--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Human lives are not pieces of string that…" description: "\"“Human lives are not pieces of string that can be separated out from a knot of others and laid out straight. Familes are webs. Impossible to touch one ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23a/diane-setterfield-1008_family_human-lives-are-not-pieces-of-string-tha_2666848.png" --- # Human lives are not pieces of string that can be separated… ![“Human lives are not pieces of string that can be separated out from a knot of others and laid out straight. Familes are webs. Impossible to touch one part of it without setting the rest vibrating. Impossible to understand one part without having a sense of the whole.” quote by Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23a/diane-setterfield-1008_family_human-lives-are-not-pieces-of-string-tha_2666848.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23a/diane-setterfield-1008_family_human-lives-are-not-pieces-of-string-tha_2666848.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23a/diane-setterfield-1008_family_human-lives-are-not-pieces-of-string-tha_2666848.png) > ““Human lives are not pieces of string that can be separated out from a knot of others and laid out straight. Familes are webs. Impossible to touch one part of it without setting the rest vibrating. Impossible to understand one part without having a sense of the whole.”” [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human connections form intricate webs; pulling one thread affects the whole. **In simple terms:** People are interlinked; actions ripple. Key Takeaway Recognize interdependence. Themes relationships interconnectedness family Mood reflective empathetic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - family gatherings - team projects - community events - conflict resolution Key Concepts systems theory network effects Questions to Reflect On - How does your action affect others? - Can you see the larger pattern? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on whole may ignore individual autonomy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Familes Webs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familes-webs-2471588/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Human Lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-lives/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Straight Familes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/straight-familes-2471589/) [Understand Having](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-having-827251/) ## Related quotes > [“You have to understand, having a good time is not my idea of having a good time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-have-to-understand-having-a-good-time-is-not-my-idea-of-having-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Inner Nature, when relied on, cannot be fooled. But many people do not look at it or listen to it, and consequently do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-hoff/inner-nature-when-relied-on-cannot-be-fooled-but-many-people-do-not/) [Benjamin Hoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-hoff/) > [A Relationship is not holding hands while u understand each other, it's about having lots of misunderstanding's and still not leving each other hands...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-relationship-is-not-holding-hands-while-u-understand-each-other-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Our lives are so important to us that we tend to think the story of them begins with our birth. First there was nothing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/our-lives-are-so-important-to-us-that-we-tend-to-think-the-story-of/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [The human being who acts is the human being who lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-strasberg/the-human-being-who-acts-is-the-human-being-who-lives/) [Lee Strasberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-strasberg/) > [I'm not scared to speak about what I believe in, especially when it comes to human lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-consani/i-m-not-scared-to-speak-about-what-i-believe-in-especially-when-it/) [Alex Consani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-consani/) > [The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-essential-act-of-war-is-destruction-not-necessarily-of-human/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Only when I save the lives of others do I truly feel as though I am human. Do you only feel that you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiroya-oku/only-when-i-save-the-lives-of-others-do-i-truly-feel-as-though-i-am/) [Hiroya Oku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiroya-oku/) > [...many vivisectors still claim that what they do helps save human lives. They are Iying. The truth is that animal experiments kill people, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-coleman/many-vivisectors-still-claim-that-what-they-do-helps-save-human-lives/) [Vernon Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-coleman/) > [Human lives are too short to waste in trivialities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/human-lives-are-too-short-to-waste-in-trivialities/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Unless we give part of ourselves away, unless we can live with other people and understand them and help them, we are missing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-taylor/unless-we-give-part-of-ourselves-away-unless-we-can-live-with-other/) [Harold Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-taylor/) > [Kim Jong-un and the regime don't just oppress - they play with human lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/park-yeon-mi/kim-jong-un-and-the-regime-don-t-just-oppress-they-play-with-human/) [Park Yeon-mi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/park-yeon-mi/) > [ “They \[human lives\] are composed like music. Guided by his sense of beauty, an individual transforms a fortuitious occurrence (Beethoven’s music, death under a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/they-human-lives-are-composed-like-music-guided-by-his-sense-of/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Do you know who Karl Marx is? He is this strange little man, long dead, who lived his narrow little life, and somehow managed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anchee-min/do-you-know-who-karl-marx-is-he-is-this-strange-little-man-long-dead/) [Anchee Min](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anchee-min/) > [In these years we are witnessing the gigantic spectacle of innumerable human lives wandering about lost in their own labyrinths, through not having anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-these-years-we-are-witnessing-the-gigantic-spectacle-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## More by Diane Setterfield > [“They are more real than the books on the shelves, books that are sketched with the barest hint of a line here and there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/they-are-more-real-than-the-books-on-the-shelves-books-that-are/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Margaret Lea.” “The biographer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/margaret-lea-the-biographer/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“He was the first of my ghosts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/he-was-the-first-of-my-ghosts/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“It was like living entirely inside a book.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/it-was-like-living-entirely-inside-a-book/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Then something rang a bell in his mind. What”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/then-something-rang-a-bell-in-his-mind-what/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [What better way to get to know someone than through her choice and treatment of books?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/what-better-way-to-get-to-know-someone-than-through-her-choice-and/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“I have always been a reader; I have read at every stage of my life, and there has never been a time when reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/i-have-always-been-a-reader-i-have-read-at-every-stage-of-my-life-and/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Yesterday or the day before, while I had been going about my business, quietly and in private, some unknown person—some stranger—had gone to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/yesterday-or-the-day-before-while-i-had-been-going-about-my-business/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“the Missus stood like a ghost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/the-missus-stood-like-a-ghost/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“But perhaps the answer is to stop writing altogether, for when I do write, even now as I write this very sentence, this very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/but-perhaps-the-answer-is-to-stop-writing-altogether-for-when-i-do/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [Our clients' faces, with the customary outward paleness and inner glow of the book lover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/our-clients-faces-with-the-customary-outward-paleness-and-inner-glow/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“He felt something move in his chest, as though an organ had been removed and something unfamiliar left in its place. A sentiment he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/he-felt-something-move-in-his-chest-as-though-an-organ-had-been/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [Still in my coat and hat, I sank onto the stair to read the letter. (I never read without making sure I am in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/still-in-my-coat-and-hat-i-sank-onto-the-stair-to-read-the-letter-i/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [I still believe in stories. I still forget myself when I am in the middle of a good book. Books are for me, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/i-still-believe-in-stories-i-still-forget-myself-when-i-am-in-the/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [Of course I loved books more than people. Of course I valued "Jane Eyre" over the anonymous stranger...Of course all of Shakespeare was worth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/of-course-i-loved-books-more-than-people-of-course-i-valued-jane-eyre/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) [Explore all 292 Diane Setterfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) ## More Family quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“ever day Maureen is Selfish To her friend and Family One she get mad at her friend and family and She need to Grad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-andeson/ever-day-maureen-is-selfish-to-her-friend-and-family-one-she-get-mad/) [Maureen Andeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-andeson/) > [Our concept of a family holiday was going to a guest house in the Lake district or Wales where walking was part of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-bannister/our-concept-of-a-family-holiday-was-going-to-a-guest-house-in-the/) [Roger Bannister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-bannister/) > [“So Jace is my actual family," Kit said. "But I can't go live with him, because him and his hot girlfriend are going off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/so-jace-is-my-actual-family-kit-said-but-i-can-t-go-live-with-him/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I have friends and family that identify as LGBTQ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mace/i-have-friends-and-family-that-identify-as-lgbtq/) [Nancy Mace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mace/) > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [It's not just that families can't buy a home or start a business without some savings tucked away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cooper/it-s-not-just-that-families-can-t-buy-a-home-or-start-a-business/) [Jim Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cooper/) > [“She knew how to play him so very well. He slipped his hand around hers. "Friends," he repeated roughly. Her smile was bright enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-smith/she-knew-how-to-play-him-so-very-well-he-slipped-his-hand-around-hers/) [Kathryn Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-smith/) > [As a family, we all loved the Flyers. To me, rooting for the Flyers were how I bonded with my dad especially.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-f-goldberg/as-a-family-we-all-loved-the-flyers-to-me-rooting-for-the-flyers-were/) [Adam F. Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-f-goldberg/) > [The people have always been family to me here in Las Vegas. The people have always been very, very kind to me, and it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-cunningham/the-people-have-always-been-family-to-me-here-in-las-vegas-the-people/) [Randall Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-cunningham/) > [“Your relationship with your brother will be, in many ways, the most complex and bewildering of all the interpersonal connections you will form. An…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-currie-jr/your-relationship-with-your-brother-will-be-in-many-ways-the-most/) [Ron Currie Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-currie-jr/) > [I've long believed one of the mainsprings of our own liberty has been the widespread ownership of property among our people and the expectation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-ve-long-believed-one-of-the-mainsprings-of-our-own-liberty-has-been/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Family over friends, because real friends are family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/family-over-friends-because-real-friends-are-family/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 36,913 Family quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Human lives are not pieces of string that can be separated out from a knot of others and laid out straight. Familes are webs. Impossible to touch one part of it without setting the rest vibrating. Impossible to understand one part without having a sense of the whole.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Diane Setterfield" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/human-lives-are-not-pieces-of-string-that-can-be-separated-out-from-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Family" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/human-lives-are-not-pieces-of-string-that-can-be-separated-out-from-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23a/diane-setterfield-1008_family_human-lives-are-not-pieces-of-string-tha_2666848.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23a/diane-setterfield-1008_family_human-lives-are-not-pieces-of-string-tha_2666848.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23a/diane-setterfield-1008_family_human-lives-are-not-pieces-of-string-tha_2666848.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Human lives are not pieces of string that can be separated out from a knot of others and laid out straight…” — Diane Setterfield", "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": "Diane Setterfield", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Human lives are not pieces of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/human-lives-are-not-pieces-of-string-that-can-be-separated-out-from-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/human-lives-are-not-pieces-of-string-that-can-be-separated-out-from-a/#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 } } ] } ```