Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Accept chaos gracefully rather than futilely fighting it.
In plain terms
If order is impossible, leave with dignity.
What can you take from it?
Maintain dignity when things fall apart.

Where it applies

  • political upheaval
  • personal crisis
  • end of eras

Putting it to work

  • graceful exit
  • prioritizing dignity over control

Questions to consider

  • When is withdrawal the best choice?
  • Can style matter more than survival?

Another view

It may encourage passivity in the face of change.

More from Tom Stoppard

  1. Revolution is a trivial shift in the emphasis of suffering; the capacity for self-indulgence changes hands.

    Permalink to quote #1
  2. My whole life is waiting for the questions to which I have prepared answers.

    Permalink to quote #3
  3. When someone disagrees with you on a moral point you assume that he is one step behind in his thinking, and he assumes that he has gone one step ahead. But I t…

    Permalink to quote #4

Related quotes

  1. 'Let it be so.'

    Guglielmo MarconiGuglielmo Marconi quote #1
  2. Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I a…

    Anne BoleynAnne Boleyn quote #5
  3. 'Maybe Nina wouldn't have died if I hadn't moved in with them and drawn Sheener after me, but I can't feel guilty about that. I tried hard to be a good foster …

    Dean R. KoontzDean R. Koontz quote #10