--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One can't love humanity. One can only…" description: "\"One can't love humanity. One can only love people.\" — Graham Greene" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63c/graham-greene-441_humanity_one-can-t-love-humanity-one-can-only-lov_3124038.jpg" --- # One can't love humanity. One can only love people. ![“One can't love humanity. One can only love people.” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63c/graham-greene-441_humanity_one-can-t-love-humanity-one-can-only-lov_3124038.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63c/graham-greene-441_humanity_one-can-t-love-humanity-one-can-only-lov_3124038.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63c/graham-greene-441_humanity_one-can-t-love-humanity-one-can-only-lov_3124038.jpg) > “One can't love humanity. One can only love people.” [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. Love is directed toward individuals, not abstract humanity. **In simple terms:** Love people, not humanity. Key Takeaway Focus on personal relationships. Themes relationships humanity individuality Mood reflective warm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - friendship - family - mentoring - community service Key Concepts existentialism personal connection Questions to Reflect On - Who in your life deserves your genuine care? - How does focusing on individuals change your empathy? A Different Perspective Loving humanity can be vague and unfulfilling. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-humanity/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Sociology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sociology/) ## Related quotes > [It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor. ... Some of the worst tyrannies of our day genuinely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-easier-to-love-humanity-as-a-whole-than-to-love-one-s-neighbor-3/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [If you really want to love humanity, then you have to love humanity as it is now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/if-you-really-want-to-love-humanity-then-you-have-to-love-humanity-as/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [“I love humanity, surprisingly, as I observe 21st century with hawk eyed vision, I realize the more I love humanity the less I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankita-singhal/i-love-humanity-surprisingly-as-i-observe-21st-century-with-hawk-eyed/) [Ankita Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankita-singhal/) > [“When you see that a person's defects and bad qualities are so obvious, try to feel immediately that his defects and bad qualities do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/when-you-see-that-a-person-s-defects-and-bad-qualities-are-so-obvious/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor. It is futile to judge a kind deed by its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-easier-to-love-humanity-as-a-whole-than-to-love-one-s-neighbor-2/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-easier-to-love-humanity-as-a-whole-than-to-love-one-s-neighbor/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I love humanity, I love the way people look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grimes/i-love-humanity-i-love-the-way-people-look/) [Grimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grimes/) > [Just as love for one individual which excludes the love for others is not love, love for one's country which is not part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/just-as-love-for-one-individual-which-excludes-the-love-for-others-is/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [Agape's object is always the concrete individual, not some abstraction called humanity. Love of humanity is easy because humanity does not surprise you with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/agape-s-object-is-always-the-concrete-individual-not-some-abstraction/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [In the last resort, a love of God without love of humanity is no love at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-kung/in-the-last-resort-a-love-of-god-without-love-of-humanity-is-no-love/) [Hans Kung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-kung/) > [One must love humanity in order to reach out into the unique essence of each individual: no one can be too low or too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-b-chner/one-must-love-humanity-in-order-to-reach-out-into-the-unique-essence/) [Georg Buchner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-b-chner/) > [“Serving others is the surest and practical way of channeling your love. There is no love through lip service. If you love humanity, serve…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/assegid-habtewold/serving-others-is-the-surest-and-practical-way-of-channeling-your/) [Assegid Habtewold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/assegid-habtewold/) > [I love my country better than my family; but I love humanity better than my country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-fenelon/i-love-my-country-better-than-my-family-but-i-love-humanity-better/) [Francois Fenelon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-fenelon/) > [I love humanity but I hate people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/i-love-humanity-but-i-hate-people/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [“They say, love God, for it is the greatest virtue. I say, love humans, for there is no greater virtue, no greater religion, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/they-say-love-god-for-it-is-the-greatest-virtue-i-say-love-humans-for/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) ## 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 Humanity quotes > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [“Is it necessary to recall that the earth is not infinite, and that our civilization is close to having invaded all of it? The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-tarde/is-it-necessary-to-recall-that-the-earth-is-not-infinite-and-that-our/) Gabriel Tarde > [“If attempting to make the world a civilized one, makes you a bad woman in the eyes of the dumb patriarchal society, then, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/if-attempting-to-make-the-world-a-civilized-one-makes-you-a-bad-woman/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“Once the switch of parenthood is thrown, it changes you for ever & you can never escape the extra pull of humanity it gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hammond/once-the-switch-of-parenthood-is-thrown-it-changes-you-for-ever-you/) [Richard hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hammond/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“Is there any holy beings like human beings?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/is-there-any-holy-beings-like-human-beings/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“I now know that deep within the human concept is something dark, selfish, and completely willing to do whatever is necessary to support the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-west/i-now-know-that-deep-within-the-human-concept-is-something-dark/) [Melissa West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-west/) > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [“He grew away from old associations, and saw something new in life and humanity. Secondarily, he made close acquaintance with phenomena which he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/he-grew-away-from-old-associations-and-saw-something-new-in-life-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [He is not humanity deified. He is not Godhead humanized. He is God. He is man. He is all that God is, and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/he-is-not-humanity-deified-he-is-not-godhead-humanized-he-is-god-he/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-must-not-lose-faith-in-humanity-humanity-is-like-an-ocean-if-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 9,796 Humanity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One can't love humanity. 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