---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do we respond only to people who seem to…"
description: "\"Do we respond only to people who seem to find us interesting?\" — Wallace Stegner"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/wallace-stegner-1352_interesting_do-we-respond-only-to-people-who-seem-to_3031407.png"
---

#  Do we respond only to people who seem to find us…

![“Do we respond only to people who seem to find us interesting?” quote by Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/wallace-stegner-1352_interesting_do-we-respond-only-to-people-who-seem-to_3031407.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/wallace-stegner-1352_interesting_do-we-respond-only-to-people-who-seem-to_3031407.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/wallace-stegner-1352_interesting_do-we-respond-only-to-people-who-seem-to_3031407.png)

> “Do we respond only to people who seem to find us interesting?”

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

We may only engage with those who find us interesting, limiting broader connections.

**In simple terms:** We respond mainly to those who like us.

Key Takeaway

Seek connections beyond immediate interest.

Themes

social interest connection engagement

Mood

thoughtful inquisitive

Type

philosophical reflective

When to use this quote

- networking events
- online communities
- mentorship
- casual encounters

Key Concepts

psychology social dynamics networking

Questions to Reflect On

- How can you reach those who don’t notice you?
- What value lies in diverse interactions?

A Different Perspective

People may ignore others regardless of interest.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/)

## Related quotes

> [I didn't respond to people thrusting microphones at me and asking me questions that were unanswerable in a sound bite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-didn-t-respond-to-people-thrusting-microphones-at-me-and-asking-me/)

[Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/)

> [If you want to change the way people respond to you, change the way you respond to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/if-you-want-to-change-the-way-people-respond-to-you-change-the-way/)

[Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/)

> [Don't we have to respond to people who don't seem normal to us? Will my child grow up able to accept that not everyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-burson/don-t-we-have-to-respond-to-people-who-don-t-seem-normal-to-us-will/)

Nancy Burson

> [Player: Relax. Respond. That's what people do. You can't go through life question your sitution at every turn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/player-relax-respond-that-s-what-people-do-you-can-t-go-through-life-2/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [Being polite is not only the right way to respond to people but also the easiest. Life is so filled with unavoidable conflict that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/being-polite-is-not-only-the-right-way-to-respond-to-people-but-also/)

[Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/)

> [Do not worry about why problems exist in the world - just respond to people's needs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/do-not-worry-about-why-problems-exist-in-the-world-just-respond-to/)

[Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/)

> [We have a government that, generally speaking, does not respond to the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/we-have-a-government-that-generally-speaking-does-not-respond-to-the/)

[Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/)

> [“Player: Relax. Respond. That's what people do. You can't go through life questioning your situation at every turn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/player-relax-respond-that-s-what-people-do-you-can-t-go-through-life/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [If you create something that is asking for people to respond as they're going to respond, you have to allow them to respond as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kaufman/if-you-create-something-that-is-asking-for-people-to-respond-as-they/)

[Charlie Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kaufman/)

> [Nothing works until it does. Nobody knows anything. You don't know what people are going to respond to. People are always surprised by stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-d-lee/nothing-works-until-it-does-nobody-knows-anything-you-don-t-know-what/)

[Malcolm D. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-d-lee/)

> [Dead or alive, interesting people are interesting people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noel-riley-fitch/dead-or-alive-interesting-people-are-interesting-people/)

Noel Riley Fitch

> [The only thing that dictates whether I respond to someone is whether I have something interesting to say in return. I respond to people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-lockwood/the-only-thing-that-dictates-whether-i-respond-to-someone-is-whether/)

[Patricia Lockwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-lockwood/)

> [The government is supposed to respond to the will of the people. Not dictate to the people what they are doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/the-government-is-supposed-to-respond-to-the-will-of-the-people-not/)

[Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/)

> [There's this belief sometimes from people who haven't lived the trans experience that's just like, 'You should tell everyone. You owe it to them.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-michael-smith/there-s-this-belief-sometimes-from-people-who-haven-t-lived-the-trans/)

[Brian Michael Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-michael-smith/)

> [“I don’t quite know how to respond to people who say that I dance like my genitals are on fire. I usually just blush…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-don-t-quite-know-how-to-respond-to-people-who-say-that-i-dance-like/)

[Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/)

## More by Wallace Stegner

> [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [No life goes past so swiftly as an eventless one, no clock spins like a clock whose days are all alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/no-life-goes-past-so-swiftly-as-an-eventless-one-no-clock-spins-like/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [“within yourself, you became a grave for her as you were a grave for Chet, and you carried your dead unquietly within you. —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/within-yourself-you-became-a-grave-for-her-as-you-were-a-grave-for/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [Towns are like people. Old ones often have character, the new ones are interchangeable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/towns-are-like-people-old-ones-often-have-character-the-new-ones-are/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [By his very profession, a serious fiction writer is a vendor of the sensuous particulars of life, a perceiver and handler of things. His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/by-his-very-profession-a-serious-fiction-writer-is-a-vendor-of-the/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [“The creative writer is compulsively concrete . . . . His fictional house should be haunted by ideas, not inhabited by them; they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/the-creative-writer-is-compulsively-concrete-his-fictional-house/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [Hard writing makes easy reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/hard-writing-makes-easy-reading/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [You married me...but you didn't marry what you could make out of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/you-married-me-but-you-didn-t-marry-what-you-could-make-out-of-me/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [Wisdom. . .is knowing what you have to accept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/wisdom-is-knowing-what-you-have-to-accept/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [“His mouth is full of ecology, his mind is full of fumes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/his-mouth-is-full-of-ecology-his-mind-is-full-of-fumes/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [I gave my heart to the mountains the minute I stood beside this river with its spray in my face and watched it thunder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-gave-my-heart-to-the-mountains-the-minute-i-stood-beside-this-river/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [“Poetry ought to be a by-product of living, and you can't have a by-product unless you've got a product first .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/poetry-ought-to-be-a-by-product-of-living-and-you-can-t-have-a-by/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/something-will-have-gone-out-of-us-as-a-people-if-we-ever-let-the/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [“Some people, I am told, have memories like computers, nothing to do but punch the button and wait for the print-out. Mine is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/some-people-i-am-told-have-memories-like-computers-nothing-to-do-but/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

> [ “\[Y\]ou were too alert to the figurative possibilities of words not to see the phrase \[angle of repose\] as descriptive of human as well… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/y-ou-were-too-alert-to-the-figurative-possibilities-of-words-not-to/)

[Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

[Explore all 251 Wallace Stegner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/)

## More Interesting quotes

> [Sometimes a sign or a quote is simply interesting by itself and does not require anything beyond being framed on a page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/sometimes-a-sign-or-a-quote-is-simply-interesting-by-itself-and-does/)

[Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/)

> [I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. Hollywood loves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-s-goyer/i-love-casting-against-type-and-doing-things-you-wouldn-t-expect/)

[David S. Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-s-goyer/)

> [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/)

[Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/)

> [The faster you go, the shorter you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-faster-you-go-the-shorter-you-are/)

[Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/)

> [A lot of people have been saying 'The 100' reminds them of 'Lord Of The Flies,' 'Lost' and 'Battlestar Galactica,' and all of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-avgeropoulos/a-lot-of-people-have-been-saying-the-100-reminds-them-of-lord-of-the/)

[Marie Avgeropoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-avgeropoulos/)

> [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [It is sort of interesting that in our society this days we are very quick to apply the term 'war' to places where thare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-schneier/it-is-sort-of-interesting-that-in-our-society-this-days-we-are-very/)

[Bruce Schneier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-schneier/)

> [If you do a black character or a female character or an Asian character, then they aren't just that character. They represent that race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-mcduffie/if-you-do-a-black-character-or-a-female-character-or-an-asian/)

[Dwayne McDuffie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-mcduffie/)

> [We're wired to expect the world to be brighter and more meaningful and more obviously interesting than it actually is. And when we realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/we-re-wired-to-expect-the-world-to-be-brighter-and-more-meaningful/)

[Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/)

> [Failure or success seems to have been allotted to men by their stars. But they retain the power of wriggling, of fighting with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/failure-or-success-seems-to-have-been-allotted-to-men-by-their-stars/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Life can be difficult sometimes, it gets bumpy. What with family and kids and things not going exactly like you planned. But that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-van-patten/life-can-be-difficult-sometimes-it-gets-bumpy-what-with-family-and/)

Joyce Van Patten

> [Here are the good things about independent films: They do the more interesting, chancy scripts. They're run by love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-macy/here-are-the-good-things-about-independent-films-they-do-the-more/)

[William H. Macy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-macy/)

> [If you make something interesting, inevitably not everybody is going to like it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rian-johnson/if-you-make-something-interesting-inevitably-not-everybody-is-going/)

[Rian Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rian-johnson/)

> [Groupon has some interesting assets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-cohler/groupon-has-some-interesting-assets/)

[Matt Cohler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-cohler/)

> [It's an interesting fact that fewer than 17 % of Real cats end their lives with the same name they started with. Much family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/it-s-an-interesting-fact-that-fewer-than-17-of-real-cats-end-their/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

Browse all 9,270 Interesting quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Do we respond only to people who seem to find us interesting?",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Wallace Stegner"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/do-we-respond-only-to-people-who-seem-to-find-us-interesting/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Interesting"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/do-we-respond-only-to-people-who-seem-to-find-us-interesting/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/wallace-stegner-1352_interesting_do-we-respond-only-to-people-who-seem-to_3031407.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/wallace-stegner-1352_interesting_do-we-respond-only-to-people-who-seem-to_3031407.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/wallace-stegner-1352_interesting_do-we-respond-only-to-people-who-seem-to_3031407.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Do we respond only to people who seem to find us interesting?” — Wallace Stegner",
                "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": "Wallace Stegner",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Do we respond only to people...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/do-we-respond-only-to-people-who-seem-to-find-us-interesting/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/do-we-respond-only-to-people-who-seem-to-find-us-interesting/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
