--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We both see strangers and react. We don't…" description: "\"“We both see strangers and react. We don't like to walk by people without nodding. We're broken when people are rude. Were broken when people can't mee..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/973/dave-eggers-638_human-relations_we-both-see-strangers-and-react-we-don-t_2930473.png" --- # We both see strangers and react. We don't like to walk by… ![“We both see strangers and react. We don't like to walk by people without nodding. We're broken when people are rude. Were broken when people can't meet us halfway. We can't accept the limits of normal human relations-chilly, clothed, circumscribed. Our hearts pull against their leashes.” quote by Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/973/dave-eggers-638_human-relations_we-both-see-strangers-and-react-we-don-t_2930473.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/973/dave-eggers-638_human-relations_we-both-see-strangers-and-react-we-don-t_2930473.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/973/dave-eggers-638_human-relations_we-both-see-strangers-and-react-we-don-t_2930473.png) > ““We both see strangers and react. We don't like to walk by people without nodding. We're broken when people are rude. Were broken when people can't meet us halfway. We can't accept the limits of normal human relations-chilly, clothed, circumscribed. Our hearts pull against their leashes.”” [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human connection suffers when courtesy and empathy are lacking, leading to emotional isolation. **In simple terms:** Rudeness breaks hearts. Key Takeaway Cultivate empathy and courtesy. Themes human connection empathy social norms isolation Mood reflective empathetic Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - daily interactions - customer service - public spaces - online communities Key Concepts psychology social behavior Questions to Reflect On - How can you model kindness? - What barriers prevent mutual respect? A Different Perspective People may resist change if they feel threatened. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human relations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-relations/) [Strangers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strangers/) ## Related quotes > [We can't all be friends and relatives as the world is; most of us have to be strangers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-malamud/we-can-t-all-be-friends-and-relatives-as-the-world-is-most-of-us-have/) [Bernard Malamud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-malamud/) > [It amazes me how selfish some people are and how rude people can be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-amazes-me-how-selfish-some-people-are-and-how-rude-people-can-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've never understood why someone would go out of the way to hurt people by being rude. It takes little to be nice, isn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-never-understood-why-someone-would-go-out-of-the-way-to-hurt/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't like people being rude. Bad manners and arrogance make me cross. People making others feel uncomfortable. And I really don't like it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-titchmarsh/i-don-t-like-people-being-rude-bad-manners-and-arrogance-make-me/) [Alan Titchmarsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-titchmarsh/) > [“The speaker was so boring that he put me to sleep. But he didn’t stop talking, so I had to wake up and tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/the-speaker-was-so-boring-that-he-put-me-to-sleep-but-he-didn-t-stop/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [I have more pet peeves than anybody: people talking in the movie theater, people eating in the movie theater loudly, people being rude, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-beckinsale/i-have-more-pet-peeves-than-anybody-people-talking-in-the-movie/) [Kate Beckinsale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-beckinsale/) > [Some people leave artwork, some people do rude things, other people then turn those rude things into nice things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-molyneux/some-people-leave-artwork-some-people-do-rude-things-other-people/) [Peter Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-molyneux/) > [Even on social media, I'll post something creative or different and someone from the UK will comment on something insignificant like my outfit. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bree-runway/even-on-social-media-i-ll-post-something-creative-or-different-and/) [Bree Runway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bree-runway/) > [Calling people FAKE won't make you REAL Calling people DUMB won't make you SMART Calling people WEAK won't make you STRONG Calling people UGLY…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author-name/calling-people-fake-won-t-make-you-real-calling-people-dumb-won-t/) Author Name > [I have seen people rude by being over-polite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/i-have-seen-people-rude-by-being-over-polite/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [When people are rude to other people. When people belittle other people. Bullies really bother me a lot. A lot, a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-zylka/when-people-are-rude-to-other-people-when-people-belittle-other/) [Chris Zylka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-zylka/) > [When people are rude to waiters, thats my biggest turnoff. Theyre trying to be all cool and cocky, then theyre rude it makes me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-montag/when-people-are-rude-to-waiters-thats-my-biggest-turnoff-theyre/) [Heidi Montag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-montag/) > [Some people can be so rude & inconsiderate. They think it's funny, but in reality it's not at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-people-can-be-so-rude-inconsiderate-they-think-it-s-funny-but-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People who are rude to waiters... I don't like that sort of thing. People who take cuts in line... it doesn't fly!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-pfeiffer/people-who-are-rude-to-waiters-i-don-t-like-that-sort-of-thing-people/) [Michelle Pfeiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-pfeiffer/) > [It's not a slam at you when people are rude, it's a slam at the people they've met before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/it-s-not-a-slam-at-you-when-people-are-rude-it-s-a-slam-at-the-people/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) ## More by Dave Eggers > [“4. THE CRUMBLING WALL (Hamburger, prepared medium well, with bacon and barbecue sauce. Courtesy of that place on Solano, where, it should be mentioned,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/4-the-crumbling-wall-hamburger-prepared-medium-well-with-bacon-and/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“LOW-FLYING, QUICK-MOVING CLOUDS: I haven't long to live. TREETOPS, ROUNDED AND ROUGH: That's probably true. LOW-FLYING, QUICK-MOVING CLOUDS: I won't even make it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/low-flying-quick-moving-clouds-i-haven-t-long-to-live-treetops/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [But the grind has begun. The windows don’t open, and even the availability of near-constant jokes about Jews and Mormons fails to stem the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/but-the-grind-has-begun-the-windows-don-t-open-and-even-the/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“One button for the rest of your life online.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/one-button-for-the-rest-of-your-life-online/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [We feel that to reveal embarrassing or private things, we have given someone something, that, like a primitive person fearing that a photographer will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/we-feel-that-to-reveal-embarrassing-or-private-things-we-have-given/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [I think I'm far too hopeful and trusting. That's something I got from my mum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/i-think-i-m-far-too-hopeful-and-trusting-that-s-something-i-got-from/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“Overnight, all comment boards became civil, all posters held accountable. The trolls, who had more or less overtaken the internet, were driven back into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/overnight-all-comment-boards-became-civil-all-posters-held/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“Have we wasted precious space dust on you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/have-we-wasted-precious-space-dust-on-you/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“What can one do with one's hands when the camera is interested in other things?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/what-can-one-do-with-one-s-hands-when-the-camera-is-interested-in/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“The money that could have saved the Shuttle, and the money we send to random countries, that we use to remake unchangeable countries ten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/the-money-that-could-have-saved-the-shuttle-and-the-money-we-send-to/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [Write your goddamned book now. The world awaits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/write-your-goddamned-book-now-the-world-awaits/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [The only infallible truth of our lives is that everything we love in life will be taken from us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/the-only-infallible-truth-of-our-lives-is-that-everything-we-love-in/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“First of all: I am tired. I am true of heart! And Also: You are tired. You are true of heart!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/first-of-all-i-am-tired-i-am-true-of-heart-and-also-you-are-tired-you/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [And what we were trying to offer every day was one-on-one attention. The goal was to have a one-to-one ratio with every one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/and-what-we-were-trying-to-offer-every-day-was-one-on-one-attention/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [Suffering is only suffering if it’s done in silence, in solitude. Pain experienced in public, in view of loving millions, was no longer pain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/suffering-is-only-suffering-if-it-s-done-in-silence-in-solitude-pain/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) [Explore all 428 Dave Eggers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) ## More Human relations quotes > [Perhaps that's what all human relationships boiled down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/perhaps-that-s-what-all-human-relationships-boiled-down-to-would-you/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Men are fair, and they have learned not to personalize anger - they can disagree with you and argue to the bone, but afterward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/men-are-fair-and-they-have-learned-not-to-personalize-anger-they-can/) [Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/) > [“Love is not coercion, and the state is only an agent of coercion. It has no other function and can work no other way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-mcdurmon/love-is-not-coercion-and-the-state-is-only-an-agent-of-coercion-it/) Joel McDurmon > [Against the suffering which may come upon one from human relationships the readiest safeguard is voluntary isolation, keeping oneself aloof from other people. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/against-the-suffering-which-may-come-upon-one-from-human/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“And slowly a discussion begins - as Morrie has wanted all along - about the effect of silence on human relations. Why are we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/and-slowly-a-discussion-begins-as-morrie-has-wanted-all-along-about/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [ If \[people\] place such things as friendship and family ties above their own productive work, yes, then they are immoral. Friendship, family life and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/if-people-place-such-things-as-friendship-and-family-ties-above-their/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [At the critical juncture in all human relationships, there is only one question: What would love do now?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/at-the-critical-juncture-in-all-human-relationships-there-is-only-one/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [Anarchists are opposed to violence; everyone knows that. The main plank of anarchism is the removal of violence from human relations. It is life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errico-malatesta/anarchists-are-opposed-to-violence-everyone-knows-that-the-main-plank/) [Errico Malatesta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errico-malatesta/) > [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/) > [More than in any other human relationship, overwhelmingly more, motherhood means being instantly interruptible, responsive, and responsible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-olsen/more-than-in-any-other-human-relationship-overwhelmingly-more/) [Tillie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-olsen/) > [A talent for drama is not a talent for writing, but is ability to articulate human relationships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/a-talent-for-drama-is-not-a-talent-for-writing-but-is-ability-to/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Just as, in travel, one may miss seeing the sunset because one cannot find the ticket-office or is afraid of missing the train, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-origo/just-as-in-travel-one-may-miss-seeing-the-sunset-because-one-cannot/) [Iris Origo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-origo/) > [In Europe, where human relations like clothes are supposed to last, one's got to be wearable. 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It is not just that the individual is separated from God by his true moral guilt, but each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-schaeffer/with-the-fall-all-became-abnormal-it-is-not-just-that-the-individual/) [Francis Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-schaeffer/) > [An honorable human relationship ... is a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, a process of refining the truths they can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/an-honorable-human-relationship-is-a-process-delicate-violent-often/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) [Browse all 352 Human relations quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-relations/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We both see strangers and react. We don't like to walk by people without nodding. We're broken when people are rude. Were broken when people can't meet us halfway. 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