--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The very thing about people that makes…" description: "\"The very thing about people that makes the human race interesting is also the thing that makes it so hard to get anything done without the most horribl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/katherine-anne-porter-2653_confusion_the-very-thing-about-people-that-makes-t_196971.jpg" --- # The very thing about people that makes the human race… ![“The very thing about people that makes the human race interesting is also the thing that makes it so hard to get anything done without the most horrible confusions: no two people think exactly the same way about anything.” quote by Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/katherine-anne-porter-2653_confusion_the-very-thing-about-people-that-makes-t_196971.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/katherine-anne-porter-2653_confusion_the-very-thing-about-people-that-makes-t_196971.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/katherine-anne-porter-2653_confusion_the-very-thing-about-people-that-makes-t_196971.jpg) > “The very thing about people that makes the human race interesting is also the thing that makes it so hard to get anything done without the most horrible confusions: no two people think exactly the same way about anything.” [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) ## 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 creates both richness and conflict, making collective action difficult. **In simple terms:** Different minds make cooperation hard. Key Takeaway Embrace diverse viewpoints to improve collaboration. Themes diversity conflict cooperation Mood inspirational pragmatic Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - team projects - policy making - education - family decisions Key Concepts sociology communication psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can we harness differences productively? - What structures reduce confusion in groups? A Different Perspective Uniform thinking can stifle innovation and lead to groupthink. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Confusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confusion/) [Human race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-race/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [The more you know the better it gets. The more politics there is, the more you understand. Sometimes the races are terribly boring but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asif-kapadia/the-more-you-know-the-better-it-gets-the-more-politics-there-is-the/) [Asif Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asif-kapadia/) > [The human race was always interesting and we know by its past that it will always continue so, monotonously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-human-race-was-always-interesting-and-we-know-by-its-past-that-it/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Human life itself may be almost pure chaos, but the work of the artist is to take these handfuls of confusion and disparate things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/human-life-itself-may-be-almost-pure-chaos-but-the-work-of-the-artist/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [“The technologically-aided destruction of old, mechanical professions drives us to higher-functioning tasks that tap more fully into what makes us human.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-damarillo/the-technologically-aided-destruction-of-old-mechanical-professions/) [Winston Damarillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-damarillo/) > [And I remembered something else that makes us human: faith, the only weapon in our arsenal to battle doubt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/and-i-remembered-something-else-that-makes-us-human-faith-the-only/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [It is the trained, living human soul, cultivated and strengthened by long study and thought, that breathes the real breath of life into boys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/it-is-the-trained-living-human-soul-cultivated-and-strengthened-by/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [“let’s also promote the humanities, that which makes us human, and not use science to mess around with the wellspring of this, the absolute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-o-wilson/let-s-also-promote-the-humanities-that-which-makes-us-human-and-not/) [Edward O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-o-wilson/) > [Human beings are good, they have shadow, every single one of us has redeeming qualities and every single one of us has qualities that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-bomer/human-beings-are-good-they-have-shadow-every-single-one-of-us-has/) [Matt Bomer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-bomer/) > [I'm not interested in a character's goodness. I'm interested in what makes them human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-paulson/i-m-not-interested-in-a-character-s-goodness-i-m-interested-in-what/) [Sarah Paulson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-paulson/) > [Memory feeds a culture, nourishes hope and makes a human, human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/memory-feeds-a-culture-nourishes-hope-and-makes-a-human-human/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Being passionate is not what makes you a girl, it's what makes you a human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-watson/being-passionate-is-not-what-makes-you-a-girl-it-s-what-makes-you-a/) [Emma Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-watson/) > [I think a healthy connection with the natural world actually makes us more human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/i-think-a-healthy-connection-with-the-natural-world-actually-makes-us/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [What makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-makes-us-human-is-not-our-mind-but-our-heart-not-our-ability-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What makes us human, I think, is an ability to ask questions, a consequence of our sophisticated spoken language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goodall/what-makes-us-human-i-think-is-an-ability-to-ask-questions-a/) [Jane Goodall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goodall/) > [That's what makes a human a human, if we store information outside our bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/that-s-what-makes-a-human-a-human-if-we-store-information-outside-our/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) ## More by Katherine Anne Porter > [There seems to be a kind of order in the universe…in the movement of the stars and the turning of the Earth and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/there-seems-to-be-a-kind-of-order-in-the-universe-in-the-movement-of/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [The human heart is not yet so corroded that it can read off the extinction of these two men without a shock to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/the-human-heart-is-not-yet-so-corroded-that-it-can-read-off-the/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [I always write a story in one sitting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/i-always-write-a-story-in-one-sitting/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [What we need is endless courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/what-we-need-is-endless-courage/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [Human life itself may be almost pure chaos, but the work of the artist is to take these handfuls of confusion and disparate things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/human-life-itself-may-be-almost-pure-chaos-but-the-work-of-the-artist/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [But the great leveler, Death: not even the gods can defend a man, not even one they love, that day when fate takes hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/but-the-great-leveler-death-not-even-the-gods-can-defend-a-man-not/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [I started out with nothing in the world but a kind of passion, a driving desire. I don't know where it came from, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/i-started-out-with-nothing-in-the-world-but-a-kind-of-passion-a/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [I am in Paris. Yes ma'am , I made it back. I came up from Berlin, stopped here ten days, fought a losing battle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/i-am-in-paris-yes-ma-am-i-made-it-back-i-came-up-from-berlin-stopped/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [Your mind outwears all sorts of things you may set your heart upon; you can enjoy it when all other things are taken away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/your-mind-outwears-all-sorts-of-things-you-may-set-your-heart-upon/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [we know that the Furies do not come uninvited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/we-know-that-the-furies-do-not-come-uninvited/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [The arts do live continuously, and they live literally by faith; their names and their shapes and their uses and their basic meanings survive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/the-arts-do-live-continuously-and-they-live-literally-by-faith-their/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [A cultivated style would be like a mask. Everybody knows it's a mask, and sooner or later you must show yourself -- or at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/a-cultivated-style-would-be-like-a-mask-everybody-knows-it-s-a-mask/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [The past is never where you think you left it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/the-past-is-never-where-you-think-you-left-it/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [In the arts, you simply cannot secure your bread and your freedom of action too. You cannot be a hostile critic of society and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/in-the-arts-you-simply-cannot-secure-your-bread-and-your-freedom-of/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [One of the marks of a gift is to have the courage of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/one-of-the-marks-of-a-gift-is-to-have-the-courage-of-it/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) [Explore all 156 Katherine Anne Porter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) ## More Confusion quotes > [The fog of illusion, the fog of confusion is hanging all over the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/the-fog-of-illusion-the-fog-of-confusion-is-hanging-all-over-the-world/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [I believe confusion is good. Worldwide market leaders gain when there is confusion in the market.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subhash-chandra/i-believe-confusion-is-good-worldwide-market-leaders-gain-when-there/) [Subhash Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subhash-chandra/) > [Being actors we are dealing with the beauty and complexity of human confusion, no? And we are always trying to get answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-cruz/being-actors-we-are-dealing-with-the-beauty-and-complexity-of-human/) [Penelope Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-cruz/) > [“Wait, seriously, what's a piss pot?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-shand/wait-seriously-what-s-a-piss-pot/) [Pat Shand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-shand/) > [I think there's confusion around what the point of social networks is. A lot of different companies characterized as social networks have different goals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/i-think-there-s-confusion-around-what-the-point-of-social-networks-is/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > [In history as it comes to be written, there is usually some Spirit of the Age which historians can define, but the shape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/in-history-as-it-comes-to-be-written-there-is-usually-some-spirit-of/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [Establish an atmosphere that energizes you. Some creative people flourish in confusion; others need to be free from interruption. Many prepare themselves for work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-leland/establish-an-atmosphere-that-energizes-you-some-creative-people/) [Nita Leland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-leland/) > [Love is doing what will enthrall the beloved with the greatest and longest joy. What will enthrall the beloved this way is the glory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/love-is-doing-what-will-enthrall-the-beloved-with-the-greatest-and/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [Psychedelic drugs cause paranoia, confusion, and total loss of reality in politicians that have never taken them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/psychedelic-drugs-cause-paranoia-confusion-and-total-loss-of-reality/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [That feeling you get when you know you are forgetting something, but you don't know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-feeling-you-get-when-you-know-you-are-forgetting-something-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/what-are-we-doing-here-that-is-the-question-and-we-are-blessed-in/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [But, when it comes to global warming, the public- at-large really doesn't know whom to believe anymore. And NASA has contributed to that confusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-cunningham/but-when-it-comes-to-global-warming-the-public-at-large-really-doesn/) [Walter Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-cunningham/) > [You know your in LOVE,because,for once.. You know reality is better than your DREAMS..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-know-your-in-love-because-for-once-you-know-reality-is-better/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In these days of faith-cures, and hypnotism, and telepathy, and subliminalities – why, the simple old world grows very confusing. But rarely, very rarely novel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-de-la-mare/in-these-days-of-faith-cures-and-hypnotism-and-telepathy-and/) [Walter de la Mare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-de-la-mare/) > [“If you want nothing to do with god then why do you say his name all the time”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-reimer/if-you-want-nothing-to-do-with-god-then-why-do-you-say-his-name-all/) Emily Reimer [Browse all 1,822 Confusion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confusion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The very thing about people that makes the human race interesting is also the thing that makes it so hard to get anything done without the most horrible confusions: no two people think exactly the same way about anything.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Katherine Anne Porter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/the-very-thing-about-people-that-makes-the-human-race-interesting-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Confusion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/the-very-thing-about-people-that-makes-the-human-race-interesting-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/katherine-anne-porter-2653_confusion_the-very-thing-about-people-that-makes-t_196971.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/katherine-anne-porter-2653_confusion_the-very-thing-about-people-that-makes-t_196971.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/katherine-anne-porter-2653_confusion_the-very-thing-about-people-that-makes-t_196971.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The very thing about people that makes the human race interesting is also the thing that makes it so hard to…” — Katherine Anne Porter", "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": "Katherine Anne Porter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The very thing about people that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/the-very-thing-about-people-that-makes-the-human-race-interesting-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/the-very-thing-about-people-that-makes-the-human-race-interesting-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 } } ] } ```