--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Observing human variety can give…" description: "\"Observing human variety can give pleasure, but so too can human sameness.\" — Ian Mcewan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/ian-mcewan-494_giving_observing-human-variety-can-give-pleasur_1997523.png" --- # Observing human variety can give pleasure, but so too can… ![“Observing human variety can give pleasure, but so too can human sameness.” quote by Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/ian-mcewan-494_giving_observing-human-variety-can-give-pleasur_1997523.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/ian-mcewan-494_giving_observing-human-variety-can-give-pleasur_1997523.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/ian-mcewan-494_giving_observing-human-variety-can-give-pleasur_1997523.png) > “Observing human variety can give pleasure, but so too can human sameness.” [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human diversity brings joy, yet similarity also comforts; both are essential to experience life. **In simple terms:** Variety and sameness both matter. Key Takeaway Embrace both differences and commonalities. Themes diversity comfort human nature Mood reflective balanced Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - social gatherings - team building - family gatherings - community events Key Concepts sociology psychology balance Questions to Reflect On - How do you celebrate differences? - When does sameness become a strength? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on sameness can stifle innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Sameness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sameness/) [Variety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/variety/) ## Related quotes > [“I saw the same joy, the same uncontrollable smile in the faces of a Nigerian earth mama, a thin-lipped Scottish granny and a pale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-saw-the-same-joy-the-same-uncontrollable-smile-in-the-faces-of-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“There's no greater show on earth than observing human nature”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benny-bellamacina/there-s-no-greater-show-on-earth-than-observing-human-nature/) [Benny Bellamacina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benny-bellamacina/) > [When two people are paying close attention to each other, check out the others in the group and see who's observing. Human dynamics are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/when-two-people-are-paying-close-attention-to-each-other-check-out/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [“Observing any human being from infancy, seeing someone come into existence, like a new flower in bud, each petal first tightly furled around another,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/observing-any-human-being-from-infancy-seeing-someone-come-into/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/music-produces-a-kind-of-pleasure-which-human-nature-cannot-do-without/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [I'd never had so much pleasure with another human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bancroft/i-d-never-had-so-much-pleasure-with-another-human-being/) [Anne Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bancroft/) > [“For his part he sensed with despair that he wouldn’t come, no matter how long they kept at it. But this activity made him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/for-his-part-he-sensed-with-despair-that-he-wouldn-t-come-no-matter/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [To have given pleasure to one human being is a recollection that sweetens life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/to-have-given-pleasure-to-one-human-being-is-a-recollection-that/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without. - Confucius”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/music-produces-a-kind-of-pleasure-which-human-nature-cannot-do/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Music is the pleasure the human mind experiences from counting without being aware that it is counting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/music-is-the-pleasure-the-human-mind-experiences-from-counting/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [Saints and ordinary folks are the same from the start. Inquiring about a difference is like asking to borrow string when you've got a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hsu-yun/saints-and-ordinary-folks-are-the-same-from-the-start-inquiring-about/) Hsu Yun > [Follow your bliss. That which you love you must spend your life doing, as passionately and as perfectly as your heart, mind and instincts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lois/follow-your-bliss-that-which-you-love-you-must-spend-your-life-doing/) [George Lois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lois/) > [My mother taught me this trick: if you repeat something over and over again it loses its meaning, for example homework homework homework homework…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-mother-taught-me-this-trick-if-you-repeat-something-over-and-over/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Physical beings want things to be the same. They want people to think the same. You work rather hard at sameness, but you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/physical-beings-want-things-to-be-the-same-they-want-people-to-think/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [Life is like the dice that, falling, still show a different face. So life, though it remains the same, is always presenting different aspects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-sanchez/life-is-like-the-dice-that-falling-still-show-a-different-face-so/) [Alexis Sanchez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-sanchez/) ## More by Ian Mcewan > [“As you will see, we do not believe that artists have an obligation to strike up attitudes to the war. Indeed, they are wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-you-will-see-we-do-not-believe-that-artists-have-an-obligation-to/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/you-could-say-that-all-novels-are-spy-novels-and-all-novelists-are/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-ve-never-had-a-moment-s-doubt-i-love-you-i-believe-in-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It is shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-is-shaming-sometimes-how-the-body-will-not-or-cannot-lie-about/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Once, on a walk by a river- Eskdale in low reddish sunlight, with a dusting of snow- his daughter quoted to him an opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/once-on-a-walk-by-a-river-eskdale-in-low-reddish-sunlight-with-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Perhaps it's one of those cases of a microcosm giving you the whole world. Like a spode dinner plate. Or a single cell. Or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/perhaps-it-s-one-of-those-cases-of-a-microcosm-giving-you-the-whole/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [Who you get, and how it works out- there's so much luck involved, as well as the million branching consequences of your conscious choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/who-you-get-and-how-it-works-out-there-s-so-much-luck-involved-as/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“On Chesil Beach he could have called out to Florence, he could have gone after her. He did not know, or would not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/on-chesil-beach-he-could-have-called-out-to-florence-he-could-have/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [It was always the view of my parents...that hot weather encouraged loose morals among young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-always-the-view-of-my-parents-that-hot-weather-encouraged/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-apologize-for-being-obvious-but-every-time-i-watch-the-curtain-come/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I would rather be physically disabled obviously than mentally. I would rather be paraplegic than nuts. And it is a terrifying prospect and actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-would-rather-be-physically-disabled-obviously-than-mentally-i-would/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Words, as I'm beginning to appreciate, can make things true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/words-as-i-m-beginning-to-appreciate-can-make-things-true/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only writing that was appropriate to that horrendous event was journalism, reportage. And, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it-seemed-the-only-writing-that/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I did not kill my father, but I sometimes felt I had helped him on his way. And but for the fact that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-did-not-kill-my-father-but-i-sometimes-felt-i-had-helped-him-on-his/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Explore all 496 Ian Mcewan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## More Giving quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [Some people give you that motivation to work harder simply to get the hell away from wherever they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/some-people-give-you-that-motivation-to-work-harder-simply-to-get-the/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [You've touched people and known it. You've touched people and never may know it. Either way, you have something to give. It is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schlessinger/you-ve-touched-people-and-known-it-you-ve-touched-people-and-never/) [Laura Schlessinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schlessinger/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I received a beautiful welcome to the world of music. I want to give something back to the younger generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luciano-pavarotti/i-received-a-beautiful-welcome-to-the-world-of-music-i-want-to-give/) [Luciano Pavarotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luciano-pavarotti/) > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [Faith gives you a certain structure and meaning to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riffat-hassan/faith-gives-you-a-certain-structure-and-meaning-to-your-life/) Riffat Hassan > [Grandma, please. It’s okay. Dad’s doing a great job. I give him kudos for at least being calm and rational, and not losing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/grandma-please-it-s-okay-dad-s-doing-a-great-job-i-give-him-kudos-for/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Most paper money initially existed as a substitute for gold. That's what gave it value. But right now what gives a currency value is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/most-paper-money-initially-existed-as-a-substitute-for-gold-that-s/) [Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [Give me strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/give-me-strength-to-walk-the-soft-earth-a-relative-to-all-that-is/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [I don't think my relationship with the idea of womanhood is that attached to giving birth... like, I'm fully aware that I'll never give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-harrison/i-don-t-think-my-relationship-with-the-idea-of-womanhood-is-that/) [Patti Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-harrison/) [Browse all 39,303 Giving quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Observing human variety can give pleasure, but so too can human sameness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ian Mcewan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/observing-human-variety-can-give-pleasure-but-so-too-can-human/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Giving" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/observing-human-variety-can-give-pleasure-but-so-too-can-human/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/ian-mcewan-494_giving_observing-human-variety-can-give-pleasur_1997523.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/ian-mcewan-494_giving_observing-human-variety-can-give-pleasur_1997523.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/ian-mcewan-494_giving_observing-human-variety-can-give-pleasur_1997523.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Observing human variety can give pleasure, but so too can human sameness.” — Ian Mcewan", "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": "Ian Mcewan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Observing human variety can give pleasure,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/observing-human-variety-can-give-pleasure-but-so-too-can-human/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/observing-human-variety-can-give-pleasure-but-so-too-can-human/#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 } } ] } ```