--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We kid ourselves that we're trying to be…" description: "\"We kid ourselves that we're trying to be empathetic with the human condition from a distance, but I don't think that is it at all. It's stupid; it's a ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/simon-winchester-17875_condition_we-kid-ourselves-that-we-re-trying-to-be_1818306.jpg" --- # We kid ourselves that we're trying to be empathetic with… ![“We kid ourselves that we're trying to be empathetic with the human condition from a distance, but I don't think that is it at all. It's stupid; it's a waste of time. But when the earth flexes its muscles, that's rather different. That's a powerful reminder of where we are.” quote by Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/simon-winchester-17875_condition_we-kid-ourselves-that-we-re-trying-to-be_1818306.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/simon-winchester-17875_condition_we-kid-ourselves-that-we-re-trying-to-be_1818306.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2a/simon-winchester-17875_condition_we-kid-ourselves-that-we-re-trying-to-be_1818306.jpg) > “We kid ourselves that we're trying to be empathetic with the human condition from a distance, but I don't think that is it at all. It's stupid; it's a waste of time. But when the earth flexes its muscles, that's rather different. That's a powerful reminder of where we are.” [Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We claim empathy from afar, but true understanding comes from witnessing Earth's powerful, tangible forces that remind us of our place. **In simple terms:** Empathy requires direct experience, not distant feeling. Key Takeaway Engage with the natural world. Themes environment perception humility science spirituality Mood inspired reflective humble Type environmental philosophical When to use this quote - field research - outdoor education - environmental activism - personal reflection Key Concepts earth dynamics climate change human impact mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How does experiencing nature change your worldview? - What actions follow a deeper planetary awareness? A Different Perspective Remote empathy can be superficial. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Human condition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-condition/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kids/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste/) [Waste of time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste-of-time/) [Wasting time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wasting-time/) ## Related quotes > [The novels I love, the ones I remember, the ones I re-read, have an empathetic human quality, or 'emotional truth'. 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Surround yourself with those who lift you higher, believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rosa/a-little-reminder-i-needed-today-as-i-dive-deeper-into-this/) Paula Rosa > [Just a friendly reminder that Im in a relationship and youre not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/just-a-friendly-reminder-that-im-in-a-relationship-and-youre-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“This is your reminder to wear your heart on your sleeve more often.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siobhan-vivian/this-is-your-reminder-to-wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve-more-often/) [Siobhan Vivian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siobhan-vivian/) > [“While taste conveys the complexity of life, a good chef should keep in mind that food can have a meaning that is often not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-m-kelby/while-taste-conveys-the-complexity-of-life-a-good-chef-should-keep-in/) [N.M. Kelby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-m-kelby/) ## More by Simon Winchester > [“The very name Impressionism is taken from an Atlantic Ocean painting - that of Monet, of sunrise in the harbor of Le Havre, done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-winchester/the-very-name-impressionism-is-taken-from-an-atlantic-ocean-painting/) [Simon winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) > [My wife is very interested in fashion. I am absolutely not. I couldn't give a toss. Fashion is a perfectly valid thing to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-winchester/my-wife-is-very-interested-in-fashion-i-am-absolutely-not-i-couldn-t/) [Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) > [“or of oats (“ a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people”),”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-winchester/or-of-oats-a-grain-which-in-england-is-generally-given-to-horses-but/) [Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) > [To be perfectly honest the old habits, specifically deadlines, still very much inform what I do. I am brutally disciplined about getting manuscripts in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-winchester/to-be-perfectly-honest-the-old-habits-specifically-deadlines-still/) [Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) > [I do as much bookish research as I can but when I sit down to write, often I think, 'Wait, I was there.' 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But if something can be learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-winchester/the-nature-of-catastrophe-is-after-all-reasonably-unvarying-in-the/) [Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) > [“and his youngest sister, Henrietta, lived to a great age, also beside the sea, with a vast collection of cats—having previously traveled around England…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-winchester/and-his-youngest-sister-henrietta-lived-to-a-great-age-also-beside/) [Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) > [I find the science behind major natural events almost more interesting than the way in which those same events wreak their effects on human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-winchester/i-find-the-science-behind-major-natural-events-almost-more/) [Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) > [The most difficult task for anyone wandering through a foreign land with the hope of gaining some insight into it is the profound need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-winchester/the-most-difficult-task-for-anyone-wandering-through-a-foreign-land/) [Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) > [“The cities of the eastern American fall line are well known today—Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Philadelphia—even though the part that the very similar accidents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-winchester/the-cities-of-the-eastern-american-fall-line-are-well-known-today/) [Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) > [“Think simple, Murray kept insisting: Think simple.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-winchester/think-simple-murray-kept-insisting-think-simple/) [Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) > [So research is a terribly imperfect science, and you learn an awful lot more after you've published a book, because people keep writing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-winchester/so-research-is-a-terribly-imperfect-science-and-you-learn-an-awful/) [Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) > [Nature is not evil. The world occasionally shrugs its shoulders, and people get knocked off. The earth, for geological reasons that are well known,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-winchester/nature-is-not-evil-the-world-occasionally-shrugs-its-shoulders-and/) [Simon Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) [Explore all 36 Simon Winchester quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-winchester/) ## More Condition quotes > [That is the real problem of depression - a condition which will affect an estimated one in five of the population at some point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-andreae/that-is-the-real-problem-of-depression-a-condition-which-will-affect/) [Giles Andreae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-andreae/) > [I am not my skin. I am a model with a skin condition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winnie-harlow/i-am-not-my-skin-i-am-a-model-with-a-skin-condition/) [Winnie Harlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winnie-harlow/) > [Even a cup of coffee tastes so much sweeter because you've come once again out of the, literally, out of the edge of death,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-koch/even-a-cup-of-coffee-tastes-so-much-sweeter-because-you-ve-come-once/) [Christopher Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-koch/) > [I see film as a real opportunity to examine the human condition. No matter where the technology goes in the future, the basics don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-schultz/i-see-film-as-a-real-opportunity-to-examine-the-human-condition-no/) [Michael Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-schultz/) > [To any mental state there corresponds a physical condition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-alfred-lynch/to-any-mental-state-there-corresponds-a-physical-condition/) [Arthur Alfred Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-alfred-lynch/) > [I am repeatedly asked in interviews exactly 'what's wrong' with me, and I always give them the same answer; I don't identify the name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-young/i-am-repeatedly-asked-in-interviews-exactly-what-s-wrong-with-me-and/) [Stella Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-young/) > [Democracy is a process, not a static condition. It is becoming, rather than being. It can be easily lost, but is never finally won.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-hastie/democracy-is-a-process-not-a-static-condition-it-is-becoming-rather/) [William H. Hastie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-hastie/) > [Human beings are interested in the human condition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/human-beings-are-interested-in-the-human-condition/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [My parents were angry, but they were relieved that I was in good condition. They had been afraid the Russians would torture me. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mathias-rust/my-parents-were-angry-but-they-were-relieved-that-i-was-in-good/) [Mathias Rust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mathias-rust/) > [So you see, old age is really not so bad. May you come to know the condition!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/so-you-see-old-age-is-really-not-so-bad-may-you-come-to-know-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [I have heard that whoever loves is in no condition old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-have-heard-that-whoever-loves-is-in-no-condition-old/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [No matter what schemes you have, if you're not in condition to run, you can't succeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-paysinger/no-matter-what-schemes-you-have-if-you-re-not-in-condition-to-run-you/) [Spencer Paysinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-paysinger/) > [There is no condition for forgiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tillich/there-is-no-condition-for-forgiveness/) [Paul Tillich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tillich/) > [“I was not alone in the human condition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-wingate/i-was-not-alone-in-the-human-condition/) [Lisa Wingate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-wingate/) > [A condition of complete simplicity (Costing not less than everything)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-condition-of-complete-simplicity-costing-not-less-than-everything/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 356 Condition quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We kid ourselves that we're trying to be empathetic with the human condition from a distance, but I don't think that is it at all. 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