---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I didn't seem to have that effect on…"
description: "\"I didn't seem to have that effect on anyone but it would have been a waste for both of us to be saints.\" — Meg Rosoff"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d55/meg-rosoff-2050_saint_i-didn-t-seem-to-have-that-effect-on-any_1145966.jpg"
---

#  I didn't seem to have that effect on anyone but it would…

![“I didn't seem to have that effect on anyone but it would have been a waste for both of us to be saints.” quote by Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d55/meg-rosoff-2050_saint_i-didn-t-seem-to-have-that-effect-on-any_1145966.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d55/meg-rosoff-2050_saint_i-didn-t-seem-to-have-that-effect-on-any_1145966.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d55/meg-rosoff-2050_saint_i-didn-t-seem-to-have-that-effect-on-any_1145966.jpg)

> “I didn't seem to have that effect on anyone but it would have been a waste for both of us to be saints.”

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Attempting to be saintly without genuine impact can waste both parties' potential, emphasizing authentic influence.

**In simple terms:** Being saintly without impact wastes energy.

Key Takeaway

Seek authentic influence.

Themes

authenticity impact relationships

Mood

thoughtful inspirational

Type

advice philosophical

When to use this quote

- volunteering
- mentorship
- team dynamics

Key Concepts

psychology of altruism personal growth

Questions to Reflect On

- How can you help others meaningfully?
- When is restraint more valuable than sacrifice?

A Different Perspective

Idealism may ignore practical constraints and personal limits.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Saint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saint/) [Saints](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saints/) [Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste/)

## Related quotes

> [ \[Prozac\] didn't seem to have any effect whatsoever on my melancholy, my dark vision, and everything else that I'd taken it for. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/prozac-didn-t-seem-to-have-any-effect-whatsoever-on-my-melancholy-my/)

[Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/)

> [It's tempting to say the Ph.D. didn't have an effect, but it's not so. I think whatever resonance I may be able to achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-parker/it-s-tempting-to-say-the-ph-d-didn-t-have-an-effect-but-it-s-not-so-i/)

[Robert B. Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-parker/)

> [Let the Saints remember that great things depend on their individual exertion, and that they are called to be co-workers with us and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-smith-jr/let-the-saints-remember-that-great-things-depend-on-their-individual/)

[Joseph Smith, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-smith-jr/)

> [The Saints are Louisiana's team and have been since the late '60s when my predecessor Pete Rozelle welcomed them to the league as New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-saints-are-louisiana-s-team-and-have-been-since-the-late-60s-when/)

[Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/)

> [I don't believe in God, but I do believe in His saints.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/i-don-t-believe-in-god-but-i-do-believe-in-his-saints/)

[Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/)

> [Love makes saints or sinners out of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-makes-saints-or-sinners-out-of-men/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Saints are simply men and women who have fulfilled their natural obligation which is to approach God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/saints-are-simply-men-and-women-who-have-fulfilled-their-natural/)

[Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/)

> [Do not be afraid to be saints. Follow Jesus Christ who is the source of freedom and light. Be open to the Lord so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/do-not-be-afraid-to-be-saints-follow-jesus-christ-who-is-the-source/)

[Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/)

> [What does it mean to be a Saint? In the Lord's Church, the members are Latter-day Saints, and they attempt to emulate the Savior,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-l-cook/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-saint-in-the-lord-s-church-the-members-are/)

[Quentin L. Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-l-cook/)

> [In Ethiopia, the black people became Christians 1700 years ago, hundreds of years before Northern Europe turned to Christianity... And here, most of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-louis-gates/in-ethiopia-the-black-people-became-christians-1700-years-ago/)

[Henry Louis Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-louis-gates/)

> [Sinners often speak the truth. And saints have led people astray. Examine what is said, not the one who says it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-de-mello/sinners-often-speak-the-truth-and-saints-have-led-people-astray/)

[Anthony de Mello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-de-mello/)

> [Saints are sinners who kept on going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/saints-are-sinners-who-kept-on-going/)

[Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/)

> [We are all called to be great saints, don't miss the opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-angelica/we-are-all-called-to-be-great-saints-don-t-miss-the-opportunity/)

[Mother Angelica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-angelica/)

> [The saints differ from us in their exuberance, the excess of our human talents. Moderation is not their secret. It is in the wildness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-mcginley/the-saints-differ-from-us-in-their-exuberance-the-excess-of-our-human/)

[Phyllis McGinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-mcginley/)

> [It takes all sorts to make a world - saints as well as soldiers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-anderson/it-takes-all-sorts-to-make-a-world-saints-as-well-as-soldiers/)

[Anthony Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-anderson/)

## More by Meg Rosoff

> [“Maybe he's lonely, she said, and I just looked at her wondering if she expected me to open a Home for the Socially Challenged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/maybe-he-s-lonely-she-said-and-i-just-looked-at-her-wondering-if-she/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [I loved horses and horse books as a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-loved-horses-and-horse-books-as-a-child/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [“Time erodes us all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/time-erodes-us-all/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [I noticed that once you realize someone's watching you it's pretty hard not to find yourself watching them back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-noticed-that-once-you-realize-someone-s-watching-you-it-s-pretty/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [Teenagers are very dark, I think. That's all the goth and emo stuff. They're experiencing a lot of stuff that adults experience, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/teenagers-are-very-dark-i-think-that-s-all-the-goth-and-emo-stuff/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [“Minden háború történetének van fordulópontja, és minden emberének is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/minden-h-bor-t-rt-net-nek-van-fordul-pontja-s-minden-ember-nek-is/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [She frowned at him. 'You are in love with solitude.' 'Is there a better cure for the world than solitude?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/she-frowned-at-him-you-are-in-love-with-solitude-is-there-a-better/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [“He was a peculiar sight. Tears rolling down his face, shouting to drown the sound of the singing rabbit; he said he needed help,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/he-was-a-peculiar-sight-tears-rolling-down-his-face-shouting-to-drown/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [I love you. I'm madly in love with you. Well, madly obviously, given I'm mad as a mudlark. But you saved my life. I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-love-you-i-m-madly-in-love-with-you-well-madly-obviously-given-i-m/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [Although I've lived in England for more than twenty years, I still have a foreigner's passion for all the details of English history and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/although-i-ve-lived-in-england-for-more-than-twenty-years-i-still/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [My daughter is a fantastic travelling companion - she's totally organised, whereas I'm hopeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/my-daughter-is-a-fantastic-travelling-companion-she-s-totally/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [I'm constantly snatching my books out of the hands of precocious ten-year-olds who are simply too young to read them, despite parents insisting that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-m-constantly-snatching-my-books-out-of-the-hands-of-precocious-ten/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [“What else? A handful of hard white sugar lumps from the supply for the master's table. Sugar and cake and blood and pork. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/what-else-a-handful-of-hard-white-sugar-lumps-from-the-supply-for-the/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [“Maybe we shouldn't be living this way, without grass and trees, and ducks, always under pressure, always trying to catch up, never enough time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/maybe-we-shouldn-t-be-living-this-way-without-grass-and-trees-and/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [“Things Happen and once they start happening you pretty much just have to hold on for dear life and see where they drop you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/things-happen-and-once-they-start-happening-you-pretty-much-just-have/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

[Explore all 184 Meg Rosoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

## More Effect quotes

> [Time travel offends our sense of cause and effect - but maybe the universe doesn't insist on cause and effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/time-travel-offends-our-sense-of-cause-and-effect-but-maybe-the/)

[Edward M. Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/)

> [Domino effect: Once you drop a good idea, the rest will follow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loesje/domino-effect-once-you-drop-a-good-idea-the-rest-will-follow/)

[Loesje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loesje/)

> [Elegance has a bad effect on my constitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/elegance-has-a-bad-effect-on-my-constitution/)

[Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/)

> [Regarding lack of vision or disabilities of the organ of sight, it has long been known among researchers that it is the effect of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-heindel/regarding-lack-of-vision-or-disabilities-of-the-organ-of-sight-it-has/)

[Max Heindel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-heindel/)

> [“A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/a-skillful-literary-artist-has-constructed-a-tale-if-wise-he-has-not/)

[Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/)

> [The hypocrisy and false piety of the deniers aside, the relationships of gays have no effect on heteros. Especially all the heteros who've done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/the-hypocrisy-and-false-piety-of-the-deniers-aside-the-relationships/)

[John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/)

> [“Having no applicable skills, in any possible area whatsoever, effectively makes me the master of redundancy. But that info is obsolete, like my insults…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-advise/having-no-applicable-skills-in-any-possible-area-whatsoever/)

Will Advise

> [What puzzles me is the way that some of the smaller, unknown chateaux imagine that because Chinese millionaires pay ludicrous sums for the great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-hoggart/what-puzzles-me-is-the-way-that-some-of-the-smaller-unknown-chateaux/)

[Simon Hoggart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-hoggart/)

> [If the many allegations made to this date are true, then the burglars who broke into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-ervin/if-the-many-allegations-made-to-this-date-are-true-then-the-burglars/)

[Sam Ervin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-ervin/)

> [“And slowly a discussion begins - as Morrie has wanted all along - about the effect of silence on human relations. Why are we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/and-slowly-a-discussion-begins-as-morrie-has-wanted-all-along-about/)

[Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/)

> [You don't want people to look at something and think that was a fantastic special effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gale-anne-hurd/you-don-t-want-people-to-look-at-something-and-think-that-was-a/)

[Gale Anne Hurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gale-anne-hurd/)

> [The problem is that rap is so often a caricature of its own image. Nobody comes to the table with the seriousness of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-naan/the-problem-is-that-rap-is-so-often-a-caricature-of-its-own-image/)

[K'naan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-naan/)

> [I read neither good nor bad about me. I let it not even in my life, so it has no effect on me. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bette-midler/i-read-neither-good-nor-bad-about-me-i-let-it-not-even-in-my-life-so/)

[Bette Midler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bette-midler/)

> [The event of the landing of these brethren upon our shores is to be, not without its beneficial effect, as well to the colored…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-tappan/the-event-of-the-landing-of-these-brethren-upon-our-shores-is-to-be/)

[Lewis Tappan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-tappan/)

> [Joy is the effect which comes when we use our powers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/joy-is-the-effect-which-comes-when-we-use-our-powers/)

[Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/)

Browse all 652 Effect quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "I didn't seem to have that effect on anyone but it would have been a waste for both of us to be saints.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Meg Rosoff"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-didn-t-seem-to-have-that-effect-on-anyone-but-it-would-have-been-a/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Effect"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-didn-t-seem-to-have-that-effect-on-anyone-but-it-would-have-been-a/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d55/meg-rosoff-2050_saint_i-didn-t-seem-to-have-that-effect-on-any_1145966.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d55/meg-rosoff-2050_saint_i-didn-t-seem-to-have-that-effect-on-any_1145966.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d55/meg-rosoff-2050_saint_i-didn-t-seem-to-have-that-effect-on-any_1145966.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I didn't seem to have that effect on anyone but it would have been a waste for both of us to be saints.” — Meg Rosoff",
                "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": "Meg Rosoff",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "I didn't seem to have that...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-didn-t-seem-to-have-that-effect-on-anyone-but-it-would-have-been-a/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-didn-t-seem-to-have-that-effect-on-anyone-but-it-would-have-been-a/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
