--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People are terrible. They can bear…" description: "\"People are terrible. They can bear anything. Anything! People are hard and brutal. And everyone is disposable. Everyone! That's the lesson.\" — Rainer W..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a1/rainer-werner-fassbinder-25537_bears_people-are-terrible-they-can-bear-anythi_509664.jpg" --- # People are terrible. They can bear anything. Anything!… ![“People are terrible. They can bear anything. Anything! People are hard and brutal. And everyone is disposable. Everyone! That's the lesson.” quote by Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a1/rainer-werner-fassbinder-25537_bears_people-are-terrible-they-can-bear-anythi_509664.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a1/rainer-werner-fassbinder-25537_bears_people-are-terrible-they-can-bear-anythi_509664.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a1/rainer-werner-fassbinder-25537_bears_people-are-terrible-they-can-bear-anythi_509664.jpg) > “People are terrible. They can bear anything. Anything! People are hard and brutal. And everyone is disposable. Everyone! That's the lesson.” [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It portrays people as inherently harsh and disposable, highlighting a bleak view of human nature. **In simple terms:** People are harsh and disposable. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge dehumanizing attitudes. Themes human nature cruelty disposability Mood cynical reflective Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - relationships - workplace - societal interactions Key Concepts existentialism social critique Questions to Reflect On - Is humanity truly cruel or is this a perspective? - How can we foster empathy? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Brutal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutal/) [Lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lessons/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [Hope can make people do terrible things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/hope-can-make-people-do-terrible-things/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [The State trained us to make other people's terrible jokes work, which is the other part of the game when you're here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ben-garant/the-state-trained-us-to-make-other-people-s-terrible-jokes-work-which/) [Robert Ben Garant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ben-garant/) > [It's hard to say. Sometimes people have had terrible childhoods. And sometimes they just haven't found their special place in life. And sometimes they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-addams/it-s-hard-to-say-sometimes-people-have-had-terrible-childhoods-and/) [Charles Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-addams/) > [People are terrible. They do terrible things to each other, they hurt each other, they lie, they're vain, they're shallow, they're violent ... but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torquil-campbell/people-are-terrible-they-do-terrible-things-to-each-other-they-hurt/) [Torquil Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torquil-campbell/) > [When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That's a terrible burden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kareem-abdul-jabbar/when-i-was-a-kid-no-one-would-believe-anything-positive-that-you/) [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kareem-abdul-jabbar/) > [Sometimes good people have to do terrible things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/sometimes-good-people-have-to-do-terrible-things/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [War is cruel to the people, and terrible to the conquered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/war-is-cruel-to-the-people-and-terrible-to-the-conquered/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [“Well, yes, software people are terrible at estimating, because humans are terrible at estimating. Let’s not just try harder. Let’s find a better way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/well-yes-software-people-are-terrible-at-estimating-because-humans/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [History shows us that people are terrible about guessing what is going to happen - next week, next month, and especially next year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/history-shows-us-that-people-are-terrible-about-guessing-what-is/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [I surround myself with loyalists and people that I would die for. I just would rather die than make bad stuff for people because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-harmon/i-surround-myself-with-loyalists-and-people-that-i-would-die-for-i/) [Dan Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-harmon/) > [Let us be terrible in order to prevent the people from being terrible themselves!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-danton/let-us-be-terrible-in-order-to-prevent-the-people-from-being-terrible/) [Georges Danton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-danton/) > [“The most peaceble people will do the most terrible things when they're pushed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/the-most-peaceble-people-will-do-the-most-terrible-things-when-they/) [John le Carré](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [It's hard to describe to people how terrible it was when you could only watch cartoons at a certain time in your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-janney/it-s-hard-to-describe-to-people-how-terrible-it-was-when-you-could-2/) [Allison Janney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-janney/) > [“People do terrible things, sometimes, for the best reasons. “What’s”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/people-do-terrible-things-sometimes-for-the-best-reasons-what-s/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“The wars of people will be more terrible than those of kings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-s-churchill/the-wars-of-people-will-be-more-terrible-than-those-of-kings/) [Winston S. Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-s-churchill/) ## More by Rainer Werner Fassbinder > [I detest the idea that love between two persons can lead to salvation. All my life I have fought against this oppressive type of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/i-detest-the-idea-that-love-between-two-persons-can-lead-to-salvation/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [The more real things get, the more like myths they become. There have always been myths, but the myths of earlier times were, Im…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/the-more-real-things-get-the-more-like-myths-they-become-there-have/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [For all of us it’s the things that won’t work that keep our interest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/for-all-of-us-it-s-the-things-that-won-t-work-that-keep-our-interest/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [Since I'm not a second Marx or Freud who can offer people alternatives, I have to let them keep their own wrong feelings. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/since-i-m-not-a-second-marx-or-freud-who-can-offer-people/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [I'd like to be for cinema what Shakespeare was for theatre, Marx for politics and Freud for psychology: someone after whom nothing is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/i-d-like-to-be-for-cinema-what-shakespeare-was-for-theatre-marx-for/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [People often criticize my films for being pessimistic; there are certainly many reasons for being pessimistic but I don’t see my films that way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/people-often-criticize-my-films-for-being-pessimistic-there-are/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [ Women think in \[Douglas\] Sirk’s films. Something which has never struck me with other directors. None of them. Usually women are always reacting, doing… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/women-think-in-douglas-sirk-s-films-something-which-has-never-struck/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [So certainly, if we can tell evil stories to make people sick, we can also tell good myths that make them well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/so-certainly-if-we-can-tell-evil-stories-to-make-people-sick-we-can/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [The best thing I can think of would be to create a union between something as beautiful and powerful and wonderful as Hollywood films…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/the-best-thing-i-can-think-of-would-be-to-create-a-union-between/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [Yes, actually ever since I saw his films and tried to write about them, Sirk's been in everything I've done. Not Sirk himself, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/yes-actually-ever-since-i-saw-his-films-and-tried-to-write-about-them/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [The Jews have never been ashamed of being Jews, whereas homosexuals have been stupid enough to be ashamed of their homosexuality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/the-jews-have-never-been-ashamed-of-being-jews-whereas-homosexuals/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [And I don't believe that melodramatic feelings are laughable - they should be taken absolutely seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/and-i-don-t-believe-that-melodramatic-feelings-are-laughable-they/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [In the last analysis, terrorism is an idea generated by capitalism to justify better defense measures to safeguard capitalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/in-the-last-analysis-terrorism-is-an-idea-generated-by-capitalism-to/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [Love is the best, most insidious, most effective instrument of social repression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/love-is-the-best-most-insidious-most-effective-instrument-of-social/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) > [Every decent director has only one subject, and finally only makes the same film over and over again. My subject is the exploitability of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/every-decent-director-has-only-one-subject-and-finally-only-makes-the/) [Rainer Werner Fassbinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) [Explore all 23 Rainer Werner Fassbinder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/) ## More Bears quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-d-read-once-that-if-you-ran-into-a-bear-in-the-woods-you-should/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Television series are like the stock market. There's room for bears and bulls but no room for pigs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-newhart/television-series-are-like-the-stock-market-there-s-room-for-bears/) [Bob Newhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-newhart/) > [The Germans are the most philosophic people in the world, and the greatest smokers: now I trace their philosophy to their smoking. Smoking has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-borrow/the-germans-are-the-most-philosophic-people-in-the-world-and-the/) [George Henry Borrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-borrow/) > [...Gratitude transforms the torment of memory of good things now gone into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/gratitude-transforms-the-torment-of-memory-of-good-things-now-gone/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [You've had a whole lot of experience, but everything is also radically new at each moment, and you have to bring a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-houston/you-ve-had-a-whole-lot-of-experience-but-everything-is-also-radically/) [Jean Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-houston/) > [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/) [Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/) > [Pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. Go back to the grass roots. Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/pay-no-heed-to-the-passing-religious-vogue-go-back-to-the-grass-roots/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [I want you to take a red-hot bath as hot as you can bear it, and just relax your nerves. You can read in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-want-you-to-take-a-red-hot-bath-as-hot-as-you-can-bear-it-and-just/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [He sank into the rocking chair, the same one in which Rebecca had sat during the early days of the house to give embroidery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/he-sank-into-the-rocking-chair-the-same-one-in-which-rebecca-had-sat/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [Some things in this world just ain't meant to be, not in the times we want 'em to, and the heart has to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/some-things-in-this-world-just-ain-t-meant-to-be-not-in-the-times-we/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [And if anyone knows anything about anything," said Bear to himself, "it's Owl who knows something about something," he said, "or my name's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-if-anyone-knows-anything-about-anything-said-bear-to-himself-it-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm totally independent. I don't bear any responsibility to any system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-m-totally-independent-i-don-t-bear-any-responsibility-to-any-system/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [I'm supportive of women, absolutely, and it's so gratifying to have girls come up and say, 'I'm really inspired by your guitar playing.' I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-vincent/i-m-supportive-of-women-absolutely-and-it-s-so-gratifying-to-have/) [St. Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-vincent/) [Browse all 4,111 Bears quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People are terrible. They can bear anything. Anything! People are hard and brutal. And everyone is disposable. Everyone! That's the lesson.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rainer Werner Fassbinder" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/people-are-terrible-they-can-bear-anything-anything-people-are-hard/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bears" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/people-are-terrible-they-can-bear-anything-anything-people-are-hard/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a1/rainer-werner-fassbinder-25537_bears_people-are-terrible-they-can-bear-anythi_509664.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a1/rainer-werner-fassbinder-25537_bears_people-are-terrible-they-can-bear-anythi_509664.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a1/rainer-werner-fassbinder-25537_bears_people-are-terrible-they-can-bear-anythi_509664.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People are terrible. They can bear anything. Anything! People are hard and brutal. And everyone is…” — Rainer Werner Fassbinder", "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": "Rainer Werner Fassbinder", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-werner-fassbinder/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "People are terrible. They can bear...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/people-are-terrible-they-can-bear-anything-anything-people-are-hard/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-werner-fassbinder/people-are-terrible-they-can-bear-anything-anything-people-are-hard/#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 } } ] } ```