--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And, everyone knows, to tolerate a person…" description: "\"“And, everyone knows, to tolerate a person telling you about his childhood it is necessary to be in love with him.”\" — Lydia Davis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f2/lydia-davis-3244_childhood_and-everyone-knows-to-tolerate-a-person_1284421.png" --- # And, everyone knows, to tolerate a person telling you… ![“And, everyone knows, to tolerate a person telling you about his childhood it is necessary to be in love with him.” quote by Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f2/lydia-davis-3244_childhood_and-everyone-knows-to-tolerate-a-person_1284421.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f2/lydia-davis-3244_childhood_and-everyone-knows-to-tolerate-a-person_1284421.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f2/lydia-davis-3244_childhood_and-everyone-knows-to-tolerate-a-person_1284421.png) > ““And, everyone knows, to tolerate a person telling you about his childhood it is necessary to be in love with him.”” [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She notes that tolerating someone's childhood story requires love for that person. **In simple terms:** Love needed to listen to childhood tales. Key Takeaway Cultivate empathy in relationships. Themes empathy love storytelling Mood intimate thoughtful Type personal philosophical When to use this quote - marriage counseling - friendship - parenting Key Concepts psychology literature communication Questions to Reflect On - Why does love enable patience? - How to develop love for difficult listeners? A Different Perspective Not everyone can love deeply enough. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [Childhood has no necessary connection with age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-o-malley/childhood-has-no-necessary-connection-with-age/) [Austin O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-o-malley/) > [Maitre D' : I appreciate your understanding. Ferris: Don't think twice. It's understanding that makes it possible for people like us to tolerate a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hughes/maitre-d-i-appreciate-your-understanding-ferris-don-t-think-twice-it/) [John Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hughes/) > [“Loving someone isn't about what you can live with, accept or tolerate. For me, it's about the one person you can't live without. Too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kay/loving-someone-isn-t-about-what-you-can-live-with-accept-or-tolerate/) Piper Kay > [Tolerance should, strictly speaking, be only a passing mood; it ought to lead to acknowledgment and appreciation. To tolerate a person is to affront…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/tolerance-should-strictly-speaking-be-only-a-passing-mood-it-ought-to/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Crohn's patients differentiate their diet. You know, what I can handle and tolerate, another person couldn't, and what they can, I can't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-mccready/crohn-s-patients-differentiate-their-diet-you-know-what-i-can-handle/) [Mike McCready](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mccready/) > [Everyone has a responsibility to not only tolerate another person's point of view, but also to accept it eagerly as a challenge to your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlo-guthrie/everyone-has-a-responsibility-to-not-only-tolerate-another-person-s/) [Arlo Guthrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlo-guthrie/) > [It is true, that it is not at all necessary to love many books, in order to love them much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/it-is-true-that-it-is-not-at-all-necessary-to-love-many-books-in/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Nothing else is necessary but these - love, sincerity, and patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/nothing-else-is-necessary-but-these-love-sincerity-and-patience/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [It is not only necessary to love, it is necessary to say so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverb/it-is-not-only-necessary-to-love-it-is-necessary-to-say-so/) Proverb > [People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it's simply necessary to love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/people-discuss-my-art-and-pretend-to-understand-as-if-it-were/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [...it was necessary to love silence, but before you could love silence you had to have noise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/it-was-necessary-to-love-silence-but-before-you-could-love-silence/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [Although we know that the feeling of loss is inevitable, I want us to be sure that whatever happens we can still count on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/although-we-know-that-the-feeling-of-loss-is-inevitable-i-want-us-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There is nothing better or more necessary than love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-john-of-the-cross/there-is-nothing-better-or-more-necessary-than-love/) [St John of the Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-john-of-the-cross/) > [It’s one thing to be the greatest; it’s another thing to be necessary. The best are the most necessary: those who take less than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mos-def/it-s-one-thing-to-be-the-greatest-it-s-another-thing-to-be-necessary/) [Mos Def](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mos-def/) > [Whilst in speaking of human things, we say that it is necessary to know them before we love can them. The saints on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/whilst-in-speaking-of-human-things-we-say-that-it-is-necessary-to/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) ## More by Lydia Davis > [Heart weeps. Head tries to help heart. Head tells heart how it is, again: You will lose the ones you love. They will all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/heart-weeps-head-tries-to-help-heart-head-tells-heart-how-it-is-again/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“But on that particular day I did not even begin to feel interested in this chore, and was suddenly more deeply bored than I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/but-on-that-particular-day-i-did-not-even-begin-to-feel-interested-in/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [If a translation doesn't have obvious writing problems, it may seem quite all right at first glance. We readers, after all, quickly adapt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/if-a-translation-doesn-t-have-obvious-writing-problems-it-may-seem/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [I always interrupt work with other work, either in a small way or big way, so that's normal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-always-interrupt-work-with-other-work-either-in-a-small-way-or-big/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [ I worked more intensively hour after hour when I was starting out \[writing\]. More laboriously. I'd say quantity is important as well as quality,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-worked-more-intensively-hour-after-hour-when-i-was-starting-out/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [I don't feel I have to struggle against allegory. I let the readers do the interpreting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-don-t-feel-i-have-to-struggle-against-allegory-i-let-the-readers-do/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“because she couldn’t write the name of what she was: a wa wam owm owamn womn”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/because-she-couldn-t-write-the-name-of-what-she-was-a-wa-wam-owm/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“Everything was sharper, clearer, and closer, as though, before, I had been seeing only little bits at a time, not all of it, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/everything-was-sharper-clearer-and-closer-as-though-before-i-had-been/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“He did not know exactly when to thank his hostess after attending a dinner or a weekend party. In his uncertainty, he would thank…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/he-did-not-know-exactly-when-to-thank-his-hostess-after-attending-a/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“There was no confusion of our bodies. I knew which arm was his and which mine, and which leg, and which shoulder. I did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/there-was-no-confusion-of-our-bodies-i-knew-which-arm-was-his-and/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“So it’s not really $100 a shot because it goes on all day, from the start when you wake up and feel her body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/so-it-s-not-really-100-a-shot-because-it-goes-on-all-day-from-the/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“The people of the town, though, remained strangers: I could not realize that I must be seeing some of them over and over again,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/the-people-of-the-town-though-remained-strangers-i-could-not-realize/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“He does not trust her: she will claim to be in a bad mood when she is not, and then require him to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/he-does-not-trust-her-she-will-claim-to-be-in-a-bad-mood-when-she-is/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [I would recommend, definitely, developing a 'day job' that you like - don't expect to make money writing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-would-recommend-definitely-developing-a-day-job-that-you-like-don-t/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [the translator, a lonely sort of acrobat, becomes confused in a labyrinth of paradox, or climbs a pyramid of dependent clauses and has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/the-translator-a-lonely-sort-of-acrobat-becomes-confused-in-a/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) [Explore all 135 Lydia Davis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) ## More Childhood quotes > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? Your childhood is always ending and your adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-espach/children-s-lives-are-always-beginning-and-adults-lives-are-always/) [Alison Espach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-espach/) > [“From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw—I could not bring My passions from a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/from-childhood-s-hour-i-have-not-been-as-others-were-i-have-not-seen/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [We were so poor as kids. I didn't even see a bathtub, running water, hot water, commode - we didn't have any of that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-robertson/we-were-so-poor-as-kids-i-didn-t-even-see-a-bathtub-running-water-hot/) [Phil Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-robertson/) > [I had a rough upbringing. Group homes. Foster homes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-shamrock/i-had-a-rough-upbringing-group-homes-foster-homes/) [Frank Shamrock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-shamrock/) > [When I talk about my childhood I used to say it as if it was scripted and I'd make jokes because it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-katona/when-i-talk-about-my-childhood-i-used-to-say-it-as-if-it-was-scripted/) [Kerry Katona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-katona/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [It's a very familiar type of place where people either go to their house on the lake or they get together in different places.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-carell/it-s-a-very-familiar-type-of-place-where-people-either-go-to-their/) [Steve Carell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-carell/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [Downstairs in my house, I have a museum room. I keep all of my awards down there, and childhood photos, and even all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kelly/downstairs-in-my-house-i-have-a-museum-room-i-keep-all-of-my-awards/) [R. Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kelly/) > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [On paper, it looks rough, but I had a great childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-morton/on-paper-it-looks-rough-but-i-had-a-great-childhood/) [Samantha Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-morton/) > [Let positive, strong, helpful thoughts enter into your brains from very childhood. Lay yourselves open to these thoughts, and not to weakening and paralysing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/let-positive-strong-helpful-thoughts-enter-into-your-brains-from-very/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [I always knew that I was kind of bored; the regular life of a child didn't fit me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-ricci/i-always-knew-that-i-was-kind-of-bored-the-regular-life-of-a-child/) [Christina Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-ricci/) > [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I'm not sure I would have ever started to draw, let alone write, if my childhood hadn't been so happy. It was a mixture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-jansson/i-m-not-sure-i-would-have-ever-started-to-draw-let-alone-write-if-my/) [Tove Jansson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-jansson/) [Browse all 5,837 Childhood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And, everyone knows, to tolerate a person telling you about his childhood it is necessary to be in love with him.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lydia Davis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/and-everyone-knows-to-tolerate-a-person-telling-you-about-his/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Childhood" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/and-everyone-knows-to-tolerate-a-person-telling-you-about-his/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f2/lydia-davis-3244_childhood_and-everyone-knows-to-tolerate-a-person_1284421.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f2/lydia-davis-3244_childhood_and-everyone-knows-to-tolerate-a-person_1284421.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f2/lydia-davis-3244_childhood_and-everyone-knows-to-tolerate-a-person_1284421.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And, everyone knows, to tolerate a person telling you about his childhood it is necessary to be in love with…” — Lydia Davis", "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": "Lydia Davis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“And, everyone knows, to tolerate a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/and-everyone-knows-to-tolerate-a-person-telling-you-about-his/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/and-everyone-knows-to-tolerate-a-person-telling-you-about-his/#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 } } ] } ```