The truth is, of course, that there is a danger of being unaware of those persons and things nearest and most accustomed to us. It is not necessarily true that familiarity breeds contempt, but it does tend to make the familiar something that is taken for granted.

Funny how we take it for granted that we know all there is to know about another person, just because we see them frequently or because of some strong emotional tie.

Familiarity can blind you

Familiarity is the thing — the sense of belonging. It grants exemption from all evil, all shabbiness. A farmer pauses in the doorway of his barn and he is wearing the right boots. A sheep stands under an apple tree and it wears the right look, and the tree is hung with puckered frozen fruit of the right color.

Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.

Familiarity with any great thing removes our awe of it.

Though familiarity may not breed contempt, it takes off the edge of admiration.

Familiarity seems to breed contempt

Every day that we allow ourselves to take things for granted, every day that we allow some little physical infirmity or worldly worry to come between us and our obstinate, indignant, defiant exultation, we are weakening our genius for life.

Familiarity breeds liking.

No wonder, you’re making decisions based on familiarity. But who says that familiarity is always a good thing? It’s good for certainty. But to achieve a breakthrough, you need something different.

It is easy to take liberty for granted when you have never had it taken from you.

Most of us, it seems, have a strong inclination to accept the peculiarities of our social environment as if they were ‘natural’.

Familiarity does breed contempt; — doesn’t it?