--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are sometimes made aware of a kindness…" description: "\"We are sometimes made aware of a kindness long passed, and realize that there have been times when our friends' thoughts of us were of so pure and loft..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/henry-david-thoreau-20_character_we-are-sometimes-made-aware-of-a-kindnes_2491619.jpg" --- # We are sometimes made aware of a kindness long passed, and… ![“We are sometimes made aware of a kindness long passed, and realize that there have been times when our friends' thoughts of us were of so pure and lofty a character that they passed over us like the winds of heaven unnoticed; when they treated us not as what we were, but as what we aspired to be.” quote by Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/henry-david-thoreau-20_character_we-are-sometimes-made-aware-of-a-kindnes_2491619.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/henry-david-thoreau-20_character_we-are-sometimes-made-aware-of-a-kindnes_2491619.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/henry-david-thoreau-20_character_we-are-sometimes-made-aware-of-a-kindnes_2491619.jpg) > “We are sometimes made aware of a kindness long passed, and realize that there have been times when our friends' thoughts of us were of so pure and lofty a character that they passed over us like the winds of heaven unnoticed; when they treated us not as what we were, but as what we aspired to be.” [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We often idealize friends, seeing them as we wish they were, not as they truly are. **In simple terms:** Friends are sometimes imagined as perfect. Key Takeaway Recognize and appreciate people’s real qualities. Themes idealization perception friendship Mood thoughtful nostalgic Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal relationships - conflict resolution - teamwork Key Concepts projection self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - Do you project your hopes onto friends? - How can you see people more accurately? A Different Perspective Idealizing can lead to disappointment when reality appears. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aware Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aware-kindness-970394/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Friends Thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends-thoughts-970396/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) [Kindness Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness-long-970397/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Real friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-friends/) [Realizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realizing/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Treated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treated/) [Treated Aspired](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treated-aspired-970395/) [Unnoticed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unnoticed/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/) ## Related quotes > [Build people up. Little acts of kindness can go a long way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/build-people-up-little-acts-of-kindness-can-go-a-long-way/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No thanks attach to a kindness long deferred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/no-thanks-attach-to-a-kindness-long-deferred/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Those who return evil for good should not expect the kindness of others to last long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/those-who-return-evil-for-good-should-not-expect-the-kindness-of/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [“Sometimes it's easy to walk by because we know we can't change someone's whole life in a single afternoon. But what we fail to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-yankoski/sometimes-it-s-easy-to-walk-by-because-we-know-we-can-t-change/) [Mike Yankoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-yankoski/) > [May our memories of kindness be long and of offenses be short.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/may-our-memories-of-kindness-be-long-and-of-offenses-be-short/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [What wealth is it to have such friends that we cannot think of them without elevation!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/what-wealth-is-it-to-have-such-friends-that-we-cannot-think-of-them/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [How often we find ourselves turning our backs on our actual friends, that we might go and meet their ideal cousins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/how-often-we-find-ourselves-turning-our-backs-on-our-actual-friends/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [It is a strange and wonderful fact to be here, walking around in a body, to have a whole world within you and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-donohue/it-is-a-strange-and-wonderful-fact-to-be-here-walking-around-in-a/) [John O'Donohue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-donohue/) > [The practice of inhibiting impulses, which is to a great extent necessary to civilized life, makes mistakes easier, by preventing experience of the actions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-practice-of-inhibiting-impulses-which-is-to-a-great-extent/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [The idea of nature contains, though often unnoticed, an extraordinary amount of human history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-williams/the-idea-of-nature-contains-though-often-unnoticed-an-extraordinary/) [Raymond Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-williams/) > [History is like a mole, it burrows away unnoticed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-sakharov/history-is-like-a-mole-it-burrows-away-unnoticed/) [Andrei Sakharov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-sakharov/) > [Camouflage is about much more than concealment and going unnoticed. There's a whole game involved between revealing and hiding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raf-simons/camouflage-is-about-much-more-than-concealment-and-going-unnoticed/) [Raf Simons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raf-simons/) > [After a while, footsteps sounded on the flagstones outside and there was a gentle tap at the door. Of course, one of them would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliet-marillier/after-a-while-footsteps-sounded-on-the-flagstones-outside-and-there/) [Juliet Marillier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliet-marillier/) > [Just because it went unsaid, does not mean it went unnoticed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-wilson/just-because-it-went-unsaid-does-not-mean-it-went-unnoticed/) [Andre Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-wilson/) > [“Of the good things they do many will pass unnoticed, or will even not be considered good at all; but they need not fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/of-the-good-things-they-do-many-will-pass-unnoticed-or-will-even-not/) [Teresa of Ávila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) ## More by Henry David Thoreau > [If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-ever-i-did-a-man-any-goodof-course-it-was-something-exceptional/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“Men say they know many things; But lo! they have taken wings, — The arts and sciences, And a thousand appliances; The wind that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-say-they-know-many-things-but-lo-they-have-taken-wings-the-arts/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I am not afraid of praise, for I have practiced it on myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-am-not-afraid-of-praise-for-i-have-practiced-it-on-myself/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or back gammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/all-voting-is-a-sort-of-gaming-like-checkers-or-back-gammon-with-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/this-spending-of-the-best-part-of-one-s-life-earning-money-in-order/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-for-doing-good-that-is-one-of-the-professions-which-is-full/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [A traveler who looks at things with an impartial eye may see what the oldest inhabitant has not observed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-traveler-who-looks-at-things-with-an-impartial-eye-may-see-what-the/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/in-proportion-as-our-inward-life-fails-we-go-more-constantly-and/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-had-three-chairs-in-my-house-one-for-solitude-two-for-friendship/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The still youthful energies of the globe have only to be directed in their proper channel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-still-youthful-energies-of-the-globe-have-only-to-be-directed-in/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Concord's little arch does not span all our fate, nor is what transpires under it law for the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/concord-s-little-arch-does-not-span-all-our-fate-nor-is-what/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The lumberers rarely trouble themselves to put out their fires, such is the dampness of the primitive forest; and this is one cause, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-lumberers-rarely-trouble-themselves-to-put-out-their-fires-such/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“When he has obtained those things which are necessary to life, there is another alternative than to obtain the superfluities; and that is, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-he-has-obtained-those-things-which-are-necessary-to-life-there/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Wealth is measured by the level of experience in all aspects of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/wealth-is-measured-by-the-level-of-experience-in-all-aspects-of-life/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Explore all 3,376 Henry David Thoreau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. 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But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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