The Loneliest People

About

The Loneliest People is an inspirational phrase used in motivational images and as the caption in image macro memes. The quote has inspired multiple deviations about various characters from different fandoms often in the form of photosets or gifsets. The phrase, in its entirety, reads:

The loneliest people are the kindest. The saddest people smile the brightest. The most damaged people are the wisest. All because they do not wish to see anyone else suffer the way they do.

Origin

The Flickr ^[1] account for the website Live Life Happy, a website based on inspirational quotes, poems and media, published the earliest known usage of the phrase on November 5th, 2012. The post received more than 15,000 views in less than a decade (shown below).

Spread

The following day, the group published the quote on their website.^[2] On November 7th, 2012, Facebook ^[3] group Deep Life Quotes published the quote, receiving more than 3,300 shares and 2,900 reactions in less than 10 years.

Over the next year, the quote appeared in a number of image macros. For example, on August 5th, 2013, Redditor ^[4] rOOb85 shared the quote in an image of a man floating in the sky. The post received more than 2,700 points (92% upvoted) and 165 comments in less than seven years (shown below, left). That month, Yahoo Answers ^[5] user Sarah asked about the quote (shown below, right).

On December 26th, 2014, an anonymous 9GAG ^[6] user posted a six-panel image macro meme, breaking the quote up across six images of Breaking Bad characters, showing their sorrow and their strength. The post received more than 44,000 points and 495 comments in less than six years (shown below). The following month, 9GAG posted the meme on Facebook,^[7] receiving an additional 324,000 likes, 53,000 shares and 6,300 comments in less than six years.

Following the spread of the image, people applied the quote to other pop culture items (examples below, left and center).

The image also inspired a series of parodies that mock the quote. For example, in 2019, a variation featuring characters from Five Nights at Freddy's (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Related Memes

The Saddest People Cum the Hardest

The Saddest People Cum the Hardest and The Saddest People Shit the Loudest refers to a series of ironic catchphrases parodying the popular inspirational quote "The loneliest people are the kindest. The saddest people smile the brightest. The most damaged people are the wisest. All because they do not wish to see anyone else suffer the way they do." Originating from a viral Tumblr post, the catchphrases have since gained popularity as captions in ironic memes.

Search Interest

External References