--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I never thought very many people in the…" description: "\"I never thought very many people in the world were very much like John Laroche, but I realized more and more that he was only an extreme, not an aberra..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1da/susan-orlean-2207_aberration_i-never-thought-very-many-people-in-the_1434886.jpg" --- # I never thought very many people in the world were very… ![“I never thought very many people in the world were very much like John Laroche, but I realized more and more that he was only an extreme, not an aberration - that most people in some way or another do strive for something exceptional, something to pursue, even at their peril, rather than abide an…” quote by Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1da/susan-orlean-2207_aberration_i-never-thought-very-many-people-in-the_1434886.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1da/susan-orlean-2207_aberration_i-never-thought-very-many-people-in-the_1434886.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1da/susan-orlean-2207_aberration_i-never-thought-very-many-people-in-the_1434886.jpg) > “I never thought very many people in the world were very much like John Laroche, but I realized more and more that he was only an extreme, not an aberration - that most people in some way or another do strive for something exceptional, something to pursue, even at their peril, rather than abide an ordinary life.” [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often admire exceptional individuals, but such drive is not unique; most aspire to greatness despite risks, rather than settle for mediocrity. **In simple terms:** Striving for greatness is a common human impulse. Key Takeaway Pursue your own exceptional path. Themes ambition exceptionalism risk Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career goals - creative projects - personal growth Key Concepts psychology human nature Questions to Reflect On - What does “exceptional” mean to you? - Are you willing to risk safety for greatness? A Different Perspective Not everyone can or wants to take extreme risks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aberration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aberration/) [Extremes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremes/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Ordinary life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-life/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Peril](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peril/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I've always looked at guys who I've admired, like John Williams and Lalo Schifrin and Max Steiner, and looked at the choices they made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-giacchino/i-ve-always-looked-at-guys-who-i-ve-admired-like-john-williams-and/) [Michael Giacchino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-giacchino/) > [I'm like John Q. Public. I represent what every guy wants and needs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-carolla/i-m-like-john-q-public-i-represent-what-every-guy-wants-and-needs/) [Adam Carolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-carolla/) > [I love Lee Ann Womack and John Prine. That's kind of my ideal cross point. If I can sing it like Lee Ann would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kacey-musgraves/i-love-lee-ann-womack-and-john-prine-that-s-kind-of-my-ideal-cross/) [Kacey Musgraves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kacey-musgraves/) > [I'm like, 'John, people treat me differently because they just look at me as a girlfriend,' and unfortunately, that's our world. Now all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-bella/i-m-like-john-people-treat-me-differently-because-they-just-look-at/) [Nikki Bella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-bella/) > [“We do what we do because there's something we can do about it. Things like 'how long' and 'what if' aren't part of that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-gaughen/we-do-what-we-do-because-there-s-something-we-can-do-about-it-things/) [A.C. Gaughen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-gaughen/) > [“It's like John Lennon writing with... Taylor Swift instead of Paul McCartney.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/it-s-like-john-lennon-writing-with-taylor-swift-instead-of-paul/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [Sometimes I feel like John Wayne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-denis/sometimes-i-feel-like-john-wayne/) [Claire Denis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-denis/) > [I'm not like John Lennon, who thought he was the great Almighty. I just think I'm John Lennon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liam-gallagher/i-m-not-like-john-lennon-who-thought-he-was-the-great-almighty-i-just/) [Liam Gallagher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liam-gallagher/) > [There's Carol like a rolling car, And Martin like a flying bird, And Adam like the Lord's First Word, And Raymond like the Harvest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-farjeon/there-s-carol-like-a-rolling-car-and-martin-like-a-flying-bird-and/) [Eleanor Farjeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-farjeon/) > [There was no one really like John Bender at my high school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-nelson/there-was-no-one-really-like-john-bender-at-my-high-school/) [Judd Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-nelson/) > [A lot of people didn't like John McCain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-inhofe/a-lot-of-people-didn-t-like-john-mccain/) [Jim Inhofe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-inhofe/) > [I like John Riggins. He's one of the guys I look up to. He doesn't try to change his act to suit his profession.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howie-long/i-like-john-riggins-he-s-one-of-the-guys-i-look-up-to-he-doesn-t-try/) [Howie Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howie-long/) > [“I reached out and wrapped both my arms around one of John’s. “Promise me we’ll never be like them, okay?” I asked, with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-cabot/i-reached-out-and-wrapped-both-my-arms-around-one-of-john-s-promise/) [Meg Cabot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-cabot/) > [I feel like John McCain is a really cool guy who is surrounded by idiotic friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-feel-like-john-mccain-is-a-really-cool-guy-who-is-surrounded-by/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [“for him. But now, because dreams sometimes really do come true, she did not have to imagine what it would feel like to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-fyffe/for-him-but-now-because-dreams-sometimes-really-do-come-true-she-did/) [Caroline Fyffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-fyffe/) ## More by Susan Orlean > [I've used Twitter now and again to try to figure something out; it's an amazing resource. But I think you have to use it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-ve-used-twitter-now-and-again-to-try-to-figure-something-out-it-s/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [Who on earth is going to use 'utilize' in a text message, a whopping seven characters including the always-hard-to-type 'z,' when you can say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/who-on-earth-is-going-to-use-utilize-in-a-text-message-a-whopping/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [When my son was born, and after a day of lying-in I was told that I could leave the hospital and take him home,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/when-my-son-was-born-and-after-a-day-of-lying-in-i-was-told-that-i/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [I'm happy to be reminded that an ordinary day full of nothing but nothingness can make you feel like you've won the lottery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-m-happy-to-be-reminded-that-an-ordinary-day-full-of-nothing-but/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [I once had a boyfriend who couldn't write unless he was wearing a necktie and a dress shirt, which I thought was really weird,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-once-had-a-boyfriend-who-couldn-t-write-unless-he-was-wearing-a/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [“I, too, had set out to be remembered. I had wanted to create something permanent in my life- some proof that everything in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-too-had-set-out-to-be-remembered-i-had-wanted-to-create-something/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [I think of myself as something of a connoisseur of procrastination, creative and dogged in my approach to not getting things done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-think-of-myself-as-something-of-a-connoisseur-of-procrastination/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [I'm very excited about my new Spotify account, which gives me access to twenty gazillion songs any time, all the time. The day I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-m-very-excited-about-my-new-spotify-account-which-gives-me-access/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [I approach stories as a private educational enterprise: I want to learn about something. I teach myself through research, reporting, and thinking, and then,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-approach-stories-as-a-private-educational-enterprise-i-want-to/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [We're fascinated by animals because it's almost like having Martians living among us. We can see some familiarity in them, but they're entirely different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/we-re-fascinated-by-animals-because-it-s-almost-like-having-martians/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [My inspiration is really very simple: I'm struck by things that I want to know more about. I really do react just as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/my-inspiration-is-really-very-simple-i-m-struck-by-things-that-i-want/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [I am dismayed to realize that much of the advice I used to parcel out to aspiring writers has passed its sell-by date.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-am-dismayed-to-realize-that-much-of-the-advice-i-used-to-parcel-out/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [I wish I had coined the phrase 'tyranny of choice,' but someone beat me to it. The counterintuitive truth is that have an abundance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-wish-i-had-coined-the-phrase-tyranny-of-choice-but-someone-beat-me/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [My ace in the hole as a human being used to be my capacity for remembering birthdays. I worked at it. Whenever I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/my-ace-in-the-hole-as-a-human-being-used-to-be-my-capacity-for/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [Sometimes I think I've figured out some order in the universe, but then I find myself in Florida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/sometimes-i-think-i-ve-figured-out-some-order-in-the-universe-but/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) [Explore all 179 Susan Orlean quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) ## More Aberration quotes > [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/) > [I'm very proud of being Italian-American, but people don't realize that the mafia is just this aberration. The real community is built on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chazz-palminteri/i-m-very-proud-of-being-italian-american-but-people-don-t-realize/) [Chazz Palminteri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chazz-palminteri/) > [“I could see clearly that this growing belligerence was an aberration, coming not from intention, but from the Fear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-redfield/i-could-see-clearly-that-this-growing-belligerence-was-an-aberration/) [James Redfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-redfield/) > [When I first began examining the global-warming scare, I found nothing more puzzling than the way officially approved scientists kept on being shown to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-booker/when-i-first-began-examining-the-global-warming-scare-i-found-nothing/) [Christopher Booker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-booker/) > [To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/to-suppose-that-the-eye-could-have-been-formed-by-natural-selection/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [The alternative of hypothetical universalism, according to which Christ's work is sufficient for all but efficient only for the elect, was alive and well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-d-crisp/the-alternative-of-hypothetical-universalism-according-to-which/) [Oliver D. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-d-crisp/) > [In our wildest aberrations we dream of an equilibrium we have left behind and which we naively expect to find at the end of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/in-our-wildest-aberrations-we-dream-of-an-equilibrium-we-have-left/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The captain, thinking over this event afterward, realized that by his own lifelong standards he had a crew composed entirely of lunatics, with himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-clement/the-captain-thinking-over-this-event-afterward-realized-that-by-his/) [Hal Clement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-clement/) > [I have no problem with it. I don't look on homosexuality as an aberration. It's just they way they're born, and how could any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-thompson/i-have-no-problem-with-it-i-don-t-look-on-homosexuality-as-an/) [Andrea Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-thompson/) > [ \[Dr. Constain James\] refuted so well the aberrations of Darwinism… \[A system\] which is repugnant at once to history, to the tradition of all… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-ix/dr-constain-james-refuted-so-well-the-aberrations-of-darwinism-a/) [Pope Pius IX](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-ix/) > [It might be comforting to assume that intolerance is an aberration within Islam but discrimination against Christians or any other non-Muslim is in fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-coren/it-might-be-comforting-to-assume-that-intolerance-is-an-aberration/) [Michael Coren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-coren/) > [The era of the political was one of anomie: crisis, violence, madness and revolution. 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Note how quickly the Europeans turned on America once 400 hostile divisions were no longer on their borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/the-cold-war-was-an-aberration-note-how-quickly-the-europeans-turned/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [What I have is P.H. positive chronic myeloid leukemia, which is an aberration in your white blood cells.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kareem-abdul-jabbar/what-i-have-is-p-h-positive-chronic-myeloid-leukemia-which-is-an/) [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kareem-abdul-jabbar/) > [“Being born with a talent or an inclination for goodness is the aberration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/being-born-with-a-talent-or-an-inclination-for-goodness-is-the/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) [Browse all 103 Aberration quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aberration/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I never thought very many people in the world were very much like John Laroche, but I realized more and more that he was only an extreme, not an aberration - that most people in some way or another do strive for something exceptional, something to pursue, even at their peril, rather than abide an ordinary life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susan Orlean" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-never-thought-very-many-people-in-the-world-were-very-much-like/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aberration" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-never-thought-very-many-people-in-the-world-were-very-much-like/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1da/susan-orlean-2207_aberration_i-never-thought-very-many-people-in-the_1434886.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1da/susan-orlean-2207_aberration_i-never-thought-very-many-people-in-the_1434886.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1da/susan-orlean-2207_aberration_i-never-thought-very-many-people-in-the_1434886.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I never thought very many people in the world were very much like John Laroche, but I realized more and more…” — Susan Orlean", "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": "Susan Orlean", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I never thought very many people...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-never-thought-very-many-people-in-the-world-were-very-much-like/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-never-thought-very-many-people-in-the-world-were-very-much-like/#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 } } ] } ```