--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: there was genuine pity in her face, but…" description: "\"“there was genuine pity in her face, but also a kind of glee, the sort you see sometimes when teens are interviewed about the tragic death of a friend...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ea/ruth-ware-19683_adventure_there-was-genuine-pity-in-her-face-but-a_1263143.jpg" --- # there was genuine pity in her face, but also a kind of… ![“there was genuine pity in her face, but also a kind of glee, the sort you see sometimes when teens are interviewed about the tragic death of a friend. The sadness is there, and it's real, but there's an underlying thrill at the drama of it all, the realness of it all.” quote by Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ea/ruth-ware-19683_adventure_there-was-genuine-pity-in-her-face-but-a_1263143.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ea/ruth-ware-19683_adventure_there-was-genuine-pity-in-her-face-but-a_1263143.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ea/ruth-ware-19683_adventure_there-was-genuine-pity-in-her-face-but-a_1263143.jpg) > ““there was genuine pity in her face, but also a kind of glee, the sort you see sometimes when teens are interviewed about the tragic death of a friend. The sadness is there, and it's real, but there's an underlying thrill at the drama of it all, the realness of it all.”” [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage describes a mix of genuine sorrow and a disturbing excitement when people witness tragedy, showing complex emotional responses. **In simple terms:** People can feel both sadness and a twisted thrill at drama. Key Takeaway Beware of becoming desensitized to others' pain. Themes empathy psychology human nature Mood reflective somber Type literary psychological When to use this quote - news coverage - true crime documentaries - social media reactions - personal grief Key Concepts cognitive dissonance morality media consumption Questions to Reflect On - Why do we sometimes feel excitement at others' misfortune? - How can we cultivate healthier empathy? A Different Perspective The thrill may stem from voyeurism, not genuine concern. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adventure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adventure/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death of a friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-of-a-friend/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) ## Related quotes > [“So don't be frightened, dear friend, if a sadness confronts you larger than any you have ever known, casting its shadow over all you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/so-don-t-be-frightened-dear-friend-if-a-sadness-confronts-you-larger/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [We have previously suggested that philanthropy combines genuine pity with the display of power and that the latter element explains why the powerful are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/we-have-previously-suggested-that-philanthropy-combines-genuine-pity/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [“It was a tough night," Marcus said briefly, another humorless smile crossing his mouth. "But they got what they paid for." "Jesus," Thomas murmured.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joey-w-hill/it-was-a-tough-night-marcus-said-briefly-another-humorless-smile/) [Joey W. Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joey-w-hill/) > [To be loved at first sight, a man should have at the same time something to respect and something to pity in his face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/to-be-loved-at-first-sight-a-man-should-have-at-the-same-time/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“Whenever something scary happens or I want to comment on something, like Joyce and Hopper’s constant bickering, which is getting annoying, I glance toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-latos/whenever-something-scary-happens-or-i-want-to-comment-on-something/) Alexandra Latos > [There's one thing that keeps surprising you about stormy old friends after they die - their silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-hecht/there-s-one-thing-that-keeps-surprising-you-about-stormy-old-friends/) [Ben Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-hecht/) > [We go to the grave of a friend saying, "A man is dead," but angels throng about him saying, "A man is born."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/we-go-to-the-grave-of-a-friend-saying-a-man-is-dead-but-angels-throng/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [He spoke well who said that graves are the footprints of angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/he-spoke-well-who-said-that-graves-are-the-footprints-of-angels/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [The death of a friend is equivalent to the loss of a limb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-death-of-a-friend-is-equivalent-to-the-loss-of-a-limb/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is the will of God and Nature that these mortal bodies be laid aside, when the soul is to enter into real life;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/it-is-the-will-of-god-and-nature-that-these-mortal-bodies-be-laid/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [With what a deep devotedness of woe I wept thy absence - o'er and o'er again Thinking of thee, still thee, till thought grew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-moore/with-what-a-deep-devotedness-of-woe-i-wept-thy-absence-o-er-and-o-er/) [Thomas Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-moore/) > [“ What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? (Just to give you an idea, Proust's reply was 'To be separated from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/what-do-you-regard-as-the-lowest-depth-of-misery-just-to-give-you-an/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Good-night! good-night! as we so oft have said Beneath this roof at midnight, in the days That are no more, and shall no more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/good-night-good-night-as-we-so-oft-have-said-beneath-this-roof-at/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [After the second chapter of Days of Obligation, which is about the death of a friend of mine from AIDS, was published in Harper's,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/after-the-second-chapter-of-days-of-obligation-which-is-about-the/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) > [But fate ordains that dearest friends must part.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/but-fate-ordains-that-dearest-friends-must-part/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) ## More by Ruth Ware > [I'm not 100% sure 'Rebecca' qualifies as a thriller, given it's three parts screwed-up love story and two parts ghost-story-without-a-ghost, but the mystery at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ware/i-m-not-100-sure-rebecca-qualifies-as-a-thriller-given-it-s-three/) [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) > [“Airports say work and security checks and delays. Ports say... I don’t know. Something completely different. Escape, maybe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ware/airports-say-work-and-security-checks-and-delays-ports-say-i-don-t/) [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) > [As a reader, I read quite widely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ware/as-a-reader-i-read-quite-widely/) [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) > [“I dwelled heavily on the image of me chipping away at the lock with a nail file and didn’t tell her about the gloves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ware/i-dwelled-heavily-on-the-image-of-me-chipping-away-at-the-lock-with-a/) [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) > [We are all at the center of our own narrative, but it's a narrative that changes every time we retell it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ware/we-are-all-at-the-center-of-our-own-narrative-but-it-s-a-narrative/) [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) > [“That’s the trouble with having a “click” as Mary Wren might call it. 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Sarcasm is her defense against life. “Let’s”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ware/it-s-not-that-nina-doesn-t-feel-stuff-she-just-deals-with-it/) [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) > [Seeing my book on a billboard in New York was a bucket-list-type thing, but also a deeply surreal moment. I had to keep reminding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ware/seeing-my-book-on-a-billboard-in-new-york-was-a-bucket-list-type/) [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) > [I write as if I'm someone reading the book - often people ask if I write one strand first and then go back and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ware/i-write-as-if-i-m-someone-reading-the-book-often-people-ask-if-i/) [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) > [One of my desert island books, 'The Leopard' is not so much a novel as a eulogy for a way of life and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ware/one-of-my-desert-island-books-the-leopard-is-not-so-much-a-novel-as-a/) [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) > [If I'm writing a furiously angry scene, I have to consciously snap out of it when I shut down the computer, or I find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ware/if-i-m-writing-a-furiously-angry-scene-i-have-to-consciously-snap-out/) [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) > [“But I did feel violated. My little flat felt ruined–soiled and unsafe. Even describing it to the police had felt like an ordeal…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ware/but-i-did-feel-violated-my-little-flat-felt-ruined-soiled-and-unsafe/) [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) > [“Was this what it was going to be like? Was I turning into someone who had panic attacks about walking home from the tube…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ware/was-this-what-it-was-going-to-be-like-was-i-turning-into-someone-who/) [Ruth Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) [Explore all 32 Ruth Ware quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ware/) ## More Adventure quotes > [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. 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I've also done some gravity tests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-replicate-what-the-body-s-going/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [What a thrill. You know you've entered new territory when you realise that your outfit cost more than your film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-yu/what-a-thrill-you-know-you-ve-entered-new-territory-when-you-realise/) Jessica Yu > [“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-supertramp-chris-mccandless/so-many-people-live-within-unhappy-circumstances-and-yet-will-not/) Alexander Supertramp Chris McCandless > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [“Exactly. I think the original tantric Buddhists took notice of was some very wise old people who never studied in their youth, but took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-niemczura/exactly-i-think-the-original-tantric-buddhists-took-notice-of-was/) [Joe Niemczura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-niemczura/) > [As an adventurer...I try to protect against the downside. I make sure I have covered as many eventualities as I can. 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