--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: much as we like to think of ourselves as…" description: "\"“much as we like to think of ourselves as isolated nomads bumping up against each other from time to time, we are our relationships,”\" — Frank Schaeffer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/frank-schaeffer-8107_loneliness_much-as-we-like-to-think-of-ourselves-as_1507902.png" --- # much as we like to think of ourselves as isolated nomads… ![“much as we like to think of ourselves as isolated nomads bumping up against each other from time to time, we are our relationships,” quote by Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/frank-schaeffer-8107_loneliness_much-as-we-like-to-think-of-ourselves-as_1507902.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/frank-schaeffer-8107_loneliness_much-as-we-like-to-think-of-ourselves-as_1507902.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/frank-schaeffer-8107_loneliness_much-as-we-like-to-think-of-ourselves-as_1507902.png) > ““much as we like to think of ourselves as isolated nomads bumping up against each other from time to time, we are our relationships,”” [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We are defined by our connections, not by isolated existence. **In simple terms:** Relationships shape us more than solitude. Key Takeaway Value and nurture your relationships. Themes connection identity interdependence Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - teamwork - family life - friendship - community building Key Concepts social psychology relational identity Questions to Reflect On - How do your relationships influence your self‑concept? - What boundaries protect your individuality? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on relationships can obscure personal boundaries. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Isolated Nomads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isolated-nomads-5544515/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) [Nomads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nomads/) [Nomads Bumping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nomads-bumping-5544516/) [Relationships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relationships/) [Think Isolated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-isolated-2596763/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Loving-kindness challenges those states that tend to arise when we think of ourselves as isolated from everyone else—fear, a sense of deficiency, alienation, loneliness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/loving-kindness-challenges-those-states-that-tend-to-arise-when-we/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) > [The problem I have with making an intelligent statement is that some people then think it's not an isolated occurrence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-travaglia/the-problem-i-have-with-making-an-intelligent-statement-is-that-some/) [Simon Travaglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-travaglia/) > [“Tashi says nomads keep to the routines and customs they learned from their parents and they know the basic truths: that life is full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tsering-wangmo-dhompa/tashi-says-nomads-keep-to-the-routines-and-customs-they-learned-from/) [Tsering Wangmo Dhompa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tsering-wangmo-dhompa/) > [“And all the names of the tribes, the nomads of faith who walked in the monotone of the desert and saw brightness and faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/and-all-the-names-of-the-tribes-the-nomads-of-faith-who-walked-in-the/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“There is a saying, if any stranger enquire of the first met of Maan, were it even a child, “Who is here the sheykh?”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-montagu-doughty/there-is-a-saying-if-any-stranger-enquire-of-the-first-met-of-maan/) [Charles Montagu Doughty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-montagu-doughty/) > [Finding shelter with nomads in the desert during summer was a matter of survival for me and my animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cope/finding-shelter-with-nomads-in-the-desert-during-summer-was-a-matter/) [Tim Cope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cope/) > [“In towns, the nomads remain outsiders for a while. They become a class divorced from their occupation as herders. They are called drokpa in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tsering-wangmo-dhompa/in-towns-the-nomads-remain-outsiders-for-a-while-they-become-a-class/) [Tsering Wangmo Dhompa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tsering-wangmo-dhompa/) > [The sceptics, a kind of nomads, despising all settled culture of the land, broke up from time to time all civil society. Fortunately their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/the-sceptics-a-kind-of-nomads-despising-all-settled-culture-of-the/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [It is virtually impossible to control Northern Kenya, which is populated chiefly by migrant nomads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-leakey/it-is-virtually-impossible-to-control-northern-kenya-which-is/) [Richard Leakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-leakey/) > [The rare scholars who are nomads-by-choice are essential to the intellectual welfare of the settled disciplines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/the-rare-scholars-who-are-nomads-by-choice-are-essential-to-the/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [“I used to hunt for shooting stars. To know they had traveled billions of miles, just to burn and be over in a matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-n-arzu/i-used-to-hunt-for-shooting-stars-to-know-they-had-traveled-billions/) [M.N. Arzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-n-arzu/) > [“There is no government in the world that fully respects nomads or other ‘Stone Age’ people. At best they are ignored; more usually there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/there-is-no-government-in-the-world-that-fully-respects-nomads-or/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [America's last pioneers, urban nomads in search of wide open interior spaces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathleen-mcguigan/america-s-last-pioneers-urban-nomads-in-search-of-wide-open-interior/) [Cathleen McGuigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathleen-mcguigan/) > [Perhaps most important for nomads was the belief in the symbiosis that existed between wolf and humans on the steppe. Wolves were an integral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cope/perhaps-most-important-for-nomads-was-the-belief-in-the-symbiosis/) [Tim Cope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cope/) > [“THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ITINERANTS, drifters, hobos, restless souls. But now, in the second millennium, a new kind of wandering tribe is emerging. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-bruder/there-have-always-been-itinerants-drifters-hobos-restless-souls-but/) [Jessica Bruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-bruder/) ## More by Frank Schaeffer > [We don't just change our minds, we change the way we see things. That's one reason I'm a better grandfather than I was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/we-don-t-just-change-our-minds-we-change-the-way-we-see-things-that-s/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [“The last thing I crave is to be exposed to the sort of grandstanding preachers that so many evangelical churches seem to breed with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/the-last-thing-i-crave-is-to-be-exposed-to-the-sort-of-grandstanding/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [The secular humanist, although he would never dream of committing the social faux pas of calling a black man a negro, feels perfectly free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/the-secular-humanist-although-he-would-never-dream-of-committing-the/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [Donald Trump is not a very bright or nice man. Bad combination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/donald-trump-is-not-a-very-bright-or-nice-man-bad-combination/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [“I don’t view you as a market segment. I view you as my partner, an individual reader, a friend as complex and maybe even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/i-don-t-view-you-as-a-market-segment-i-view-you-as-my-partner-an/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [“We are part of nature yet we have decided to be nicer than nature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/we-are-part-of-nature-yet-we-have-decided-to-be-nicer-than-nature/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [“Some people who helped lead that movement—including me—were very much like Hunka Munka and Tom Thumb. We lived lives informed by beliefs that were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/some-people-who-helped-lead-that-movement-including-me-were-very-much/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [I think that unlike W Bush who was an actual evangelical and sincerely so (my family knew the Bush family), of course Trump will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/i-think-that-unlike-w-bush-who-was-an-actual-evangelical-and/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [“who is actually delusional? Who is actually following Jesus: fundamentalist Christians rejecting gay men and lesbians’ right to marry, or atheist humanists treating men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/who-is-actually-delusional-who-is-actually-following-jesus/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [“Labels don’t mean anything. Who cares about labels when someone is slapping you in the face? Who cares about labels when someone is saving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/labels-don-t-mean-anything-who-cares-about-labels-when-someone-is/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [We are not evolved but evolving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/we-are-not-evolved-but-evolving/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [“Luckily for the people she helped, my mother was gloriously inconsistent. She lived according to the more enlightened parts of the Bible and ignored…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/luckily-for-the-people-she-helped-my-mother-was-gloriously/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [“education and money. I go to church with the kids for the same reason Genie and I play our grandchildren classical music and litter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/education-and-money-i-go-to-church-with-the-kids-for-the-same-reason/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [“If we wait for correct ideas to save us—theological or otherwise—we’ll never be saved, even from ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/if-we-wait-for-correct-ideas-to-save-us-theological-or-otherwise-we/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) > [Of course as soon as I say something or write it that sounds like I believe it, and really I'm never entirely sure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/of-course-as-soon-as-i-say-something-or-write-it-that-sounds-like-i/) [Frank Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) [Explore all 84 Frank Schaeffer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/) ## More Loneliness quotes > [“Hell is only loneliness, a place without play for the soul, a place without God. 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A lonely me, a lonely you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-the-opposite-of-two-a-lonely-me-a-lonely-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We often refer to loneliness as something negative. And we look at it as a weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-shetty/we-often-refer-to-loneliness-as-something-negative-and-we-look-at-it/) [Jay Shetty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-shetty/) > [I need the pain of loneliness to make my imagination work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/i-need-the-pain-of-loneliness-to-make-my-imagination-work/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [There was only the broad square with the scattered dim moons of the street lamps and with the monumental stone arch which receded into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-maria-remarque/there-was-only-the-broad-square-with-the-scattered-dim-moons-of-the/) [Erich Maria Remarque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-maria-remarque/) > [A man in a bookstore buys a book on loneliness and every woman in the store hits on him. A woman buys a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/a-man-in-a-bookstore-buys-a-book-on-loneliness-and-every-woman-in-the/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [For years mental health professionals taught people that they could be psychologically healthy without social support, that “unless you love yourself, no one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-d-perry/for-years-mental-health-professionals-taught-people-that-they-could/) [Bruce D. Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-d-perry/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Don't let 'being single' make you feel like a loner. Its better to be alone. Relationships arent cures for loneliness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-let-being-single-make-you-feel-like-a-loner-its-better-to-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In the parking lot, she drove and parked in a dark area with no other cars around. She reclined her seat, and listened to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tao-lin/in-the-parking-lot-she-drove-and-parked-in-a-dark-area-with-no-other/) [Tao Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tao-lin/) > [Attempt to be creative for the joy it brings… Select something like music, dance, sculpture, or poetry. Being creative will help you enjoy life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-scott/attempt-to-be-creative-for-the-joy-it-brings-select-something-like/) [Richard G. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-scott/) > [Get away from me misery, get away from me loneliness, get away from me fake bitches I can't take the phoniness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/get-away-from-me-misery-get-away-from-me-loneliness-get-away-from-me/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) [Browse all 4,995 Loneliness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“much as we like to think of ourselves as isolated nomads bumping up against each other from time to time, we are our relationships,”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frank Schaeffer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/much-as-we-like-to-think-of-ourselves-as-isolated-nomads-bumping-up/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Loneliness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/much-as-we-like-to-think-of-ourselves-as-isolated-nomads-bumping-up/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/frank-schaeffer-8107_loneliness_much-as-we-like-to-think-of-ourselves-as_1507902.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/frank-schaeffer-8107_loneliness_much-as-we-like-to-think-of-ourselves-as_1507902.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/frank-schaeffer-8107_loneliness_much-as-we-like-to-think-of-ourselves-as_1507902.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“much as we like to think of ourselves as isolated nomads bumping up against each other from time to time, we…” — Frank Schaeffer", "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": "Frank Schaeffer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-schaeffer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“much as we like to think...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/much-as-we-like-to-think-of-ourselves-as-isolated-nomads-bumping-up/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-schaeffer/much-as-we-like-to-think-of-ourselves-as-isolated-nomads-bumping-up/#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 } } ] } ```