---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But people can be cruel in lots of ways…"
description: "\"“But people can be cruel in lots of ways, some very subtle.”\" — Will Schwalbe"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/will-schwalbe-3101_cruel_but-people-can-be-cruel-in-lots-of-ways_491900.png"
---

#  But people can be cruel in lots of ways, some very subtle.

![“But people can be cruel in lots of ways, some very subtle.” quote by Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/will-schwalbe-3101_cruel_but-people-can-be-cruel-in-lots-of-ways_491900.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/will-schwalbe-3101_cruel_but-people-can-be-cruel-in-lots-of-ways_491900.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/will-schwalbe-3101_cruel_but-people-can-be-cruel-in-lots-of-ways_491900.png)

> ““But people can be cruel in lots of ways, some very subtle.””

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

## About This Quote

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

People can inflict harm through subtle, often unnoticed actions.

**In simple terms:** Cruelty can be subtle.

Key Takeaway

Be aware of hidden harm.

Themes

psychology ethics interpersonal relations

Mood

thoughtful cautious

Type

reflective empathetic

When to use this quote

- workplace
- family
- online interactions

Key Concepts

subtle cruelty emotional impact

Questions to Reflect On

- What subtle actions have hurt you?
- How can you address them?

A Different Perspective

Subtle cruelty may be dismissed as harmless.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Cruel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruel/) [Cruel Lots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruel-lots-4207506/) [Lots Ways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lots-ways-2780607/) [People Cruel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-cruel-858410/) [Subtle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subtle/) [Ways Subtle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ways-subtle-3971133/)

## Related quotes

> [If the essential core of the person is denied or suppressed, he gets sick sometimes in obvious ways, sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes immediately,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-maslow/if-the-essential-core-of-the-person-is-denied-or-suppressed-he-gets/)

[Abraham Maslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-maslow/)

> [It's very strange that the people you love are often the people you're most cruel to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-branagh/it-s-very-strange-that-the-people-you-love-are-often-the-people-you/)

[Kenneth Branagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-branagh/)

> [Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don't know what makes people so cruel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elton-john/jesus-wanted-us-to-be-loving-and-forgiving-i-don-t-know-what-makes/)

[Elton John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elton-john/)

> [People were so cruel because of the way I existed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indya-moore/people-were-so-cruel-because-of-the-way-i-existed/)

[Indya Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indya-moore/)

> [“People can be cruel, deadly, heartless, selfish, disrespectful. They can be vice-ridden and lack any basic empathy toward their fellow man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-lofty/people-can-be-cruel-deadly-heartless-selfish-disrespectful-they-can/)

[Carrie Lofty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-lofty/)

> [Holocaust films will be made and should be made as long as we can't understand what makes people so cruel to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/holocaust-films-will-be-made-and-should-be-made-as-long-as-we-can-t/)

[Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/)

> [“Remember this! It is never an entire people who is cruel; it is merely individuals who exert their will on others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sujata-massey/remember-this-it-is-never-an-entire-people-who-is-cruel-it-is-merely/)

[Sujata Massey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sujata-massey/)

> [People can be cruel let them be just do what's best for you they might let you down but stand up and fight for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/people-can-be-cruel-let-them-be-just-do-what-s-best-for-you-they/)

[Unkown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unkown/)

> [“People can be so cruel to the different.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesley-kagen/people-can-be-so-cruel-to-the-different/)

[Lesley Kagen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lesley-kagen/)

> [Part of the entrepreneurial thing is there are lots of ways to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/part-of-the-entrepreneurial-thing-is-there-are-lots-of-ways-to-die/)

[Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/)

> [I think there are lots of ways to make good work. You can throw big bucks at a project and make what some would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kruger/i-think-there-are-lots-of-ways-to-make-good-work-you-can-throw-big/)

[Barbara Kruger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kruger/)

> [“It’s crazy, but it’s just money. There’s lots of ways to get money,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruta-sepetys/it-s-crazy-but-it-s-just-money-there-s-lots-of-ways-to-get-money/)

[Ruta Sepetys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruta-sepetys/)

> [There are lots of ways to work together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-lots-of-ways-to-work-together/)

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

> [“The good thing about problems is that it seems like there's only one way to get into them, but there's usually lots of ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-van-allen/the-good-thing-about-problems-is-that-it-seems-like-there-s-only-one/)

[Lisa Van Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-van-allen/)

> [“There are lots of ways to lose yourself—motherhood’s just one of them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-fontaine/there-are-lots-of-ways-to-lose-yourself-motherhood-s-just-one-of-them/)

[Claire Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-fontaine/)

## More by Will Schwalbe

> [And my first item on each day's list is this: Wake up. If I can check that off, I've already done something and can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/and-my-first-item-on-each-day-s-list-is-this-wake-up-if-i-can-check/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [“You can truly miss characters. Not like you miss people, but you can still miss them. I don’t think I’ll ever get over Melanie’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/you-can-truly-miss-characters-not-like-you-miss-people-but-you-can/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [“and sister and father and mother had. I was learning that when you’re with someone who is dying, you may need to celebrate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/and-sister-and-father-and-mother-had-i-was-learning-that-when-you-re/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [“Hidden away, the people of the streets drift into sleep induced by alcohol or agitated by despair, into dreams that carry them back to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/hidden-away-the-people-of-the-streets-drift-into-sleep-induced-by/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [“If heathen prayers were indeed the best of all, then mine should count big time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/if-heathen-prayers-were-indeed-the-best-of-all-then-mine-should-count/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [In Gilead, the narrator's friend's son describes himself not as an atheist but in "state of categorical unbelief." He says, "I don't even believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/in-gilead-the-narrator-s-friend-s-son-describes-himself-not-as-an/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [“I did manage to read some pages from a book that’s also about how people can find strength they didn’t know they had.” “What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/i-did-manage-to-read-some-pages-from-a-book-that-s-also-about-how/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [“I'm not the same reader when I finish a book as I was when I started, brains are tangles of pathways, and reading creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/i-m-not-the-same-reader-when-i-finish-a-book-as-i-was-when-i-started/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [“Connelly writes, “As long as there is paper, people will write, secretly, in small rooms, in the hidden chambers of their minds, just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/connelly-writes-as-long-as-there-is-paper-people-will-write-secretly/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [“When I think back on all the refugee camps I visited, all over the world, the people always asked for the same thing: books.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/when-i-think-back-on-all-the-refugee-camps-i-visited-all-over-the/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [“asked: “And I was very surprised by the ending. Were you?” “Of course not—I’d read it first. I don’t think I could have stood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/asked-and-i-was-very-surprised-by-the-ending-were-you-of-course-not-i/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [“A father and his son are in a terrible car crash. The father is killed instantly—but the son survives, barely, his life hanging in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/a-father-and-his-son-are-in-a-terrible-car-crash-the-father-is-killed/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [...in the eyes of her oldest friends and colleagues and extended family, she wasn't a painfully thin seventy-five-year-old gray haired woman dying of cancer-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/in-the-eyes-of-her-oldest-friends-and-colleagues-and-extended-family/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [“I like books. I don't read them. But I like them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/i-like-books-i-don-t-read-them-but-i-like-them/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [“Lahiri's characters, just like people all around us, are constantly telling each other important things, but not necessarily in words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/lahiri-s-characters-just-like-people-all-around-us-are-constantly/)

[will schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

[Explore all 139 Will Schwalbe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

## More Cruel quotes

> [“History has a cruel way of disappointing optimists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-thompson/history-has-a-cruel-way-of-disappointing-optimists/)

[Keith Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-thompson/)

> [“I think the reason we're cruel sometimes is that we're afraid we're going to like something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-think-the-reason-we-re-cruel-sometimes-is-that-we-re-afraid-we-re/)

[Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/)

> [“Don't be so cruel to me. Don't promise me anything. I've got everything that i need. I need love in a good way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tegan-quin/don-t-be-so-cruel-to-me-don-t-promise-me-anything-i-ve-got-everything/)

[Tegan Quin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tegan-quin/)

> [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/)

[Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/)

> [“Even the cruel feel pain. And even the cruel can change. I hope this changes him. He could do so much, if only he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brown/even-the-cruel-feel-pain-and-even-the-cruel-can-change-i-hope-this/)

[Pierce Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brown/)

> [You must learn that to endure cruelty is to become cruel yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bleach/you-must-learn-that-to-endure-cruelty-is-to-become-cruel-yourself/)

[Bleach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bleach/)

> [“my power is as cruel a joke as it can get? That’s”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-d-anderson/my-power-is-as-cruel-a-joke-as-it-can-get-that-s/)

[Katie D. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-d-anderson/)

> [I must be cruel only to be kind; Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-must-be-cruel-only-to-be-kind-thus-bad-begins-and-worse-remains/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [Huamns, uregulated, are cruel and capricious; violet and selfish; miserable and quarrelsome. It is only after their instincts and basic emotions have been controlled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/huamns-uregulated-are-cruel-and-capricious-violet-and-selfish/)

[Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/)

> [“You would think those who have endured unkindness would be kinder as a result, intent on sparing others the awful suffering they abhorred firsthand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/you-would-think-those-who-have-endured-unkindness-would-be-kinder-as/)

[Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/)

> [how cruel, your veins are full of ice-water and mine are boiling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/how-cruel-your-veins-are-full-of-ice-water-and-mine-are-boiling/)

[Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/)

> [There is no kindness more cruel than the kindness which consigns another person to their sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/there-is-no-kindness-more-cruel-than-the-kindness-which-consigns/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [Vanity can create a very cruel space for you if you don't know how to manage it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/vanity-can-create-a-very-cruel-space-for-you-if-you-don-t-know-how-to/)

[Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/)

> [Life is cruel and we do terrible things to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-pym/life-is-cruel-and-we-do-terrible-things-to-each-other/)

[Barbara Pym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-pym/)

> [What people loathe the most is to be orphaned, desolate, unworthy. But this is what princes and kings call themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/what-people-loathe-the-most-is-to-be-orphaned-desolate-unworthy-but/)

[Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/)

[Browse all 1,069 Cruel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruel/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“But people can be cruel in lots of ways, some very subtle.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Will Schwalbe"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/but-people-can-be-cruel-in-lots-of-ways-some-very-subtle/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Cruel"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/but-people-can-be-cruel-in-lots-of-ways-some-very-subtle/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/will-schwalbe-3101_cruel_but-people-can-be-cruel-in-lots-of-ways_491900.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/will-schwalbe-3101_cruel_but-people-can-be-cruel-in-lots-of-ways_491900.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/053/will-schwalbe-3101_cruel_but-people-can-be-cruel-in-lots-of-ways_491900.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“But people can be cruel in lots of ways, some very subtle.” — Will Schwalbe",
                "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": "Will Schwalbe",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“But people can be cruel in...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/but-people-can-be-cruel-in-lots-of-ways-some-very-subtle/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/but-people-can-be-cruel-in-lots-of-ways-some-very-subtle/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
