--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: His question reminded me of how easy he…" description: "\"“His question reminded me of how easy he had been to deceive, so easy that he seemed to me almost a conniver at his wife's unfaithfulness, as the man w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/163/graham-greene-441_affairs_his-question-reminded-me-of-how-easy-he_2036623.jpg" --- # His question reminded me of how easy he had been to… ![“His question reminded me of how easy he had been to deceive, so easy that he seemed to me almost a conniver at his wife's unfaithfulness, as the man who leaves loose banknotes in a hotel bedroom connives at theft, and I hated him for the very quality which had once helped my love.” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/163/graham-greene-441_affairs_his-question-reminded-me-of-how-easy-he_2036623.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/163/graham-greene-441_affairs_his-question-reminded-me-of-how-easy-he_2036623.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/163/graham-greene-441_affairs_his-question-reminded-me-of-how-easy-he_2036623.jpg) > ““His question reminded me of how easy he had been to deceive, so easy that he seemed to me almost a conniver at his wife's unfaithfulness, as the man who leaves loose banknotes in a hotel bedroom connives at theft, and I hated him for the very quality which had once helped my love.”” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He despises the man for his gullibility, which once helped his lover, revealing jealousy and betrayal. **In simple terms:** He hates the man’s easy deception that once aided his love. Key Takeaway Beware how traits that once helped can become sources of resentment. Themes jealousy betrayal trust guilt Mood conflicted reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - marriage counseling - friendship conflicts - self‑reflection - trust building Key Concepts human nature psychology relationship dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What traits in others trigger your envy? - How can you separate admiration from resentment? A Different Perspective His resentment may ignore the man's own victimhood. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affairs/) [Connives Theft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/connives-theft-3768072/) [Deceive Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceive-easy-3768070/) [Easy Deceive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy-deceive-994443/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Theft Hated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theft-hated-3768069/) [Unfaithfulness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unfaithfulness/) [Unfaithfulness Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unfaithfulness-man-3768071/) ## Related quotes > [In matters of religion, it is very easy to deceive a man and very hard to undeceive him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayle/in-matters-of-religion-it-is-very-easy-to-deceive-a-man-and-very-hard/) [Pierre Bayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayle/) > [A country that does not know how to read and write is easy to deceive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/che-guevara/a-country-that-does-not-know-how-to-read-and-write-is-easy-to-deceive/) [Che Guevara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/che-guevara/) > [Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demosthenes/nothing-is-so-easy-as-to-deceive-oneself-for-what-we-wish-we-readily/) [Demosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demosthenes/) > [It is as easy to deceive one's self without perceiving it, as it is difficult to deceive others without their finding out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/it-is-as-easy-to-deceive-one-s-self-without-perceiving-it-as-it-is/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Nothing is more easy than to deceive one's self, as our affections are subtle persuaders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demosthenes/nothing-is-more-easy-than-to-deceive-one-s-self-as-our-affections-are/) [Demosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demosthenes/) > [“He believed me, and I was overwhelmed by bitterness when I saw that he did. My tears stopped; I told myself that it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-de-duras/he-believed-me-and-i-was-overwhelmed-by-bitterness-when-i-saw-that-he/) [Claire de Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-de-duras/) > [“Sometimes your dearest friend whom you reveal most of your secrets to becomes so deadly and unfriendly without knowing that they were not really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/sometimes-your-dearest-friend-whom-you-reveal-most-of-your-secrets-to/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [The reason why women grown bad are worse than men is because it is the best that turns to the worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-reason-why-women-grown-bad-are-worse-than-men-is-because-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You deny our vows. You deny my rights. You abuse my pride and leave me nothing of yourself. You send me from you on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-e-woodiwiss/you-deny-our-vows-you-deny-my-rights-you-abuse-my-pride-and-leave-me/) [Kathleen E. Woodiwiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-e-woodiwiss/) > [“Like your marriage, everything in the universe is trying to find its orbit. In the midst of this constant readjustment, both partners should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ben-zehabe/like-your-marriage-everything-in-the-universe-is-trying-to-find-its/) [Michael Ben Zehabe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ben-zehabe/) > [“...Even when you have ceased to love someone, that does not necessarily bring an indifference to a past shared together. Besides, though love may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/even-when-you-have-ceased-to-love-someone-that-does-not-necessarily/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [In an age when the fashion is to be in love with yourself, confessing to be in love with somebody else is an admission…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-an-age-when-the-fashion-is-to-be-in-love-with-yourself-confessing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If you think that your partner has been cheating, then take a look at their will. If a past lover is in there, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/if-you-think-that-your-partner-has-been-cheating-then-take-a-look-at/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“...unnskyld? Men opptar Fordervelsen hele sofaen?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-l-kielland/unnskyld-men-opptar-fordervelsen-hele-sofaen/) [Alexander L. Kielland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-l-kielland/) > [God’s faithfulness is stronger than our unfaithfulness and our infidelities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/god-s-faithfulness-is-stronger-than-our-unfaithfulness-and-our/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More Affairs quotes > [I don't like to meddle in my private affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/i-don-t-like-to-meddle-in-my-private-affairs/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [In the affairs of this world, men are saved not by faith, but by the want of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/in-the-affairs-of-this-world-men-are-saved-not-by-faith-but-by-the/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded -Diana, Princess of Wales”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-lowne/well-there-were-three-of-us-in-this-marriage-so-it-was-a-bit-crowded/) [Cathy Lowne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-lowne/) > [“I’m not going to deny that I want to fuck you. I can’t promise a future or that I’ll be some sniveling boyfriend who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-l-hess/i-m-not-going-to-deny-that-i-want-to-fuck-you-i-can-t-promise-a/) [D.L. Hess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-l-hess/) > [I often feel that when people have affairs, it has more to do with something they're searching for in themselves than anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laila-robins/i-often-feel-that-when-people-have-affairs-it-has-more-to-do-with/) [Laila Robins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laila-robins/) > [“What kind of friendship have you had? Or for that matter...what kind of love affairs?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/what-kind-of-friendship-have-you-had-or-for-that-matter-what-kind-of/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [No man should ever lose sleep over public affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-macmillan/no-man-should-ever-lose-sleep-over-public-affairs/) [Harold MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-macmillan/) > [The U.N. guards the vital principles entrenched in its charter, notably the sovereign equality of states and the inadmissibility of interference in their internal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/the-u-n-guards-the-vital-principles-entrenched-in-its-charter-notably/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [When the Veterans Affairs Department implemented a program to provide home-based health care to veterans with multiple chronic conditions - many of the system's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/when-the-veterans-affairs-department-implemented-a-program-to-provide/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [International affairs is very much run like the mafia. The godfather does not accept disobedience, even from a small storekeeper who doesn't pay his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/international-affairs-is-very-much-run-like-the-mafia-the-godfather/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ In Stage I, divorces were not allowed, so men's \[sexual\] affairs did not put women's economic security in jeopardy; in Stage II, affairs could… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/in-stage-i-divorces-were-not-allowed-so-men-s-sexual-affairs-did-not/) [Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/) > [For most affairs, this eventually becomes the most fundamental of questions, the only one that matters: Do we love each other more than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brady-udall/for-most-affairs-this-eventually-becomes-the-most-fundamental-of/) [Brady Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brady-udall/) > [I started, actually, as an analyst on African affairs, mainly on Al Jazeera. I remember the first few series were about Saudi students, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wadah-khanfar/i-started-actually-as-an-analyst-on-african-affairs-mainly-on-al/) [Wadah Khanfar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wadah-khanfar/) > [“Police officers are well known for their aggressive behaviors, search "Police Officer Angry Aggression Theory". I can speak from personal experience that they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/police-officers-are-well-known-for-their-aggressive-behaviors-search/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [I have long believed that women should play a much bigger part in our affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-grimond/i-have-long-believed-that-women-should-play-a-much-bigger-part-in-our/) [Jo Grimond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-grimond/) [Browse all 305 Affairs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affairs/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“His question reminded me of how easy he had been to deceive, so easy that he seemed to me almost a conniver at his wife's unfaithfulness, as the man who leaves loose banknotes in a hotel bedroom connives at theft, and I hated him for the very quality which had once helped my love.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Graham Greene" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/his-question-reminded-me-of-how-easy-he-had-been-to-deceive-so-easy/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affairs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/his-question-reminded-me-of-how-easy-he-had-been-to-deceive-so-easy/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/163/graham-greene-441_affairs_his-question-reminded-me-of-how-easy-he_2036623.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/163/graham-greene-441_affairs_his-question-reminded-me-of-how-easy-he_2036623.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/163/graham-greene-441_affairs_his-question-reminded-me-of-how-easy-he_2036623.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“His question reminded me of how easy he had been to deceive, so easy that he seemed to me almost a conniver…” — Graham Greene", "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": "Graham Greene", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“His question reminded me of how...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/his-question-reminded-me-of-how-easy-he-had-been-to-deceive-so-easy/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/his-question-reminded-me-of-how-easy-he-had-been-to-deceive-so-easy/#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 } } ] } ```