Daily Inspiration Quote by Abigail Van Buren

A whole social philosophy hides inside that tiny shift of pronouns. "There you are" is outward-facing, a greeting that treats other people as the main event. "Here I am" is a self-announcement, the verbal equivalent of planting a flag. Abigail Van Buren, who spent her career translating private messes into public advice, is diagnosing a personality divide that shows up most clearly in doorways: do you enter a space looking to connect, or looking to be noticed?

The line works because it turns etiquette into ethics. No grand sermon, just two scripts anyone can hear in their head. Van Buren's genius as a journalist was always her ear for the ordinary phrase that reveals a whole worldview. "There you are" suggests recognition: I have been thinking of you, I am relieved to find you, you matter before I do. "Here I am" suggests performance: I am the subject, this room is the audience, react accordingly. Neither is framed as outright villainy, which makes the jab sharper; she implies that most of our social harm comes from small, habitual self-centering rather than dramatic cruelty.

Context matters: advice columns are essentially empathy engines, training readers to imagine the impact of their behavior. In a culture increasingly optimized for personal branding, Van Buren's binary lands as both manners lesson and warning label. The question isn't just what you say when you arrive. It's whether you believe other people are already real before you enter.