--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nothing is stranger or more ticklish than…" description: "\"Nothing is stranger or more ticklish than a relationship between people who know each other only by sight, who meet and observe each other daily - no h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/thomas-mann-1103_etiquette_nothing-is-stranger-or-more-ticklish-tha_2510506.jpg" --- # Nothing is stranger or more ticklish than a relationship… ![“Nothing is stranger or more ticklish than a relationship between people who know each other only by sight, who meet and observe each other daily - no hourly - and are nevertheless compelled to keep up the pose of an indifferent stranger, neither greeting nor addressing each other, whether out of…” quote by Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/thomas-mann-1103_etiquette_nothing-is-stranger-or-more-ticklish-tha_2510506.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/thomas-mann-1103_etiquette_nothing-is-stranger-or-more-ticklish-tha_2510506.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/thomas-mann-1103_etiquette_nothing-is-stranger-or-more-ticklish-tha_2510506.jpg) > “Nothing is stranger or more ticklish than a relationship between people who know each other only by sight, who meet and observe each other daily - no hourly - and are nevertheless compelled to keep up the pose of an indifferent stranger, neither greeting nor addressing each other, whether out of etiquette or their own whim.” [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) ## 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 maintain superficial politeness while feeling a deeper connection, avoiding genuine interaction due to social norms or personal whims. **In simple terms:** We hide true feelings behind polite distance. Key Takeaway Allow authentic connection, break the stranger façade. Themes social etiquette alienation authenticity human connection Mood reflective melancholic thoughtful Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - office hallway - neighbourhood - public transport - social events Key Concepts existentialism social performance psychology Questions to Reflect On - Why do we choose politeness over honesty? - What would happen if we greeted strangers warmly? A Different Perspective True intimacy may be uncomfortable and risk vulnerability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Etiquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/etiquette/) [Greetings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greetings/) [Indifferent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indifferent/) [Indifferent Stranger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indifferent-stranger-1152307/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Relationship People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relationship-people/) [Sight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sight/) [Stranger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger/) [Stranger Ticklish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger-ticklish-1152306/) [Ticklish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ticklish/) [Ticklish Relationship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ticklish-relationship-1152305/) [Whim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whim/) ## Related quotes > [Nothing is more curious and awkward than the relationship of two people who only know each other with their eyes — who meet and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/nothing-is-more-curious-and-awkward-than-the-relationship-of-two/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [It is not elegant to gnaw Indian corn. The kernels should be scored with a knife, scraped off into the plate, and then eaten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-day/it-is-not-elegant-to-gnaw-indian-corn-the-kernels-should-be-scored/) [Charlie Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-day/) > [Our condition as men is risky and ticklish enough. One can not be sure of himself and his fortune an hour, but he may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/our-condition-as-men-is-risky-and-ticklish-enough-one-can-not-be-sure/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“And one cried wee, wee, wee, all the way—" Jessica breaking down in a giggle as he reaches for the spot along her sweatered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/and-one-cried-wee-wee-wee-all-the-way-jessica-breaking-down-in-a/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [There is something about you that makes me feel terribly wicked. You make me want to do shocking things. Maybe it's because you're so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/there-is-something-about-you-that-makes-me-feel-terribly-wicked-you/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [When someone asks you the question 'Are you ticklish' it doesn't matter if you say yes or no, cause they're going to touch you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demetri-martin/when-someone-asks-you-the-question-are-you-ticklish-it-doesn-t-matter/) [Demetri Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demetri-martin/) > [The more Discovery Channel you watch, the less chance you have of ever meeting a woman. Because it fills your head with odd facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-attell/the-more-discovery-channel-you-watch-the-less-chance-you-have-of-ever/) [Dave Attell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-attell/) > [Almost anything makes me laugh, especially jokes at my own expense. And I will never, ever admit to being ticklish anywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-nelson/almost-anything-makes-me-laugh-especially-jokes-at-my-own-expense-and/) [Judd Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-nelson/) > [O Voltaire! O humanity! O idiocy! There is something ticklish in "the truth," and in the SEARCH for the truth; and if man goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/o-voltaire-o-humanity-o-idiocy-there-is-something-ticklish-in-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [You could make a feature about the world of tickling. You could include female ticklers and you could find out why people are ticklish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-farrier/you-could-make-a-feature-about-the-world-of-tickling-you-could/) [David Farrier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-farrier/) > [My knees are ticklish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliana-hatfield/my-knees-are-ticklish/) [Juliana Hatfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliana-hatfield/) > [ You little know what a ticklish thing it is to go to law. \[Lat., Nescis tu quam meticulosa res sit ire ad judicem.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/you-little-know-what-a-ticklish-thing-it-is-to-go-to-law-lat-nescis/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [Love is a ticklish sensation around your heart that you can never scratch properly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author-name/love-is-a-ticklish-sensation-around-your-heart-that-you-can-never/) [Author Name](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/author-name/) > [“And yes, I came over here fully intending to seduce you." He lifted his head and whispered in my ear, "It's what I'm good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/and-yes-i-came-over-here-fully-intending-to-seduce-you-he-lifted-his/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [I don't know but a book in a man's brain is better off than a book bound in calf--at any rate it is safer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/i-don-t-know-but-a-book-in-a-man-s-brain-is-better-off-than-a-book/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) ## More by Thomas Mann > [Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“Solitude favors the original, the daringly and otherworldly beautiful, the poem. But it also favors the wrongful, the extreme, the absurd, and the forbidden.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-favors-the-original-the-daringly-and-otherworldly-beautiful/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“But what would be our readers’ reaction if we simply refused to get to the bottom of that question?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/but-what-would-be-our-readers-reaction-if-we-simply-refused-to-get-to/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [What good would politics be, if it didn’t give everyone the opportunity to make moral compromises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/what-good-would-politics-be-if-it-didn-t-give-everyone-the/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“O, čarobna organsko lepoto, koja se ne sastojiš ni iz uljane boje ni iz kamena, već iz materije žive i raspadljive, pune grozničave tajne…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/o-arobna-organsko-lepoto-koja-se-ne-sastoji-ni-iz-uljane-boje-ni-iz/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [Opinions cannot survive if one has no chance to fight for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/opinions-cannot-survive-if-one-has-no-chance-to-fight-for-them/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“I hope that you have nothing against malice, my good engineer. In my eyes it is the brightest sword that reason has against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/i-hope-that-you-have-nothing-against-malice-my-good-engineer-in-my/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“...only the exhaustive can be truly interesting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/only-the-exhaustive-can-be-truly-interesting/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“The days began to fly now, and yet each one of them was stretched by renewed expectations and swollen with silent, private experiences. Yes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/the-days-began-to-fly-now-and-yet-each-one-of-them-was-stretched-by/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“The average man thinks that a little falseness goes with beauty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/the-average-man-thinks-that-a-little-falseness-goes-with-beauty/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“A stimulus is a stimulus. The body doesn't give a damn about the meaning of the stimulus. Whether minnows or communion, the sebaceous glands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/a-stimulus-is-a-stimulus-the-body-doesn-t-give-a-damn-about-the/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [It is remarkable how a man cannot summarize his thoughts in even the most general sort of way without betraying himself completely, without putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/it-is-remarkable-how-a-man-cannot-summarize-his-thoughts-in-even-the/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“One always needs to be reminded; one is by no means always in possession of one’s whole self. Our consciousness is feeble; only in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/one-always-needs-to-be-reminded-one-is-by-no-means-always-in/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [Everything is politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/everything-is-politics/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [Is not life in itself a thing of goodness, irrespective of whether the course it takes for us can be called a 'happy' one?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/is-not-life-in-itself-a-thing-of-goodness-irrespective-of-whether-the/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Explore all 239 Thomas Mann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) ## More Etiquette quotes > [Humility simply means that you do a great job at everything and it isn't really a big deal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/humility-simply-means-that-you-do-a-great-job-at-everything-and-it/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Nothing more rapidly inclines a person to go into a monastery than reading a book on etiquette. There are so many trivial ways in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-crisp/nothing-more-rapidly-inclines-a-person-to-go-into-a-monastery-than/) [Quentin Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-crisp/) > [The Australian Book of Etiquette is a very slim volume.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/the-australian-book-of-etiquette-is-a-very-slim-volume/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [Any individual is capable of realizing the truth at any time. No tradition is necessary, no chain, no lineage. Once you have realized the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/any-individual-is-capable-of-realizing-the-truth-at-any-time-no/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [What is important in self-discovery is the person who keeps going, who has a smile, who is kind to others, who works hard at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/what-is-important-in-self-discovery-is-the-person-who-keeps-going-who/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [There is a strange taboo in our society against ending something merely because it is not pleasant-- life, love, a conversation, you name it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-dewitt/there-is-a-strange-taboo-in-our-society-against-ending-something/) [Helen DeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-dewitt/) > [Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-post/manners-are-a-sensitive-awareness-of-the-feelings-of-others/) [Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/) > [Do not feel that you are destined not to make that final liberation in this life. This is egotism in a reverse form. Don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/do-not-feel-that-you-are-destined-not-to-make-that-final-liberation/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“When you know you can do something, and you feel good about yourself, you do not have to devalue others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-patrick-hickey/when-you-know-you-can-do-something-and-you-feel-good-about-yourself/) [John Patrick Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-patrick-hickey/) > [Your mantrum is the awareness of the dream - to enjoy and appreciate and have gratitude for all; neither to condemn nor to liberate,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/your-mantrum-is-the-awareness-of-the-dream-to-enjoy-and-appreciate/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“A token of bathroom stoner etiquette.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/a-token-of-bathroom-stoner-etiquette/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [“ Redneck Rules of Etiquette • To avoid bruising wine as you decant it, make sure to tilt the paper cup. • Your centerpiece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-ford/redneck-rules-of-etiquette-to-avoid-bruising-wine-as-you-decant-it/) [Deborah Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-ford/) > [An enlightened teacher simply expresses enlightenment in their life by living. 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When you direct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/it-is-very-important-to-always-hold-the-thought-of-an-enlightened/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Browse all 364 Etiquette quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/etiquette/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nothing is stranger or more ticklish than a relationship between people who know each other only by sight, who meet and observe each other daily - no hourly - and are nevertheless compelled to keep up the pose of an indifferent stranger, neither greeting nor addressing each other, whether out of etiquette or their own whim.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Mann" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/nothing-is-stranger-or-more-ticklish-than-a-relationship-between/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Etiquette" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/nothing-is-stranger-or-more-ticklish-than-a-relationship-between/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/thomas-mann-1103_etiquette_nothing-is-stranger-or-more-ticklish-tha_2510506.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/thomas-mann-1103_etiquette_nothing-is-stranger-or-more-ticklish-tha_2510506.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/thomas-mann-1103_etiquette_nothing-is-stranger-or-more-ticklish-tha_2510506.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nothing is stranger or more ticklish than a relationship between people who know each other only by sight…” — Thomas Mann", "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": "Thomas Mann", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Nothing is stranger or more ticklish...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/nothing-is-stranger-or-more-ticklish-than-a-relationship-between/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/nothing-is-stranger-or-more-ticklish-than-a-relationship-between/#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 } } ] } ```