--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is nothing else for people to do…" description: "\"There is nothing else for people to do. They do not think. They feel no passion, no hatred, no sadness; they feel nothing but fear, and a desire to con..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f95/lauren-oliver-109_desire_there-is-nothing-else-for-people-to-do-t_2616162.png" --- # There is nothing else for people to do. They do not think… ![“There is nothing else for people to do. They do not think. They feel no passion, no hatred, no sadness; they feel nothing but fear, and a desire to control. So they watch, and poke, and pry.” quote by Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f95/lauren-oliver-109_desire_there-is-nothing-else-for-people-to-do-t_2616162.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f95/lauren-oliver-109_desire_there-is-nothing-else-for-people-to-do-t_2616162.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f95/lauren-oliver-109_desire_there-is-nothing-else-for-people-to-do-t_2616162.png) > “There is nothing else for people to do. They do not think. They feel no passion, no hatred, no sadness; they feel nothing but fear, and a desire to control. So they watch, and poke, and pry.” [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People act out of fear and a need to control when they lack deeper emotions or purpose. **In simple terms:** Fear drives control when emotions are absent. Key Takeaway Cultivate purpose to replace fear. Themes fear control emotional void purpose passion Mood anxious reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal growth - leadership - mental health - community building Key Concepts psychology existentialism motivation Questions to Reflect On - What purpose can you pursue to overcome fear? - How does emotional awareness change behavior? A Different Perspective Without addressing underlying emptiness, control can become oppressive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel/) [Feel Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-fear/) [Feel Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-passion-350240/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Hatred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatred/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-think/) [Poke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poke/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) [Think Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-feel/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Watches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/watches/) ## Related quotes > [I think when I feel fear, that's often a cue that I should do something. If I begin to feel fear, that's a strong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-weigert/i-think-when-i-feel-fear-that-s-often-a-cue-that-i-should-do/) [Robin Weigert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-weigert/) > [People could push and pull at you, and poke you, and probe as deep as they could go. They could even tear you apart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/people-could-push-and-pull-at-you-and-poke-you-and-probe-as-deep-as/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [Jump out the window if you are the object of passion. Flee it if you feel it. 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Even when you're watching their games on television, you can feel the passion of the crowd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-mitrovic/i-ve-always-loved-newcastle-even-when-you-re-watching-their-games-on/) [Aleksandar Mitrovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-mitrovic/) > [I've spent all of my life trying to get people to feel a passion for what I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gladys-knight/i-ve-spent-all-of-my-life-trying-to-get-people-to-feel-a-passion-for/) [Gladys Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gladys-knight/) > [All iam,all I'll be. Everything in this world,all that I'll ever need is in your eyes, shinning at me. When you smile, I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-will/all-iam-all-i-ll-be-everything-in-this-world-all-that-i-ll-ever-need/) [Mark Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-will/) > [What is snowboarding to me? I'd say it's when I feel passion. That is, if passion is a combination of utter joy, frustration and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-rice/what-is-snowboarding-to-me-i-d-say-it-s-when-i-feel-passion-that-is/) [Travis Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-rice/) > [People are still living in the moment, and they feel the passion of now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-stone/people-are-still-living-in-the-moment-and-they-feel-the-passion-of-now/) [Oliver Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-stone/) > [I believe in love and lust and sex and romance. I don't want everything to add up to some perfect equation. I want mess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbra-streisand/i-believe-in-love-and-lust-and-sex-and-romance-i-don-t-want/) [Barbra Streisand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbra-streisand/) > [“Writing is so much more productive when it is set on fire, for then and only then can you feel the passion spewing forth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-megan-varnadore/writing-is-so-much-more-productive-when-it-is-set-on-fire-for-then/) [Jennifer Megan Varnadore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-megan-varnadore/) ## More by Lauren Oliver > [“My aunt Carol hasn’t heard her say a word in the whole six years and three months of Grace’s life—not a single syllable. Carol…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/my-aunt-carol-hasn-t-heard-her-say-a-word-in-the-whole-six-years-and/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [This is what happens when you try to help people. You get screwed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/this-is-what-happens-when-you-try-to-help-people-you-get-screwed/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [We'll walk together holding hands, and kiss in broad daylight, and love each other as much as we want to, and no one will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/we-ll-walk-together-holding-hands-and-kiss-in-broad-daylight-and-love/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“At least when I'm sleeping I can dream myself back to Alex, can dream myself into a different world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/at-least-when-i-m-sleeping-i-can-dream-myself-back-to-alex-can-dream/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [People are like ants: Just a few of them give all the orders. And most of them spend their lives getting squashed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/people-are-like-ants-just-a-few-of-them-give-all-the-orders-and-most/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [Summer explodes into Portland. In early June the heat was there but not the color--the green were still pale and tentative, the morning had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/summer-explodes-into-portland-in-early-june-the-heat-was-there-but/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [Mistake, mistake, mistake. A strange word: stinging, somehow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/mistake-mistake-mistake-a-strange-word-stinging-somehow/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [I wonder if it's ever really possible to know the truth about someone else, or if the best we can do is just stumble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-wonder-if-it-s-ever-really-possible-to-know-the-truth-about-someone/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“Julian is somewhere among those lights, in that blur of people and buildings. I wonder whether he's scared. I wonder whether he's thinking of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/julian-is-somewhere-among-those-lights-in-that-blur-of-people-and/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [A room full of words that are nearly the truth but not quite, each note fluttering off the steam of its rose like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/a-room-full-of-words-that-are-nearly-the-truth-but-not-quite-each/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“She’s the kind of person who makes you feel drunk just by being around her, like suddenly the world’s edges are dulled and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/she-s-the-kind-of-person-who-makes-you-feel-drunk-just-by-being/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“Stop!” His voice rings out sharply, hard as a slap. He releases me and I stumble backward. “Alex is dead, do you hear me?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/stop-his-voice-rings-out-sharply-hard-as-a-slap-he-releases-me-and-i/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [..in that moment i realize how much i love the little everyday routines of my life..the details that are my life's special pattern, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/in-that-moment-i-realize-how-much-i-love-the-little-everyday-routines/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“You can't judge a book by its steel-toed combat boots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/you-can-t-judge-a-book-by-its-steel-toed-combat-boots/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) [Explore all 1,181 Lauren Oliver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. 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He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is nothing else for people to do. They do not think. They feel no passion, no hatred, no sadness; they feel nothing but fear, and a desire to control. 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