--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We think we know our friends, our lovers…" description: "\"“We think we know our friends, our lovers, but really all we know is pieces of them. Fragments we learn by watching, sharing time and place, listening ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2a/elizabeth-joy-arnold-47660_fragments_we-think-we-know-our-friends-our-lovers_2428213.jpg" --- # We think we know our friends, our lovers, but really all… ![“We think we know our friends, our lovers, but really all we know is pieces of them. Fragments we learn by watching, sharing time and place, listening to their stories; over the years there are more and more of these fragments and we can draw lines between them, fill them with what we imagine is…” quote by Elizabeth Joy Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2a/elizabeth-joy-arnold-47660_fragments_we-think-we-know-our-friends-our-lovers_2428213.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2a/elizabeth-joy-arnold-47660_fragments_we-think-we-know-our-friends-our-lovers_2428213.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2a/elizabeth-joy-arnold-47660_fragments_we-think-we-know-our-friends-our-lovers_2428213.jpg) > ““We think we know our friends, our lovers, but really all we know is pieces of them. Fragments we learn by watching, sharing time and place, listening to their stories; over the years there are more and more of these fragments and we can draw lines between them, fill them with what we imagine is truth. But of course we only know what they show us; lines we think jig here may actually curl somewhere else altogether. The lines we draw aren't always real, and often have more to do with our own selves.”” [Elizabeth Joy Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-joy-arnold/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We often believe we fully understand others, but we only see fragments that we assemble into stories, which may reflect our own biases more than reality. **In simple terms:** We only see parts of people and fill gaps with our own ideas. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of your perception of others. Themes relationships perception self-awareness Mood reflective thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - friendships - romantic relationships - team dynamics - family interactions Key Concepts cognitive bias projection fragmentation Questions to Reflect On - What fragments are you assuming about someone? - How might your own story shape your view of them? A Different Perspective Our assumptions can mislead us about others' true selves. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fragments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fragments/) [Know Pieces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-pieces-246206/) [Lines Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines-think-246205/) [Pieces Fragments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pieces-fragments-246207/) [Selves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selves/) [Somewhere else](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/somewhere-else/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [When you give your heart away, you usually get it back in pieces, fragments. 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Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [Things just arrive and you got to know how to move the pieces on the table and make sense out of them. It's like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-alchemist/things-just-arrive-and-you-got-to-know-how-to-move-the-pieces-on-the/) [The Alchemist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-alchemist/) > [Everything's up in the air, and I don't know where all the pieces are going to land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica/everything-s-up-in-the-air-and-i-don-t-know-where-all-the-pieces-are/) [Jessica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica/) > [“I know the pieces fit 'cause I watched them fall away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tool/i-know-the-pieces-fit-cause-i-watched-them-fall-away/) [Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tool/) > [I only know two pieces; one is 'Clair de Lune' and the other one isn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-borge/i-only-know-two-pieces-one-is-clair-de-lune-and-the-other-one-isn-t/) [Victor Borge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-borge/) ## More by Elizabeth Joy Arnold > [“I remembered how it had been first learning to read, how the squiggles of print finally organized themselves slowly and painfully into words, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-joy-arnold/i-remembered-how-it-had-been-first-learning-to-read-how-the-squiggles/) [Elizabeth Joy Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-joy-arnold/) > [“How could the people around me not see that I’d been spending my day in nineteenth-century Kansas, or in the pit of a giant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-joy-arnold/how-could-the-people-around-me-not-see-that-i-d-been-spending-my-day/) [Elizabeth Joy Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-joy-arnold/) > [“I loved the physicality of books just as much as the stories inside, the feel of pages between my fingers, the intricacies of classic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-joy-arnold/i-loved-the-physicality-of-books-just-as-much-as-the-stories-inside/) [Elizabeth Joy Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-joy-arnold/) > [“I know how you're feeling, because for me it's like that every day, like life's this huge big ocean that could swallow me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-joy-arnold/i-know-how-you-re-feeling-because-for-me-it-s-like-that-every-day/) [Elizabeth Joy Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-joy-arnold/) > [“I’m a woman who loves words, but there are times there are no words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-joy-arnold/i-m-a-woman-who-loves-words-but-there-are-times-there-are-no-words/) [Elizabeth Joy Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-joy-arnold/) > [“We think we know our friends, our lovers, but really all we know is pieces of them”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-joy-arnold/we-think-we-know-our-friends-our-lovers-but-really-all-we-know-is-2/) [Elizabeth Joy Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-joy-arnold/) > [“All the best stories in the world were of escape.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-joy-arnold/all-the-best-stories-in-the-world-were-of-escape/) [Elizabeth Joy Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-joy-arnold/) [Explore all 8 Elizabeth Joy Arnold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-joy-arnold/) ## More Fragments quotes > [“I could think of any moment and see him weaved throughout it. 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Driven by the forces of love,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/today-something-is-happening-to-the-whole-structure-of-human/) [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin/) > [Only a literary work that reveals an unknown fragment of human existence has a reason for being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/only-a-literary-work-that-reveals-an-unknown-fragment-of-human/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Instead of a perpetual and perfect measure of the divine will, the fragments of the Koran were produced at the discretion of Mahomet; each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/instead-of-a-perpetual-and-perfect-measure-of-the-divine-will-the/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [He was like a song I'd heard once in fragments but had been singing in my mind ever since.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-golden/he-was-like-a-song-i-d-heard-once-in-fragments-but-had-been-singing/) [Arthur Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-golden/) > [All I want is to become someone new. 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