--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We all possess, like it or not, the…" description: "\"“We all possess, like it or not, the people we know, and are possessed by them in turn.”\" — William Boyd" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c98/william-boyd-3581_knows_we-all-possess-like-it-or-not-the-people_53139.png" --- # We all possess, like it or not, the people we know, and… ![“We all possess, like it or not, the people we know, and are possessed by them in turn.” quote by William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c98/william-boyd-3581_knows_we-all-possess-like-it-or-not-the-people_53139.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c98/william-boyd-3581_knows_we-all-possess-like-it-or-not-the-people_53139.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c98/william-boyd-3581_knows_we-all-possess-like-it-or-not-the-people_53139.png) > ““We all possess, like it or not, the people we know, and are possessed by them in turn.”” [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our identities are shaped by the relationships we maintain; we both influence and are influenced by those around us. **In simple terms:** Relationships define us. Key Takeaway Social ties shape identity. Themes identity relationships interdependence social influence self-awareness Mood reflective thoughtful introspective Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - navigating friendships - building professional connections - family dynamics - community involvement Key Concepts social networks personal development mutual influence Practical Applications - psychology research - leadership training Questions to Reflect On - How do your closest relationships reflect your values? - In what ways do you shape the people around you? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [You don't have to fear defeat if you believe it may reveal powers that you didn't know you possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/you-don-t-have-to-fear-defeat-if-you-believe-it-may-reveal-powers/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [“And by being possessed, you possess, because that's how love works.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/and-by-being-possessed-you-possess-because-that-s-how-love-works/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [We truly possess only what we are able to renounce; otherwise, we are simply possessed by our possessions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/we-truly-possess-only-what-we-are-able-to-renounce-otherwise-we-are/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [I wish neither to possess nor to be possessed. I no longer covet 'paradise'. More important, I no longer fear 'hell'. The medicine for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/i-wish-neither-to-possess-nor-to-be-possessed-i-no-longer-covet/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [The more things you possess the more you are possessed by what you possess which make you slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/onuh-justus-izuchukwu/the-more-things-you-possess-the-more-you-are-possessed-by-what-you/) [Onuh Justus Izuchukwu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/onuh-justus-izuchukwu/) > [Those who are possessed by nothing possess everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morihei-ueshiba/those-who-are-possessed-by-nothing-possess-everything/) [Morihei Ueshiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morihei-ueshiba/) > [“Creative people neither like to be possessive nor like to be possessed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/creative-people-neither-like-to-be-possessive-nor-like-to-be-possessed/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Most poets, like most people, try hard to be like someone they admire or they are possessed with an image of what they ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-broughton/most-poets-like-most-people-try-hard-to-be-like-someone-they-admire/) [James Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-broughton/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Songwriting is about getting the demon out of me. It's like being possessed. You try to go to sleep, but the song won't let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/songwriting-is-about-getting-the-demon-out-of-me-it-s-like-being/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [How could this world be so unlike the world that I believed I was living in? I can't describe it. Do I not want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/how-could-this-world-be-so-unlike-the-world-that-i-believed-i-was/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [You cannot impart what you do not possess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-g-hendricks/you-cannot-impart-what-you-do-not-possess/) [Howard G. Hendricks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-g-hendricks/) > [Nothing will ever please me, no matter how excellent or beneficial, if I must retain the knowledge of it to myself. . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/nothing-will-ever-please-me-no-matter-how-excellent-or-beneficial-if/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [“All the knowledge I possess every one else can acquire, but my heart is exclusively my own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-the-knowledge-i-possess-every-one-else-can-acquire-but-my-heart/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [You can only possess beauty through understanding it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-only-possess-beauty-through-understanding-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by William Boyd > [Sometimes limbo is a tolerable place to be stuck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/sometimes-limbo-is-a-tolerable-place-to-be-stuck/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“Here at its extremities the terrified transients gathered, gazing out at the vast refulgent ocean for some sign of security.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/here-at-its-extremities-the-terrified-transients-gathered-gazing-out/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“Old Testament prophets. ‘You savvy dis fetish thing?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/old-testament-prophets-you-savvy-dis-fetish-thing/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [Human beings are interested in the human condition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/human-beings-are-interested-in-the-human-condition/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“A warm sunny evening, the plash and gurgle of the waves in the rock pools, the rush of the cold gin. I thought for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/a-warm-sunny-evening-the-plash-and-gurgle-of-the-waves-in-the-rock/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [I have this lock of hair that keeps falling across my forehead. It drives me mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/i-have-this-lock-of-hair-that-keeps-falling-across-my-forehead-it/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [With film, you have very limited tools to convey subjectivity - voiceover, the camera's point of view, good acting - but even the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/with-film-you-have-very-limited-tools-to-convey-subjectivity/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“any man over forty who deliberately combs his hair forward in a child’s fringe has something suspect about him,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/any-man-over-forty-who-deliberately-combs-his-hair-forward-in-a-child/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [There are things in life we don't understand, and when we meet them, all we can do is let them alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/there-are-things-in-life-we-don-t-understand-and-when-we-meet-them/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“All great artists are doubters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/all-great-artists-are-doubters/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“Feelings of depression; feelings of frustration; feelings of emptiness in the face of all this randomness - done down by the haphazard, yet again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/feelings-of-depression-feelings-of-frustration-feelings-of-emptiness/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“I am a total stranger, you see. Total.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/i-am-a-total-stranger-you-see-total/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [There is a disconnect between the film Bond and the literary Bond which is their contemporaneity. I don't suffer from that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/there-is-a-disconnect-between-the-film-bond-and-the-literary-bond/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“So much for my great vendetta, so much for the tireless hunt for my betrayer. Isn't this how life turns out, more often than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/so-much-for-my-great-vendetta-so-much-for-the-tireless-hunt-for-my/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) > [“So I found myself asking the question: what is the opposite of a mistake? And I realised there wasn’t a word, in fact, precisely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/so-i-found-myself-asking-the-question-what-is-the-opposite-of-a/) [William Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) [Explore all 125 William Boyd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/) ## More Knows quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. 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There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [As a child, I had a lot of older gay men taking care of me. There's a trust there. I feel like little girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/as-a-child-i-had-a-lot-of-older-gay-men-taking-care-of-me-there-s-a/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) > [He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-who-knows-does-not-speak-he-who-speaks-does-not-know/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I did not know that the planning for biological and chemical warfare was so widespread in England, and even in France before France fell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-did-not-know-that-the-planning-for-biological-and-chemical-warfare/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) Browse all 53,133 Knows quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We all possess, like it or not, the people we know, and are possessed by them in turn.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Boyd" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/we-all-possess-like-it-or-not-the-people-we-know-and-are-possessed-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Knows" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/we-all-possess-like-it-or-not-the-people-we-know-and-are-possessed-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c98/william-boyd-3581_knows_we-all-possess-like-it-or-not-the-people_53139.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c98/william-boyd-3581_knows_we-all-possess-like-it-or-not-the-people_53139.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c98/william-boyd-3581_knows_we-all-possess-like-it-or-not-the-people_53139.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We all possess, like it or not, the people we know, and are possessed by them in turn.” — William Boyd", "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": "William Boyd", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-boyd/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“We all possess, like it or...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/we-all-possess-like-it-or-not-the-people-we-know-and-are-possessed-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-boyd/we-all-possess-like-it-or-not-the-people-we-know-and-are-possessed-by/#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 } } ] } ```