--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Each time in fiction or in history I meet…" description: "\"“Each time in fiction or in history I meet a well-defined personality I am personally interested in him, for we know each other already, because we met..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/mark-twain-22_history_each-time-in-fiction-or-in-history-i-mee_2354622.png" --- # Each time in fiction or in history I meet a well-defined… ![“Each time in fiction or in history I meet a well-defined personality I am personally interested in him, for we know each other already, because we met on the river.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/mark-twain-22_history_each-time-in-fiction-or-in-history-i-mee_2354622.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/mark-twain-22_history_each-time-in-fiction-or-in-history-i-mee_2354622.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/mark-twain-22_history_each-time-in-fiction-or-in-history-i-mee_2354622.png) > ““Each time in fiction or in history I meet a well-defined personality I am personally interested in him, for we know each other already, because we met on the river.”” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator feels an instant connection to characters who seem familiar, as if already known from past encounters. **In simple terms:** Familiarity creates instant rapport. Key Takeaway Seek out familiar traits in new people. Themes connection recognition character literature history Mood reflective curious Type literary observational When to use this quote - reading novels - studying history - meeting new acquaintances - building relationships Key Concepts psychology social bonding narrative identity Questions to Reflect On - What traits make a character feel familiar? - How does prior knowledge affect perception? A Different Perspective Familiarity may overlook deeper differences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personality/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“We don't have to take our personality so personally.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-nisker/we-don-t-have-to-take-our-personality-so-personally/) [Wes Nisker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-nisker/) > [I personally am not interested in people trying to pigeonhole me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-personally-am-not-interested-in-people-trying-to-pigeonhole-me/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [I personally am not very interested in awards or the awards circuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/makoto-shinkai/i-personally-am-not-very-interested-in-awards-or-the-awards-circuit/) [Makoto Shinkai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/makoto-shinkai/) > [Loneliness is just a thing that I'm not personally interested in. So far, it hasn't been on my docket of things to write about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/loneliness-is-just-a-thing-that-i-m-not-personally-interested-in-so/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [I am personally interested in more than just business schools. However, life has been good to me, and it's been good to me through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-schwartz/i-am-personally-interested-in-more-than-just-business-schools-however/) [Gerry Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-schwartz/) > [Personally, I'm not all that interested in making the show appealing to casual sports fans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-whitlock/personally-i-m-not-all-that-interested-in-making-the-show-appealing/) [Jason Whitlock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-whitlock/) > [I congratulate you both on a fine piece of work which I am sure will ultimately prove of importance. I am personally very much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-rutherford/i-congratulate-you-both-on-a-fine-piece-of-work-which-i-am-sure-will/) [Ernest Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-rutherford/) > [I don't look at my old work. 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In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/the-symmetry-and-organization-of-history-teaches-us-that-mankind/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [At the drop of a hat, people will say there are no roles for women after 40. It's there with a bunch of other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesley-nicol/at-the-drop-of-a-hat-people-will-say-there-are-no-roles-for-women/) [Lesley Nicol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lesley-nicol/) > [I write about presidents. That means I write about guys - so far. I'm interested in the people closest to them, the people they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-write-about-presidents-that-means-i-write-about-guys-so-far-i-m/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More History quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The NBA is my history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-hardaway/the-nba-is-my-history/) [Penny Hardaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-hardaway/) > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. This is a complete telling of the story, 'Food.' The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) C-DASH > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) [Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Each time in fiction or in history I meet a well-defined personality I am personally interested in him, for we know each other already, because we met on the river.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/each-time-in-fiction-or-in-history-i-meet-a-well-defined-personality/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/each-time-in-fiction-or-in-history-i-meet-a-well-defined-personality/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/mark-twain-22_history_each-time-in-fiction-or-in-history-i-mee_2354622.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/mark-twain-22_history_each-time-in-fiction-or-in-history-i-mee_2354622.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/mark-twain-22_history_each-time-in-fiction-or-in-history-i-mee_2354622.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Each time in fiction or in history I meet a well-defined personality I am personally interested in him, for…” — Mark Twain", "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 Twain", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Each time in fiction or in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/each-time-in-fiction-or-in-history-i-meet-a-well-defined-personality/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/each-time-in-fiction-or-in-history-i-meet-a-well-defined-personality/#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 } } ] } ```