Mark Haddon Quotes

There are those moments when you shake someone's hand, have a conversation with someone, and suddenly your all bound together because you share your humanity in one simple moment.

Probably above all other things, I am interested as a writer in making a connection, interested in the parts of all of us that connect.

We can learn to see each other and see ourselves in each other and recognize that human beings are more alike than we are unalike.

The irony is that the more specific you are in the portrayal of character, the more like other people you are. In the same way, the more you think about how alone you are in this life, you realise how much a brother and sister everyone else is.

The world is not such a large place, and we have more in common with one another than we might think.

In this world, and all the things we have going on, we're all human beings.

I think my mission, if I could call it that, as a storyteller is to try and find ways to show how similar we are and not how different we are.

It's difficult to have any animosity towards someone if you recognize that on so many levels they're exactly the same as you.

One of the things novels should do is shine a light on those parts of us that are common, the fibres that connect all of us. They should convey the sense that we're all connected, coming from the same tree, sharing common roots.

It's nice to feel like you have more in common with people rather than more differences.

Governments are different, and philosophies are different, but when it comes down to it, a schoolteacher is a schoolteacher is a schoolteacher. A butcher is a butcher is a butcher. We are people. And we are far more common than we ever imagine.

There's a universal inside of me. So if I tell my story, you're going to see parts of your story in it. I don't know which parts, but we all overlap. We're all very much alike.

At the end of the day, we are all humans.

Among the most striking things that I have learned is how much we have in common. I've sat down with people everywhere, discussing what was in their hearts and on their minds. And it doesn't take long to find commonality, which is often overlooked, ignored, dismissed, and rejected otherwise.

I have never met a person in whom I did not see myself reflected.

I'm no different than you.

All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us that we are all more alike than we are unalike.

What a powerful thing to know: That one's own desires are mappable onto strangers; that what one finds in oneself will most certainly be found in The Other.

I've found that the common humanity of people is the most relatable thing, and even if your stories are very specific about a different place, if you have a relatable core of humanity, people will go along with it.

All of us are much more human than otherwise.

The only bond worth anything between human beings is their humanness.

I think, really, that the only way a person can open their heart to someone who is so much another is really by knowing them... whether that's in a classroom, or a soccer team, or a food pantry, or any of those things. I mean, we're kind of more alike than we are different.

We are all quick to point out all the differences but not as willing to accept what bonds us as humans.

I enjoy learning about different periods and people, and then taking what's universal about the human condition and seeing where it matches up. No matter where you are, certain things unite everybody.

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.