Life & Wisdom Quote by Craig Bruce

Idealization loves a vacuum. Craig Bruce’s line cuts with the clean practicality of a writer who understands how stories get mistaken for people. “It’s easy” isn’t just a casual shrug; it’s an indictment of how little friction there is between ignorance and obsession. When you don’t know someone, your brain doesn’t have to negotiate their contradictions, their bad timing, their pettiness, their ordinary needs. You can cast them, not meet them.

The subtext is less romantic than it looks. This isn’t about admiration; it’s about control. Idealizing a stranger lets you build a person who can’t disappoint you because they can’t speak back. They exist as a mood board: curated traits, flattering angles, a highlight reel stitched together from distance. The quote quietly exposes the emotional bargain underneath: you trade reality for certainty. You get the comfort of devotion without the risk of intimacy.

Bruce’s context as a contemporary writer matters. In a media environment where public figures are consumed as brands and acquaintances are flattened into profiles, “don’t know” can mean anything from literal strangers to parasocial relationships, online crushes, even a partner you’ve turned into a project. The line also gestures toward a darker mechanism: idolization is often the first step toward resentment. Once the real person shows up, the fantasy feels betrayed. Bruce is warning that the gap between ideal and actual isn’t an accident; it’s the point.