---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We shall hurt others less. Isn't it…"
description: "\"We shall hurt others less. Isn't it, after all, what you always wanted?\" — Edith Wharton"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71d/edith-wharton-512_hurt_we-shall-hurt-others-less-isn-t-it-after_1169136.png"
---

#  We shall hurt others less. Isn't it, after all, what you…

![“We shall hurt others less. Isn't it, after all, what you always wanted?” quote by Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71d/edith-wharton-512_hurt_we-shall-hurt-others-less-isn-t-it-after_1169136.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71d/edith-wharton-512_hurt_we-shall-hurt-others-less-isn-t-it-after_1169136.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71d/edith-wharton-512_hurt_we-shall-hurt-others-less-isn-t-it-after_1169136.png)

> “We shall hurt others less. Isn't it, after all, what you always wanted?”

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

People often desire less harm to others, yet may still cause pain.

**In simple terms:** Wanting kindness but causing hurt.

Key Takeaway

Align actions with compassion.

Themes

ethics human nature desire

Mood

thoughtful somber

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- personal relationships
- conflict resolution
- leadership decisions

Key Concepts

moral conflict self‑deception empathy

Questions to Reflect On

- What hidden hurts might you be causing?
- How can you ensure kindness translates into action?

A Different Perspective

Even good intentions can produce harm if unchecked.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Hurt Others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurt-others/)

## Related quotes

> [Steel your sensibilities, so that life shall hurt you as little as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeno-of-citium/steel-your-sensibilities-so-that-life-shall-hurt-you-as-little-as/)

[Zeno of Citium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeno-of-citium/)

> [He who shall hurt the little wren Shall never be beloved by men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/he-who-shall-hurt-the-little-wren-shall-never-be-beloved-by-men/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [“As to what may befall us outwardly, in this confused state of things, shall we not trust our tender Father, and rest satisfied in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-w-tileston/as-to-what-may-befall-us-outwardly-in-this-confused-state-of-things/)

[Mary W. Tileston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-w-tileston/)

> [If it doesn't hurt...then it isn't love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-it-doesn-t-hurt-then-it-isn-t-love/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I think that it's okay to be mad at someone who hurt you. This isn't about, like, the pageantry of trying to seem like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-think-that-it-s-okay-to-be-mad-at-someone-who-hurt-you-this-isn-t/)

[Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/)

> [“If it doesn't hurt It isn't art”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahirih-may-milne/if-it-doesn-t-hurt-it-isn-t-art/)

Tahirih May Milne

> [“Caring about people, especially people who've hurt you, isn't a flaw. It's a sign that you understand God's grace.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-thompson/caring-about-people-especially-people-who-ve-hurt-you-isn-t-a-flaw-it/)

[Janice Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-thompson/)

> [Dear God if I hurt others, give me the strength to apologize.. If people hurt me. give me the strength to forgive .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/dear-god-if-i-hurt-others-give-me-the-strength-to-apologize-if-people/)

[Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/)

> [I have little space from the suffering of elephants right now. I wake up with it and go to sleep with it. The plight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-bauer-van-straten/i-have-little-space-from-the-suffering-of-elephants-right-now-i-wake/)

[Kristin Bauer van Straten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-bauer-van-straten/)

> [To live is to hurt others, and through others, to hurt oneself. Cruel earth! How can we manage not to touch anything? To find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/to-live-is-to-hurt-others-and-through-others-to-hurt-oneself-cruel/)

[Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/)

> [I hate when people forget what they were in the past and only becasue they have lots of things now they become big headed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosie/i-hate-when-people-forget-what-they-were-in-the-past-and-only-becasue/)

[Rosie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosie/)

> [“for those that face chronic bouts of depression, getting a perspective on it is one of the greatest challenges.  For those who do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronnie-worsham/for-those-that-face-chronic-bouts-of-depression-getting-a-perspective/)

[Ronnie Worsham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronnie-worsham/)

> [It is better to cry than to b angry , cuz anger hurt others while tears flow silently threw the soul &amp; cleanses the heart .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/addy/it-is-better-to-cry-than-to-b-angry-cuz-anger-hurt-others-while-tears/)

[Addy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/addy/)

> [“This is the man who thinks too much, who stands back from his life and never lives it. He is caught in a web…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-l-moore/this-is-the-man-who-thinks-too-much-who-stands-back-from-his-life-and/)

[Robert L. Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-l-moore/)

## More by Edith Wharton

> [“Suddenly the air was full of that deep clangor of bells which periodically covers Rome with a roof of silver.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/suddenly-the-air-was-full-of-that-deep-clangor-of-bells-which/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [“Untrained human nature was not frank and innocent; it was full of the twists and defences of an instinctive guile. And he felt himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/untrained-human-nature-was-not-frank-and-innocent-it-was-full-of-the/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [“High Pasture Come up--come up: in the dim vale below The autumn mist muffles the fading trees, But on this keen hill-pasture, though the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/high-pasture-come-up-come-up-in-the-dim-vale-below-the-autumn-mist/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [“Two ways to be a light for all, is to be a flaming candle or the mirror that reflects it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/two-ways-to-be-a-light-for-all-is-to-be-a-flaming-candle-or-the/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [“... no treasure-house of Atreus was ever as rich as a well-stored memory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/no-treasure-house-of-atreus-was-ever-as-rich-as-a-well-stored-memory/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [“...the endless labour of rolling human stupidity up the steep hill of understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-endless-labour-of-rolling-human-stupidity-up-the-steep-hill-of/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [“he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of-the-other-marriages-about/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-real-loneliness-is-living-among-all-these-kind-people-who-only/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [With a shiver of foreboding he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/with-a-shiver-of-foreboding-he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [Life is the saddest thing there is, next to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-the-saddest-thing-there-is-next-to-death/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/a-classic-is-classic-not-because-it-conforms-to-certain-structural/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [There is too much sour grapes for my taste in the present American attitude. The time to denounce the bankers was when we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/there-is-too-much-sour-grapes-for-my-taste-in-the-present-american/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [“But in a few years more perhaps there may be; for, deep within us as the ghost instinct lurks, I seem to see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/but-in-a-few-years-more-perhaps-there-may-be-for-deep-within-us-as/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [Dialogue in fiction should be reserved for the culminating moments and regarded as the spray into which the great wave of narrative breaks in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/dialogue-in-fiction-should-be-reserved-for-the-culminating-moments/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [“These Americans, under their forthcoming manner, their surface-gush, as some might call it, have an odd reticence about what goes on underneath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/these-americans-under-their-forthcoming-manner-their-surface-gush-as/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

[Explore all 504 Edith Wharton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

## More Hurt quotes

> [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/)

[Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/)

> [“I locked the door and turned on the water to fill the tub. I made it so hot that I had to get in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-crandall/i-locked-the-door-and-turned-on-the-water-to-fill-the-tub-i-made-it/)

[Susan Crandall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-crandall/)

> [Sometimes a question can hurt more than an answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/sometimes-a-question-can-hurt-more-than-an-answer/)

[Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/)

> [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/)

[Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/)

> [It is easier to say you're mad, rather than admitting you're hurt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-easier-to-say-you-re-mad-rather-than-admitting-you-re-hurt/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Where there is doubt (shanka), there is misery. The moment one begins to doubt the knowledge that, 'I am Chandubhai,' misery arises. Once one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/where-there-is-doubt-shanka-there-is-misery-the-moment-one-begins-to/)

[Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/)

> [Good girls don't hurt other people's feelings. Good girls are not overly aggressive, competitive, or boastful. Good girls please others. But what good girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jane-gilman/good-girls-don-t-hurt-other-people-s-feelings-good-girls-are-not/)

[Susan Jane Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jane-gilman/)

> [There's only so much for a man to take...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-gilchrist/there-s-only-so-much-for-a-man-to-take/)

Kirsten Gilchrist

> [A HURTED HEART IS LIKE SMALL BABY WHICH CAN ONLY CRY BT IT WONT B ABLE 2 EXPRESS ITS FEELINGS.SO DONT HURT ANYBODY IN…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/butterfly-kisses/a-hurted-heart-is-like-small-baby-which-can-only-cry-bt-it-wont-b/)

Butterfly\_Kisses

> [The greatest gift you can give to those around you is honesty. Sometimes honest words may sting the heart, but dishonesty pierces deep into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/the-greatest-gift-you-can-give-to-those-around-you-is-honesty/)

[Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/)

> [“I will run every mile, i will save every line, i will say i reached the top and i will fall back down standing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mennah-al-refaey/i-will-run-every-mile-i-will-save-every-line-i-will-say-i-reached-the/)

Mennah al refaey

> [Some things hurt, you know, and there's pain. But we magnify the suffering of it often, I think, by our reactions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/some-things-hurt-you-know-and-there-s-pain-but-we-magnify-the/)

[Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/)

> [You can't force any one to love you, and fighting it, you just gonna hurt yourself badly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-mongotleng/you-can-t-force-any-one-to-love-you-and-fighting-it-you-just-gonna/)

Edward Mongotleng

> [This goes out to someone that was Once the most important person in my life I didn't realize it at the time I can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aviation/this-goes-out-to-someone-that-was-once-the-most-important-person-in/)

Aviation

> [It hurt, of course, but more often than not the best things do, I've found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/it-hurt-of-course-but-more-often-than-not-the-best-things-do-i-ve/)

[Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/)

Browse all 13,577 Hurt quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "We shall hurt others less. Isn't it, after all, what you always wanted?",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Edith Wharton"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/we-shall-hurt-others-less-isn-t-it-after-all-what-you-always-wanted/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Hurt"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/we-shall-hurt-others-less-isn-t-it-after-all-what-you-always-wanted/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71d/edith-wharton-512_hurt_we-shall-hurt-others-less-isn-t-it-after_1169136.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71d/edith-wharton-512_hurt_we-shall-hurt-others-less-isn-t-it-after_1169136.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71d/edith-wharton-512_hurt_we-shall-hurt-others-less-isn-t-it-after_1169136.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“We shall hurt others less. Isn't it, after all, what you always wanted?” — Edith Wharton",
                "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": "Edith Wharton",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "We shall hurt others less. Isn't...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/we-shall-hurt-others-less-isn-t-it-after-all-what-you-always-wanted/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/we-shall-hurt-others-less-isn-t-it-after-all-what-you-always-wanted/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
