--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hard experience of life has shown us…" description: "\"“Hard experience of life has shown us that, generally speaking, it is inadvisable to trust too much in human nature.”\" — José Saramago" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/jos-saramago-208_human-nature_hard-experience-of-life-has-shown-us-tha_195515.png" --- # Hard experience of life has shown us that, generally… ![“Hard experience of life has shown us that, generally speaking, it is inadvisable to trust too much in human nature.” quote by José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/jos-saramago-208_human-nature_hard-experience-of-life-has-shown-us-tha_195515.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/jos-saramago-208_human-nature_hard-experience-of-life-has-shown-us-tha_195515.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/jos-saramago-208_human-nature_hard-experience-of-life-has-shown-us-tha_195515.png) > ““Hard experience of life has shown us that, generally speaking, it is inadvisable to trust too much in human nature.”” [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that human nature is unreliable, urging caution in placing excessive trust in people because experience shows they often fail expectations. **In simple terms:** Human nature is unreliable; trust cautiously. Key Takeaway Question assumptions before trusting others. Themes trust human nature skepticism experience wisdom Mood cautious thoughtful Type philosophical advisory When to use this quote - business partnerships - political alliances - personal relationships - community projects - leadership Key Concepts philosophy social psychology literature Questions to Reflect On - When is trust essential? - How can you balance trust and caution? A Different Perspective Total distrust can hinder cooperation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Trust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trust/) ## Related quotes > [Interns can be hard on me and I'm hard on them. They have no experience and I have little patience when they don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonja-morgan/interns-can-be-hard-on-me-and-i-m-hard-on-them-they-have-no/) [Sonja Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonja-morgan/) > [I didn't do so well at 'Saturday Night Live.' It was a very hard experience for me, for a lot of reasons that have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-odenkirk/i-didn-t-do-so-well-at-saturday-night-live-it-was-a-very-hard/) [Bob Odenkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-odenkirk/) > [When I walk into a room that is all white and all male, I'm sitting on the outside of that club. 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We haven't figured out a metric that works better than our own sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sinek/the-single-best-machine-to-measure-trust-is-a-human-being-we-haven-t/) [Simon Sinek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sinek/) > [I have made it a rule of my life to trust a man long after other people gave him up, but I don't see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulysses-s-grant/i-have-made-it-a-rule-of-my-life-to-trust-a-man-long-after-other/) [Ulysses S. Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulysses-s-grant/) > [You have to, in some ways, trust in the human spirit and in human ingenuity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-garten/you-have-to-in-some-ways-trust-in-the-human-spirit-and-in-human/) [Ariel Garten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-garten/) > [Jonah Griggs. Not just a name but a state of mind I never want to revisit, although I do keep him at the back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/jonah-griggs-not-just-a-name-but-a-state-of-mind-i-never-want-to/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) ## More by José Saramago > [“We are born, and at that moment, it is as if we had signed a pact for the rest of our life, but a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/we-are-born-and-at-that-moment-it-is-as-if-we-had-signed-a-pact-for/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [It takes little or nothing to undo reputations, the merest trifle makes and remakes them, it is simply a question of finding the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/it-takes-little-or-nothing-to-undo-reputations-the-merest-trifle/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [One can show no greater respect than to weep for a stranger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/one-can-show-no-greater-respect-than-to-weep-for-a-stranger/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [I am not a prophet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/i-am-not-a-prophet/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [With the passage of time, as well as the social evolution and genetic exchange, we ended up putting our conscience in the color of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/with-the-passage-of-time-as-well-as-the-social-evolution-and-genetic/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“Al día siguiente no murió nadie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/al-d-a-siguiente-no-muri-nadie/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“E se as histórias para crianças passassem a ser de leitura obrigatória para os adultos? Seriam eles capazes de aprender realmente o que há…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/e-se-as-hist-rias-para-crian-as-passassem-a-ser-de-leitura-obrigat/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [In a king, modesty would be a sign of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/in-a-king-modesty-would-be-a-sign-of-weakness/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“the inmates of the second ward in the right wing have decided, at long last, to bury their dead, at least we shall be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/the-inmates-of-the-second-ward-in-the-right-wing-have-decided-at-long/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“Stretching one arm behind him, the man passed his hand over the horse's coat, his own skin transformed, or skin which had transformed into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/stretching-one-arm-behind-him-the-man-passed-his-hand-over-the-horse/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [I think we are blind. Blind people who can see, but do not see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/i-think-we-are-blind-blind-people-who-can-see-but-do-not-see/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [...you have to leave the island in order to see the island, that we can't see ourselves unless we become free of ourselves, Unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/you-have-to-leave-the-island-in-order-to-see-the-island-that-we-can-t/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [anyone who gets up early by inclination or has been forced to rise early out of necessity finds it intolerable that others should go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/anyone-who-gets-up-early-by-inclination-or-has-been-forced-to-rise/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [Society has to change, but the political powers we have at the moment are not enough to effect this change. The whole democratic system…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/society-has-to-change-but-the-political-powers-we-have-at-the-moment/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“... aborrece os odores nocturnos, aquelas expansões do corpo a que nem poetas escapam".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/aborrece-os-odores-nocturnos-aquelas-expans-es-do-corpo-a-que-nem/) [José Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) [Explore all 487 José Saramago quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) ## More Human nature quotes > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“The aristocratic interiority is centered on the higher mind, the mens, the ajna chakra, the seat of intellect and intuition that commands the lower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-evola/the-aristocratic-interiority-is-centered-on-the-higher-mind-the-mens/) [Julius Evola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-evola/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [Selfishness is one of the principal fruits of the corruption of human nature; and it is obvious that selfishness disposes us to over-rate our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wilberforce/selfishness-is-one-of-the-principal-fruits-of-the-corruption-of-human/) [William Wilberforce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wilberforce/) > [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/) > [“I wasn't sure which I appreciated less—the insincere concern or the genuine indifference.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-graham/i-wasn-t-sure-which-i-appreciated-less-the-insincere-concern-or-the/) Arthur Graham > [Time is the nervous system of narration, whether factual or fictive. 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Nevertheless (I offer my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-mass-of-men-have-been-forced-to-be-gay-about-the-little-things/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) [Browse all 3,743 Human nature quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Hard experience of life has shown us that, generally speaking, it is inadvisable to trust too much in human nature.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "José Saramago" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/hard-experience-of-life-has-shown-us-that-generally-speaking-it-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Human nature" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/hard-experience-of-life-has-shown-us-that-generally-speaking-it-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/jos-saramago-208_human-nature_hard-experience-of-life-has-shown-us-tha_195515.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/jos-saramago-208_human-nature_hard-experience-of-life-has-shown-us-tha_195515.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/jos-saramago-208_human-nature_hard-experience-of-life-has-shown-us-tha_195515.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Hard experience of life has shown us that, generally speaking, it is inadvisable to trust too much in human…” — José Saramago", "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": "José Saramago", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Hard experience of life has shown...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/hard-experience-of-life-has-shown-us-that-generally-speaking-it-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/hard-experience-of-life-has-shown-us-that-generally-speaking-it-is/#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 } } ] } ```