--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The less the difference, the greater the…" description: "\"The less the difference, the greater the quarrel over it.\" — Christian Nestell Bovee" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_difference_the-less-the-difference-the-greater-the_1070418.png" --- # The less the difference, the greater the quarrel over it. ![“The less the difference, the greater the quarrel over it.” quote by Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_difference_the-less-the-difference-the-greater-the_1070418.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_difference_the-less-the-difference-the-greater-the_1070418.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_difference_the-less-the-difference-the-greater-the_1070418.png) > “The less the difference, the greater the quarrel over it.” [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Minor differences can spark disproportionate conflict when people attach excessive significance to them. **In simple terms:** Small differences cause big fights. Key Takeaway Focus on common ground, not trivialities. Themes conflict perception trivialities Mood analytical thought‑provoking Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - teamwork - family discussions - political debates - negotiations Key Concepts psychology social dynamics value assignment Questions to Reflect On - Why do we magnify small issues? - How can we de‑escalate such disputes? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on minutiae can hinder progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Difference](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difference/) [Difference Greater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difference-greater-2663621/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Greater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater/) [Greater Quarrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater-quarrel-2663620/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Over it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/over-it/) [Quarrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quarrel/) [Quarrels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quarrels/) ## Related quotes > [“The difference between greater people and greatest people is the "est" which stands for "extra mile". Extra steps give Extraordinary results; Extraordinary people do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/the-difference-between-greater-people-and-greatest-people-is-the-est/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [You can make up a quarrel, but it will always show where it was patched.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-w-howe/you-can-make-up-a-quarrel-but-it-will-always-show-where-it-was-patched/) [E. W. Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-w-howe/) > [An ant has no quarrel with a boot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/an-ant-has-no-quarrel-with-a-boot/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [When two men quarrel, who owns the cooler head is the more to blame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/when-two-men-quarrel-who-owns-the-cooler-head-is-the-more-to-blame/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I had a lifelong quarrel with God, but in the end we made up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/i-had-a-lifelong-quarrel-with-god-but-in-the-end-we-made-up/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The enemy is like a woman, weak in face of opposition, but correspondingly strong when not opposed. In a quarrel with a man, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-enemy-is-like-a-woman-weak-in-face-of-opposition-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Carrying a poppy he passes through the quarrel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobayashi-issa/carrying-a-poppy-he-passes-through-the-quarrel/) [Kobayashi Issa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobayashi-issa/) > [They who quarrel with others, instead of quarrelling with their own hearts, waste their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guru-amar-das/they-who-quarrel-with-others-instead-of-quarrelling-with-their-own/) [Guru Amar Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guru-amar-das/) > [I think it's odd that grown-ups quarrel so easily and so often and about such petty matters. Up to now I always thought bickering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-frank/i-think-it-s-odd-that-grown-ups-quarrel-so-easily-and-so-often-and/) [Anne Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-frank/) > [To talk over a quarrel, with its inevitable accompaniment of self-justification, is too much like handling cobwebs to be very successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-deland/to-talk-over-a-quarrel-with-its-inevitable-accompaniment-of-self/) [Margaret Deland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-deland/) > [Every quarrel begins in nothing and ends in a struggle for supremacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/every-quarrel-begins-in-nothing-and-ends-in-a-struggle-for-supremacy/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [They say that only very good friends quarrel. But at the end of the day a quarrel is a fight between two people’s egos.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-yazawa/they-say-that-only-very-good-friends-quarrel-but-at-the-end-of-the/) [Ai Yazawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-yazawa/) > [Rightly to be great Is not to stir without great argument, But greatly to find quarrel in a straw When honour's at the stake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/rightly-to-be-great-is-not-to-stir-without-great-argument-but-greatly/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Americans will quarrel over how, who, or what to rescue or save, but the idea that the nation ought to be off doing it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/americans-will-quarrel-over-how-who-or-what-to-rescue-or-save-but-the/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [A man may quarrel with himself alone; that is, by controverting his better instincts and knowledge when brought face to face with temptation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/a-man-may-quarrel-with-himself-alone-that-is-by-controverting-his/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) ## More by Christian Nestell Bovee > [What is taken from the fortune, also, may haply be so much lifted from the soul. The greatness of a loss, as the proverb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/what-is-taken-from-the-fortune-also-may-haply-be-so-much-lifted-from/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [The next best thing to being witty one's self, is to be able to be able to quote another's wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/the-next-best-thing-to-being-witty-one-s-self-is-to-be-able-to-be/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [There are ceremonious bows that repel one like a cudgel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/there-are-ceremonious-bows-that-repel-one-like-a-cudgel/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [There are some weaknesses that are peculiar and distinctive to generous characters, as freckles are to a fair skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/there-are-some-weaknesses-that-are-peculiar-and-distinctive-to/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [A genuine passion is like a mountain stream; it admits of no impediment; it cannot go backward; it must go forward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-genuine-passion-is-like-a-mountain-stream-it-admits-of-no/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Our courage is greater to dare a visible than an imagined danger. A visible danger rouses our energies to meet or avert it; a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/our-courage-is-greater-to-dare-a-visible-than-an-imagined-danger-a/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [A good thought is indeed a great boon, for which God is to be first thanked; next he who is the first to utter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-good-thought-is-indeed-a-great-boon-for-which-god-is-to-be-first/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [We should not so much esteem our poverty as a misfortune, were it not that the world treats it so much as a crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/we-should-not-so-much-esteem-our-poverty-as-a-misfortune-were-it-not/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [He has but one great fear that fears to do wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/he-has-but-one-great-fear-that-fears-to-do-wrong/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Six traits of effective leaders: 1. Make others feel important 2. Promote a vision 3. Follow the golden rule 4. Admit mistakes 5. Criticize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/six-traits-of-effective-leaders-1-make-others-feel-important-2/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [In a contest with a weaker party it is more honorable to yield than to force concession. Magnanimity becomes the strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/in-a-contest-with-a-weaker-party-it-is-more-honorable-to-yield-than/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Wit is better as a seasoning than as a whole dish by itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/wit-is-better-as-a-seasoning-than-as-a-whole-dish-by-itself/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [To cultivate a garden is. . . to go hand in hand with Nature in some of her most beautiful processes, to learn something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/to-cultivate-a-garden-is-to-go-hand-in-hand-with-nature-in-some-of/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [It is with a company as it is with a punch, everything depends upon the ingredients of which it in composed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/it-is-with-a-company-as-it-is-with-a-punch-everything-depends-upon/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [It is not the number of facts he knows, but how much of a fact he is himself, that proves the man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/it-is-not-the-number-of-facts-he-knows-but-how-much-of-a-fact-he-is/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) [Explore all 310 Christian Nestell Bovee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) ## More Difference quotes > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [There's a difference between delivering real funny and just silly funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-rel-howery/there-s-a-difference-between-delivering-real-funny-and-just-silly/) [Lil Rel Howery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-rel-howery/) > [There may be little practical difference between a Ford Mondeo and a BMW three series, but in terms of perceptions of who you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-jacques/there-may-be-little-practical-difference-between-a-ford-mondeo-and-a/) [Martin Jacques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-jacques/) > [I really think there's no difference between an art piece made by a man and one made by a woman. Is it a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-abramovic/i-really-think-there-s-no-difference-between-an-art-piece-made-by-a/) [Marina Abramovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-abramovic/) > [In a play, you only get one chance, and you have to get it perfect. In a film, you can change and fix it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-hayward/in-a-play-you-only-get-one-chance-and-you-have-to-get-it-perfect-in-a/) [Kara Hayward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-hayward/) > [I like candidates who tell me something that is going to make a difference to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-like-candidates-who-tell-me-something-that-is-going-to-make-a/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [There's a difference between watching a film and watching a bit of cinema and enjoying a film as a piece of cinema.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-frost/there-s-a-difference-between-watching-a-film-and-watching-a-bit-of/) [Nick Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-frost/) > [“THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ME AND YOU When I hold a rose, I see the soft, velvety petals and smile, because tucked between those precious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-schroeder/the-difference-between-me-and-you-when-i-hold-a-rose-i-see-the-soft/) [Lisa Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-schroeder/) > [If you ask why I do what I do - I want to make a difference. I don't just want to maintain the status…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-broad/if-you-ask-why-i-do-what-i-do-i-want-to-make-a-difference-i-don-t/) [Eli Broad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-broad/) > [When I came back, after all those stories about Hitler and his snub, I came back to my native country, and I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-owens/when-i-came-back-after-all-those-stories-about-hitler-and-his-snub-i/) [Jesse Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-owens/) > [To make a big difference in the world show a little love.to know love open your heart to Jesus,to show love open your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohlatsane-nicole/to-make-a-big-difference-in-the-world-show-a-little-love-to-know-love/) [Mohlatsane Nicole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohlatsane-nicole/) > [The biggest difference between us is in our thoughts. You do not want to know the truth and I cannot forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/the-biggest-difference-between-us-is-in-our-thoughts-you-do-not-want/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [“Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/between-depriving-a-man-of-one-hour-from-his-life-and-depriving-him/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“it makes such difference where you read”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/it-makes-such-difference-where-you-read/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [What's the difference between beautiful and ugly?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/what-s-the-difference-between-beautiful-and-ugly/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) [Browse all 1,876 Difference quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difference/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The less the difference, the greater the quarrel over it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christian Nestell Bovee" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/the-less-the-difference-the-greater-the-quarrel-over-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Difference" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/the-less-the-difference-the-greater-the-quarrel-over-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_difference_the-less-the-difference-the-greater-the_1070418.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_difference_the-less-the-difference-the-greater-the_1070418.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c63/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_difference_the-less-the-difference-the-greater-the_1070418.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The less the difference, the greater the quarrel over it.” — Christian Nestell Bovee", "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": "Christian Nestell Bovee", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The less the difference, the greater...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/the-less-the-difference-the-greater-the-quarrel-over-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/the-less-the-difference-the-greater-the-quarrel-over-it/#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 } } ] } ```