--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not hard to live through a day, if…" description: "\"It is not hard to live through a day, if you can live through a moment. What creates despair is the imagination, which pretends there is a future, and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff4/andre-dubus-13616_days_it-is-not-hard-to-live-through-a-day-if_948055.png" --- # It is not hard to live through a day, if you can live… ![“It is not hard to live through a day, if you can live through a moment. What creates despair is the imagination, which pretends there is a future, and insists on predicting millions of moments, thousands of days, and so drains you that you cannot live the moment at hand.” quote by Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff4/andre-dubus-13616_days_it-is-not-hard-to-live-through-a-day-if_948055.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff4/andre-dubus-13616_days_it-is-not-hard-to-live-through-a-day-if_948055.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff4/andre-dubus-13616_days_it-is-not-hard-to-live-through-a-day-if_948055.png) > “It is not hard to live through a day, if you can live through a moment. What creates despair is the imagination, which pretends there is a future, and insists on predicting millions of moments, thousands of days, and so drains you that you cannot live the moment at hand.” [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Living fully requires focusing on the present moment rather than projecting endless future scenarios that cause anxiety. **In simple terms:** Focus on now, not endless future worries. Key Takeaway Stay present, limit over‑thinking. Themes mindfulness anxiety presence Mood contemplative calm Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - daily stress - therapy sessions - creative work - decision making - relationship conflicts Key Concepts existentialism psychology time perception Questions to Reflect On - How can you train attention to the present? - What role does imagination play in healthy foresight? A Different Perspective Future‑oriented thinking can still be useful for planning; balance is needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Live in the moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-in-the-moment/) [Live The Moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-the-moment/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I'll give you one day at a time, Claire. But remember, I'm thousands of days ahead already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-addison-allen/i-ll-give-you-one-day-at-a-time-claire-but-remember-i-m-thousands-of/) [Sarah Addison Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-addison-allen/) > [“I look back at the thousands of days through which I have lived, and feel awed by their inconsequentiality. My life resembles the writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-taylor/i-look-back-at-the-thousands-of-days-through-which-i-have-lived-and/) [Sam Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-taylor/) > [“Before I continue, I just want to write about living every day like your last one. I don’t agree with it at all. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cave-man/before-i-continue-i-just-want-to-write-about-living-every-day-like/) Cave Man > [It is in the thousands of days of trying, failing, sitting, thinking, resisting, dreaming, raveling, unraveling that we are at our most engaged, alert,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dani-shapiro/it-is-in-the-thousands-of-days-of-trying-failing-sitting-thinking/) [Dani Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dani-shapiro/) > [The rest-the vast majority, tens of thousands of days-are unremarkable, repetitive, even monotonous. We glide through them then instantly forget them. We tend not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-landay/the-rest-the-vast-majority-tens-of-thousands-of-days-are-unremarkable/) [William Landay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-landay/) > [You say you have thousands of my days; but I have thousands of moments, in which I can be merry and happy \[the ephemera…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-andersen/you-say-you-have-thousands-of-my-days-but-i-have-thousands-of-moments/) [Hans Christian Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-andersen/) > [“One good idea could cost you thousands of your days, but it's just time you'd be spending anyways”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-lewis/one-good-idea-could-cost-you-thousands-of-your-days-but-it-s-just/) [Jeffrey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-lewis/) > [“In a long life there are thirty or thirty-five thousand days to be got through, but only a few dozen that really matter, Big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-landay/in-a-long-life-there-are-thirty-or-thirty-five-thousand-days-to-be/) [William Landay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-landay/) > [“..IN TO COME MOVE LIVE THE MOMENT. KEEP AT IT! PLUCK ON ENTICE. " THERE IS A EVERYTHING LIVE, IN 1 MINUTE IN THE LOVE "! . . ……VALENTINO”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valentino/in-to-come-move-live-the-moment-keep-at-it-pluck-on-entice-there-is-a/) Valentino > [Free your spirit. Free your soul. Live the moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/free-your-spirit-free-your-soul-live-the-moment/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [“Cameras are supposed to help you relive a moment, but if you never live the moment in the first place, because you are too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/cameras-are-supposed-to-help-you-relive-a-moment-but-if-you-never/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“It brings me back to the moment, and I want to live the moment with everything I’ve got.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-schroeder/it-brings-me-back-to-the-moment-and-i-want-to-live-the-moment-with/) [Lisa Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-schroeder/) > [“Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/patience-is-a-hard-discipline-it-is-not-just-waiting-until-something/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [I just wanna live the moment and just take every moment and embrace it because life is short.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nonito-donaire/i-just-wanna-live-the-moment-and-just-take-every-moment-and-embrace/) [Nonito Donaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nonito-donaire/) > [Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/patience-asks-us-to-live-the-moment-to-the-fullest-to-be-completely/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) ## More by Andre Dubus > [I have always known that writing fiction had little effect on the world; that if it did, young men would not have gone to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/i-have-always-known-that-writing-fiction-had-little-effect-on-the/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [Romance dies hard, because its very nature is to want to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/romance-dies-hard-because-its-very-nature-is-to-want-to-live/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [I really think that if there's any one enemy to human creativity, especially creative writing, it's self-consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/i-really-think-that-if-there-s-any-one-enemy-to-human-creativity/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [After the dead are buried, after the physical pain of grief has become a permanent wound in the soul, then comes the transcendent and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/after-the-dead-are-buried-after-the-physical-pain-of-grief-has-become/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [“There’s something about taking the cart back instead of leaving it in the parking lot…It’s significant…Because somebody has to take them in…And if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/there-s-something-about-taking-the-cart-back-instead-of-leaving-it-in/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [“It is not hard to live through a day, if you can live through a moment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/it-is-not-hard-to-live-through-a-day-if-you-can-live-through-a-moment/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [What's so exciting and terrifying about the writing process is that it really is an act of exploration and discovery. With all of us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/what-s-so-exciting-and-terrifying-about-the-writing-process-is-that/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [Don't outline your stories. A lot of fiction workshops say you should. I say the opposite. I quote Grace Paley: "We write what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/don-t-outline-your-stories-a-lot-of-fiction-workshops-say-you-should/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [I think the writer's job is to paint the gray because no life is clearly defined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/i-think-the-writer-s-job-is-to-paint-the-gray-because-no-life-is/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [I know I learn a lot from the students in my class and I'm not just saying that to sound like some generous teacher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/i-know-i-learn-a-lot-from-the-students-in-my-class-and-i-m-not-just/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [Proportion is all; and, in sports at school, I lost it by surrendering to the awful significance of my self-consciousness. Shyness has a strange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/proportion-is-all-and-in-sports-at-school-i-lost-it-by-surrendering/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [“When Jennifer was here in the summer, they were at the house most days. I would say generally that as they got older they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/when-jennifer-was-here-in-the-summer-they-were-at-the-house-most-days/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [“The office was large, with many women and men at desks, and she learned their names, and presented to them an amiability she assumed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/the-office-was-large-with-many-women-and-men-at-desks-and-she-learned/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [Don't quit. It's very easy to quit during the first 10 years. Nobody cares whether you write or not, and it's very hard to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/don-t-quit-it-s-very-easy-to-quit-during-the-first-10-years-nobody/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [“Its sound in her soul was a distant fast train. Love did not bring happiness, it did not last, and it ended in pain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/its-sound-in-her-soul-was-a-distant-fast-train-love-did-not-bring/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) [Explore all 49 Andre Dubus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) ## More Days quotes > [Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/five-days-or-five-months-but-it-certainly-isn-t-going-to-last-longer/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) > [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/) [Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/) > [We're on the road 300 days a year. There's no recovery time. It's a test of your physical and mental endurance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-phoenix/we-re-on-the-road-300-days-a-year-there-s-no-recovery-time-it-s-a/) [Beth Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-phoenix/) > [It's going to be used in the last days to get people to come against Christ, and that's the issue: they come against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lahaye/it-s-going-to-be-used-in-the-last-days-to-get-people-to-come-against/) [Tim LaHaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lahaye/) > [When I wake up on a Monday morning, it's nice knowing for the next 10-12 days that I don't have to do much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arn-anderson/when-i-wake-up-on-a-monday-morning-it-s-nice-knowing-for-the-next-10/) [Arn Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arn-anderson/) > [Everybody has bad days, but how you respond to it is a testament to whether you are a winner or a loser.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-gordon/everybody-has-bad-days-but-how-you-respond-to-it-is-a-testament-to/) [Aaron Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-gordon/) > [I recently had an epiphany and now I'm making the most of my days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-recently-had-an-epiphany-and-now-i-m-making-the-most-of-my-days/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Back in the really olden days, dinner was seldom a ceremonial event for U.S. families. Only the very wealthy had a separate dining room.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-gibbs/back-in-the-really-olden-days-dinner-was-seldom-a-ceremonial-event/) [Nancy Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-gibbs/) > [I've always been a fan of old-time hymns and Scots-Irish dirges, though I wouldn't necessarily consider myself an expert on the type of music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-bingham/i-ve-always-been-a-fan-of-old-time-hymns-and-scots-irish-dirges/) [Ryan Bingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-bingham/) > [Everything is barely weeks. Everything is days. We have minutes to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/everything-is-barely-weeks-everything-is-days-we-have-minutes-to-live/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [These were days when my heart was volcanic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allen-poe/these-were-days-when-my-heart-was-volcanic/) [Edgar Allen Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allen-poe/) > [Some days, I'm going to miss shots; some days, I'm not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-green/some-days-i-m-going-to-miss-shots-some-days-i-m-not/) [Gerald Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-green/) > [Whose school-hours are all the days and nights of our existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/whose-school-hours-are-all-the-days-and-nights-of-our-existence/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [We simply do not have time as we move from one meeting to the next to have hours to peruse leisure websites of whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crispin-blunt/we-simply-do-not-have-time-as-we-move-from-one-meeting-to-the-next-to/) [Crispin Blunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crispin-blunt/) > [The country of Iraq is somewhat of an artificial creation going back to colonial days. And so you have the Kurds and then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-clapper/the-country-of-iraq-is-somewhat-of-an-artificial-creation-going-back/) [James Clapper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-clapper/) Browse all 4,561 Days quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is not hard to live through a day, if you can live through a moment. 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