--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But how little we know what would make…" description: "\"But how little we know what would make paradise for our neighbours! We judge from our own desires, and our neighbours themselves are not always open en..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/george-eliot-84_desire_but-how-little-we-know-what-would-make-p_488895.png" --- # But how little we know what would make paradise for our… ![“But how little we know what would make paradise for our neighbours! We judge from our own desires, and our neighbours themselves are not always open enough even to throw out a hint of theirs.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/george-eliot-84_desire_but-how-little-we-know-what-would-make-p_488895.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/george-eliot-84_desire_but-how-little-we-know-what-would-make-p_488895.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02a/george-eliot-84_desire_but-how-little-we-know-what-would-make-p_488895.png) > “But how little we know what would make paradise for our neighbours! We judge from our own desires, and our neighbours themselves are not always open enough even to throw out a hint of theirs.” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## 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 assume others share their own desires, overlooking unique needs and perspectives. **In simple terms:** We project our wishes onto others. Key Takeaway Seek to understand others’ true wants. Themes empathy misunderstanding perspective Mood reflective concerned Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - friendship - community planning - conflict resolution - customer service Key Concepts social psychology ethical relativism Questions to Reflect On - How can you discover a neighbor’s real hopes? - What biases affect your judgments? A Different Perspective Assuming similarity can lead to misguided decisions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desires Neighbours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desires-neighbours-4188024/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Hint Theirs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hint-theirs-4188026/) [Hints](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hints/) [Judging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judging/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Neighbour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighbour/) [Neighbours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighbours/) [Neighbours Open](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighbours-open-4188027/) [Paradise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradise/) [Paradise Neighbours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradise-neighbours-4188025/) ## Related quotes > [Perhaps there is no time in a summer's day more cheering, than when the warmth of the sun is just beginning to triumph over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perhaps-there-is-no-time-in-a-summer-s-day-more-cheering-than-when/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Now, when we say we want peace, what we want is really for our Palestinian neighbours to have a demilitarized state next to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-netanyahu/now-when-we-say-we-want-peace-what-we-want-is-really-for-our/) [Benjamin Netanyahu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-netanyahu/) > [“Oh so we are neighbours?” She tried to smile sweetly, so Maggie felt like she could talk more. Maggie shrugged again, “Not for long.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sian-b-claven/oh-so-we-are-neighbours-she-tried-to-smile-sweetly-so-maggie-felt/) [Sian B. Claven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sian-b-claven/) > [Respect your neighbours, neglect those haters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/respect-your-neighbours-neglect-those-haters/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [... to became neighbours and friends instead of journalists. This is the way to make your finest photographs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-eugene-smith/to-became-neighbours-and-friends-instead-of-journalists-this-is-the/) [W. Eugene Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-eugene-smith/) > [I miss watching TV and thinking they were all real. I used to feel like that about 'Neighbours.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kayvan-novak/i-miss-watching-tv-and-thinking-they-were-all-real-i-used-to-feel/) [Kayvan Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kayvan-novak/) > [When I was a boy, the neighbours all knew who I was because I'd take a ball with me everywhere I went.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isco/when-i-was-a-boy-the-neighbours-all-knew-who-i-was-because-i-d-take-a/) [Isco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isco/) > [“Speak ill of no one and avoid the company of those who talk (bad) about their neighbours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-jacinta/speak-ill-of-no-one-and-avoid-the-company-of-those-who-talk-bad-about/) [St. Jacinta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-jacinta/) > [Sometimes it is possible to live without knowing our neighbours: this is not Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/sometimes-it-is-possible-to-live-without-knowing-our-neighbours-this/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [Music is the food of love but dont disturb the neighbours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-dangoor/music-is-the-food-of-love-but-dont-disturb-the-neighbours/) [Robert D Dangoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-dangoor/) > [Coming from New Zealand and Australia is like a tough pre-school for Hollywood. And having been on 'Neighbours,' even though the agents I met…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-ryan/coming-from-new-zealand-and-australia-is-like-a-tough-pre-school-for/) [Jay Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-ryan/) > [The rule which should guide us in such cases is simple and obvious enough: that the aggregate testimony of our neighbours is subject to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kingdon-clifford/the-rule-which-should-guide-us-in-such-cases-is-simple-and-obvious/) [William Kingdon Clifford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kingdon-clifford/) > [I say this about everything: when I was on 'Neighbours,' I said, 'These are the best years of my life!' When I was filming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-robbie/i-say-this-about-everything-when-i-was-on-neighbours-i-said-these-are/) [Margot Robbie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-robbie/) > [Hackney gets a bit of a bad rap, but it's the only place I've ever lived that felt like a community. I know my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-horgan/hackney-gets-a-bit-of-a-bad-rap-but-it-s-the-only-place-i-ve-ever/) [Sharon Horgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-horgan/) > [Borrow trouble for yourself, if that's your nature, but don't lend it to your neighbours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/borrow-trouble-for-yourself-if-that-s-your-nature-but-don-t-lend-it/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But how little we know what would make paradise for our neighbours! 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