--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was a lesson most people learned much…" description: "\"It was a lesson most people learned much earlier; that even friendship could have an undisclosed shelf life. That loyalty and affection, so consuming a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78d/jennifer-haigh-23534_affection_it-was-a-lesson-most-people-learned-much_2410985.jpg" --- # It was a lesson most people learned much earlier; that… ![“It was a lesson most people learned much earlier; that even friendship could have an undisclosed shelf life. That loyalty and affection, so consuming and powerful, could dissipate like fog.” quote by Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78d/jennifer-haigh-23534_affection_it-was-a-lesson-most-people-learned-much_2410985.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78d/jennifer-haigh-23534_affection_it-was-a-lesson-most-people-learned-much_2410985.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78d/jennifer-haigh-23534_affection_it-was-a-lesson-most-people-learned-much_2410985.jpg) > “It was a lesson most people learned much earlier; that even friendship could have an undisclosed shelf life. That loyalty and affection, so consuming and powerful, could dissipate like fog.” [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Friendships may fade unexpectedly, showing that even strong bonds can dissolve like fog. **In simple terms:** Friendships can end suddenly despite strong feelings. Key Takeaway Cherish connections while they last. Themes friendship impermanence loyalty Mood melancholic thoughtful Type reflective observational When to use this quote - college - workplace - long‑term friendships Key Concepts human relationships emotional transience Questions to Reflect On - What signs indicate a friendship is waning? - How can you sustain loyalty over time? A Different Perspective May overlook signs of weakening bonds. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) [Consuming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consuming/) [Earlier Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earlier-friendship-6070000/) [Fog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fog/) [Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Friendship Undisclosed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship-undisclosed-6070001/) [Lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lessons/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Loyalty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-loyalty-1767895/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Loyalty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loyalty/) [Loyalty Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loyalty-affection-6070002/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Powerful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/powerful/) [Shelf life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shelf-life/) [Shelves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shelves/) ## Related quotes > [If you want to know what's Real, of love, of life, of loyalty, put it through the greatest test: Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/if-you-want-to-know-what-s-real-of-love-of-life-of-loyalty-put-it/) [Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/) > [“What price did William pay for your life, for your loyalty sworn by oath? Could I purchase it from him?" -Aislinn”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-e-woodiwiss/what-price-did-william-pay-for-your-life-for-your-loyalty-sworn-by/) [Kathleen E. Woodiwiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-e-woodiwiss/) > [ ... everyone has come to understand that unconditional love is a reality, but with as shelf life of about eight to ten seconds. \[p. 110\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/everyone-has-come-to-understand-that-unconditional-love-is-a-reality/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Every relationship comes with a shelf life; that duration could be a minute or even a lifetime. If, for whatever reasons, a relationship cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kabir-bedi/every-relationship-comes-with-a-shelf-life-that-duration-could-be-a/) [Kabir Bedi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kabir-bedi/) > [I'm very wary of doing political stuff for a lot of reasons. One of the big ones is that the shelf-life for them is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-heidecker/i-m-very-wary-of-doing-political-stuff-for-a-lot-of-reasons-one-of/) [Tim Heidecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-heidecker/) > [I don't think people realize the risks they face every time they create a text, or post on a social network. Unless you expressly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-cuban/i-don-t-think-people-realize-the-risks-they-face-every-time-they/) [Mark Cuban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-cuban/) > [“Food has become a cause of disease rather than a guardian of health in the modern world. Once regarded as the central pillar of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-p-reid/food-has-become-a-cause-of-disease-rather-than-a-guardian-of-health/) [Daniel P. Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-p-reid/) > [High fashion has the shelf life of potato salad. And when past its prime, it is similarly deadly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/high-fashion-has-the-shelf-life-of-potato-salad-and-when-past-its/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Backstreet has been around a long time. Normally, groups like us have a shelf life of two to four years. We always wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-littrell/backstreet-has-been-around-a-long-time-normally-groups-like-us-have-a/) [Brian Littrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-littrell/) > [The medium's gaze is brief, intense, and promiscuous. The shelf life of the moral causes it makes its own is brutally short.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/the-medium-s-gaze-is-brief-intense-and-promiscuous-the-shelf-life-of/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [“like my body—I may not control the expiration date, but I can certainly influence the quality of the shelf life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gay-hendricks/like-my-body-i-may-not-control-the-expiration-date-but-i-can/) [Gay Hendricks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gay-hendricks/) > ['Local Hero' was probably the most enjoyable job I've ever done then or since. It's had a very long shelf life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-lawson/local-hero-was-probably-the-most-enjoyable-job-i-ve-ever-done-then-or/) [Denis Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-lawson/) > [Good music shouldn't have a shelf life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessie-ware/good-music-shouldn-t-have-a-shelf-life/) [Jessie Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessie-ware/) > [As with many pop acts, your shelf life isn't that great, we peaked with our first album.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declan-donnelly/as-with-many-pop-acts-your-shelf-life-isn-t-that-great-we-peaked-with/) [Declan Donnelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/declan-donnelly/) > [I'm kind of a firm believer that songs can have a shelf life with an artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myles-kennedy/i-m-kind-of-a-firm-believer-that-songs-can-have-a-shelf-life-with-an/) [Myles Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myles-kennedy/) ## More by Jennifer Haigh > [“I open my heart to her and lay it on the table.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/i-open-my-heart-to-her-and-lay-it-on-the-table/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [“His explanation takes two minutes exactly. The shale lies a mile underground, has lain there since before there was a Pennsylvania, before a single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/his-explanation-takes-two-minutes-exactly-the-shale-lies-a-mile/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [“Destiny, she’d learned, was written in the heavens; a person couldn’t take what the universe didn’t wish to give.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/destiny-she-d-learned-was-written-in-the-heavens-a-person-couldn-t/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [The story of my family. . .changes with the teller.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/the-story-of-my-family-changes-with-the-teller/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [“Stomach issues aren’t typical. But let me do some research.” Trexler scribbles on a notepad. “What about breathing problems? That’s usually what we see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/stomach-issues-aren-t-typical-but-let-me-do-some-research-trexler/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [“But his singing was unconscious and irrepressible - an expression of his native exuberance, the dreamy, buoyant soundtrack running through his head.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/but-his-singing-was-unconscious-and-irrepressible-an-expression-of/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [“When they touched it was like touching her own body. From childhood they had been the same height; their arms and legs and hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/when-they-touched-it-was-like-touching-her-own-body-from-childhood/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [The human heart: its expansions and contractions its electrics and hydraulics the warm tides that move and fill it. For years Art had studied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/the-human-heart-its-expansions-and-contractions-its-electrics-and/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [“More than anything in life, she wishes she'd let him. That she'd smiled for the camera. That she'd said yes. Life was gone before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/more-than-anything-in-life-she-wishes-she-d-let-him-that-she-d-smiled/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [“He looks out over his back yard, what’s left of it. With the forest gone, the property looks smaller than sixty acres, stripped and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/he-looks-out-over-his-back-yard-what-s-left-of-it-with-the-forest/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [Writing fiction, like reading fiction, is a practice in empathy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/writing-fiction-like-reading-fiction-is-a-practice-in-empathy/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [I wanted only a familiar voice, someone who knew me. Not some earlier, larval version of myself. . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/i-wanted-only-a-familiar-voice-someone-who-knew-me-not-some-earlier/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [“But once you start taking money out of my pocket, I got to say something.” He spits deliberately. “Your land sets right in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/but-once-you-start-taking-money-out-of-my-pocket-i-got-to-say/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [That renunciation of human closeness, of our deepest instincts: is it, in the end, simply too much to ask? Good men-sound, healthy men-can't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/that-renunciation-of-human-closeness-of-our-deepest-instincts-is-it/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) > [“They say the eyes are the first thing to go”—he glances meaningfully at the reading glasses—“but I say it’s curiosity. People hit middle age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-haigh/they-say-the-eyes-are-the-first-thing-to-go-he-glances-meaningfully/) [Jennifer Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) [Explore all 25 Jennifer Haigh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-haigh/) ## More Affection quotes > [My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with diffiulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/my-team-and-i-have-reunited-two-elements-that-coexist-with-diffiulty/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [Needs cause motivation. Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [“It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/it-is-to-build-a-house-with-affection-even-as-if-your-beloved-were-to/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There are a number of qualities which are important for mental peace, but from the little experience I have, I believe that one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-are-a-number-of-qualities-which-are-important-for-mental-peace/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [A lost love. Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [Affection! Affection is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/affection-affection-is-false/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Listen, I have a great affection and respect for Joe Biden. I think he's been a great vice president. He's taken on a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-axelrod/listen-i-have-a-great-affection-and-respect-for-joe-biden-i-think-he/) [David Axelrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-axelrod/) > [The still affection of the heart Became an outward breathing type, That into stillness past again, And left a want unknown before; Although the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/the-still-affection-of-the-heart-became-an-outward-breathing-type/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [I am persuaded that there is no affection of the human heart more exquisitely pure, than that which is felt by a grateful son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/i-am-persuaded-that-there-is-no-affection-of-the-human-heart-more/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Our sweetest experiences of affection are meant to be suggestions of that realm which is the home of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/our-sweetest-experiences-of-affection-are-meant-to-be-suggestions-of/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Browse all 2,465 Affection quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It was a lesson most people learned much earlier; that even friendship could have an undisclosed shelf life. 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