--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Several years ago, when I was about to…" description: "\"Several years ago, when I was about to start a novel, I thought I might get some mileage out of the idea of a civilization in which people somehow felt..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2f/octavia-e-butler-2861_about_several-years-ago-when-i-was-about-to-st_1608618.jpg" --- # Several years ago, when I was about to start a novel, I… ![“Several years ago, when I was about to start a novel, I thought I might get some mileage out of the idea of a civilization in which people somehow felt - that is, they shared - all the pain and all the pleasure they caused one another.” quote by Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2f/octavia-e-butler-2861_about_several-years-ago-when-i-was-about-to-st_1608618.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2f/octavia-e-butler-2861_about_several-years-ago-when-i-was-about-to-st_1608618.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2f/octavia-e-butler-2861_about_several-years-ago-when-i-was-about-to-st_1608618.jpg) > “Several years ago, when I was about to start a novel, I thought I might get some mileage out of the idea of a civilization in which people somehow felt - that is, they shared - all the pain and all the pleasure they caused one another.” [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Imagines a world where shared pain and pleasure bind people, exploring deep empathy and collective responsibility. **In simple terms:** Shared feelings could unite humanity. Key Takeaway Cultivate empathy and recognize mutual impact. Themes empathy community interconnectedness Mood thoughtful philosophical Type literary speculative When to use this quote - relationship building - conflict resolution - social policy - artistic storytelling Key Concepts shared experience collective consciousness Questions to Reflect On - How would society change if everyone truly felt each other's emotions? - What limits exist to achieving such deep empathy? A Different Perspective True shared feeling may be impossible to fully achieve. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [About](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/about/) [Another](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Caused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caused/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt/) [Felt Shared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-shared-3695738/) [Get](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/get/) [Idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idea/) [Idea Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idea-civilization-2442684/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novel Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel-thought-1464118/) [Out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/out/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Pain pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-pleasure/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Several](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/several/) [Shared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shared/) [Shared Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shared-pain-1278862/) [Some](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/some/) [Somehow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/somehow/) [Start](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/start/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Which](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/which/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Years ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-ago/) ## Related quotes > [“The watchers below pulled their breath in all at once. The air suddenly felt shared. The man above was a word they seemed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-watchers-below-pulled-their-breath-in-all-at-once-the-air/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [My idea of our civilization is that it is a shoddy, poor thing and full of cruelties, vanities, arrogances, meannesses and hypocrisies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/my-idea-of-our-civilization-is-that-it-is-a-shoddy-poor-thing-and/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Perhaps civilization will never be safe until we care for something else more than we care for it. The hypothesis has certain facts to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/perhaps-civilization-will-never-be-safe-until-we-care-for-something/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The whole idea of civilization as an understandable narrative is a bit nuts. It's the most problematic of delusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carey-mercer/the-whole-idea-of-civilization-as-an-understandable-narrative-is-a/) [Carey Mercer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carey-mercer/) > [I hadn't meant to do the pattern of publishing short stories and then a novel. I thought, 'I'm a novelist. I know it.' But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/i-hadn-t-meant-to-do-the-pattern-of-publishing-short-stories-and-then/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [“A man who is not born with the novel-writing gift has a troublesome time of it when he tries to build a novel. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-who-is-not-born-with-the-novel-writing-gift-has-a-troublesome/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [While working on my first five books, I kept wishing I was writing a novel. I thought until you wrote a novel, you weren't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/while-working-on-my-first-five-books-i-kept-wishing-i-was-writing-a/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“ Whoever looks for the writer’s thinking in the words and thoughts of his characters is looking in the wrong direction. Seeking out a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/whoever-looks-for-the-writer-s-thinking-in-the-words-and-thoughts-of/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [I remember when I was in graduate school and someone in workshop would say, 'I'm going to bring in a chapter of my novel.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-minot/i-remember-when-i-was-in-graduate-school-and-someone-in-workshop/) [Susan Minot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-minot/) > [If Im in the bookstore, and I see a 700-page novel, my first thought is, Ooh, how could you cut this down to size…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-helgeland/if-im-in-the-bookstore-and-i-see-a-700-page-novel-my-first-thought-is/) [Brian Helgeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-helgeland/) > [“In the morning it was morning and I was still alive. Maybe I'll write a novel, I thought. And then I did.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/in-the-morning-it-was-morning-and-i-was-still-alive-maybe-i-ll-write/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“Those were the reasons we both knew how deep love was, the shared pain that would outlast any pain we caused each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/those-were-the-reasons-we-both-knew-how-deep-love-was-the-shared-pain/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“Shared pain is lessened Shared joy is increased Thus do we refute entropy”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spider-robinson/shared-pain-is-lessened-shared-joy-is-increased-thus-do-we-refute/) [Spider Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spider-robinson/) > [My loving sister Mary has always shared the pain and pleasure of my heartbeat in a unique and special way. We have sung our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/my-loving-sister-mary-has-always-shared-the-pain-and-pleasure-of-my/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [“shared pain is more bearable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/shared-pain-is-more-bearable/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) ## More by Octavia E. Butler > [The lovely thing about writing is, well, two things. One, writing fiction allows us to bring an order to our lives that doesn't exist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/the-lovely-thing-about-writing-is-well-two-things-one-writing-fiction/) [Octavia E. 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Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“In the book of Job, God says he made everything and he knows everything so no one has any right to question what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/in-the-book-of-job-god-says-he-made-everything-and-he-knows/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“But there’s no power in having strength and brains, and yet waiting for God to fix things for you or take revenge for you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/but-there-s-no-power-in-having-strength-and-brains-and-yet-waiting/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“After a few years of watching the human species make things unnecessarily difficult for itself I have little hope that it will do anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/after-a-few-years-of-watching-the-human-species-make-things/) [Octavia E. 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