--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With very few exceptions I have never…" description: "\"“With very few exceptions I have never remained in mutual favor very long with people I have known well. They very quickly find things wrong with me, o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/795/thomas-cullinan-42657_quote_with-very-few-exceptions-i-have-never-re_1436231.jpg" --- # With very few exceptions I have never remained in mutual… ![“With very few exceptions I have never remained in mutual favor very long with people I have known well. They very quickly find things wrong with me, or I with them. And I suppose nowadays I anticipate the disillusionment of others by keeping free of any illusions myself.” quote by Thomas Cullinan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/795/thomas-cullinan-42657_quote_with-very-few-exceptions-i-have-never-re_1436231.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/795/thomas-cullinan-42657_quote_with-very-few-exceptions-i-have-never-re_1436231.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/795/thomas-cullinan-42657_quote_with-very-few-exceptions-i-have-never-re_1436231.jpg) > ““With very few exceptions I have never remained in mutual favor very long with people I have known well. They very quickly find things wrong with me, or I with them. And I suppose nowadays I anticipate the disillusionment of others by keeping free of any illusions myself.”” [Thomas Cullinan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cullinan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People tend to lose mutual favor quickly because they spot flaws in each other, so the author avoids expectations by staying realistic about others. **In simple terms:** People quickly find faults; stay realistic. Key Takeaway Accept imperfection, avoid idealizing. Themes relationships trust self-awareness realism Mood reflective cautious Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - friendships - work teams - family dynamics - new acquaintances Key Concepts psychology social perception expectation management Questions to Reflect On - Do you often expect too much from others? - How can you balance realism with empathy? A Different Perspective Idealizing others can still cause disappointment despite realism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disillusionment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disillusionment/) [Illusions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusions/) ## Related quotes > [Illusions are hazardous, and so are disillusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/illusions-are-hazardous-and-so-are-disillusions/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“If there were no illusions, there would bo no disillusionment. But then one would have no fond memories either, with which fortify oneself against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-balogh/if-there-were-no-illusions-there-would-bo-no-disillusionment-but-then/) [Mary Balogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-balogh/) > [“He thought of his own by-now legendary novel, American Disillusionment, that cyclone which, for years, had woven its erratic path across the flatlands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/he-thought-of-his-own-by-now-legendary-novel-american-disillusionment/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [Maybe the bride-bed brings despair, For each an imagined image brings And finds a real image there...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/maybe-the-bride-bed-brings-despair-for-each-an-imagined-image-brings/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“All my life I have been the sort of person in whom people confide. 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Vinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-vinge/) > [ “Disillusionment \[is\] one of the deepest of human wounds.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-perry/disillusionment-is-one-of-the-deepest-of-human-wounds/) Ann Perry > [A Pitiful person who is afraid of taking risks, will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps he won't suffer the way people do when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-pitiful-person-who-is-afraid-of-taking-risks-will-never-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Personal disillusionment accompanied by self-pity and self-loathing are the Achilles’ heel of modern humankind, representing the weakness of the human spirit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/personal-disillusionment-accompanied-by-self-pity-and-self-loathing/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [Will not the very moment of great disillusionment with my brother or sister be incomparably wholesome for me becuase it so thoroughly teaches me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/will-not-the-very-moment-of-great-disillusionment-with-my-brother-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“Leaches Ten Tall by Stewart Stafford Don't play this game with me, Predatory whelk of tide pools, Taint me as Rigoletto to a bawd,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-stafford/leaches-ten-tall-by-stewart-stafford-don-t-play-this-game-with-me/) [Stewart Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-stafford/) > [I definitely struggle with a disillusionment towards my body and my gender.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esme-creed-miles/i-definitely-struggle-with-a-disillusionment-towards-my-body-and-my/) [Esme Creed-Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esme-creed-miles/) > [The proof that a philosopher does not know what he is talking about is apt to sadden his followers before it reacts on himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/the-proof-that-a-philosopher-does-not-know-what-he-is-talking-about/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [“Do you know what Ireland is?' asked Stephen with cold violence. 'Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/do-you-know-what-ireland-is-asked-stephen-with-cold-violence-ireland/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) ## More by Thomas Cullinan > [“Have you ever been truly happy, Miss Harriet?” “Yes, once . . . a long time ago . . . but it didn’t last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cullinan/have-you-ever-been-truly-happy-miss-harriet-yes-once-a-long-time-ago/) [Thomas Cullinan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cullinan/) > [“I found him in the woods.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cullinan/i-found-him-in-the-woods/) [Thomas Cullinan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cullinan/) > [“It is no longer a question—if it ever was—of who will be victorious, but only how much longer we can continue to bleed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cullinan/it-is-no-longer-a-question-if-it-ever-was-of-who-will-be-victorious/) [Thomas Cullinan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cullinan/) > [“Money is your great and ultimate weapon. With money you can buy steel and gunpowder and salt pork and all the courage you need.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cullinan/money-is-your-great-and-ultimate-weapon-with-money-you-can-buy-steel/) [Thomas Cullinan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cullinan/) > [“I just keep thinking that summer is here and the sun is shining and I have the whole wide sky to fly in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cullinan/i-just-keep-thinking-that-summer-is-here-and-the-sun-is-shining-and-i/) [Thomas Cullinan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cullinan/) > [“She weeps, like all the weak people in the world, for the lost days, for the way things once were and will never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cullinan/she-weeps-like-all-the-weak-people-in-the-world-for-the-lost-days-for/) [Thomas Cullinan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cullinan/) > [“I fear God—as I fear many things—but I don’t pray to Him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cullinan/i-fear-god-as-i-fear-many-things-but-i-don-t-pray-to-him/) [Thomas Cullinan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cullinan/) > [“Well, if I cannot be sensible and popular at the same time, then I will always choose the virtue rather than the friends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cullinan/well-if-i-cannot-be-sensible-and-popular-at-the-same-time-then-i-will/) [Thomas Cullinan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cullinan/) > [“I didn’t have any notion then how much evil we got in us, all of us. Seems like none of us ever stop to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cullinan/i-didn-t-have-any-notion-then-how-much-evil-we-got-in-us-all-of-us/) [Thomas Cullinan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cullinan/) [Explore all 10 Thomas Cullinan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cullinan/) ## More Disillusionment quotes > [“Do you know what Ireland is?' asked Stephen with cold violence. 'Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/do-you-know-what-ireland-is-asked-stephen-with-cold-violence-ireland/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [The proof that a philosopher does not know what he is talking about is apt to sadden his followers before it reacts on himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/the-proof-that-a-philosopher-does-not-know-what-he-is-talking-about/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [I definitely struggle with a disillusionment towards my body and my gender.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esme-creed-miles/i-definitely-struggle-with-a-disillusionment-towards-my-body-and-my/) [Esme Creed-Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esme-creed-miles/) > [“Leaches Ten Tall by Stewart Stafford Don't play this game with me, Predatory whelk of tide pools, Taint me as Rigoletto to a bawd,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-stafford/leaches-ten-tall-by-stewart-stafford-don-t-play-this-game-with-me/) [Stewart Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-stafford/) > [Will not the very moment of great disillusionment with my brother or sister be incomparably wholesome for me becuase it so thoroughly teaches me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/will-not-the-very-moment-of-great-disillusionment-with-my-brother-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“Personal disillusionment accompanied by self-pity and self-loathing are the Achilles’ heel of modern humankind, representing the weakness of the human spirit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/personal-disillusionment-accompanied-by-self-pity-and-self-loathing/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [A Pitiful person who is afraid of taking risks, will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps he won't suffer the way people do when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-pitiful-person-who-is-afraid-of-taking-risks-will-never-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ “Disillusionment \[is\] one of the deepest of human wounds.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-perry/disillusionment-is-one-of-the-deepest-of-human-wounds/) Ann Perry > [ “\[S\]omehow, without his being aware of it, time had coated his awe with a rind of disillusionment, and the wine of wonder had turned… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-vinge/s-omehow-without-his-being-aware-of-it-time-had-coated-his-awe-with-a/) [Joan D. Vinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-vinge/) > [“So long as the child was fed on its mother's milk, everything seemed to it smooth and easy. But when it had to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-shestov/so-long-as-the-child-was-fed-on-its-mother-s-milk-everything-seemed/) [Lev Shestov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-shestov/) > [“All my life I have been the sort of person in whom people confide. And all my life I have been flattered by this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/all-my-life-i-have-been-the-sort-of-person-in-whom-people-confide-and/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [Maybe the bride-bed brings despair, For each an imagined image brings And finds a real image there...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/maybe-the-bride-bed-brings-despair-for-each-an-imagined-image-brings/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“He thought of his own by-now legendary novel, American Disillusionment, that cyclone which, for years, had woven its erratic path across the flatlands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/he-thought-of-his-own-by-now-legendary-novel-american-disillusionment/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“She was a stranger because something essential was shielded, released in tiny bursts until it became a flood---a flood of what I realized I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-maria-machado/she-was-a-stranger-because-something-essential-was-shielded-released/) [Carmen Maria Machado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-maria-machado/) > [“My hopes were all dead --- struck with a subtle doom, such as, in one night, fell on all the first-born in the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-hopes-were-all-dead-struck-with-a-subtle-doom-such-as-in-one-night/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) [Browse all 227 Disillusionment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disillusionment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“With very few exceptions I have never remained in mutual favor very long with people I have known well. 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