--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How can you admire a human who…" description: "\"How can you admire a human who consciously embraces the bland, the mediocre, and the safe rather than risk the suffering that disappointment can bring?..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/tom-robbins-169_admire_how-can-you-admire-a-human-who-conscious_1961610.jpg" --- # How can you admire a human who consciously embraces the… ![“How can you admire a human who consciously embraces the bland, the mediocre, and the safe rather than risk the suffering that disappointment can bring?” quote by Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/tom-robbins-169_admire_how-can-you-admire-a-human-who-conscious_1961610.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/tom-robbins-169_admire_how-can-you-admire-a-human-who-conscious_1961610.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/tom-robbins-169_admire_how-can-you-admire-a-human-who-conscious_1961610.jpg) > “How can you admire a human who consciously embraces the bland, the mediocre, and the safe rather than risk the suffering that disappointment can bring?” [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author questions admiration for those who choose safety over the risk of disappointment, urging a embrace of suffering for growth. **In simple terms:** Choosing safety limits growth; risk brings learning. Key Takeaway Take risks, accept possible disappointment. Themes risk growth comfort zone Mood reflective challenging Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career decisions - artistic pursuits - relationship choices Key Concepts philosophy existentialism personal development Questions to Reflect On - Are you avoiding discomfort? - What could you gain by embracing risk? A Different Perspective Risk can lead to unnecessary pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disappointment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappointment/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [There has never been anything worth obtaining without grief, or suffering, and disappointment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-flagler/there-has-never-been-anything-worth-obtaining-without-grief-or/) Henry Flagler > [“Control can also invite suffering and disappointment because it is impossible to exercise control where we have no reign..”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-voldeng/control-can-also-invite-suffering-and-disappointment-because-it-is/) [Sarah Voldeng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-voldeng/) > [Etiquette requires us to admire the human race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/etiquette-requires-us-to-admire-the-human-race/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“I revere you. I esteem and admire you above all human beings. You are the friend to whom my soul is attached as to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-burney/i-revere-you-i-esteem-and-admire-you-above-all-human-beings-you-are/) [Fanny Burney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-burney/) > [“Mock you!" repeated he earnestly, "no I revere you! I esteem and I admire you above all human beings! you are the friend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-burney/mock-you-repeated-he-earnestly-no-i-revere-you-i-esteem-and-i-admire/) [Fanny Burney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-burney/) > [Bland writing - timid, antiseptic, vanilla writing - is nearly as unhealthy as the brutal and dark. Instead of sipping, say, elixir, nectar, tequila,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/bland-writing-timid-antiseptic-vanilla-writing-is-nearly-as-unhealthy/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [When a culture is being dumbed down as effectively as ours is, its narrative arts (literature, film, theatre) seem to vacillate between the brutal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/when-a-culture-is-being-dumbed-down-as-effectively-as-ours-is-its/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Like the Arthurian years at Camelot, the Sixties constituted a breakthrough, a fleeting moment of glory, a time when a significant little chunk of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/like-the-arthurian-years-at-camelot-the-sixties-constituted-a/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Certainly that sputterless little candleflame of the mediocre mind known as 'common sense' has never produced anything worth celebrating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/certainly-that-sputterless-little-candleflame-of-the-mediocre-mind/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [A mediocre failure is as insufferable as a mediocre success. Embrace failure! Seek it out. Learn to love it. That may be the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/a-mediocre-failure-is-as-insufferable-as-a-mediocre-success-embrace/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [So you think that you're a failure, do you? Well, you probably are. What's wrong with that? In the first place, if you've any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/so-you-think-that-you-re-a-failure-do-you-well-you-probably-are-what/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The bottom line is that (a) people are never perfect, but love can be, (b) that is the one and only way that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-bottom-line-is-that-a-people-are-never-perfect-but-love-can-be-b-2/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [I'm always amazed by writers who tell me they plan everything at the beginning. I feel their writing days must be very bland.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-tremain/i-m-always-amazed-by-writers-who-tell-me-they-plan-everything-at-the/) [Rose Tremain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-tremain/) > [ No visiting angel, or explorer from another planet, could have guessed that this bland orb \[Earth\] teemed with vermin, with world-mastering, self-torturing, incipiently angelic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/no-visiting-angel-or-explorer-from-another-planet-could-have-guessed/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [Going to a site with more users seems obviously better to me, but at the same time, having a bland, middle of the road…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-rudder/going-to-a-site-with-more-users-seems-obviously-better-to-me-but-at/) [Christian Rudder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-rudder/) ## More by Tom Robbins > [There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. But a knob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-times-when-we-can-feel-destiny-close-around-us-like-a-fist/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/love-is-the-ultimate-outlaw-it-just-won-t-adhere-to-any-rules-the/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-world-is-a-wonderfully-weird-place-consensual-reality-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Anyone who maintains absolute standards of good and evil is dangerous. As dangerous as a maniac with a loaded revolver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/anyone-who-maintains-absolute-standards-of-good-and-evil-is-dangerous/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“I believe in everything; nothing is sacred. I believe in nothing; everything is sacred. Ha Ha Ho Ho Hee Hee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/i-believe-in-everything-nothing-is-sacred-i-believe-in-nothing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [A sense of humor...is superior to any religion so far devised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/a-sense-of-humor-is-superior-to-any-religion-so-far-devised/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/love-is-the-ultimate-outlaw-it-just-won-t-adhere-to-any-rules-the-2/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“The glue that holds the natural world together appears to be a harmonious balance of opposites: day and night, light and dark, winter and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-glue-that-holds-the-natural-world-together-appears-to-be-a/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Zippers are primal and modern at the very same time. On the one hand, your zipper is primitive and reptilian, on the other, mechanical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/zippers-are-primal-and-modern-at-the-very-same-time-on-the-one-hand/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“religion is a paramount contributor to human misery. It is not merely the opium of the masses, it is the cyanide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/religion-is-a-paramount-contributor-to-human-misery-it-is-not-merely/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [She continued weeping until the heat of her tear water, the sheer velocity of its flow, finally obscured the already vague circumstances of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/she-continued-weeping-until-the-heat-of-her-tear-water-the-sheer/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The bottom line is that (a) people are never perfect, but love can be, (b) that is the one and only way that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-bottom-line-is-that-a-people-are-never-perfect-but-love-can-be-b/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Virtually every advancement made by our species since civilization first peeked out of its nest of stone has been initiated by lone individuals, mavericks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/virtually-every-advancement-made-by-our-species-since-civilization/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [When we accept small wonders, we qualify ourselves to imagine great wonders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/when-we-accept-small-wonders-we-qualify-ourselves-to-imagine-great/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Explore all 994 Tom Robbins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## More Admire quotes > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I admire Serena Williams, because, I mean, who doesn't admire Serena Williams?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johanna-konta/i-admire-serena-williams-because-i-mean-who-doesn-t-admire-serena/) [Johanna Konta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johanna-konta/) > [How proud I am to be compared to Oprah. I really admire her. She's a minority woman and she's done all this by herself...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-saralegui/how-proud-i-am-to-be-compared-to-oprah-i-really-admire-her-she-s-a/) [Cristina Saralegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-saralegui/) > [I admire President Obama's ability to trust strangers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-gutfeld/i-admire-president-obama-s-ability-to-trust-strangers/) [Greg Gutfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-gutfeld/) > [I really admire people's interactions with technology that aren't tech-centric but use it as a tool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-polachek/i-really-admire-people-s-interactions-with-technology-that-aren-t/) [Caroline Polachek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-polachek/) > [During my first years in the Sierra, I was ever calling on everybody within reach to admire them, but I found no one half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/during-my-first-years-in-the-sierra-i-was-ever-calling-on-everybody/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Shaw's works make me admire the magnificent tolerance and broadmindedness of the english.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/shaw-s-works-make-me-admire-the-magnificent-tolerance-and/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [It could be my British need for discipline that makes me admire the American appetite for freedom and passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-winwood/it-could-be-my-british-need-for-discipline-that-makes-me-admire-the/) [Steve Winwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-winwood/) > [I believe in a world where there are no heroes, and I've read and know humanity a lot. There are moments that I admire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/i-believe-in-a-world-where-there-are-no-heroes-and-i-ve-read-and-know/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I think it's really good and helpful to have the people you most admire in some other discipline than what you work in. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whit-stillman/i-think-it-s-really-good-and-helpful-to-have-the-people-you-most/) [Whit Stillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whit-stillman/) > [Part of what we admire about a painting or a piece of music is the order which the artist has imposed upon what would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-storr/part-of-what-we-admire-about-a-painting-or-a-piece-of-music-is-the/) [Anthony Storr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-storr/) > [I respect and admire the Premier League.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-koeman/i-respect-and-admire-the-premier-league/) [Ronald Koeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-koeman/) > [“Admire and appreciate your man and he will be happy on your side”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-alfiori/admire-and-appreciate-your-man-and-he-will-be-happy-on-your-side/) [Linda Alfiori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-alfiori/) > [“The thing I admire most about you is no matter how hard, or how much the world has tried to beat you, break you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-gill/the-thing-i-admire-most-about-you-is-no-matter-how-hard-or-how-much/) [Nikita Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-gill/) Browse all 2,369 Admire quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "How can you admire a human who consciously embraces the bland, the mediocre, and the safe rather than risk the suffering that disappointment can bring?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Robbins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/how-can-you-admire-a-human-who-consciously-embraces-the-bland-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Admire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/how-can-you-admire-a-human-who-consciously-embraces-the-bland-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/tom-robbins-169_admire_how-can-you-admire-a-human-who-conscious_1961610.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/tom-robbins-169_admire_how-can-you-admire-a-human-who-conscious_1961610.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/tom-robbins-169_admire_how-can-you-admire-a-human-who-conscious_1961610.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“How can you admire a human who consciously embraces the bland, the mediocre, and the safe rather than risk…” — Tom Robbins", "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": "Tom Robbins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "How can you admire a human...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/how-can-you-admire-a-human-who-consciously-embraces-the-bland-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/how-can-you-admire-a-human-who-consciously-embraces-the-bland-the/#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 } } ] } ```