--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From a distance, it makes perfect sense…" description: "\"From a distance, it makes perfect sense that the people and the things you think will save you are the very ones that have the power to disappoint you ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/735/tom-perrotta-3008_disappoint_from-a-distance-it-makes-perfect-sense-t_2341527.png" --- # From a distance, it makes perfect sense that the people… ![“From a distance, it makes perfect sense that the people and the things you think will save you are the very ones that have the power to disappoint you most bitterly, but up close it can hit you as a bewildering surprise.” quote by Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/735/tom-perrotta-3008_disappoint_from-a-distance-it-makes-perfect-sense-t_2341527.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/735/tom-perrotta-3008_disappoint_from-a-distance-it-makes-perfect-sense-t_2341527.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/735/tom-perrotta-3008_disappoint_from-a-distance-it-makes-perfect-sense-t_2341527.png) > “From a distance, it makes perfect sense that the people and the things you think will save you are the very ones that have the power to disappoint you most bitterly, but up close it can hit you as a bewildering surprise.” [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Distances can mask true intentions; those we trust may disappoint, yet close proximity reveals unexpected pain. **In simple terms:** Close relationships can surprise with disappointment. Key Takeaway Guard expectations while staying open to intimacy. Themes trust disappointment relationship dynamics Mood reflective cautious Type literary psychological When to use this quote - friendship - romantic partnership - family ties Key Concepts Psychology of expectation human vulnerability Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance trust and self-protection? - What signs indicate a relationship may be harmful? A Different Perspective The statement may generalize experiences, ignoring positive outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bewildering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bewildering-1255897/) [Bewildering Surprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bewildering-surprise-5667857/) [Bitterly Close](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitterly-close-5667858/) [Disappoint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappoint/) [Distance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distance/) [Hit Bewildering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hit-bewildering-5667859/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Perfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfect/) [Surprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surprise/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [We find ourselves in a bewildering world. We want to make sense of what we see around us and to ask: What is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/we-find-ourselves-in-a-bewildering-world-we-want-to-make-sense-of/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [It was bewildering and humbling to keep discovering how many brave things people can fail to talk themselves out of doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/it-was-bewildering-and-humbling-to-keep-discovering-how-many-brave/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [How terrible this darkness was, how bewildering, and yet mysteriously beautiful!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/how-terrible-this-darkness-was-how-bewildering-and-yet-mysteriously/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [The bewildering success of my books continues to surprise me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/the-bewildering-success-of-my-books-continues-to-surprise-me/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [Christopher Nolan’s 168-minute odyssey through the space-time continuum is stuffed with stuff of bewildering wrongness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-morgenstern/christopher-nolan-s-168-minute-odyssey-through-the-space-time/) [Joe Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-morgenstern/) > [The most bewildering thing about man is his idea of work and the amount of work he imposes upon himself, or civilization has imposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-yutang/the-most-bewildering-thing-about-man-is-his-idea-of-work-and-the/) [Lin Yutang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-yutang/) > [“shall have experienced the bewildering emotions of love. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-maria-remarque/shall-have-experienced-the-bewildering-emotions-of-love-the/) [Erich Maria Remarque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-maria-remarque/) > [After all, one knows one's weak points so well, that it's rather bewildering to have the critics overlook them and invent others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/after-all-one-knows-one-s-weak-points-so-well-that-it-s-rather/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [...the bewildering beauty of Paris...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/the-bewildering-beauty-of-paris/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [We live in a bewildering world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/we-live-in-a-bewildering-world/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/life-is-easy-to-chronicle-but-bewildering-to-practice/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [Help the man-in-the-street make sense of the bewildering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-arthur/help-the-man-in-the-street-make-sense-of-the-bewildering/) [Owen Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-arthur/) > [I make a point of not reading reviews because of the old adage, if you read the good ones then you have to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/i-make-a-point-of-not-reading-reviews-because-of-the-old-adage-if-you/) [Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/) > [World can be a bewildering place,and dreams and ambitions are often paths to the most pernicious of traps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohinton-mistry/world-can-be-a-bewildering-place-and-dreams-and-ambitions-are-often/) [Rohinton Mistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohinton-mistry/) > [If you approach India in the right way, you have so much to learn there about people, and there's so many people. It's such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-boyle/if-you-approach-india-in-the-right-way-you-have-so-much-to-learn/) [Danny Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-boyle/) ## More by Tom Perrotta > [I was also known as Frodo because I was an early adopter of 'The Lord of the Rings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/i-was-also-known-as-frodo-because-i-was-an-early-adopter-of-the-lord/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [“As far as I could tell, he earned his hundred thousand a year by wandering the hallway with a Styrofoam cup of coffee, smiling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/as-far-as-i-could-tell-he-earned-his-hundred-thousand-a-year-by/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [“thinking how good it was to be free, away from the baby and from Tom, too, the two people who couldn’t help reminding her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/thinking-how-good-it-was-to-be-free-away-from-the-baby-and-from-tom/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [It's like the human race has been programmed for misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/it-s-like-the-human-race-has-been-programmed-for-misery/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [“She took care of evyone with the same no-nonsense air of friendliness and good cheer that made her seem so paradoxically wholesome, as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/she-took-care-of-evyone-with-the-same-no-nonsense-air-of-friendliness/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [Back then, when everybody thought the world would last forever, nobody had time for anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/back-then-when-everybody-thought-the-world-would-last-forever-nobody/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [“Stan and Rudy are grown men. 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Bret Anthony Johnston's riveting novel picks up where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/you-could-say-that-this-book-is-ripped-from-the-headlines-but-that/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [The interesting part about the writing process is that you can never see all the way to the end, not if something is happening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/the-interesting-part-about-the-writing-process-is-that-you-can-never/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [“Something had happened to him ove the past couple of years, something to do with being home with Aaron, sinking into the rhythm of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/something-had-happened-to-him-ove-the-past-couple-of-years-something/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [“They were good listeners, worldly yet easily shocked, hungry for details, curious and nonjudgmental at the same time, always happy to give advice, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/they-were-good-listeners-worldly-yet-easily-shocked-hungry-for/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [I read 'The Great Gatsby' in high school and was hypnotized by the beauty of the sentences and moved by the story about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/i-read-the-great-gatsby-in-high-school-and-was-hypnotized-by-the/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [I no longer believe that just about everything is funny, if viewed from the proper angle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/i-no-longer-believe-that-just-about-everything-is-funny-if-viewed/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [“us, Will had invited his camp counselor buddy, Dylan, and Dylan had brought along his roommate, this annoying kid named Sanjay. I mean, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/us-will-had-invited-his-camp-counselor-buddy-dylan-and-dylan-had/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) [Explore all 141 Tom Perrotta quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) ## More Disappoint quotes > [I will try to disappoint you better than anyone ever has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/i-will-try-to-disappoint-you-better-than-anyone-ever-has/) [Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/) > [In trying not to disappoint others; we disappoint ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-vermaak/in-trying-not-to-disappoint-others-we-disappoint-ourselves/) [Geraldine Vermaak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-vermaak/) > [Love is mainly an affair of short spasms. If these spasms disappoint us, love dies. 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Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/cynicism-masquerades-as-wisdom-but-it-is-the-farthest-thing-from-it/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Never remind yourself about the past, they will disappoint you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daudi-bilingi/never-remind-yourself-about-the-past-they-will-disappoint-you/) [Daudi Bilingi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daudi-bilingi/) > [Audiences don't ever disappoint me, in the sense that movies I feel really good about, they usually feel really good about too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-kinnear/audiences-don-t-ever-disappoint-me-in-the-sense-that-movies-i-feel/) [Greg Kinnear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-kinnear/) > [I don't want to disappoint my parents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-bargatze/i-don-t-want-to-disappoint-my-parents/) [Nate Bargatze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-bargatze/) > [I've never been one to make plans, because I never wanted to disappoint myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-romijn/i-ve-never-been-one-to-make-plans-because-i-never-wanted-to/) [Rebecca Romijn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-romijn/) > [I am sorry to disappoint you, I'll never compete ever again at the Eurovision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conchita-wurst/i-am-sorry-to-disappoint-you-i-ll-never-compete-ever-again-at-the/) [Conchita Wurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conchita-wurst/) > [You should always aim to be your own mouse, Lieam. In fact...you already are. You are not so quick to jump into danger as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-petersen/you-should-always-aim-to-be-your-own-mouse-lieam-in-fact-you-already/) [David Petersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-petersen/) > [If I go up to Harlem or down to Sixth Street, and I'm not dressed up or I'm not wearing my jewelry, then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooke-astor/if-i-go-up-to-harlem-or-down-to-sixth-street-and-i-m-not-dressed-up/) [Brooke Astor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooke-astor/) > [PROPERTY, n. Any material thing, having no particular value, that may be held by A against the cupidity of B. Whatever gratifies the passion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/property-n-any-material-thing-having-no-particular-value-that-may-be/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Let us say "Yes" to life and not death. 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