QuoteProject
A good rule of thumb for many things in life holds that things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then happen faster than you thought they could.
Lawrence Summers
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Expectations in life can often be misleading; progress may feel slow initially but can accelerate unexpectedly.

This quote by Lawrence Summers highlights the unpredictable nature of progress and accomplishments in life. It suggests that while we often underestimate the time required for tasks and goals, once they start to unfold, they can progress much more quickly than anticipated. This perspective can be applied to various situations, including personal projects, career advancements, and even relationships, illustrating that patience and perseverance are essential as outcomes can often surprise us.

Themes

TimeProgressPatienceExpectationLife

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used during a motivational speech to encourage perseverance in long-term projects.

More from Lawrence Summers

The only antidote to dangerous ideas is strong alternatives vigorously advocated.
Lawrence SummersRead
Global capital markets pose the same kinds of problems that jet planes do. They are faster, more comfortable, and they get you where you are going better. But the crashes are much more spectacular.
Lawrence SummersRead
It used to be said that when the U.S. sneezed, the world caught a cold. The opposite is equally true today.
Lawrence SummersRead
Most investors want to do today what they should have done yesterday.
Lawrence SummersRead
We are inheriting the worst financial system since the Depression. We're inheriting a situation - when people go back and study major banking crises a quarter century from now, the one that America developed in 2007 and 2008 is going to be one of those crises.
Lawrence SummersRead
The idea that we should be open to all ideas is very different from the supposition that all ideas are equally valid.
Lawrence SummersRead

Similar quotes

The depth of experience fine wine can bring to a dinner, particularly a bottle that has been through the past 100 years, makes you take stock of your own life.
Neil Degrasse TysonRead
I miss Saturday morning, rolling out of bed, not shaving, getting into my car with my girls, driving to the supermarket, squeezing the fruit, getting my car washed, taking walks.
Barack ObamaRead
Now Catherine would die. That was what you did. You died. You did not know what it was about. You never had time to learn. They threw you in and told you the rules and the first time they caught you off base they killed you. Or they killed you gratuitously like Aymo. Or gave you the syphilis like Rinaldi. But they killed you in the end. You could count on that. Stay around and they would kill you.
Ernest HemingwayRead
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
Abraham LincolnRead
Life is like an ice-cream cone, you have to lick it one day at a time.
Charles M. SchulzRead
I grew up in poverty on the edge of a golf course. I saw how people lived on the other side of the tracks, the upper crust and the WASPs at the country club. We had chickens and pigs in our yards. We butchered every year. I'll never forget those things.
Arnold PalmerRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.