--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No one is ever really a stranger. We…" description: "\"No one is ever really a stranger. We cling to the belief that we share nothing with certain people. It's rubbish. We have almost everything in common w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/mark-haddon-1056_almost_no-one-is-ever-really-a-stranger-we-clin_1656357.jpg" --- # No one is ever really a stranger. We cling to the belief… ![“No one is ever really a stranger. We cling to the belief that we share nothing with certain people. It's rubbish. We have almost everything in common with everyone.” quote by Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/mark-haddon-1056_almost_no-one-is-ever-really-a-stranger-we-clin_1656357.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/mark-haddon-1056_almost_no-one-is-ever-really-a-stranger-we-clin_1656357.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/mark-haddon-1056_almost_no-one-is-ever-really-a-stranger-we-clin_1656357.jpg) > “No one is ever really a stranger. We cling to the belief that we share nothing with certain people. It's rubbish. We have almost everything in common with everyone.” [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We often view others as strangers, but in reality we share many commonalities and connections. **In simple terms:** People are more alike than we think. Key Takeaway Recognize shared humanity. Themes empathy connection commonality Mood thoughtful reflective Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - networking - teamwork - conflict resolution - community building Key Concepts social psychology humanism Questions to Reflect On - How can you discover common ground with someone you consider different? - What biases keep you from seeing shared humanity? A Different Perspective Assuming similarity can overlook genuine differences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothing/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Stranger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger/) ## Related quotes > [I have to impose my belief to share with a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-laurie/i-have-to-impose-my-belief-to-share-with-a-person/) [Greg Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-laurie/) > [The times are so peculiar now, so mediaeval so unreasonable that for the first time in a hundred years truth is really stranger than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/the-times-are-so-peculiar-now-so-mediaeval-so-unreasonable-that-for/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I think people believe in heaven because they don't like the idea of dying, because they want to carry on living and they don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/i-think-people-believe-in-heaven-because-they-don-t-like-the-idea-of/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“A man should cling to hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/a-man-should-cling-to-hope/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [Hope is often bitter, but it drives us, and we cling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-sagara/hope-is-often-bitter-but-it-drives-us-and-we-cling/) [Michelle Sagara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-sagara/) > [Characteristics cling to families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-galton/characteristics-cling-to-families/) [Francis Galton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-galton/) > [“It is that to which we cling that drags us to the bottom of the abyss. There is real power at having nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/it-is-that-to-which-we-cling-that-drags-us-to-the-bottom-of-the-abyss/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [I'm attached to my children with whatever flaws they have, and if some glorious angel broke through the living room ceiling and offered to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-m-attached-to-my-children-with-whatever-flaws-they-have-and-if-some/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [This is suicidal... our home is the biosphere. That's a very thin layer of air, water and land where all life exists. It's fixed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/this-is-suicidal-our-home-is-the-biosphere-that-s-a-very-thin-layer/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [I always cling to things that remind me of being a kid again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-martinez/i-always-cling-to-things-that-remind-me-of-being-a-kid-again/) [Melanie Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-martinez/) > [I won't cling to the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyoto-machida/i-won-t-cling-to-the-past/) [Lyoto Machida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyoto-machida/) > [Cling to your insecurity, in this world, it's the only thing you can be sure of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/cling-to-your-insecurity-in-this-world-it-s-the-only-thing-you-can-be/) [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) > [I cling to the idea that Herman Melville had to work at the end of his career watching ships in a dock, as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/i-cling-to-the-idea-that-herman-melville-had-to-work-at-the-end-of/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [To me, nothing ever feels like a sure thing. I cling to that because it's very important you don't ever think anything is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hurt/to-me-nothing-ever-feels-like-a-sure-thing-i-cling-to-that-because-it/) [John Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hurt/) > [In this kind of situation, we tend to cling to his convictions, we believe that, by magic, we are going to recover. Then we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacky-ickx/in-this-kind-of-situation-we-tend-to-cling-to-his-convictions-we/) [Jacky Ickx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacky-ickx/) ## More by Mark Haddon > [But I said that you could still want something that is very unlikely to happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/but-i-said-that-you-could-still-want-something-that-is-very-unlikely/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“So often these days she seemed to hover between worlds, none of them wholly real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/so-often-these-days-she-seemed-to-hover-between-worlds-none-of-them/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [And I know I can do this because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery…and I was brave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/and-i-know-i-can-do-this-because-i-went-to-london-on-my-own-and/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [And what he meant was that maths wasn't like life because in life there are no straightforward answers in the end](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/and-what-he-meant-was-that-maths-wasn-t-like-life-because-in-life/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [You love someone, you've got to let something go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/you-love-someone-you-ve-got-to-let-something-go/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“when you describe something by using a word for something that it isn’t. This means that the word metaphor is a metaphor. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/when-you-describe-something-by-using-a-word-for-something-that-it-isn/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/they-are-very-logical-but-you-could-never-work-out-the-rules-even-if/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“Places remained and time flowed through them like wind through the grass. Right now. This was the future turning into the past. One thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/places-remained-and-time-flowed-through-them-like-wind-through-the/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [I suffer depression only in the sense that I am a writer. We don't have proper jobs to go to. We are on our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/i-suffer-depression-only-in-the-sense-that-i-am-a-writer-we-don-t/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [I better make the plot good. I wanted to make it grip people on the first page and have a big turning point in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/i-better-make-the-plot-good-i-wanted-to-make-it-grip-people-on-the/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“And it was strange because he was calling, "Christopher. . . ? Christopher. . . ?" and I could see my name written out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/and-it-was-strange-because-he-was-calling-christopher-christopher-and/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [A lot of roles for people with disabilities are quite patronising. It's a real pity when they are just used to give dull PC…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/a-lot-of-roles-for-people-with-disabilities-are-quite-patronising-it/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [I do not like strangers because I do not like people I have never met before. They are hard to understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/i-do-not-like-strangers-because-i-do-not-like-people-i-have-never-met/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [“Lots of people wrote to the magazine to say that Marilyn vos Savant was wrong, even when she explained very carefully why she was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/lots-of-people-wrote-to-the-magazine-to-say-that-marilyn-vos-savant/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [I read very, very little fiction as a kid. All the books I can remember are junior science books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/i-read-very-very-little-fiction-as-a-kid-all-the-books-i-can-remember/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) [Explore all 278 Mark Haddon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) ## More Almost quotes > [My mother worked in the white world, but I lived almost exclusively in a black world. I don't think I had ever seen a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/my-mother-worked-in-the-white-world-but-i-lived-almost-exclusively-in/) [Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/) > [The shelves of many evangelicals are full of books that point out the flaws in evolution, discuss it only as a theory, and almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/the-shelves-of-many-evangelicals-are-full-of-books-that-point-out-the/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [Music is almost like a therapy for me. It helps keep me centered and think straight. Before I discovered it, I was walking around,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banks/music-is-almost-like-a-therapy-for-me-it-helps-keep-me-centered-and/) [Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banks/) > [My favourite designers always create a strong silhouette, like McQueen and Tom Ford and Alaia. I like structured things that you can throw on,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liberty-ross/my-favourite-designers-always-create-a-strong-silhouette-like-mcqueen/) [Liberty Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liberty-ross/) > [Harry Truman wrote scathing letters, but he almost never sent them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dallek/harry-truman-wrote-scathing-letters-but-he-almost-never-sent-them/) [Robert Dallek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dallek/) > [It's almost inevitable there's going to be an escalation on both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-luther/it-s-almost-inevitable-there-s-going-to-be-an-escalation-on-both-sides/) Bill Luther > [I like men who are very cool but who are also so brilliant that they are almost insane. Sean Penn, Gary Oldman, Bob Dylan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jolene-blalock/i-like-men-who-are-very-cool-but-who-are-also-so-brilliant-that-they/) [Jolene Blalock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jolene-blalock/) > [If you watch wrestling, you now know the hip-hop culture is being represented with wrestling. For the longest time, the cultures have almost been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cena/if-you-watch-wrestling-you-now-know-the-hip-hop-culture-is-being/) [John Cena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cena/) > [Almost every Monday I have a charity thing. I like that. I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yogi-berra/almost-every-monday-i-have-a-charity-thing-i-like-that-i-do/) [Yogi Berra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yogi-berra/) > [Pete Seeger is a modest, unassuming, cheerful, and kind-natured man. He's a good folk singer, if you can stand folk singing. And he's such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/pete-seeger-is-a-modest-unassuming-cheerful-and-kind-natured-man-he-s/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Almost immediately, I remember right when Tikrit even fell, a few days after Baghdad fell, there was talks of insurgency, there was talks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farnaz-fassihi/almost-immediately-i-remember-right-when-tikrit-even-fell-a-few-days/) Farnaz Fassihi > [While it is often true that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, it seems like Yahoo's almost obsessive focus on Google is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-swisher/while-it-is-often-true-that-the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend-it/) [Kara Swisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-swisher/) > [I'd had episodes before, but I swept them under the carpet. This time, I couldn't do that because everyone knew. I got on with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-kidder/i-d-had-episodes-before-but-i-swept-them-under-the-carpet-this-time-i/) [Margot Kidder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-kidder/) > [I was hit by a car. I almost died. My show was taken away from me. I was frightened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-brennan/i-was-hit-by-a-car-i-almost-died-my-show-was-taken-away-from-me-i-was/) [Eileen Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-brennan/) > [With \*NSYNC, we shopped our deal for a year in America, sang a capella in everybody's office, then moved to Germany for almost two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jc-chasez/with-nsync-we-shopped-our-deal-for-a-year-in-america-sang-a-capella/) [JC Chasez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jc-chasez/) Browse all 1,672 Almost quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No one is ever really a stranger. We cling to the belief that we share nothing with certain people. It's rubbish. We have almost everything in common with everyone.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Haddon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/no-one-is-ever-really-a-stranger-we-cling-to-the-belief-that-we-share/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Almost" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/no-one-is-ever-really-a-stranger-we-cling-to-the-belief-that-we-share/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/mark-haddon-1056_almost_no-one-is-ever-really-a-stranger-we-clin_1656357.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/mark-haddon-1056_almost_no-one-is-ever-really-a-stranger-we-clin_1656357.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d07/mark-haddon-1056_almost_no-one-is-ever-really-a-stranger-we-clin_1656357.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No one is ever really a stranger. We cling to the belief that we share nothing with certain people. It's…” — Mark Haddon", "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": "Mark Haddon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No one is ever really a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/no-one-is-ever-really-a-stranger-we-cling-to-the-belief-that-we-share/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/no-one-is-ever-really-a-stranger-we-cling-to-the-belief-that-we-share/#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 } } ] } ```