--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People understand me so poorly that they…" description: "\"People understand me so poorly that they don't even understand my complaint about them not understanding me.\" — Soren Kierkegaard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65b/soren-kierkegaard-578_people_people-understand-me-so-poorly-that-they_1728571.jpg" --- # People understand me so poorly that they don't even… ![“People understand me so poorly that they don't even understand my complaint about them not understanding me.” quote by Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65b/soren-kierkegaard-578_people_people-understand-me-so-poorly-that-they_1728571.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65b/soren-kierkegaard-578_people_people-understand-me-so-poorly-that-they_1728571.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65b/soren-kierkegaard-578_people_people-understand-me-so-poorly-that-they_1728571.jpg) > “People understand me so poorly that they don't even understand my complaint about them not understanding me.” [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote expresses frustration that others fail to grasp the speaker’s perspective, leading to deeper misunderstanding. **In simple terms:** People don’t get me, even my complaints. Key Takeaway Clarify your feelings and seek empathetic listeners. Themes miscommunication self‑understanding existential angst relationships Mood reflective introspective Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - personal relationships - therapy sessions - group discussions - creative writing Key Concepts Subjective truth otherness communication barriers Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions do you make about others’ understanding? - How can you express your feelings more clearly? A Different Perspective Assuming others are unwilling to understand may overlook your own clarity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [The world is filled with people who understand. I personally value people who don't understand. People who understand have nothing more to learn. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-world-is-filled-with-people-who-understand-i-personally-value/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I don't think people understand how stressful it is to explain what's going on in your head when you don't even understand it yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-quin/i-don-t-think-people-understand-how-stressful-it-is-to-explain-what-s/) [Sara Quin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-quin/) > [People who do not understand themselves have a craving for understanding — a thing which is rather surmised and never spoken than known and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-stekel/people-who-do-not-understand-themselves-have-a-craving-for/) [Wilhelm Stekel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-stekel/) > [When you don't understand, it's sometimes easier to look like you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/when-you-don-t-understand-it-s-sometimes-easier-to-look-like-you-do/) [Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/) > [Even though you may think you don't understand or know why things happen the way they do or you can't explain why you love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelesy-burns/even-though-you-may-think-you-don-t-understand-or-know-why-things/) Chelesy Burns > [The stupid don't even understand something that happened long ago, the wise understand it before it develops.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shang-yang/the-stupid-don-t-even-understand-something-that-happened-long-ago-the/) Shang Yang > [A man may perform astonishing feats and comprehend a vast amount of knowledge, and yet have no understanding of himself. But suffering directs a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-man-may-perform-astonishing-feats-and-comprehend-a-vast-amount-of/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [It is really important for us that people understand what the strategy is and that the real approach is to make everything social, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/it-is-really-important-for-us-that-people-understand-what-the/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > [Maybe you're right, people do not understand you! Do not blame them, are used to catch you around the ears clean up word used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/maybe-you-re-right-people-do-not-understand-you-do-not-blame-them-are/) Mak\_786 > [May be you can never understand the languages of different people, but you can always understand them with their behaviour...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohit-padhra/may-be-you-can-never-understand-the-languages-of-different-people-but/) [Rohit Padhra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohit-padhra/) > [“It is hard for people to understand helping someone if you having nothing to gain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-holman/it-is-hard-for-people-to-understand-helping-someone-if-you-having/) [Sarah Holman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-holman/) > [It's important that people understand who I am and where I come from and not just have it shaped by purely political discourse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-trudeau/it-s-important-that-people-understand-who-i-am-and-where-i-come-from/) [Justin Trudeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-trudeau/) > [“She knows how things fit together and move, but so few people understand her. She’s the most solitary person I’ve ever known.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-condie/she-knows-how-things-fit-together-and-move-but-so-few-people/) [Ally Condie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-condie/) > [I want people to understand there is a such a thing as creating a harmonious experience between the dogs and the humans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-millan/i-want-people-to-understand-there-is-a-such-a-thing-as-creating-a/) [Cesar Millan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-millan/) > [For people to understand me when I travel, I speak with my hands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-carne/for-people-to-understand-me-when-i-travel-i-speak-with-my-hands/) [Marcel Carne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-carne/) ## More by Soren Kierkegaard > [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Christians remind me of schoolboys who want to look up the answers to their math problems in the back of the book rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christians-remind-me-of-schoolboys-who-want-to-look-up-the-answers-to/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [People commonly travel the world over to see rivers and mountains, new stars, garish birds, freak fish, grotesque breeds of human; they fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-commonly-travel-the-world-over-to-see-rivers-and-mountains-new/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [“A strange thing happened to me in my dream. I was rapt into the Seventh Heaven. There sat all the gods assembled. As a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-strange-thing-happened-to-me-in-my-dream-i-was-rapt-into-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [That which is truly human no generation learns from the one before it. No generation learns from another how to love. No generation has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/that-which-is-truly-human-no-generation-learns-from-the-one-before-it/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A man may perform astonishing feats and comprehend a vast amount of knowledge, and yet have no understanding of himself. But suffering directs a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-man-may-perform-astonishing-feats-and-comprehend-a-vast-amount-of/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Be that self which one truly is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/be-that-self-which-one-truly-is/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I go fishing for a thousand monsters in the depths of my own self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-go-fishing-for-a-thousand-monsters-in-the-depths-of-my-own-self/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [In addition to my other numerous acquaintances, I have one more intimate confidant… My depression is the most faithful mistress I have known —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/in-addition-to-my-other-numerous-acquaintances-i-have-one-more/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [The greatest danger to Christianity is, I contend, not heresies, not heterodoxies, not atheists, not profane secularism - no, but the kind of orthodoxy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-greatest-danger-to-christianity-is-i-contend-not-heresies-not/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Future is everything that past has forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/future-is-everything-that-past-has-forgotten/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Without risk, faith is an impossibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/without-risk-faith-is-an-impossibility/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I have only one confidant, and that is the silence of night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-have-only-one-confidant-and-that-is-the-silence-of-night/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A road well begun is the battle half won. The important thing is to make a beginning and get under way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-road-well-begun-is-the-battle-half-won-the-important-thing-is-to/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I have, I believe, the courage to doubt everything; I have, I believe, the courage to fight against everything; but I do not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/i-have-i-believe-the-courage-to-doubt-everything-i-have-i-believe-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) [Explore all 462 Soren Kierkegaard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) ## More People quotes > [If I am going to be phased out by whatever powers, then I want people to know that it is not because I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parvathy/if-i-am-going-to-be-phased-out-by-whatever-powers-then-i-want-people/) [Parvathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parvathy/) > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I feel like I definitely have a real sporty style, more so than a lot of people in G.O.O.D. Music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-sean/i-feel-like-i-definitely-have-a-real-sporty-style-more-so-than-a-lot/) [Big Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-sean/) > [I feel like the future is unwritten. So many of the things that we write now haven't been about educating people on the environment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/i-feel-like-the-future-is-unwritten-so-many-of-the-things-that-we/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/for-us-who-are-now-in-power-we-need-to-be-challenged-to-serve-the/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) > [When I was trying to come up with a stage name, I thought 'Lord' was super rad, but really masculine - ever since I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorde/when-i-was-trying-to-come-up-with-a-stage-name-i-thought-lord-was/) [Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorde/) > [By eating many fruits and vegetables in place of fast food and junk food, people could avoid obesity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-h-murdock/by-eating-many-fruits-and-vegetables-in-place-of-fast-food-and-junk/) [David H. Murdock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-h-murdock/) > [Some people give you that motivation to work harder simply to get the hell away from wherever they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/some-people-give-you-that-motivation-to-work-harder-simply-to-get-the/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they're wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/pain-is-meant-to-wake-us-up-people-try-to-hide-their-pain-but-they-re/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) [Browse all 211,607 People quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People understand me so poorly that they don't even understand my complaint about them not understanding me.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Soren Kierkegaard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-understand-me-so-poorly-that-they-don-t-even-understand-my/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "People" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-understand-me-so-poorly-that-they-don-t-even-understand-my/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65b/soren-kierkegaard-578_people_people-understand-me-so-poorly-that-they_1728571.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65b/soren-kierkegaard-578_people_people-understand-me-so-poorly-that-they_1728571.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65b/soren-kierkegaard-578_people_people-understand-me-so-poorly-that-they_1728571.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People understand me so poorly that they don't even understand my complaint about them not understanding me.” — Soren Kierkegaard", "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": "Soren Kierkegaard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "People understand me so poorly that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-understand-me-so-poorly-that-they-don-t-even-understand-my/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/people-understand-me-so-poorly-that-they-don-t-even-understand-my/#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 } } ] } ```