---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's not hard to read about death…"
description: "\"It's not hard to read about death abstractly. I do find it tough when a character I love dies, of course. You can truly miss characters. Not like you m..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d30/will-schwalbe-3101_character_it-s-not-hard-to-read-about-death-abstra_3003753.png"
---

#  It's not hard to read about death abstractly. I do find it…

![“It's not hard to read about death abstractly. I do find it tough when a character I love dies, of course. You can truly miss characters. Not like you miss people, but you can still miss them.” quote by Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d30/will-schwalbe-3101_character_it-s-not-hard-to-read-about-death-abstra_3003753.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d30/will-schwalbe-3101_character_it-s-not-hard-to-read-about-death-abstra_3003753.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d30/will-schwalbe-3101_character_it-s-not-hard-to-read-about-death-abstra_3003753.png)

> “It's not hard to read about death abstractly. I do find it tough when a character I love dies, of course. You can truly miss characters. Not like you miss people, but you can still miss them.”

[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.

Reading about death abstractly is easy, but losing a beloved character feels like missing a person, though not identical.

**In simple terms:** Missing fictional characters feels real.

Key Takeaway

Acknowledge emotional impact of stories.

Themes

literature emotion attachment

Mood

empathetic reflective

Type

literary psychological

When to use this quote

- book clubs
- therapy
- creative writing

Key Concepts

character empathy grief processing story immersion

Questions to Reflect On

- How do characters affect us emotionally?
- Can fiction aid coping with loss?

A Different Perspective

Fictional loss may not translate to real grief.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Missing someone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/missing-someone/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/)

## Related quotes

> [Right," Sadie said. "And Set will just stand there calmly while I read him to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/right-sadie-said-and-set-will-just-stand-there-calmly-while-i-read/)

[Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/)

> [One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/one-must-have-a-heart-of-stone-to-read-the-death-of-little-nell/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

> [“He read at wine, he read in bed, He read aloud, had he the breath, His every thought was with the dead, And so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/he-read-at-wine-he-read-in-bed-he-read-aloud-had-he-the-breath-his/)

[F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/)

> [In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-india-we-only-read-about-death-sickness-terrorism-crime/)

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

> [It's never fun to read death threats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-heidecker/it-s-never-fun-to-read-death-threats/)

[Tim Heidecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-heidecker/)

> [It's weird to feel like you miss someone you're not even sure you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-s-weird-to-feel-like-you-miss-someone-you-re-not-even-sure-you-know/)

[David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/)

> [The parts that I get to play are not based around the European beauty standards: They're more about character, and I love that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keala-settle/the-parts-that-i-get-to-play-are-not-based-around-the-european-beauty/)

[Keala Settle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keala-settle/)

> [Even in stories that I like, with a female character that I love deeply, it always feels like there's something that she has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noelle-stevenson/even-in-stories-that-i-like-with-a-female-character-that-i-love/)

[Noelle Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noelle-stevenson/)

> [Conscience is the frame of character, and love is the covering for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/conscience-is-the-frame-of-character-and-love-is-the-covering-for-it/)

[Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/)

> [There is no cure for fictional character love, but the plus side is that it is an entirely benign disease with no bad side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/there-is-no-cure-for-fictional-character-love-but-the-plus-side-is/)

[Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/)

> [Love is never to be judge,it is how you display your character along with the love,love never hurts ,its how you display your words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frenchqueen/love-is-never-to-be-judge-it-is-how-you-display-your-character-along/)

Frenchqueen

> [It was nice to see Loki grow as a character, because of the love he found within himself, to see the good points of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-herron/it-was-nice-to-see-loki-grow-as-a-character-because-of-the-love-he/)

[Kate Herron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-herron/)

> [ Meryl \[Streep\] plays the me-ish character. I love Meryl. She's totally wonderful. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/meryl-streep-plays-the-me-ish-character-i-love-meryl-she-s-totally/)

[Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/)

> [I have often played the cute, girl-next-door character, who is in love with the hero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pranitha-subhash/i-have-often-played-the-cute-girl-next-door-character-who-is-in-love/)

[Pranitha Subhash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pranitha-subhash/)

> [Your character is who you are. To understand yourself is to know your character. To love yourself is to love your character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/your-character-is-who-you-are-to-understand-yourself-is-to-know-your/)

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

## 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 Character quotes

> [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/)

[Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/)

> [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/)

[Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/)

> [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

> [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/)

[Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/)

> [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/)

[Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/)

> [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/)

David Hudgins

> [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/)

> [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/)

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

> [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/)

[Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/)

> [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/)

[Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/)

> [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/)

[Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/)

> [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/)

[Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/)

> [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/)

[Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/)

> [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/)

[Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/)

[Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "It's not hard to read about death abstractly. I do find it tough when a character I love dies, of course. You can truly miss characters. Not like you miss people, but you can still miss them.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Will Schwalbe"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/it-s-not-hard-to-read-about-death-abstractly-i-do-find-it-tough-when/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Character"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/it-s-not-hard-to-read-about-death-abstractly-i-do-find-it-tough-when/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d30/will-schwalbe-3101_character_it-s-not-hard-to-read-about-death-abstra_3003753.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d30/will-schwalbe-3101_character_it-s-not-hard-to-read-about-death-abstra_3003753.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d30/will-schwalbe-3101_character_it-s-not-hard-to-read-about-death-abstra_3003753.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“It's not hard to read about death abstractly. I do find it tough when a character I love dies, of course…” — 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": "It's not hard to read about...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/it-s-not-hard-to-read-about-death-abstractly-i-do-find-it-tough-when/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/it-s-not-hard-to-read-about-death-abstractly-i-do-find-it-tough-when/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
