--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But just as we can all agree on what is…" description: "\"“But just as we can all agree on what is red, even if we will never know if we each see it in the same way, so we can all agree - can’t we? - that no m..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/stephen-fry-573_hand-in-hand_but-just-as-we-can-all-agree-on-what-is_1257961.jpg" --- # But just as we can all agree on what is red, even if we… ![“But just as we can all agree on what is red, even if we will never know if we each see it in the same way, so we can all agree - can’t we? - that no matter how confident we may appear to others, inside we are all sobbing, scared and uncertain for much of the time. Or perhaps it’s just me. Oh God…” quote by Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/stephen-fry-573_hand-in-hand_but-just-as-we-can-all-agree-on-what-is_1257961.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/stephen-fry-573_hand-in-hand_but-just-as-we-can-all-agree-on-what-is_1257961.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/stephen-fry-573_hand-in-hand_but-just-as-we-can-all-agree-on-what-is_1257961.jpg) > ““But just as we can all agree on what is red, even if we will never know if we each see it in the same way, so we can all agree - can’t we? - that no matter how confident we may appear to others, inside we are all sobbing, scared and uncertain for much of the time. Or perhaps it’s just me. Oh God, perhaps it really is just me. Actually it doesn’t really matter, when you come to think of it. If it is just me, then you are reading the story of some weird freak. You are free to treat this book like science fiction, fantasy or exotic travel literature. Are there really men like Stephen Fry on this planet? Goodness, how alien some people are. And if I am not alone, then neither are you, and hand in hand we can marvel together at the strangeness of the human condition.”” [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human perception is subjective; we share emotions yet experience them uniquely, highlighting both isolation and commonality. **In simple terms:** People feel similar emotions but see them differently. Key Takeaway Recognize shared vulnerability despite differing views. Themes subjectivity empathy human condition Mood introspective thoughtful Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - reading fiction - therapy sessions - online forums - art critique Key Concepts philosophy psychology literature Questions to Reflect On - Do you feel more alone or connected when sharing feelings? - How does recognizing others’ inner struggles change your behavior? A Different Perspective Assuming uniform experience can erase individual nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hand in hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hand-in-hand/) [Human condition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-condition/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) [Strangeness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strangeness/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Uncertainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncertainty/) ## Related quotes > [“We returned to our palaces, these Kingdoms, but no longer at ease here in the old dispensation, with an alien people clutching their gods.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/we-returned-to-our-palaces-these-kingdoms-but-no-longer-at-ease-here/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [The idea of a commonwealth relationship is alien to most people but I think that's true generally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-sotomayor/the-idea-of-a-commonwealth-relationship-is-alien-to-most-people-but-i/) [Sonia Sotomayor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-sotomayor/) > [“So although they might stare at us and ask, 'Who are these alien people?' We could reply, 'We are you, What you chose to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-marr/so-although-they-might-stare-at-us-and-ask-who-are-these-alien-people/) [Andrew Marr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-marr/) > [“...Catholic versus Protestant, essentially. It's that kind of fight. ... And it goes on to this day. Will we never learn? Who knows? Religion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/catholic-versus-protestant-essentially-it-s-that-kind-of-fight-and-it/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [“MICHAEL (standing up and stretching) Gosh, Steve. I don't know how to thank you. STEVE (also standing) Hey, don't thank me. It means you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/michael-standing-up-and-stretching-gosh-steve-i-don-t-know-how-to/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [“It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/it-s-now-very-common-to-hear-people-say-i-m-rather-offended-by-that/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [“The short answer to that is 'no.' The long answer is 'fuck no.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/the-short-answer-to-that-is-no-the-long-answer-is-fuck-no/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [Skepsis. I am a true skeptic, born under the noble sign of skepsis, the sign of the man who knows that all astrology is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/skepsis-i-am-a-true-skeptic-born-under-the-noble-sign-of-skepsis-the/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [I almost once wanted to publish a self help book saying, 'How To Be Happy, by Stephen Fry: Guaranteed Success'. And people buy this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/i-almost-once-wanted-to-publish-a-self-help-book-saying-how-to-be/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [“Anger fed him and clothed him and he owed it much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/anger-fed-him-and-clothed-him-and-he-owed-it-much/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [I believe that poetry is a primal impulse within us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/i-believe-that-poetry-is-a-primal-impulse-within-us-all/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [ \[his healing skills\] ..lay in the ability to comfort, to comfort in the proper sense, to make strong, to fortify from The Hippopotamus ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/his-healing-skills-lay-in-the-ability-to-comfort-to-comfort-in-the-2/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [“You have already achieved the English-Language poet's most important goal: you can read, Write and speak English well enough to understand this sentence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/you-have-already-achieved-the-english-language-poet-s-most-important/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [“Certainly the most destructive vice if you like, that a person can have. More than pride, which is supposedly the number one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/certainly-the-most-destructive-vice-if-you-like-that-a-person-can/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [“Lies, fictions and untrue suppositions can create new human truths which build technology, art, language, everything that is distinctly of Man. The word "stone"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/lies-fictions-and-untrue-suppositions-can-create-new-human-truths/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) ## More by Stephen Fry > [“...Catholic versus Protestant, essentially. It's that kind of fight. ... And it goes on to this day. Will we never learn? Who knows? Religion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/catholic-versus-protestant-essentially-it-s-that-kind-of-fight-and-it/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [How dare you? How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault? It's not right, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/how-dare-you-how-dare-you-create-a-world-in-which-there-is-such/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [“Look at the kind of people who most object to the childishness and cheapness of celebrity culture. Does one really want to side with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/look-at-the-kind-of-people-who-most-object-to-the-childishness-and/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [“The object of love should feel honoured or flattered, responsible in some way. Instead he felt insulted, degraded and revolted. More than that, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/the-object-of-love-should-feel-honoured-or-flattered-responsible-in/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [The only people who are obsessed with food are anorexics and the morbidly obese. That, in erotic terms, is the Catholic church, in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/the-only-people-who-are-obsessed-with-food-are-anorexics-and-the/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [To me, reason is as spiritual as anything else, the beauty of reason seems to me indelible and ineffable and numinous... the spirit is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/to-me-reason-is-as-spiritual-as-anything-else-the-beauty-of-reason/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [The stranger might laugh and seem to enjoy the writing, but you hug to yourself the thought that they didn't quite understand its force…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/the-stranger-might-laugh-and-seem-to-enjoy-the-writing-but-you-hug-to/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [“The future is a much bigger deal than the past,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/the-future-is-a-much-bigger-deal-than-the-past/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [I gather a repulsive nobody writing in a paper no one of any decency would be seen dead with has written something loathesome and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/i-gather-a-repulsive-nobody-writing-in-a-paper-no-one-of-any-decency/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [I've never had any illusions about being a lead actor in films, because lead actors have to be of a certain kind. Apart from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/i-ve-never-had-any-illusions-about-being-a-lead-actor-in-films/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [Because, let's face it, I do not get offered the parts that Brad Pitt has just turned down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/because-let-s-face-it-i-do-not-get-offered-the-parts-that-brad-pitt/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [I will defend the absolute value of Mozart over Miley Cyrus, of course I will, but we should be wary of false dichotomies. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/i-will-defend-the-absolute-value-of-mozart-over-miley-cyrus-of-course/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [You can't just say there is a god because the world is beautiful. You have to account for bone cancer in children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/you-can-t-just-say-there-is-a-god-because-the-world-is-beautiful-you/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [If you know someone who's depressed, please resolve never to ask them why. Depression isn't a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/if-you-know-someone-who-s-depressed-please-resolve-never-to-ask-them/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [It's as if scientists exert every effort of will they possess deliberately to find the least significant problems in the world and explain them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/it-s-as-if-scientists-exert-every-effort-of-will-they-possess/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) [Explore all 466 Stephen Fry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) ## More Hand in hand quotes > [I love fashion. I like dressing how I feel, and my music shows how I feel - they go hand in hand. My performance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banks/i-love-fashion-i-like-dressing-how-i-feel-and-my-music-shows-how-i/) [Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banks/) > [I had a very blessed journey with the upbringing I had. When you're working on sets as a stuntman, you have a firsthand account…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ric-roman-waugh/i-had-a-very-blessed-journey-with-the-upbringing-i-had-when-you-re/) [Ric Roman Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ric-roman-waugh/) > ['I am insecure' means: I can't cope on my own. The odds are overwhelming. I can't resist them on my own. I need us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/i-am-insecure-means-i-can-t-cope-on-my-own-the-odds-are-overwhelming/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Music and the WWE go hand-in-hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enzo-amore/music-and-the-wwe-go-hand-in-hand/) [Enzo Amore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enzo-amore/) > [Love is not only about romance, candle-lit dinners and walking hand in hand. In fact, real love is about a lifetime of compromise, commitment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aarti-khurana/love-is-not-only-about-romance-candle-lit-dinners-and-walking-hand-in/) [Aarti Khurana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aarti-khurana/) > [“Many adults have not attained maturity — have not mastered being independent, self-motivated individuals capable of tending their own emotional needs and of respecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/many-adults-have-not-attained-maturity-have-not-mastered-being/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Hand in hand they whispered for a while. The girl nodded and the bear laughed. Together, they made their way down the corridor and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-craig/hand-in-hand-they-whispered-for-a-while-the-girl-nodded-and-the-bear/) [Stephen Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-craig/) > [We walked hand in hand, on that sunny day at the beach; you let go of ma hand and asked me to take two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine/we-walked-hand-in-hand-on-that-sunny-day-at-the-beach-you-let-go-of/) [Josephine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine/) > [Yes, there was one thing that I missed not being able to do - walk on a beach. I've always had this romantic image…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-carr/yes-there-was-one-thing-that-i-missed-not-being-able-to-do-walk-on-a/) [Liz Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-carr/) > [Conservatism is about the basic rights of individuals. God created us. As far as the government goes, the Founding Fathers based the Constitution off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-wurzelbacher/conservatism-is-about-the-basic-rights-of-individuals-god-created-us/) [Joe Wurzelbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-wurzelbacher/) > [“Forgiveness should go hand in hand with love. In our families, as well as with our friends, there can be hurt feelings and disagreements.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-s-monson/forgiveness-should-go-hand-in-hand-with-love-in-our-families-as-well/) [Thomas S. Monson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-s-monson/) > [Looking back at the days you were sitting next to me, feels like it would last forever. In a blink of an eye, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahmoud-el-hallab/looking-back-at-the-days-you-were-sitting-next-to-me-feels-like-it/) [Mahmoud El Hallab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahmoud-el-hallab/) > [“I remember talking once on this subject to one of the most beautiful personalities I have ever known: a woman, whose sympathy and noble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-remember-talking-once-on-this-subject-to-one-of-the-most-beautiful/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I have wanted to act since I was three and that is what I hunger for. I want to play roles that are as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natascha-mcelhone/i-have-wanted-to-act-since-i-was-three-and-that-is-what-i-hunger-for/) [Natascha Mcelhone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natascha-mcelhone/) > [Archaeology, I found, comprehended all manner of excitement and achievement. Adventure is coupled with bookish toil. Romantic excursions go hand in hand with scholarly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/archaeology-i-found-comprehended-all-manner-of-excitement-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 832 Hand in hand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hand-in-hand/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But just as we can all agree on what is red, even if we will never know if we each see it in the same way, so we can all agree - can’t we? - that no matter how confident we may appear to others, inside we are all sobbing, scared and uncertain for much of the time. Or perhaps it’s just me. Oh God, perhaps it really is just me. Actually it doesn’t really matter, when you come to think of it. If it is just me, then you are reading the story of some weird freak. You are free to treat this book like science fiction, fantasy or exotic travel literature. 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