--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What have we all got to expect that we…" description: "\"What have we all got to expect that we allow ourselves to be so lined with disappointment?\" — Graham Greene" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/080/graham-greene-441_disappointment_what-have-we-all-got-to-expect-that-we-a_2710426.jpg" --- # What have we all got to expect that we allow ourselves to… ![“What have we all got to expect that we allow ourselves to be so lined with disappointment?” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/080/graham-greene-441_disappointment_what-have-we-all-got-to-expect-that-we-a_2710426.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/080/graham-greene-441_disappointment_what-have-we-all-got-to-expect-that-we-a_2710426.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/080/graham-greene-441_disappointment_what-have-we-all-got-to-expect-that-we-a_2710426.jpg) > “What have we all got to expect that we allow ourselves to be so lined with disappointment?” [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. The speaker questions expectations that lead to disappointment, urging introspection on self-imposed limitations. **In simple terms:** Expectations can cause disappointment; examine them. Key Takeaway Reevaluate expectations to reduce disappointment. Themes expectation disappointment self-awareness psychology Mood thoughtful critical Type self-help philosophical When to use this quote - personal development - relationship counseling - career planning - goal setting - mental health therapy Key Concepts cognitive bias self-imposed limits Questions to Reflect On - What expectations are you holding that cause disappointment? - How can you adjust them constructively? A Different Perspective Unrealistic expectations may hinder ambition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disappointment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappointment/) ## Related quotes > [“What I expect i never got it, what i got i never expect it… now don't know what comes next...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bharat-singh/what-i-expect-i-never-got-it-what-i-got-i-never-expect-it-now-don-t/) [Bharat Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bharat-singh/) > [I've been getting some bad publicity - but you got to expect that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elvis-presley/i-ve-been-getting-some-bad-publicity-but-you-got-to-expect-that/) [Elvis Presley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elvis-presley/) > [“You give a guy a license to steal, you've got to expect him to use it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/you-give-a-guy-a-license-to-steal-you-ve-got-to-expect-him-to-use-it/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) > [I always expect the worst so I wont ever be disappointed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-always-expect-the-worst-so-i-wont-ever-be-disappointed/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Expectations always lead to disappointment. Never expect anything from anybody. Be self content. Anticipate everything but expect nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-anil-kr-sinha/expectations-always-lead-to-disappointment-never-expect-anything-from/) [Dr Anil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-anil-kr-sinha/) > [The best way to avoid disappointment is to not expect anything from anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-best-way-to-avoid-disappointment-is-to-not-expect-anything-from/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We get disappointed if we expect too much out of a person or expect too little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bulumko-pantsi/we-get-disappointed-if-we-expect-too-much-out-of-a-person-or-expect/) [Bulumko Pantsi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bulumko-pantsi/) > [“disappointment is devastating, even if it’s something that you didn’t really expect to occur.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-grossman/disappointment-is-devastating-even-if-it-s-something-that-you-didn-t/) [Hilary Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-grossman/) > [In life, don't expect anything from anyone. Because expectation, when not fulfilled, gives you pain. When you get something without expecting it, It's gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-life-don-t-expect-anything-from-anyone-because-expectation-when/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don't ever love anything too much, or expect too much it will just end up disappointing you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/don-t-ever-love-anything-too-much-or-expect-too-much-it-will-just-end/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [To whom your much is given expect less and none from whom your less is given to avoid heart break resulting from disappointment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-kay/to-whom-your-much-is-given-expect-less-and-none-from-whom-your-less/) Temple Kay > [Don't expect too much and you wont be disappointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/don-t-expect-too-much-and-you-wont-be-disappointed/) Senoraroy > [“Rina’s always claimed that I expect too little from life,” Standard said. “Then at least you’ll never be disappointed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-sallis/rina-s-always-claimed-that-i-expect-too-little-from-life-standard/) [James Sallis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-sallis/) > [If you expect the worst from a person you can never be disappointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/if-you-expect-the-worst-from-a-person-you-can-never-be-disappointed/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. Hollywood loves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-s-goyer/i-love-casting-against-type-and-doing-things-you-wouldn-t-expect/) [David S. Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-s-goyer/) ## 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 Disappointment quotes > [Broken by hardships, disappointments and tragedy, people can become discouraged and cynical. But lives can also be mended. Put back together well, they won't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-goodier/broken-by-hardships-disappointments-and-tragedy-people-can-become/) [Steve Goodier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-goodier/) > [We're raising children who have little tolerance for disappointment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/we-re-raising-children-who-have-little-tolerance-for-disappointment/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [Disappointment contains an appointment for doing much better. High expectations mean your higher capacity and belief in abilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasneem-hameed/disappointment-contains-an-appointment-for-doing-much-better-high/) [Tasneem Hameed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasneem-hameed/) > [“My earthly body has been a terrible disappointment to me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-chopin/my-earthly-body-has-been-a-terrible-disappointment-to-me/) [Frédéric Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-chopin/) > [The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-compensations-of-calamity-are-made-apparent-to-the-understanding/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The fear of not being good enough, the fear of disappointing other people and the fear of failure can really hurt one's personality and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-anil-kr-sinha/the-fear-of-not-being-good-enough-the-fear-of-disappointing-other/) [Dr Anil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-anil-kr-sinha/) > [In trying not to disappoint others; we disappoint ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-vermaak/in-trying-not-to-disappoint-others-we-disappoint-ourselves/) [Geraldine Vermaak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-vermaak/) > [Though there may be people in your life that support you and encourage you we have to realize that people are only human, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/though-there-may-be-people-in-your-life-that-support-you-and/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [There are still many more days of failure ahead, whole seasons of failure, things will go terribly wrong, you will have huge disappointments ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/there-are-still-many-more-days-of-failure-ahead-whole-seasons-of/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [In all disappointments sympathy is a great balm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gaskell/in-all-disappointments-sympathy-is-a-great-balm/) [Elizabeth Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gaskell/) > [It is sometimes said that because of our past we, as a people, expect too much and set our sights too high. That is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/it-is-sometimes-said-that-because-of-our-past-we-as-a-people-expect/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [I'm talking to anyone who has been dumped - have not gotten the job you really wanted or have received those horrible rejection letters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-abramson/i-m-talking-to-anyone-who-has-been-dumped-have-not-gotten-the-job-you/) [Jill Abramson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-abramson/) > [Think of your mind, your emotions, and your spirit as the ultimate garden. The way to ensure a bountiful, nourishing harvest is to plant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/think-of-your-mind-your-emotions-and-your-spirit-as-the-ultimate/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [Stop blaming others, whatever happens to you is nobody's fault if you get hurt because of disappointment is not the end of your life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemmy-nola/stop-blaming-others-whatever-happens-to-you-is-nobody-s-fault-if-you/) [Kemmy Nola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kemmy-nola/) > [When disappointments knock you down, get back up and go again because out of our greatest rejection comes our greatest direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-disappointments-knock-you-down-get-back-up-and-go-again-because/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 2,467 Disappointment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappointment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What have we all got to expect that we allow ourselves to be so lined with disappointment?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Graham Greene" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-have-we-all-got-to-expect-that-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-so-lined/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Disappointment" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-have-we-all-got-to-expect-that-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-so-lined/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/080/graham-greene-441_disappointment_what-have-we-all-got-to-expect-that-we-a_2710426.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/080/graham-greene-441_disappointment_what-have-we-all-got-to-expect-that-we-a_2710426.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/080/graham-greene-441_disappointment_what-have-we-all-got-to-expect-that-we-a_2710426.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What have we all got to expect that we allow ourselves to be so lined with disappointment?” — 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": "What have we all got to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-have-we-all-got-to-expect-that-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-so-lined/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-have-we-all-got-to-expect-that-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-so-lined/#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 } } ] } ```