About this quote

The line forces you to admit how often proximity and understanding are miles apart. Most days you file people into quick roles, coworker or neighbor, and never check for the person underneath. Want to change that? Slow down, ask a simple question, and listen without planning your reply. Seeing someone is a small habit you can practice this week — it won't feel heroic, but it will change how you move through rooms.

When to use it

• At the office corridor, after months of nodding to the same intern, I finally stopped and asked how classes were going, and then I thought about that Steinbeck line.
• At my mother's kitchen table, I put my phone away and asked my teenage son what was bothering him; later I kept thinking, I wonder how many people I've looked at all my life and never seen.
• On the commuter train, I offered my seat to a tired janitor and realized I'd passed him every morning without ever noticing his face and story.
• During soccer practice, I pulled a quiet kid aside and asked if he wanted help; he opened up, and that line kept running through my head afterward.