--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I thought about my old friends Linus…" description: "\"“When I thought about my old friends Linus Lucas and Theo, I realized they were not really criminals either. They were like me. We were just acting out..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/641/heather-o-neill-4972_criminals_when-i-thought-about-my-old-friends-linu_999360.png" --- # When I thought about my old friends Linus Lucas and Theo… ![“When I thought about my old friends Linus Lucas and Theo, I realized they were not really criminals either. They were like me. We were just acting out the strangest, tragic little roles, pretending to be criminals in order to get by. We gave very convincing performances.” quote by Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/641/heather-o-neill-4972_criminals_when-i-thought-about-my-old-friends-linu_999360.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/641/heather-o-neill-4972_criminals_when-i-thought-about-my-old-friends-linu_999360.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/641/heather-o-neill-4972_criminals_when-i-thought-about-my-old-friends-linu_999360.png) > ““When I thought about my old friends Linus Lucas and Theo, I realized they were not really criminals either. They were like me. We were just acting out the strangest, tragic little roles, pretending to be criminals in order to get by. We gave very convincing performances.”” [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) ## 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 adopt harmful personas to survive, masking their true selves behind desperate performances. **In simple terms:** We act out roles to cope with hardship. Key Takeaway Recognize and reject harmful masks. Themes identity survival performance empathy Mood reflective empathetic Type literary contemplative When to use this quote - poverty - street life - personal relationships Key Concepts social roles psychological coping authenticity Questions to Reflect On - What role are you playing to survive? - How can authenticity improve your relationships? A Different Perspective Self‑deception can perpetuate cycles of harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Criminals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criminals/) [Old friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-friends/) ## Related quotes > [“Linus Lucas was fourteen years old, a number that made the spoons fall right out of our mouths.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/linus-lucas-was-fourteen-years-old-a-number-that-made-the-spoons-fall/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“Even I don’t know myself... In fact, I don’t know if I really have a self at all, as I’m constantly playing different roles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simona-panova/even-i-don-t-know-myself-in-fact-i-don-t-know-if-i-really-have-a-self/) [Simona Panova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simona-panova/) > [I always approach comedy roles pretending they aren't funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-fraser/i-always-approach-comedy-roles-pretending-they-aren-t-funny/) [Brendan Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-fraser/) > [“I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-have-a-high-respect-for-your-nerves-they-are-my-old-friends-i-have/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“One has ideas, does experiments, meets people, seeks advice, calls old friends, runs into unexpected remarks, meets new people with new ideas, and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-h-townes/one-has-ideas-does-experiments-meets-people-seeks-advice-calls-old/) [Charles H. Townes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-h-townes/) > [“Old friends sometimes need no words to understand each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-joyce/old-friends-sometimes-need-no-words-to-understand-each-other/) [William Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-joyce/) > [“To the return of old friends and to an unexpected but most welcome new one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-rossi/to-the-return-of-old-friends-and-to-an-unexpected-but-most-welcome/) [Veronica Rossi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-rossi/) > [I love San Francisco so much. I call it the Emerald City and have been coming here since 1992. I have a few old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-cohen/i-love-san-francisco-so-much-i-call-it-the-emerald-city-and-have-been/) [Andy Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-cohen/) > [“The great thing about the Internet isn't that you can reconnect with old friends or stay up to date with developing world events or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-c-holley/the-great-thing-about-the-internet-isn-t-that-you-can-reconnect-with/) David C Holley > [“I visited my old haunt, but somehow without all my old friends there with me, the cemetery just wasn’t the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-visited-my-old-haunt-but-somehow-without-all-my-old-friends-there/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Certain flaws are necessary for the whole. It would seem strange if old friends lacked certain quirks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/certain-flaws-are-necessary-for-the-whole-it-would-seem-strange-if/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [They are enthusiasts, devotees. Addicts. Something about the circus stirs their souls, and they ache for it when it is absent. They seek each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-morgenstern/they-are-enthusiasts-devotees-addicts-something-about-the-circus/) [Erin Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-morgenstern/) > [Your heart and my heart are very, very old friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/your-heart-and-my-heart-are-very-very-old-friends/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Back home I get to see my old friends!(: But they don't understand the change in me and I can't explain it to them...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade/back-home-i-get-to-see-my-old-friends-but-they-don-t-understand-the/) [Jade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade/) > [It's always great to see old friends, especially those I have not been able to see in 15 months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-regal/it-s-always-great-to-see-old-friends-especially-those-i-have-not-been/) [William Regal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-regal/) ## More by Heather O'Neill > [“You can learn how to be an aristocrat by following a few rules in a very short book. There is nothing to it.” He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/you-can-learn-how-to-be-an-aristocrat-by-following-a-few-rules-in-a/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“I decided to get my butt up out of the coffin, just like Jesus Christ, and come and chitchat with all my beautiful and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/i-decided-to-get-my-butt-up-out-of-the-coffin-just-like-jesus-christ/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [In Lullabies, I wanted to capture what I remembered of the drunken babbling of unfortunate twelve-year-olds: their illusions, their ludicrously bad choices, their lack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/in-lullabies-i-wanted-to-capture-what-i-remembered-of-the-drunken/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“You know you're my best friend, right?' he said. I shrugged. I guessed it was true. Now that I wasn't going to be at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/you-know-you-re-my-best-friend-right-he-said-i-shrugged-i-guessed-it/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“Jules and I were tiny people. We were delicate. We were almost destroyed. We were vulnerable. Like nerds in a school yard of bullies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/jules-and-i-were-tiny-people-we-were-delicate-we-were-almost/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“Whenever things were going well, I started to feel vain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/whenever-things-were-going-well-i-started-to-feel-vain/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“When you’re young, sex doesn’t mean as much, it isn’t sacred. Children make the best prostitutes because they’re th emost perfunctory about the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/when-you-re-young-sex-doesn-t-mean-as-much-it-isn-t-sacred-children/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“Being a woman was a trap. Something would bring you down before you turned twenty-three. The only time the world shows you any favor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/being-a-woman-was-a-trap-something-would-bring-you-down-before-you/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [Sometimes when you are standing still and it’s snowing, you think that you hear music. You can’t tell where it’s coming from either. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/sometimes-when-you-are-standing-still-and-it-s-snowing-you-think-that/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“What are they supposed to do when they've been told their whole lives not to believe in fairy tales?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/what-are-they-supposed-to-do-when-they-ve-been-told-their-whole-lives/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“Felix was in his room singing into a tape recorder then playing it back and exclaiming, “My God. Do I actually sound like this?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/felix-was-in-his-room-singing-into-a-tape-recorder-then-playing-it/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [Adolescents are still children in that they can't yet tell the difference between make believe and fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/adolescents-are-still-children-in-that-they-can-t-yet-tell-the/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“I went into the room and sat next to Linus on the bed. I put my hand on his shoulder. I was always surprised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/i-went-into-the-room-and-sat-next-to-linus-on-the-bed-i-put-my-hand/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“my father encouraged me to enter medicine. He told me it was much nobler to worry about humans than about bugs. But you know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/my-father-encouraged-me-to-enter-medicine-he-told-me-it-was-much/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“A cat's tail waved above the arm of the couch like an elegant hand in a black glove waving goodbye.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/a-cat-s-tail-waved-above-the-arm-of-the-couch-like-an-elegant-hand-in/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) [Explore all 103 Heather O'Neill quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) ## More Criminals quotes > [We need to incorporate that age-old concept of redemption into the work that we do in the criminal justice system in California.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamala-harris/we-need-to-incorporate-that-age-old-concept-of-redemption-into-the/) [Kamala Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamala-harris/) > [They're criminals, they brutalized Afghanistan, they killed our people, they destroyed our land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamid-karzai/they-re-criminals-they-brutalized-afghanistan-they-killed-our-people/) [Hamid Karzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamid-karzai/) > [There are over 500,000 registered sex offenders across the country, and statistics have shown that the recidivism rate for those criminals is high.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-sensenbrenner/there-are-over-500-000-registered-sex-offenders-across-the-country/) [Jim Sensenbrenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-sensenbrenner/) > [Discovering witnesses is just as important as catching criminals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-wiesenthal/discovering-witnesses-is-just-as-important-as-catching-criminals/) [Simon Wiesenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-wiesenthal/) > [The proliferation of right-to-carry laws throughout the states has drawn plaintive complaints from the criminal element. They feel that it makes their profession too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-cooper/the-proliferation-of-right-to-carry-laws-throughout-the-states-has/) [Jeff Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-cooper/) > [What most needs explanation is not why some people are criminals, but why most people are not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-q-wilson/what-most-needs-explanation-is-not-why-some-people-are-criminals-but/) [James Q. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-q-wilson/) > [A criminal trial is never about seeking justice for the victim. If it were, there could be only one verdict: guilty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/a-criminal-trial-is-never-about-seeking-justice-for-the-victim-if-it/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [There's some criminals that wear badges. Guess what? There's some criminals that work in the media. There's some criminals that are football coaches. There's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dabo-swinney/there-s-some-criminals-that-wear-badges-guess-what-there-s-some/) [Dabo Swinney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dabo-swinney/) > [Nobody can really compare a relationship in which the victim is 15 years old to one where she's 6. While both criminal, they're very different circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/nobody-can-really-compare-a-relationship-in-which-the-victim-is-15/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [Humanity is not perfect in any fashion; no more in the case of evil than in that of good. The criminal has his virtues,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-choderlos-de-laclos/humanity-is-not-perfect-in-any-fashion-no-more-in-the-case-of-evil/) [Pierre Choderlos de Laclos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-choderlos-de-laclos/) > [“criminals were all derived from the same ethnicity – scumbag”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-h-thomson/criminals-were-all-derived-from-the-same-ethnicity-scumbag/) [L.H. Thomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-h-thomson/) > [New Orleans food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/new-orleans-food-is-as-delicious-as-the-less-criminal-forms-of-sin/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“When a doctor does go wrong, he is the first of criminals. He has the nerve and he has the knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/when-a-doctor-does-go-wrong-he-is-the-first-of-criminals-he-has-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. Sometimes the law places the whole apparatus of judges, police, prisons and gendarmes at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/sometimes-the-law-defends-plunder-and-participates-in-it-sometimes/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [War should be made a crime, and those who instigate it should be punished as criminals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-evans-hughes/war-should-be-made-a-crime-and-those-who-instigate-it-should-be/) [Charles Evans Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-evans-hughes/) [Browse all 1,886 Criminals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criminals/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When I thought about my old friends Linus Lucas and Theo, I realized they were not really criminals either. They were like me. We were just acting out the strangest, tragic little roles, pretending to be criminals in order to get by. 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