--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You put together two people who have not…" description: "\"You put together two people who have not been put together before. Sometimes it is like that first attempt to harness a hydrogen balloon to a fire ball..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/julian-barnes-522_balloons_you-put-together-two-people-who-have-not_29885.jpg" --- # You put together two people who have not been put together… ![“You put together two people who have not been put together before. Sometimes it is like that first attempt to harness a hydrogen balloon to a fire balloon: do you prefer crash and burn, or burn and crash? But sometimes it works, and something new is made, and the world is changed. Then, at some…” quote by Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/julian-barnes-522_balloons_you-put-together-two-people-who-have-not_29885.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/julian-barnes-522_balloons_you-put-together-two-people-who-have-not_29885.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/julian-barnes-522_balloons_you-put-together-two-people-who-have-not_29885.jpg) > “You put together two people who have not been put together before. Sometimes it is like that first attempt to harness a hydrogen balloon to a fire balloon: do you prefer crash and burn, or burn and crash? But sometimes it works, and something new is made, and the world is changed. Then, at some point, sooner or later, for this reason or that, one of them is taken away. and what is taken away is greater than the sum of what was there. this may not be mathematically possible; but it is emotionally possible.” [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Combining distinct individuals can create unprecedented outcomes, though the partnership may be fragile and its loss feels greater than the parts alone. **In simple terms:** Synergy can spark transformative change. Key Takeaway New pairings can yield outsized impact. Themes creativity risk collaboration transformation loss Mood hopeful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - forming startup teams - artistic collaborations - scientific partnerships - political alliances Key Concepts human dynamics emotional resonance Practical Applications - innovation strategy - team building Questions to Reflect On - What conditions make a partnership truly innovative? - How can we mitigate the emotional fallout when a key collaborator departs? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Balloons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balloons/) [Changed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changed/) [Crash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crash/) [Emotionally Possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotionally-possible-423389/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Harness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harness/) [Hydrogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hydrogen/) [Later Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/later-reason-423390/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possible/) [Possible Emotionally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possible-emotionally-323785/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reason Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-taken-423388/) [Something new](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/something-new/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Sooner or later](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sooner-or-later/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/together/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“The, at some point, sooner or later, for this reason or that, one of them is taken away. And what is taken away is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/the-at-some-point-sooner-or-later-for-this-reason-or-that-one-of-them/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [What is taken away is greater than the sum of what was there. This may not be mathematically possible; but it is emotionally possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/what-is-taken-away-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-what-was-there-this-may/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [For me, the entire journey of Lost has been walking that fine line between discovering Sawyer's humanity and, yet, keeping his edge of anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-holloway/for-me-the-entire-journey-of-lost-has-been-walking-that-fine-line/) [Josh Holloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-holloway/) > [As a director, your job is to make sure no one for any reason is taken out of the film. Sometimes it's impossible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-fukunaga/as-a-director-your-job-is-to-make-sure-no-one-for-any-reason-is-taken/) [Cary Fukunaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cary-fukunaga/) > [If you are happy for a reason, you could be in trouble, because that reason can get taken away from you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/if-you-are-happy-for-a-reason-you-could-be-in-trouble-because-that/) [Senoraroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senoraroy/) > [A hundred years ago, Auguste Compte, ... a great philosopher, said that humans will never be able to visit the stars, that we will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/a-hundred-years-ago-auguste-compte-a-great-philosopher-said-that/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) > [Probably no single event highlights the strength of Campbell's argument (on peak oil) better than the rapid development of the Alberta tar sands. Bitumen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-nikiforuk/probably-no-single-event-highlights-the-strength-of-campbell-s/) [Andrew Nikiforuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-nikiforuk/) > [The affinity of blood or pure haemoglobins for oxygen is a complex phenomenon, depending upon a number of conditions, the most important of which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-krogh/the-affinity-of-blood-or-pure-haemoglobins-for-oxygen-is-a-complex/) [August Krogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-krogh/) > [So if big enough droplets fell far enough fast enough, someone floating right near the metallic hydrogen layer inside Jupiter maybe, just maybe, could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-kean/so-if-big-enough-droplets-fell-far-enough-fast-enough-someone/) [Sam Kean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-kean/) > [I lose my temper, but it's all over in a minute," said the student. "So is the hydrogen bomb," I replied. "But think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sweeting/i-lose-my-temper-but-it-s-all-over-in-a-minute-said-the-student-so-is/) [George Sweeting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sweeting/) > [In organic chemistry there exist certain types which are conserved even when, in place of hydrogen, equal volumes of chlorine, of bromine, etc. are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-dumas/in-organic-chemistry-there-exist-certain-types-which-are-conserved/) [Jean-Baptiste Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-dumas/) > [I know that I could make this world peaceful and calm, if I only could get my hands on a hydrogen bomb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-rundgren/i-know-that-i-could-make-this-world-peaceful-and-calm-if-i-only-could/) [Todd Rundgren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-rundgren/) > [We, all of us, are what happens when a primordial mixture of hydrogen and helium evolves for so long that it begins to ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-tarter/we-all-of-us-are-what-happens-when-a-primordial-mixture-of-hydrogen/) [Jill Tarter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-tarter/) > [“…he was doing a breath hydrogen test. If you know the amount of hydrogen someone is exhaling orally, it's a simple matter to extrapolate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roach/he-was-doing-a-breath-hydrogen-test-if-you-know-the-amount-of/) [Mary Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roach/) > [The pace of science forces the pace of technique. Theoretical physics forces atomic energy on us; the successful production of the fission bomb forces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-pace-of-science-forces-the-pace-of-technique-theoretical-physics/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) ## More by Julian Barnes > [“You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changed. People may not notice at the time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/you-put-together-two-things-that-have-not-been-put-together-before/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“I settled into a contented routine of working, spending my free time with Veronica and, back in my student room, wanking explosively to fantasies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/i-settled-into-a-contented-routine-of-working-spending-my-free-time/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonorably, foolishly, viciously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/the-greatest-patriotism-is-to-tell-your-country-when-it-is-behaving/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“There is only good vodka and very good vodka—there is no such thing as bad vodka.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/there-is-only-good-vodka-and-very-good-vodka-there-is-no-such-thing/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [Alice Munro can move characters through time in a way that no other writer can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/alice-munro-can-move-characters-through-time-in-a-way-that-no-other/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [How rarely do our emotions meet the object they seem to deserve? How hopelessly we signal; how dark the sky; how big the waves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/how-rarely-do-our-emotions-meet-the-object-they-seem-to-deserve-how/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Also, when you are young, you think you can predict the likely pains and bleaknesses that age might bring. You imagine yourself being lonely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/also-when-you-are-young-you-think-you-can-predict-the-likely-pains/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Why slum it where people were burdened by yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that? By history? Here, on the Island,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/why-slum-it-where-people-were-burdened-by-yesterday-and-the-day/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“In those years before mobile phones, email and Skype, travelers depended on the rudimentary communications system known as the postcard. Other methods--the long-distance phone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/in-those-years-before-mobile-phones-email-and-skype-travelers/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“My train was late, slowed by the usual Sunday engineering work. I got home in the early evening. I remember that I had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/my-train-was-late-slowed-by-the-usual-sunday-engineering-work-i-got/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [In life, every ending is just the start of another story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/in-life-every-ending-is-just-the-start-of-another-story/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Indeed, isn’t the whole business of ascribing responsibility kind of a cop-out? We want to blame an individual so that everyone else is exculpated.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/indeed-isn-t-the-whole-business-of-ascribing-responsibility-kind-of-a/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [Some of the freckles I once loved are now closer to liver spots. But it’s still the eyes we look at, isn’t it? That’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/some-of-the-freckles-i-once-loved-are-now-closer-to-liver-spots-but/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“And what percentage of people take up the option to die off?’ She looked at me, her glance telling me to be calm. ‘Oh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/and-what-percentage-of-people-take-up-the-option-to-die-off-she/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“In the letter he left for the coroner he had explained his reasoning (for suicide): that life is a gift bestowed without anyone asking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/in-the-letter-he-left-for-the-coroner-he-had-explained-his-reasoning/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) [Explore all 454 Julian Barnes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) ## More Balloons quotes > [But the true voyagers are only those who leave Just to be leaving; hearts light, like balloons, They never turn aside from their fatality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/but-the-true-voyagers-are-only-those-who-leave-just-to-be-leaving/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Science is the only truth and it is the great lie. It knows nothing, and people think it knows everything. It is misrepresented. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/science-is-the-only-truth-and-it-is-the-great-lie-it-knows-nothing/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [Five runs with two outs is tough to take. It sure took the air out of our balloon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-hargrove/five-runs-with-two-outs-is-tough-to-take-it-sure-took-the-air-out-of/) [Mike Hargrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-hargrove/) > [“Faith, hope and love should be balloons lifting you up, not anchors weighing you down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cody-edward-lee-miller/faith-hope-and-love-should-be-balloons-lifting-you-up-not-anchors/) [Cody Edward Lee Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cody-edward-lee-miller/) > [It is not difficult to destroy Islam. Islam is the pumped up ego of a megalomaniac psychopath. Muhammad was a narcissist madman. Just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-sina/it-is-not-difficult-to-destroy-islam-islam-is-the-pumped-up-ego-of-a/) [Ali Sina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-sina/) > [Blackouts can be fun if approached with the right mindset. You just can't sweat the fact that you've lost a small portion of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-kilmer-purcell/blackouts-can-be-fun-if-approached-with-the-right-mindset-you-just/) [Josh Kilmer-Purcell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-kilmer-purcell/) > [Imagination is to love what gas is to the balloon-that which raises it from earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letitia-elizabeth-landon/imagination-is-to-love-what-gas-is-to-the-balloon-that-which-raises/) [Letitia Elizabeth Landon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letitia-elizabeth-landon/) > [The balloon seems to stand still in the air while the earth flies past underneath.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-santos-dumont/the-balloon-seems-to-stand-still-in-the-air-while-the-earth-flies/) [Alberto Santos-Dumont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-santos-dumont/) > [I was a kind of a one-man army. I could solder circuits together, I could turn out things on the lathe, I could work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-van-allen/i-was-a-kind-of-a-one-man-army-i-could-solder-circuits-together-i/) [James Van Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-van-allen/) > [“I remember watching those balloons as a little boy, each fall, wondering if someday I, too, would be nothing but a balloon in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-porpora/i-remember-watching-those-balloons-as-a-little-boy-each-fall/) [Kenny Porpora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-porpora/) > [Astronomy may be revolutionized more than any other field of science by observations from above the atmosphere. Study of the planets, the Sun, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-spitzer/astronomy-may-be-revolutionized-more-than-any-other-field-of-science/) [Lyman Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-spitzer/) > [The greatest sin is appearing naive or old-fashioned so that somebody can give you a sort of a very cool arch smile and devastate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-greatest-sin-is-appearing-naive-or-old-fashioned-so-that-somebody/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [I want to ride in a cold air balloon. "This isn't going anywhere!"](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/i-want-to-ride-in-a-cold-air-balloon-this-isn-t-going-anywhere/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [Balloons are SO weird... Happy Birthday, here's a plastic sack of my breath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/balloons-are-so-weird-happy-birthday-here-s-a-plastic-sack-of-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pushing a company agenda on social media is like throwing water balloons at a porcupine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-qualman/pushing-a-company-agenda-on-social-media-is-like-throwing-water/) [Erik Qualman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-qualman/) [Browse all 255 Balloons quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balloons/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You put together two people who have not been put together before. Sometimes it is like that first attempt to harness a hydrogen balloon to a fire balloon: do you prefer crash and burn, or burn and crash? But sometimes it works, and something new is made, and the world is changed. 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