--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The gain isn't counted to the recluse and…" description: "\"The gain isn't counted to the recluse and inactive that, having nothing to measure themselves by and never being tested by failure, they simmer and soa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/alice-james-18373_complacency_the-gain-isn-t-counted-to-the-recluse-an_830768.png" --- # The gain isn't counted to the recluse and inactive that… ![“The gain isn't counted to the recluse and inactive that, having nothing to measure themselves by and never being tested by failure, they simmer and soak perpetually in conscious complacency.” quote by Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/alice-james-18373_complacency_the-gain-isn-t-counted-to-the-recluse-an_830768.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/alice-james-18373_complacency_the-gain-isn-t-counted-to-the-recluse-an_830768.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/alice-james-18373_complacency_the-gain-isn-t-counted-to-the-recluse-an_830768.png) > “The gain isn't counted to the recluse and inactive that, having nothing to measure themselves by and never being tested by failure, they simmer and soak perpetually in conscious complacency.” [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Those who avoid challenges and never face failure become complacent, lacking self‑measurement and growth. **In simple terms:** Avoiding failure leads to stagnation. Key Takeaway Embrace challenges to avoid complacency. Themes personal growth failure self‑assessment Mood reflective motivational Type self‑help inspirational When to use this quote - career development - personal relationships - creative projects Key Concepts complacency resilience Questions to Reflect On - What failures could you confront to grow? - How does comfort hinder progress? A Different Perspective Complacency can be hard to break without external pressure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Complacency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complacency/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ## Related quotes > [It isn't a gain, but it also isn't a loss either you are not here, but still I am feeling that you are here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aj/it-isn-t-a-gain-but-it-also-isn-t-a-loss-either-you-are-not-here-but/) AJ > [“He would be alone, and apart from life, which was all he wanted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence-2/he-would-be-alone-and-apart-from-life-which-was-all-he-wanted/) [D.H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence-2/) > [Susan Boyle having a meltdown is not controversial. It's human for a 48-year-old recluse to get a little wigged out when she finds herself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-amos/susan-boyle-having-a-meltdown-is-not-controversial-it-s-human-for-a/) [Shawn Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-amos/) > [The older I get, the more of a recluse I turn into. I love the social aspect of my work. It’s like a commune…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-daniels/the-older-i-get-the-more-of-a-recluse-i-turn-into-i-love-the-social/) [Ben Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-daniels/) > [I was pretty dorky in high school. I was pretty much of a recluse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-mccaffrey/i-was-pretty-dorky-in-high-school-i-was-pretty-much-of-a-recluse/) [Ed McCaffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-mccaffrey/) > [You can't kill America. We're more than a nation. We're a notion. We're an idea. The American Dream. You never heard of the Afghanistani…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durst/you-can-t-kill-america-we-re-more-than-a-nation-we-re-a-notion-we-re/) [Will Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durst/) > [The press has always written that I am a recluse and a mysterious woman, but I am more down-to-earth than they think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnetha-faltskog/the-press-has-always-written-that-i-am-a-recluse-and-a-mysterious/) [Agnetha Faltskog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnetha-faltskog/) > [“The Howard Hughes thing hadn’t actually sounded like such a bad deal until about...oh, eight thirty-five this morning. Something about having his ex carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-betts/the-howard-hughes-thing-hadn-t-actually-sounded-like-such-a-bad-deal/) [Heidi Betts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-betts/) > [The temptation is to stay inside; to subside into the kind of recluse whom neighborhood children regard with derision and little awe; to let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-temptation-is-to-stay-inside-to-subside-into-the-kind-of-recluse/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I'm not really comfortable with who I am to be honest. I feel more free to step into the shoes of somebody else. There's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-kwanten/i-m-not-really-comfortable-with-who-i-am-to-be-honest-i-feel-more/) [Ryan Kwanten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-kwanten/) > [They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a recluse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/they-say-that-god-is-everywhere-and-yet-we-always-think-of-him-as/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [I am something of a recluse by nature. I am that cordless screwdriver that has to charge for twenty hours to earn ten minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/i-am-something-of-a-recluse-by-nature-i-am-that-cordless-screwdriver/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [The perfect mystic is not an ecstatic devotee lost in contemplation of Oneness, nor a saintly recluse shunning all commerce with mankind, but "the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abu-sa-id-abul-khayr/the-perfect-mystic-is-not-an-ecstatic-devotee-lost-in-contemplation/) Abu-Sa'id Abul-Khayr > ["Gun-wielding recluse gunned down by local police" isn't the epitaph I want. I am hoping for "Witnesses reported the sound up to two hundred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nicoll/gun-wielding-recluse-gunned-down-by-local-police-isn-t-the-epitaph-i/) [James Nicoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nicoll/) > [“The Just and the unJust inhabiting the same body, so close you can’t pry us apart, but we are not friends. He speaks, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ward-just/the-just-and-the-unjust-inhabiting-the-same-body-so-close-you-can-t/) [Ward Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ward-just/) ## More by Alice James > [I make it a rule always to believe compliments implicitly for five minutes, and to simmer gently for twenty more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/i-make-it-a-rule-always-to-believe-compliments-implicitly-for-five/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [What a sense of superiority it gives one to escape reading some book which everyone else is reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/what-a-sense-of-superiority-it-gives-one-to-escape-reading-some-book/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [The success or failure of a life, as far as posterity goes, seems to lie in the more or less luck of seizing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-success-or-failure-of-a-life-as-far-as-posterity-goes-seems-to/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [If I can get on to my sofa and occupy myself for four hours, at intervals through the day, scribbling my notes, and able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/if-i-can-get-on-to-my-sofa-and-occupy-myself-for-four-hours-at/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [How heroic to be able to suppress one's vanity to the extent of confessing that the game is too hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/how-heroic-to-be-able-to-suppress-one-s-vanity-to-the-extent-of/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [“The paralytic on his couch can have if he wants them wider experiences than Stanley slaughtering the savages, the two roomed cottage may enclose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-paralytic-on-his-couch-can-have-if-he-wants-them-wider/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [How sick one gets of being "good," how much I should respect myself if I could burst out and make everyone wretched for twenty-four…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/how-sick-one-gets-of-being-good-how-much-i-should-respect-myself-if-i/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [When will women begin to have the first glimmer that above all other loyalties is the loyalty toTruth, i.e., to yourself, that husband, children,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/when-will-women-begin-to-have-the-first-glimmer-that-above-all-other/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [I wonder whether if I had an education I should have been more or less a fool that I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/i-wonder-whether-if-i-had-an-education-i-should-have-been-more-or/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [It is an immense loss to have all robust and sustaining expletives refined away from one! At. moments of trial refinement is a feeble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/it-is-an-immense-loss-to-have-all-robust-and-sustaining-expletives/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [Though I have no productive worth, I have a certain value as an indestructible quantity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/though-i-have-no-productive-worth-i-have-a-certain-value-as-an/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [How fatally the entire want of humor cripples the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/how-fatally-the-entire-want-of-humor-cripples-the-mind/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [The difficulty about all this dying, is that you can't tell a fellow anything about it, so where does the fun come in?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-difficulty-about-all-this-dying-is-that-you-can-t-tell-a-fellow/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [“I was born bad and I never have recovered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/i-was-born-bad-and-i-never-have-recovered/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [“Sargy always had the capacities of a cormorant, so he is able to swallow her whole, not having to think about her as she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/sargy-always-had-the-capacities-of-a-cormorant-so-he-is-able-to/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) [Explore all 35 Alice James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) ## More Complacency quotes > [“Complacency delivered us into the hands of evil greedy men like Cheney.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-rumzi/complacency-delivered-us-into-the-hands-of-evil-greedy-men-like-cheney/) [Sonia Rumzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-rumzi/) > [He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/he-who-is-content-with-what-has-been-done-is-an-obstacle-in-the-path/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Don't let your success of today lay you into complacency for tomorrow. For that is the worst form of failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/og-mandino/don-t-let-your-success-of-today-lay-you-into-complacency-for-tomorrow/) [Og Mandino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/og-mandino/) > [One of the reasons people hate politics is that truth is rarely a politician's objective. Election and power are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-thomas/one-of-the-reasons-people-hate-politics-is-that-truth-is-rarely-a/) [Cal Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-thomas/) > [We are the best the show, others weak hold. Just to get complacency / which does not](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/we-are-the-best-the-show-others-weak-hold-just-to-get-complacency/) Mak\_786 > [“It’s a fallacy that this generation does not know how to love as its predecessor did. Truth of the matter is, modern love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/it-s-a-fallacy-that-this-generation-does-not-know-how-to-love-as-its/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [“To move forward, one need only take the first step,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chase-neill/to-move-forward-one-need-only-take-the-first-step/) Chase Neill > [Plato calls complacency the companion of loneliness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/plato-calls-complacency-the-companion-of-loneliness/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Don't let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does, the truth - don't let that get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/don-t-let-your-special-character-and-values-the-secret-that-you-know/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [In the mind engaged in struggling with hardship, one always finds something delightful. The sorrow of disappointment arises in the complacency of satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zicheng-hong/in-the-mind-engaged-in-struggling-with-hardship-one-always-finds/) [Zicheng Hong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zicheng-hong/) > [Complacency is a creeping danger. Unless wisdom sets in, you will never come to your senses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jey-lopez/complacency-is-a-creeping-danger-unless-wisdom-sets-in-you-will-never/) [Jey Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jey-lopez/) > [I have spoken about what we can do as citizens, what we can do as a responsive citizenry, and this is where we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-have-spoken-about-what-we-can-do-as-citizens-what-we-can-do-as-a/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [“Listen to Mr. Complacency long enough and he'll convince you that what you really, really need is a nap.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-and-brett-harris/listen-to-mr-complacency-long-enough-and-he-ll-convince-you-that-what/) Alex and Brett Harris > [I always say, complacency is the kiss of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shari-redstone/i-always-say-complacency-is-the-kiss-of-death/) [Shari Redstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shari-redstone/) [Browse all 437 Complacency quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complacency/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The gain isn't counted to the recluse and inactive that, having nothing to measure themselves by and never being tested by failure, they simmer and soak perpetually in conscious complacency.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-gain-isn-t-counted-to-the-recluse-and-inactive-that-having/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Complacency" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-gain-isn-t-counted-to-the-recluse-and-inactive-that-having/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/alice-james-18373_complacency_the-gain-isn-t-counted-to-the-recluse-an_830768.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/alice-james-18373_complacency_the-gain-isn-t-counted-to-the-recluse-an_830768.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/533/alice-james-18373_complacency_the-gain-isn-t-counted-to-the-recluse-an_830768.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The gain isn't counted to the recluse and inactive that, having nothing to measure themselves by and never…” — Alice James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alice James", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The gain isn't counted to the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-gain-isn-t-counted-to-the-recluse-and-inactive-that-having/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-gain-isn-t-counted-to-the-recluse-and-inactive-that-having/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```