascinated by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/like-most-people-i-m-fascinated-by-characters-who-are-completely/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/like-most-people-i-m-fascinated-by-characters-who-are-completely/#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 } } ] } ```