--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People seem to get used to anything, and…" description: "\"People seem to get used to anything, and it is a short step from adaptation to attachment.\" — Lionel Shriver" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/406/lionel-shriver-744_adaptation_people-seem-to-get-used-to-anything-and_456432.jpg" --- # People seem to get used to anything, and it is a short… ![“People seem to get used to anything, and it is a short step from adaptation to attachment.” quote by Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/406/lionel-shriver-744_adaptation_people-seem-to-get-used-to-anything-and_456432.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/406/lionel-shriver-744_adaptation_people-seem-to-get-used-to-anything-and_456432.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/406/lionel-shriver-744_adaptation_people-seem-to-get-used-to-anything-and_456432.jpg) > “People seem to get used to anything, and it is a short step from adaptation to attachment.” [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People quickly adapt to new circumstances, and that adaptability can turn into emotional reliance or attachment. **In simple terms:** We get used to things, then become attached. Key Takeaway Beware of mistaking comfort for commitment. Themes adaptation attachment psychology habit change Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - new technology adoption - relationship dynamics - cultural shifts Key Concepts behavioral economics emotional dependence social conditioning Questions to Reflect On - When did you first notice attachment forming? - Can you distinguish comfort from genuine need? A Different Perspective Attachment may limit growth and critical thinking. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adaptation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adaptation/) [Attachment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attachment/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [It is but a short step from hunger to starvation, from disease to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ban-ki-moon/it-is-but-a-short-step-from-hunger-to-starvation-from-disease-to-death/) [Ban Ki-moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ban-ki-moon/) > [There is but one short step between lying and theft.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/there-is-but-one-short-step-between-lying-and-theft/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Sometimes it's a short step from banning to burning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/sometimes-it-s-a-short-step-from-banning-to-burning/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [I was Top Celeb. There's only a short step I think from being Top Celeb to hosting it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregg-wallace/i-was-top-celeb-there-s-only-a-short-step-i-think-from-being-top/) [Gregg Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregg-wallace/) > [You come to realize that life is short, and you have to step up. Don't feel sorry for me. 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Boorstin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-boorstin/) > [Though surely to avoid attachments for fear of loss is to avoid life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/though-surely-to-avoid-attachments-for-fear-of-loss-is-to-avoid-life/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“He was already intuiting that attachment - if only to a squirt gun - made him vulnerable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/he-was-already-intuiting-that-attachment-if-only-to-a-squirt-gun-made/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [The releasing of attachment to object and certain beliefs was already indelibly written as a very necessary step in my human progress toward being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlo-morgan/the-releasing-of-attachment-to-object-and-certain-beliefs-was-already/) [Marlo Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlo-morgan/) > [I dont love you anymore, but I use to, and now you're telling people that I used you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-dont-love-you-anymore-but-i-use-to-and-now-you-re-telling-people/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People are used to being coddled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-mcgraw/people-are-used-to-being-coddled/) [Phil McGraw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-mcgraw/) > [The Macorinos and me - there's a big space between our generations. The people I was used to work with, we will do everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-lafourcade/the-macorinos-and-me-there-s-a-big-space-between-our-generations-the/) [Natalia Lafourcade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-lafourcade/) > [People always get used to beauty though.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/people-always-get-used-to-beauty-though/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [No one is useless…Those people are used less...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anamika-singh/no-one-is-useless-those-people-are-used-less/) [Anamika Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anamika-singh/) ## More by Lionel Shriver > [The discovery that heartbreak is indeed heartbreaking consoles us about our humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-discovery-that-heartbreak-is-indeed-heartbreaking-consoles-us/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I’m a journalist, and journalists need news. 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Younger and younger, kids are pressed to decide what they want to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-idea-is-that-you-don-t-only-have-one-destiny-younger-and-younger/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [Oddly, for a book to do well merely because people like it is surprisingly rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/oddly-for-a-book-to-do-well-merely-because-people-like-it-is/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“And there's a freedom in apathy, a wild, dizzying liberation on which you can almost get drunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/and-there-s-a-freedom-in-apathy-a-wild-dizzying-liberation-on-which/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [The sign that I don't like the book I'm reading is finding myself watching reruns of 'Come Dine With Me.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-sign-that-i-don-t-like-the-book-i-m-reading-is-finding-myself/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [We speak often of 'destroying the planet' when what we mean is destroying its habitability for humans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/we-speak-often-of-destroying-the-planet-when-what-we-mean-is/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [My agent had warned that, while a fine film would do my profile a world of good, a bad one wouldn't help me at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/my-agent-had-warned-that-while-a-fine-film-would-do-my-profile-a/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I think that's the biggest favor you can grant anyone, don't you? 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