--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I began to look at all events and all…" description: "\"I began to look at all events and all things as relevant, an opportunity to take or avoid.\" — Amy Tan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc6/amy-tan-730_all-things_i-began-to-look-at-all-events-and-all-th_1170099.jpg" --- # I began to look at all events and all things as relevant… ![“I began to look at all events and all things as relevant, an opportunity to take or avoid.” quote by Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc6/amy-tan-730_all-things_i-began-to-look-at-all-events-and-all-th_1170099.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc6/amy-tan-730_all-things_i-began-to-look-at-all-events-and-all-th_1170099.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc6/amy-tan-730_all-things_i-began-to-look-at-all-events-and-all-th_1170099.jpg) > “I began to look at all events and all things as relevant, an opportunity to take or avoid.” [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Every event offers a chance to choose action or inaction, shaping our path. **In simple terms:** Events are chances to act or not. Key Takeaway Treat each moment as a decision point. Themes choice mindfulness opportunity growth Mood thoughtful motivational Type practical inspirational When to use this quote - daily decisions - career moves - personal relationships - health choices Key Concepts Agency intentional living cause and effect Questions to Reflect On - What recent event did you turn into an opportunity? - How do you decide when to act or refrain? A Different Perspective May overlook that not all events are equally significant. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Joy luck club](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy-luck-club/) [Opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opportunity/) ## Related quotes > [One way to kill an opportunity is to avoid taking it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-canfield/one-way-to-kill-an-opportunity-is-to-avoid-taking-it/) [Jack Canfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-canfield/) > [I know people are looking at what's happening in Washington and then they also look at events in Europe, in Greece and Portugal and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-gillard/i-know-people-are-looking-at-what-s-happening-in-washington-and-then/) [Julia Gillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-gillard/) > [I know people are looking at whats happening in Washington and then they also look at events in Europe, in Greece and Portugal and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-gillard/i-know-people-are-looking-at-whats-happening-in-washington-and-then/) [Julia Gillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-gillard/) > [My mother had a look on her face that I'll never forget. It was one of complete despair and horror, for losing Bing, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/my-mother-had-a-look-on-her-face-that-i-ll-never-forget-it-was-one-of/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [I have always known a thing before it happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-have-always-known-a-thing-before-it-happens/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [And below the heimongmong, all along the ground, were weeds already spilling out over the edges, running wild in every direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/and-below-the-heimongmong-all-along-the-ground-were-weeds-already/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Even though I was young, I could see the pain of the flesh and the worth of the pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/even-though-i-was-young-i-could-see-the-pain-of-the-flesh-and-the/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these things do not mix?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-wanted-my-children-to-have-the-best-combination-american/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [It is because I had so much joy that I came to have so much hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/it-is-because-i-had-so-much-joy-that-i-came-to-have-so-much-hate/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [On the third day after someone dies, the soul comes back to settle scores. In my mother's case, this would be the first day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/on-the-third-day-after-someone-dies-the-soul-comes-back-to-settle/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [For woman is yin, the darkness within, where untempered passions lie. And man is yang, bright truth lighting our minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/for-woman-is-yin-the-darkness-within-where-untempered-passions-lie/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [And now I also see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/and-now-i-also-see-what-part-of-me-is-chinese-it-is-so-obvious-it-is/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [I saw what I had been fighting for: it was for me, a scared child...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-saw-what-i-had-been-fighting-for-it-was-for-me-a-scared-child/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [And I remember wondering why it was that eating something good could make me feel so terrible, while vomiting something terrible could make me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/and-i-remember-wondering-why-it-was-that-eating-something-good-could/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [The problem became this: We became a caricature of ourselves. We were after light, and it began to look as though we were after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-wallace/the-problem-became-this-we-became-a-caricature-of-ourselves-we-were/) [Mike Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-wallace/) ## More by Amy Tan > [So sad! This is the saddest part when you lose someone you love- that person keeps changing. And later you wonder, Is this the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/so-sad-this-is-the-saddest-part-when-you-lose-someone-you-love-that/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Too many good things all seem the same after a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/too-many-good-things-all-seem-the-same-after-a-while/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“bad, how likely is it to come”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/bad-how-likely-is-it-to-come/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“A mother is always the beginning. She is how things begin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/a-mother-is-always-the-beginning-she-is-how-things-begin/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Shanghainese people are good negotiators, they're very persistent, and you grow up in an atmosphere like that - very competitive. That becomes part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/shanghainese-people-are-good-negotiators-they-re-very-persistent-and/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [But now that I am old, moving every year closer to the end of my life, I also feel closer to the beginning. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/but-now-that-i-am-old-moving-every-year-closer-to-the-end-of-my-life/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [You should think about your character. Know where you are changing, how you will be changed, what cannot be changed back again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/you-should-think-about-your-character-know-where-you-are-changing-how/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [Now you see,' said the turtle, drifting back into the pond, 'why it is useless to cry. 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We become different in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/we-all-become-different-readers-in-how-we-respond-to-books-why-we/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“I was no longer scared. I could see what was inside me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-was-no-longer-scared-i-could-see-what-was-inside-me/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [When I go back and read my journals or fiction, I am always surprised. I may not remember having those thoughts, but they still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/when-i-go-back-and-read-my-journals-or-fiction-i-am-always-surprised/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“I am ashamed she is ashamed. Because she is my daughter and I am proud of her, and I am her mother but she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-am-ashamed-she-is-ashamed-because-she-is-my-daughter-and-i-am-proud/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) [Explore all 383 Amy Tan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) ## More All things quotes > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [To explicate the uses of the Brain seems as difficult a task as to paint the Soul, of which it is commonly said, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-willis/to-explicate-the-uses-of-the-brain-seems-as-difficult-a-task-as-to/) [Thomas Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-willis/) > [A tree is a self: it is 'unseen shaping' more than it is leaves or bark, roots or cellulose or fruit ... What this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-swimme/a-tree-is-a-self-it-is-unseen-shaping-more-than-it-is-leaves-or-bark/) [Brian Swimme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-swimme/) > [Dear God, I trust that no matter what happens in my life, it is for my highest good. And no matter what happens in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/dear-god-i-trust-that-no-matter-what-happens-in-my-life-it-is-for-my/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [Moderation, honey, in all things but love and chocolate. That's my motto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bretton/moderation-honey-in-all-things-but-love-and-chocolate-that-s-my-motto/) [Barbara Bretton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bretton/) > [There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nayler/there-is-a-spirit-which-i-feel-that-delights-to-do-no-evil-nor-to/) James Nayler > [What greater weakness can there be than not to know what is the source of one's being, of one's life, of one's senses, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/what-greater-weakness-can-there-be-than-not-to-know-what-is-the/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, as it pleases him, for he can do all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/the-lord-gives-and-the-lord-takes-away-as-it-pleases-him-for-he-can/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/time-which-wears-down-and-diminishes-all-things-augments-and/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [Standing as a witness in all things means being kind in all things, being the first to say hello, being the first to smile,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-d-nadauld/standing-as-a-witness-in-all-things-means-being-kind-in-all-things/) [Margaret D. 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