--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think human beings exist in a social…" description: "\"I think human beings exist in a social world. I write realistic fiction, and so it isn't that surprising that the social realities of their existence w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-505_existence_i-think-human-beings-exist-in-a-social-w_2598623.png" --- # I think human beings exist in a social world. I write… ![“I think human beings exist in a social world. I write realistic fiction, and so it isn't that surprising that the social realities of their existence would be part of the story.” quote by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-505_existence_i-think-human-beings-exist-in-a-social-w_2598623.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-505_existence_i-think-human-beings-exist-in-a-social-w_2598623.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-505_existence_i-think-human-beings-exist-in-a-social-w_2598623.png) > “I think human beings exist in a social world. I write realistic fiction, and so it isn't that surprising that the social realities of their existence would be part of the story.” [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our social environment shapes our stories and identities. **In simple terms:** Social world influences fiction. Key Takeaway Acknowledge societal impact. Themes society storytelling identity Mood analytical thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - community projects - education curricula Key Concepts sociology literature Questions to Reflect On - How does your community shape your narrative? - Can you write beyond social constraints? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on society may limit individuality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Realistic fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realistic-fiction/) [Realities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realities/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [At this point, realism is perhaps the least adequate means of understanding or portraying the incredible realities of our existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/at-this-point-realism-is-perhaps-the-least-adequate-means-of/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [The modern world, a world which has experienced marvelous achievements but which seems to have lost its sense of ultimate realities and of existence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/the-modern-world-a-world-which-has-experienced-marvelous-achievements/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [Schizophrenia is a successful attempt not to adapt to pseudo- social realities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/schizophrenia-is-a-successful-attempt-not-to-adapt-to-pseudo-social/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [To be a human being is to be in a state of tension between your appetites and your dreams, and the social realities around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/to-be-a-human-being-is-to-be-in-a-state-of-tension-between-your/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Only in imaginary experience (in the folk tale, for example), which neutralizes the sense of social realities, does the social world take the form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bourdieu/only-in-imaginary-experience-in-the-folk-tale-for-example-which/) [Pierre Bourdieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bourdieu/) > [In the society of men the truth resides now less in what things are than in what they are not. Our social realities are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-laing/in-the-society-of-men-the-truth-resides-now-less-in-what-things-are/) [R. D. Laing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-laing/) > [The Church responds to antiquated social realities, and those realities remain much more current in Utah precisely because of the Church.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/the-church-responds-to-antiquated-social-realities-and-those/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [“Social realities that may have appeared inalterable, impenetrable, came to be viewed as malleable and transformable; and people learned how to imagine what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-davis/social-realities-that-may-have-appeared-inalterable-impenetrable-came/) [Angela Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-davis/) > [Facebook, Apple, Tinder, Snapchat, and Google create our social realities - how we make friends, how we get jobs, and how mankind interacts. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brianna-wu/facebook-apple-tinder-snapchat-and-google-create-our-social-realities/) [Brianna Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brianna-wu/) > [“Phenomenological research is a type of research that attempts to understand participants’ perspectives and views of various social realities (Leedy and Ormrod, 2010: 108).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gjoko-muratovski/phenomenological-research-is-a-type-of-research-that-attempts-to/) [Gjoko Muratovski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gjoko-muratovski/) > [Only responsible human beings can exist in an anarchistic society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/only-responsible-human-beings-can-exist-in-an-anarchistic-society/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [“If we had never seen fishes, we should be at a loss to understand how any living beings could exist In the sea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-kardec/if-we-had-never-seen-fishes-we-should-be-at-a-loss-to-understand-how/) [Allan Kardec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-kardec/) > [We need others for our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Without others we are nothing. Our sense that we are an island, an independent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geshe-kelsang-gyatso/we-need-others-for-our-physical-emotional-and-spiritual-well-being/) [Geshe Kelsang Gyatso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geshe-kelsang-gyatso/) > [All beings exist ultimately in a condition of inner enlightenment. Enlightenment is in all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/all-beings-exist-ultimately-in-a-condition-of-inner-enlightenment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Human beings are communal beings and we can't exist or prosper by ourselves. We need each other's support.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/human-beings-are-communal-beings-and-we-can-t-exist-or-prosper-by/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## More by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie > [“What I’ve noticed being here is that many English people are in awe of America but also deeply resent it,” Obinze added. “Perfectly true,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/what-i-ve-noticed-being-here-is-that-many-english-people-are-in-awe/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [If you followed the media you'd think that everybody in Africa was starving to death, and that's not the case; so it's important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/if-you-followed-the-media-you-d-think-that-everybody-in-africa-was/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“Because human beings lived then in a world in which physical strength was the most important attribute for survival; the physically stronger person was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/because-human-beings-lived-then-in-a-world-in-which-physical-strength/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [To return to the books of my childhood is to yield to the strain of nostalgia that is curious about the self I once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/to-return-to-the-books-of-my-childhood-is-to-yield-to-the-strain-of/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [I think white women need to wake up and say, 'Not all women are white,' three times in front of the mirror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-think-white-women-need-to-wake-up-and-say-not-all-women-are-white/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are. If we have sons, we don't mind knowing about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/we-teach-girls-that-they-cannot-be-sexual-beings-in-the-way-that-boys/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“Alexa, and the other guests, and perhaps even Georgina, all understood the fleeing from war, from the kind of poverty that crushed human souls,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/alexa-and-the-other-guests-and-perhaps-even-georgina-all-understood/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“I discovered race in America and it fascinated me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-discovered-race-in-america-and-it-fascinated-me/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“It was not as if he did not know what living in Lagos could do to a woman married to a young and wealthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/it-was-not-as-if-he-did-not-know-what-living-in-lagos-could-do-to-a/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“They have the kinds of things we can eat.' An unease crept up on Ifemelu. She was comfortable here, and she wished she were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/they-have-the-kinds-of-things-we-can-eat-an-unease-crept-up-on/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [If I were not African, I wonder whether it would be clear to me that Africa is a place where the people do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/if-i-were-not-african-i-wonder-whether-it-would-be-clear-to-me-that/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“But race is not biology; race is sociology. Race is not genotype; race is phenotype. Race matters because of racism. And racism is absurd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/but-race-is-not-biology-race-is-sociology-race-is-not-genotype-race/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [I like the U.S. and feel gratitude towards it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-like-the-u-s-and-feel-gratitude-towards-it/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [I’m very feminist in the way I look at the world, and that worldview must somehow be part of my work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-m-very-feminist-in-the-way-i-look-at-the-world-and-that-worldview/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [Perhaps it is time to debate culture. The common story is that in 'real' African culture, before it was tainted by the West, gender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/perhaps-it-is-time-to-debate-culture-the-common-story-is-that-in-real/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) [Explore all 491 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) ## More Existence quotes > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [It does not seem to me to be sufficiently recognized everywhere among the officials that the existence or non-existence of our people and Empire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-von-hindenburg/it-does-not-seem-to-me-to-be-sufficiently-recognized-everywhere-among/) [Paul von Hindenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-von-hindenburg/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/universities-are-the-cathedrals-of-the-modern-age-they-shouldn-t-have/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Browse all 7,646 Existence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think human beings exist in a social world. 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