"Everything we do affects other people"
About this Quote
The intent feels less like poetry and more like a corrective. It reads like a writer's blunt tool for puncturing a popular modern alibi: that personal freedom is mainly personal. By insisting on effects, the line drags ethics out of the realm of grand gestures and into micro-behavior. It also functions as a pressure point against self-mythologizing. If everything affects other people, then your story about yourself is never a solo narrative; it's always co-authored by whoever has to live with your decisions.
Subtextually, it's a reminder that power isn't only held by institutions; it's exercised in ordinary interactions. The quote makes no promise that those effects are fair, intended, or even visible. That's what gives it its bite: you don't get to opt out just because you "didn't mean it."
Context matters because Ford is a contemporary writer, not a statesman issuing doctrine. The line fits our networked era where influence scales strangely: a post reaches strangers, a mood infects a household, a habit becomes a model. It doubles as accountability and unease, a secular version of "watch your life" for a world where the audience is always partly real.
Quote Details
| Topic | Ethics & Morality |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Ford, Luke. (2026, January 17). Everything we do affects other people. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/everything-we-do-affects-other-people-64573/
Chicago Style
Ford, Luke. "Everything we do affects other people." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/everything-we-do-affects-other-people-64573/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Everything we do affects other people." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/everything-we-do-affects-other-people-64573/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.








