--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When small towns find they cannot harm…" description: "\"When small towns find they cannot harm the strangest of their members, when eccentrics show resilience, they are eventually embraced and even cherished..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/louise-erdrich-1271_eccentrics_when-small-towns-find-they-cannot-harm-t_731176.jpg" --- # When small towns find they cannot harm the strangest of… ![“When small towns find they cannot harm the strangest of their members, when eccentrics show resilience, they are eventually embraced and even cherished.” quote by Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/louise-erdrich-1271_eccentrics_when-small-towns-find-they-cannot-harm-t_731176.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/louise-erdrich-1271_eccentrics_when-small-towns-find-they-cannot-harm-t_731176.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/louise-erdrich-1271_eccentrics_when-small-towns-find-they-cannot-harm-t_731176.jpg) > “When small towns find they cannot harm the strangest of their members, when eccentrics show resilience, they are eventually embraced and even cherished.” [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Celebrates acceptance of eccentric individuals when communities learn empathy and resilience. **In simple terms:** Accept and cherish the different. Key Takeaway Foster inclusive communities. Themes inclusion empathy resilience community Mood hopeful thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - small town life - diverse neighborhoods - school settings - null Key Concepts social dynamics identity acceptance Questions to Reflect On - What makes a community truly inclusive? - How does resilience change perception? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eccentrics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eccentrics/) [Eccentrics Resilience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eccentrics-resilience-5727273/) [Eventually Embraced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eventually-embraced-5727274/) [Harm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harm/) [Members](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/members/) [Members Eccentrics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/members-eccentrics-5727275/) [Resilience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resilience/) [Shows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shows/) [Small town](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-town/) [Small towns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-towns/) [Town](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/town/) [Towns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/towns/) ## Related quotes > [I enjoy going on motorcycle trips and stopping in small towns and enjoying drinks with the locals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clooney/i-enjoy-going-on-motorcycle-trips-and-stopping-in-small-towns-and/) [George Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clooney/) > [I had a big family - two older sisters and a younger brother. My family was like moving around a lot so I lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-lange/i-had-a-big-family-two-older-sisters-and-a-younger-brother-my-family/) [Jessica Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-lange/) > [There is a comfortable feeling in small towns. It is salubrious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andie-macdowell/there-is-a-comfortable-feeling-in-small-towns-it-is-salubrious/) [Andie MacDowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andie-macdowell/) > [I enjoy small towns, I've got my friends there. I have friends in L.A. too, but I'm not much on traffic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-lofland/i-enjoy-small-towns-i-ve-got-my-friends-there-i-have-friends-in-l-a/) [Jacob Lofland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-lofland/) > [“He had to accept the fate of every newcomer to a small town where there are plenty of tongues that gossip and few minds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-had-to-accept-the-fate-of-every-newcomer-to-a-small-town-where/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I think in all small towns, all kind of working class communities around the world. They are kind of similar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sacha-baron-cohen/i-think-in-all-small-towns-all-kind-of-working-class-communities/) [Sacha Baron Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sacha-baron-cohen/) > [I'm a Midwesterner by birth, and when I traveled there, when I was young, most of the small towns were thriving, vibrant places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-caputo/i-m-a-midwesterner-by-birth-and-when-i-traveled-there-when-i-was/) [Philip Caputo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-caputo/) > [Ghostly legends dot the Prairie State from its big cities to its small towns. These stories make each community unique in a way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-belanger/ghostly-legends-dot-the-prairie-state-from-its-big-cities-to-its/) [Jeff Belanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-belanger/) > [To read the papers and to listen to the news... one would think the country is in terrible trouble. You do not get that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/to-read-the-papers-and-to-listen-to-the-news-one-would-think-the/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [I did stories about unexpected encounters, back roads, small towns and ordinary folk, sometimes doing something a little extraordinary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-did-stories-about-unexpected-encounters-back-roads-small-towns-and/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [Small towns and local publications love to have a hero of some kind. For Portland, it's definitely Ian Karmel and Ron Funches, but every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-miller/small-towns-and-local-publications-love-to-have-a-hero-of-some-kind/) [Amy Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-miller/) > [But instead of that stuff you get relationships with people and neighbors that you would never get in a city. People in small towns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genevieve-gorder/but-instead-of-that-stuff-you-get-relationships-with-people-and/) [Genevieve Gorder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genevieve-gorder/) > [The tyranny of public opinion (and what an opinion!) is as fatuous in the small towns of France as it is in the United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-tyranny-of-public-opinion-and-what-an-opinion-is-as-fatuous-in/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [ I've seen it \[Australia\] go from a lot of small towns to big towns, but I think it has found its identity in all… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzi-quatro/i-ve-seen-it-australia-go-from-a-lot-of-small-towns-to-big-towns-but/) [Suzi Quatro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzi-quatro/) > [“...I suddenly realized what small towns are. They are places where you grow up with the peculiar-you live next to the strange and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/i-suddenly-realized-what-small-towns-are-they-are-places-where-you/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) ## More by Louise Erdrich > [Can you stop your mother from singing to you? Who would do such a thing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/can-you-stop-your-mother-from-singing-to-you-who-would-do-such-a-thing/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [“Emotions unreel in her like spools of cotton.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/emotions-unreel-in-her-like-spools-of-cotton/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [“Other freshmen were already moving into their dormitory rooms when we arrived, with their parents helping haul. I saw boxes of paperbacks, stereo equipment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/other-freshmen-were-already-moving-into-their-dormitory-rooms-when-we/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [My father is my biggest literary influence. Recently, I've been looking through his letters. He was in the National Guard when I was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/my-father-is-my-biggest-literary-influence-recently-i-ve-been-looking/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [What is this life but the sound of an appalling love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/what-is-this-life-but-the-sound-of-an-appalling-love/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [Looking at the shape of the world, I see how we're in a time where women are the subject of hatred, fear, and we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/looking-at-the-shape-of-the-world-i-see-how-we-re-in-a-time-where/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [She had always been a reader… but now she was obsessed. Since her discovery of the book hoard downstairs from her job, she’d been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/she-had-always-been-a-reader-but-now-she-was-obsessed-since-her/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [Time was rushing around me like water around a big wet rock. The only difference is, I was not so durable as stones. Very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/time-was-rushing-around-me-like-water-around-a-big-wet-rock-the-only/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [The greatest wisdom doesn't know itself. The richest plan is not to have one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/the-greatest-wisdom-doesn-t-know-itself-the-richest-plan-is-not-to/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [“Delphine began to read with a mad attention when she wanted to talk to Clarisse. She saw that in her life there was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/delphine-began-to-read-with-a-mad-attention-when-she-wanted-to-talk/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [But if there was embellishment, it only had to do with the facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/but-if-there-was-embellishment-it-only-had-to-do-with-the-facts/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [Things which do not grow and change are dead things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/things-which-do-not-grow-and-change-are-dead-things/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [I have to write. I have to be an artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/i-have-to-write-i-have-to-be-an-artist/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [“The Creator made us for each other. Me here. Zelia there. Space was put between us by human error. But our hearts listened to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/the-creator-made-us-for-each-other-me-here-zelia-there-space-was-put/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [So many things in the world have happened before. But it's like they never did. Every new thing that happens to a person, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/so-many-things-in-the-world-have-happened-before-but-it-s-like-they/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) [Explore all 262 Louise Erdrich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) ## More Eccentrics quotes > [“Alienation produces eccentrics or revolutionary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-holzer/alienation-produces-eccentrics-or-revolutionary/) [Jenny Holzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-holzer/) > [“Weirdism is definitely the cornerstone of many an artist's career.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/weirdism-is-definitely-the-cornerstone-of-many-an-artist-s-career/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/eccentricity-is-not-as-dull-people-would-have-us-believe-a-form-of/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [“Eccentricity of a creative mind may not be pleasing for the people around it, but it is important for the progress.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/eccentricity-of-a-creative-mind-may-not-be-pleasing-for-the-people/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [I guess weve got this grand tradition of sort of English eccentrics. Over there youve got artists like Lady Gaga youve got some really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-and-the-machine/i-guess-weve-got-this-grand-tradition-of-sort-of-english-eccentrics/) [Florence And The Machine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-and-the-machine/) > [“Are you committed to having a really strange life?" She laughed. "Probably. What do you mean?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mckenzie/are-you-committed-to-having-a-really-strange-life-she-laughed/) [Elizabeth Mckenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mckenzie/) > [We're all eccentrics. We're nine prima donnas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-a-blackmun/we-re-all-eccentrics-we-re-nine-prima-donnas/) [Harry A. Blackmun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-a-blackmun/) > [There's a very fine line between a groove and a rut a fine line between eccentrics and people who are just plain nuts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-lavin/there-s-a-very-fine-line-between-a-groove-and-a-rut-a-fine-line/) [Christine Lavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-lavin/) > [I'm much more interested in lesser-known eccentrics and characters and performers. Like Matthew Buchinger, who was born in Germany in 1674, had no arms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-jay/i-m-much-more-interested-in-lesser-known-eccentrics-and-characters/) [Ricky Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-jay/) > [“Ordinary people, caught in the trap of their routine lives, are not villains any more than eccentrics or rebels are villains. Essentially, both kinds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/ordinary-people-caught-in-the-trap-of-their-routine-lives-are-not/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [“On the one hand, there are people known as straight, regular, square (and there are also cubes and tesseracts), classified, degreed, graduated, and moneyed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/on-the-one-hand-there-are-people-known-as-straight-regular-square-and/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [When the temperamental and unconventional people are not mere plagiarists of dead eccentrics, they lack, in almost every case, thehistoric sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-fullerton-gerould/when-the-temperamental-and-unconventional-people-are-not-mere/) [Katharine Fullerton Gerould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-fullerton-gerould/) > [It is to the eccentrics that the world owes most of its knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/it-is-to-the-eccentrics-that-the-world-owes-most-of-its-knowledge/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [“Fortunately the City is vigilant. It too has its secret weapons. Since the summer it has released safety valves that form part of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-yonnet/fortunately-the-city-is-vigilant-it-too-has-its-secret-weapons-since/) [Jacques Yonnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-yonnet/) > [“Morse found it nerve-wracking to cross the St. Jude grounds just as school was being dismissed, because he felt that if he smiled at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/morse-found-it-nerve-wracking-to-cross-the-st-jude-grounds-just-as/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) [Browse all 39 Eccentrics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eccentrics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When small towns find they cannot harm the strangest of their members, when eccentrics show resilience, they are eventually embraced and even cherished.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Louise Erdrich" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/when-small-towns-find-they-cannot-harm-the-strangest-of-their-members/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eccentrics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/when-small-towns-find-they-cannot-harm-the-strangest-of-their-members/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/louise-erdrich-1271_eccentrics_when-small-towns-find-they-cannot-harm-t_731176.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/louise-erdrich-1271_eccentrics_when-small-towns-find-they-cannot-harm-t_731176.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/louise-erdrich-1271_eccentrics_when-small-towns-find-they-cannot-harm-t_731176.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When small towns find they cannot harm the strangest of their members, when eccentrics show resilience, they…” — Louise Erdrich", "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": "Louise Erdrich", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When small towns find they cannot...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/when-small-towns-find-they-cannot-harm-the-strangest-of-their-members/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/when-small-towns-find-they-cannot-harm-the-strangest-of-their-members/#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 } } ] } ```