--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...This is the first time I have met…" description: "\"...This is the first time I have met someone who seeks out people and who sees beyond...We never look beyond our assumptions and, what's worse, we have..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0e/muriel-barbery-1092_assumption_this-is-the-first-time-i-have-met-someon_2151153.jpg" --- # ...This is the first time I have met someone who seeks out… ![“...This is the first time I have met someone who seeks out people and who sees beyond...We never look beyond our assumptions and, what's worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves. We don't recognize each other because other people have become our permanent mirrors. If…” quote by Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0e/muriel-barbery-1092_assumption_this-is-the-first-time-i-have-met-someon_2151153.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0e/muriel-barbery-1092_assumption_this-is-the-first-time-i-have-met-someon_2151153.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0e/muriel-barbery-1092_assumption_this-is-the-first-time-i-have-met-someon_2151153.jpg) > “...This is the first time I have met someone who seeks out people and who sees beyond...We never look beyond our assumptions and, what's worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves. We don't recognize each other because other people have become our permanent mirrors. If we actually realized this, if we were to become aware of the fact that we are alone in the wilderness, we would go crazy...As for me, I implore fate to give me the chance to see beyond myself and truly meet someone.” [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) ## 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 only as reflections of ourselves, preventing genuine connection; recognizing our isolation can drive us to seek deeper relationships. **In simple terms:** We see others as mirrors, missing true connection. Key Takeaway Seek authentic encounters beyond self‑projection. Themes connection self‑awareness loneliness authenticity Mood reflective lonely hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal relationships - therapy - community building - spiritual practice Key Concepts mirror metaphor existential isolation desire for transcendence Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when you are projecting onto others? - What steps can you take to meet people beyond assumptions? A Different Perspective True connection requires confronting uncomfortable solitude. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Crazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crazy/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Fate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) [First time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-time/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given/) [Given Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given-trying-374589/) [Given up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given-up/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Meet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meet/) [Mets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mets/) [Mirrors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirrors/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Seeks People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeks-people-3939266/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Truly Meet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truly-meet-1064549/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Trying Meet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying-meet-1638129/) [Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness/) ## Related quotes > [We never look beyond our assumptions and what's worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/we-never-look-beyond-our-assumptions-and-what-s-worse-we-have-given/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [“As for me, I implore fate to give me the chance to see beyond myself and truly meet someone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/as-for-me-i-implore-fate-to-give-me-the-chance-to-see-beyond-myself/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [I'm not the kind of person that seeks out other people's opinions on my works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-dehaan/i-m-not-the-kind-of-person-that-seeks-out-other-people-s-opinions-on/) [Dane DeHaan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-dehaan/) > [At the gym; I've given up trying to get in really good shape, and re-committed myself to not getting any worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dov-davidoff/at-the-gym-i-ve-given-up-trying-to-get-in-really-good-shape-and-re/) [Dov Davidoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dov-davidoff/) > [I've given up trying to understand what people think about me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/i-ve-given-up-trying-to-understand-what-people-think-about-me/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [I have given up trying to be happy. It is no use an leads to nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-held/i-have-given-up-trying-to-be-happy-it-is-no-use-an-leads-to-nothing/) [Anna Held](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-held/) > [I've been in love a couple times, but you never know if it's truly the one until you meet the right person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yungblud/i-ve-been-in-love-a-couple-times-but-you-never-know-if-it-s-truly-the/) [Yungblud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yungblud/) > [To truly meet others with whom to share a](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/to-truly-meet-others-with-whom-to-share-a/) [Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/) > [I want to love you without clutching, appreciate you without judging, join you without invading, invite you without demanding, leave you without guilt, criticize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-satir/i-want-to-love-you-without-clutching-appreciate-you-without-judging/) [Virginia Satir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-satir/) > [“You can be with a man for twenty years and never really know who he truly is. Then again, you can meet a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-taylor-bradford/you-can-be-with-a-man-for-twenty-years-and-never-really-know-who-he/) [Barbara Taylor Bradford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-taylor-bradford/) > [I busked a few times in Asheville, North Carolina, when I was 18. It was terrifying. I was probably just trying to meet girls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-dessner/i-busked-a-few-times-in-asheville-north-carolina-when-i-was-18-it-was/) [Aaron Dessner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-dessner/) > [“Become the person you are trying to meet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/become-the-person-you-are-trying-to-meet/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [Don't go out of your way for someone that isn't trying to meet you half way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/don-t-go-out-of-your-way-for-someone-that-isn-t-trying-to-meet-you/) [SONYA PARKER](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [Trying to meet new women, it's always a little more difficult as opposed to calling somebody I knew that's single and trying to rebuild…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/trying-to-meet-new-women-it-s-always-a-little-more-difficult-as/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [I just feel like in society and in public, we have this unspoken expectation that we're all trying to meet. And there's so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-alaina/i-just-feel-like-in-society-and-in-public-we-have-this-unspoken/) [Lauren Alaina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-alaina/) ## More by Muriel Barbery > [“Those who can, do; those who can't, teach; those who can't teach, teach the teachers; and those who can't teach the teachers go into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/those-who-can-do-those-who-can-t-teach-those-who-can-t-teach-teach/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [What is writing, no matter how lavish the pieces, if it says nothing of the truth, cares little for the heart, and is merely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/what-is-writing-no-matter-how-lavish-the-pieces-if-it-says-nothing-of/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [Live or die: mere consequences of what you have built. What matters is building well. So here we are I've assigned myself a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/live-or-die-mere-consequences-of-what-you-have-built-what-matters-is/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [“A terroir only exists by virtue of one's childhood mythology . . . we have invented these words of tradition rooted deep in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/a-terroir-only-exists-by-virtue-of-one-s-childhood-mythology-we-have/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [“The tea ritual: such a precise repetition of the same gestures and the same tastes; accession to simple,authentic and refined sensations, a license given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/the-tea-ritual-such-a-precise-repetition-of-the-same-gestures-and-the/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [As always, I am saved by the inability of living creatures to believe anything that might cause the walls of their little mental assumptions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/as-always-i-am-saved-by-the-inability-of-living-creatures-to-believe/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [“I wonder if I am not turning into a contemplative . . . But those roses . They were something else. I was having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/i-wonder-if-i-am-not-turning-into-a-contemplative-but-those-roses/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [Personally I think that grammar is a way to attain beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/personally-i-think-that-grammar-is-a-way-to-attain-beauty/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [To be poor, ugly and, moreover, intelligent condemns one in our society to a dark and disillusioned life...to beauty all is forgiven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/to-be-poor-ugly-and-moreover-intelligent-condemns-one-in-our-society/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [Beautiful things should belong to beautiful souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/beautiful-things-should-belong-to-beautiful-souls/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [I know that they're all unhappy because nobody loves the right person the way they should and because they don't understand that it's really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/i-know-that-they-re-all-unhappy-because-nobody-loves-the-right-person/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [We never look beyond our assumptions and what's worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/we-never-look-beyond-our-assumptions-and-what-s-worse-we-have-given/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [“To rich people it must seem that the ordinary little people..experience human emotions with less intensity and greater indifference...The fact that we might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/to-rich-people-it-must-seem-that-the-ordinary-little-people/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [I may know that the world is an ugly place, I still don't want to see it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/i-may-know-that-the-world-is-an-ugly-place-i-still-don-t-want-to-see/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [“Personally I think that grammar is a way to attain Beauty. When you speak, or read, or write, you can tell if you’ve said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/personally-i-think-that-grammar-is-a-way-to-attain-beauty-when-you/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) [Explore all 250 Muriel Barbery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) ## More Assumption quotes > [Next to the assumption of power was the responsibility of relinquishing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/next-to-the-assumption-of-power-was-the-responsibility-of/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [It's difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of the people ever really get the word about life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/it-s-difficult-for-people-to-come-to-the-understanding-that-only-a/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) [Richard Doll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-doll/) > [Fortunately, the mind is restless; when it uncovers a layer of its own deception, gives up an illusion, exposes a lie, it does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-chernin/fortunately-the-mind-is-restless-when-it-uncovers-a-layer-of-its-own/) [Kim Chernin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-chernin/) > [The possibility of saying anything about a thing rests on the assumption that it preserves its identity, or continues to be the same thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-knight/the-possibility-of-saying-anything-about-a-thing-rests-on-the/) [Frank Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-knight/) > [She spent hours drawing on her own, trying to perfect her craft. And when she got into music, she had that same diligence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-joplin/she-spent-hours-drawing-on-her-own-trying-to-perfect-her-craft-and/) [Laura Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-joplin/) > [If they are, then the only ultimate truths are the particulars of concrete experience, and no postulate or general assumption is inherent in science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-wright/if-they-are-then-the-only-ultimate-truths-are-the-particulars-of/) [Chauncey Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chauncey-wright/) > [If he's - the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a - is a noble institution I would - I would strongly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-he-s-the-inference-is-that-somehow-he-thinks-slavery-is-a-is-a/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Leadership, pure and simple, is the assumption of responsibility for the pursuit of excellence in group life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-selznick/leadership-pure-and-simple-is-the-assumption-of-responsibility-for/) [Philip Selznick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-selznick/) > [Humans suffer from self-centred notions as to the nature of life. Humans assume that alien life forms should conform to standards that match our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-perry/humans-suffer-from-self-centred-notions-as-to-the-nature-of-life/) [Steve Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-perry/) > [When I see a fan coming over, I can't help but make an assumption about what they want to talk about. A middle-aged American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-dormer/when-i-see-a-fan-coming-over-i-can-t-help-but-make-an-assumption/) [Natalie Dormer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-dormer/) > [The Bell curve is a fact of life. The blacks on average score 85 per cent on IQ and it is accurate, nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/the-bell-curve-is-a-fact-of-life-the-blacks-on-average-score-85-per/) [Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/) > [Pussy Riot have certainly changed some people's assumptions about the role of political art and the relationship between the intelligentsia and the church. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/pussy-riot-have-certainly-changed-some-people-s-assumptions-about-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) [Browse all 1,277 Assumption quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "...This is the first time I have met someone who seeks out people and who sees beyond...We never look beyond our assumptions and, what's worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves. We don't recognize each other because other people have become our permanent mirrors. 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