--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People don't want other people to be…" description: "\"People don't want other people to be people.\" — Gene Wolfe" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c83/gene-wolfe-2530_people_people-don-t-want-other-people-to-be-peo_3049987.jpg" --- # People don't want other people to be people. ![“People don't want other people to be people.” quote by Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c83/gene-wolfe-2530_people_people-don-t-want-other-people-to-be-peo_3049987.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c83/gene-wolfe-2530_people_people-don-t-want-other-people-to-be-peo_3049987.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c83/gene-wolfe-2530_people_people-don-t-want-other-people-to-be-peo_3049987.jpg) > “People don't want other people to be people.” [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society often suppresses authentic individuality, preferring conformity. **In simple terms:** Society suppresses authentic individuality. Key Takeaway Celebrate individuality. Themes conformity identity society authenticity Mood critical hopeful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - workplace culture - education - media representation Key Concepts social control individual rights Questions to Reflect On - Why do people resist authentic selves? - How can we foster genuine expression? A Different Perspective Conformity can provide stability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [Clearly, you don't want people to see it. Now I don't want people to see it either, but you so badly don't want people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-green/clearly-you-don-t-want-people-to-see-it-now-i-don-t-want-people-to/) [Rachel Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-green/) > [“Cities don’t change people. People don’t even change people. We are who we are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hank-moody/cities-don-t-change-people-people-don-t-even-change-people-we-are-who/) [Hank Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hank-moody/) > [I'm not your cookie-cutter athlete, and that scares people. People don't know how to take that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-cauley-stein/i-m-not-your-cookie-cutter-athlete-and-that-scares-people-people-don/) [Willie Cauley-Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-cauley-stein/) > [People don't always want to be with people. It gets tiring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/people-don-t-always-want-to-be-with-people-it-gets-tiring/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [I want to show people they don't have to be scared of being different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jazz-jennings/i-want-to-show-people-they-don-t-have-to-be-scared-of-being-different/) [Jazz Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jazz-jennings/) > [I don't want people to love me. It makes for obligations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/i-don-t-want-people-to-love-me-it-makes-for-obligations/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [I don't want people turning on the telly and going, 'Dear God, not him again.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-schofield/i-don-t-want-people-turning-on-the-telly-and-going-dear-god-not-him/) [Phillip Schofield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-schofield/) > [I don't want people to know everything about me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-winget/i-don-t-want-people-to-know-everything-about-me/) [Jennifer Winget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-winget/) > [I don't want people talking about me, for good or bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-busquets/i-don-t-want-people-talking-about-me-for-good-or-bad/) [Sergio Busquets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-busquets/) > [“I want you to only do this with me. Okay?” “You don’t want me with anyone else?” “No! People that love each other don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-meredith-walters/i-want-you-to-only-do-this-with-me-okay-you-don-t-want-me-with-anyone/) [A. Meredith Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-meredith-walters/) > [I don't want people to think there's one right way to eat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-ingber/i-don-t-want-people-to-think-there-s-one-right-way-to-eat/) [Mandy Ingber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-ingber/) > [People don't want to hear the truth; they never do. They wanna live in some kind of fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mooney/people-don-t-want-to-hear-the-truth-they-never-do-they-wanna-live-in/) [Paul Mooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mooney/) > [People who have children, by and large, want children. People who don't want children are people who, by and large, don't want to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-deaton/people-who-have-children-by-and-large-want-children-people-who-don-t/) [Angus Deaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-deaton/) > [“People don’t think to ask for anything. They don’t want to be told no.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophfronia-scott/people-don-t-think-to-ask-for-anything-they-don-t-want-to-be-told-no/) Sophfronia Scott > [People don't want advice...only corroboration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/people-don-t-want-advice-only-corroboration/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) ## More by Gene Wolfe > [Some writers say they cannot write in front of a window; many say they cannot function without almost perfect quiet. A writer with only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/some-writers-say-they-cannot-write-in-front-of-a-window-many-say-they/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“Sometimes driven aground by the photon storms, by the swirling of the galaxies, clockwise and counterclockwise, ticking with light down the dark sea-corridors lined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/sometimes-driven-aground-by-the-photon-storms-by-the-swirling-of-the/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [Ambiguity is necessary in some of my stories, not in all. In those, it certainly contributes to the richness of the story. I doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/ambiguity-is-necessary-in-some-of-my-stories-not-in-all-in-those-it/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“There are beings—and artifacts—against which we batter our intelligence raw, and in the end make peace with reality only by saying, “It was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/there-are-beings-and-artifacts-against-which-we-batter-our/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [Science has so accustomed us to devising and accepting theories to account for the facts we observe, however fantastic, that our minds must begin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/science-has-so-accustomed-us-to-devising-and-accepting-theories-to/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“The experienced feel love or desire, or both. The inexperienced are sick with a thousand feelings, most of them unformed: fearful that they may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/the-experienced-feel-love-or-desire-or-both-the-inexperienced-are/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“For those who have never attended a science fiction convention, masquerades are features of most of the larger ones. Awards are presented for best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/for-those-who-have-never-attended-a-science-fiction-convention/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“He had a wild yellow beard and long, tangled hair that stood out from his head in a way that made it seem too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/he-had-a-wild-yellow-beard-and-long-tangled-hair-that-stood-out-from/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [ ...in some situations winning consist\[s\] of disentangling oneself. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/in-some-situations-winning-consist-s-of-disentangling-oneself/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“For after all, if the lives of most men are examined in detail, it will be found that they have been experts of immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/for-after-all-if-the-lives-of-most-men-are-examined-in-detail-it-will/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [You never learn how to write a novel. You just learn how to write the novel that you're writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/you-never-learn-how-to-write-a-novel-you-just-learn-how-to-write-the/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [There is no magic. There is only knowledge, more or less hidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/there-is-no-magic-there-is-only-knowledge-more-or-less-hidden/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“...the progress of science depends much less upon either theoretical considerations or systematic investigation than is commonly believed, but rather on the transmittal of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/the-progress-of-science-depends-much-less-upon-either-theoretical/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“Whatever we may say, all of us suffer from disturbed sleep at times. Some in truth hardly sleep, though some who sleep copiously swear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/whatever-we-may-say-all-of-us-suffer-from-disturbed-sleep-at-times/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [“. . .Consciousness came and went. Consciousness went and came like the errant winds of spring, and I, who so often have had difficulty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/consciousness-came-and-went-consciousness-went-and-came-like-the/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) [Explore all 160 Gene Wolfe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) ## More People quotes > [If I am going to be phased out by whatever powers, then I want people to know that it is not because I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parvathy/if-i-am-going-to-be-phased-out-by-whatever-powers-then-i-want-people/) [Parvathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parvathy/) > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I feel like I definitely have a real sporty style, more so than a lot of people in G.O.O.D. Music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-sean/i-feel-like-i-definitely-have-a-real-sporty-style-more-so-than-a-lot/) [Big Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-sean/) > [I feel like the future is unwritten. So many of the things that we write now haven't been about educating people on the environment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/i-feel-like-the-future-is-unwritten-so-many-of-the-things-that-we/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [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/) > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/for-us-who-are-now-in-power-we-need-to-be-challenged-to-serve-the/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) > [When I was trying to come up with a stage name, I thought 'Lord' was super rad, but really masculine - ever since I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorde/when-i-was-trying-to-come-up-with-a-stage-name-i-thought-lord-was/) [Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorde/) > [By eating many fruits and vegetables in place of fast food and junk food, people could avoid obesity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-h-murdock/by-eating-many-fruits-and-vegetables-in-place-of-fast-food-and-junk/) [David H. Murdock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-h-murdock/) > [Some people give you that motivation to work harder simply to get the hell away from wherever they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/some-people-give-you-that-motivation-to-work-harder-simply-to-get-the/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they're wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/pain-is-meant-to-wake-us-up-people-try-to-hide-their-pain-but-they-re/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) [Browse all 211,607 People quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People don't want other people to be people.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gene Wolfe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/people-don-t-want-other-people-to-be-people/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "People" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/people-don-t-want-other-people-to-be-people/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c83/gene-wolfe-2530_people_people-don-t-want-other-people-to-be-peo_3049987.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c83/gene-wolfe-2530_people_people-don-t-want-other-people-to-be-peo_3049987.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c83/gene-wolfe-2530_people_people-don-t-want-other-people-to-be-peo_3049987.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People don't want other people to be people.” — Gene Wolfe", "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": "Gene Wolfe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "People don't want other people to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/people-don-t-want-other-people-to-be-people/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/people-don-t-want-other-people-to-be-people/#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 } } ] } ```