Like running hurdles. Work so hard, jump over every one, fast, high enough but no higher, because you can't afford to hang in the air. And then, when the race is over, you're dripping with sweat, either they beat you or you beat them...and then a couple of guys come out and move the hurdles out of the way. Turns out they were nothing. All that work to jump over them, but now they're gone
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Hard work overcoming obstacles may feel pointless if the challenges are removed or deemed insignificant afterward.
- In plain terms
- You run hard to jump over hurdles, but then they are moved away like they never mattered.
- What can you take from it?
- Struggle can seem pointless if goals change.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Does the struggle matter?
- How do we find meaning?
Another view
The process often builds value regardless of the outcome.
More from Orson Scott Card
They say that love conquers all. They say that because they're idiots. Love can't conquer anything. Love can't make a scholar into a warrior. Loving her can't …
Permalink to quote #583 He would have had a bad five minutes there, but by now it would be over. He wouldn't have this dull ache in his heart, the sharp yearning in his throat, the wo…
Permalink to quote #585 I have to trust everyone and yet there's no one I can really be sure of You can be sure of me she looked at him, searching his face. I've known you so little t…
Permalink to quote #582
Related quotes
Nam petere imperium quod inanus nec datur umquam, atque in eo semper durum sufferre laborem, hoc est adverso nixantem trudere monte saxa quod tamen e summo iam…
LucretiusLucretius quote #18 There is something about the literary life that repels me, all this desperate building of castles on cobwebs, the long-drawn acrimonious struggle to make somet…
Raymond ChandlerRaymond Chandler quote #5 It just seems so useless to have to work so hard and nothin' ever really seems to come from it.
Tom PettyTom Petty quote #20