--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What affects men sharply about a foreign…" description: "\"What affects men sharply about a foreign nation is not so much finding or not finding familiar things; it is rather not finding them in the familiar pl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5c/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_familiar_what-affects-men-sharply-about-a-foreign_2901186.png" --- # What affects men sharply about a foreign nation is not so… ![“What affects men sharply about a foreign nation is not so much finding or not finding familiar things; it is rather not finding them in the familiar place.” quote by Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5c/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_familiar_what-affects-men-sharply-about-a-foreign_2901186.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5c/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_familiar_what-affects-men-sharply-about-a-foreign_2901186.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5c/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_familiar_what-affects-men-sharply-about-a-foreign_2901186.png) > “What affects men sharply about a foreign nation is not so much finding or not finding familiar things; it is rather not finding them in the familiar place.” [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Foreign cultures feel alien because familiar things appear in unfamiliar contexts. **In simple terms:** Unfamiliar settings make familiar things feel strange. Key Takeaway Seek familiarity in new places. Themes culture perception foreignness Mood curious analytical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - travel - immigration - learning - adaptation Key Concepts Existentialism cognitive dissonance Questions to Reflect On - What makes a place feel familiar? - How do we reconcile new environments? A Different Perspective Familiarity may not ease cultural integration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affects Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affects-men-1182475/) [Familiar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar/) [Foreign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign/) [Foreign Nation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-nation-3734152/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men Sharply](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-sharply-4125892/) [Sharply Foreign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sharply-foreign-4125891/) ## Related quotes > [A foreign nation is a kind of contemporaneous posterity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-binney-wallace/a-foreign-nation-is-a-kind-of-contemporaneous-posterity/) [Horace Binney Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-binney-wallace/) > [In a general way, anything that affects men is taken more seriously than anything that affects only women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/in-a-general-way-anything-that-affects-men-is-taken-more-seriously/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [No person can be more deeply sensible than myself of the danger of entangling alliances with any foreign nation. That we should avoid such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-polk/no-person-can-be-more-deeply-sensible-than-myself-of-the-danger-of/) [James K. Polk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-polk/) > [A great stench will come from Lausanne, but they will not know its origin; they will put out all people from distant places, fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nostradamus/a-great-stench-will-come-from-lausanne-but-they-will-not-know-its/) [Nostradamus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nostradamus/) > [On foreign policy, President Obama has kept our nation safe from terrorism and restored our standing in the world. When it comes to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-schumer/on-foreign-policy-president-obama-has-kept-our-nation-safe-from/) [Chuck Schumer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-schumer/) > [I have a great track record, and I have never been sued. If I can't find someone for someone, I refer them out. 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The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Youth is always too serious, and just now it is too serious about frivolity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/youth-is-always-too-serious-and-just-now-it-is-too-serious-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Tradition does not mean a dead town; it does not mean that the living are dead but that the dead are alive. It means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/tradition-does-not-mean-a-dead-town-it-does-not-mean-that-the-living/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted; precisely because most things are permitted and only a few things forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/it-is-shorter-to-state-the-things-forbidden-than-the-things-permitted/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Everyone seems to assume that the unscrupulous parts of journalism will be the frivolous or jocular parts. This is against all ethical experience. Jokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/everyone-seems-to-assume-that-the-unscrupulous-parts-of-journalism/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [For Scotland has a double dose of the poison called heredity; the sense of blood in the aristocrat, the sense of doom in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/for-scotland-has-a-double-dose-of-the-poison-called-heredity-the/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Faith is always at a disadvantage; it is a perpetually defeated thing which survives all conquerors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/faith-is-always-at-a-disadvantage-it-is-a-perpetually-defeated-thing/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [A building is akin to dogma; it is insolent, like dogma. Whether or no it is permanent, it claims permanence, like a dogma. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/a-building-is-akin-to-dogma-it-is-insolent-like-dogma-whether-or-no/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The triangle of truisms, of father, mother and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-triangle-of-truisms-of-father-mother-and-child-cannot-be/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Criticism is only words about words, and of what use are words about such words as these?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/criticism-is-only-words-about-words-and-of-what-use-are-words-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place...The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/what-we-suffer-from-today-is-humility-in-the-wrong-place-the-old/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Plato was only a Bernard Shaw who unfortunately made his jokes in Greek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/plato-was-only-a-bernard-shaw-who-unfortunately-made-his-jokes-in/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The word good has many meanings...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-word-good-has-many-meanings/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/music-with-dinner-is-an-insult-both-to-the-cook-and-the-violinist/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Eugenics asserts that all men must be so stupid that they cannot manage their own affairs; and also so clever that they can manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/eugenics-asserts-that-all-men-must-be-so-stupid-that-they-cannot/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) [Explore all 868 Gilbert K. Chesterton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## More Familiar quotes > [ There was another reason \[she\] took her books whenever they went away. They were her home when she was somewhere strange. They were familiar… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/there-was-another-reason-she-took-her-books-whenever-they-went-away/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [It's a very familiar type of place where people either go to their house on the lake or they get together in different places.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-carell/it-s-a-very-familiar-type-of-place-where-people-either-go-to-their/) [Steve Carell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-carell/) > [Photography's potential as a great image-maker and communicator is really no different from the same potential in the best poetry where familiar, everyday words,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-caponigro/photography-s-potential-as-a-great-image-maker-and-communicator-is/) [Paul Caponigro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-caponigro/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [This kind of horror has become all too familiar to us. As parents, Cindy and I offer our prayers to the memory of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/this-kind-of-horror-has-become-all-too-familiar-to-us-as-parents/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [Any creative process is about being in a territory which isn't secure, isn't necessarily familiar, and isn't convenient in any sort of way. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanne-bier/any-creative-process-is-about-being-in-a-territory-which-isn-t-secure/) [Susanne Bier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanne-bier/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [I don't look to play people that are familiar. I look to play people that are different, challenge, unknown, foreign, and therefore scary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-jessica-parker/i-don-t-look-to-play-people-that-are-familiar-i-look-to-play-people/) [Sarah Jessica Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-jessica-parker/) > [My pet peeve is hearing a knock on the bathroom door followed by the familiar words, 'What are you doing in there?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-scalf-linamen/my-pet-peeve-is-hearing-a-knock-on-the-bathroom-door-followed-by-the/) [Karen Scalf Linamen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-scalf-linamen/) > [The barman sidled toward them out of a back room. 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I mean, all my early acting was musical theater, and my first ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-claflin/when-i-was-in-high-school-i-was-a-bad-singer-i-mean-all-my-early/) [Sam Claflin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-claflin/) > [Fella’s a genius. Best ever by a distance in my life time. 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