--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She…" description: "\"I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.\" — Ann Richards" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/ann-richards-9674_clean-house_i-did-not-want-my-tombstone-to-read-she_447991.png" --- # I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really… ![“I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.” quote by Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/ann-richards-9674_clean-house_i-did-not-want-my-tombstone-to-read-she_447991.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/ann-richards-9674_clean-house_i-did-not-want-my-tombstone-to-read-she_447991.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/ann-richards-9674_clean-house_i-did-not-want-my-tombstone-to-read-she_447991.png) > “I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.” [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker wants a tombstone that reflects her clean‑house reputation. **In simple terms:** She wants a tombstone praising her housekeeping. Key Takeaway Embrace humor about legacy. Themes humor legacy personal identity Mood lighthearted contemplative Type humorous reflective When to use this quote - funeral planning - personal branding - homeownership - social perception Key Concepts mortality self‑image Questions to Reflect On - What legacy do you want? - How does humor shape memory? A Different Perspective Humor may not convey deeper values. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.' I think I'd like them to remember me by saying,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-did-not-want-my-tombstone-to-read-she-kept-a-really-clean-house-i/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [ There'll be two dates on your tombstone everyone will read them..but the only thing that matters is the little \[ dash between them \] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-ll-be-two-dates-on-your-tombstone-everyone-will-read-them-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You only live once. You don't want your tombstone to read: 'Played it Safe.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosario-dawson/you-only-live-once-you-don-t-want-your-tombstone-to-read-played-it/) [Rosario Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosario-dawson/) > [My wife says that my tombstone will read, 'Here lies Mr.C, who used to be Mr.B.' So I think that's probably what I'll be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bosley/my-wife-says-that-my-tombstone-will-read-here-lies-mr-c-who-used-to/) [Tom Bosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bosley/) > [“She could just imagine, all her friends and family mourning around her grave. The tombstone would read Kari Wagner, Died of Sheer Stupidity .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherise-sinclair/she-could-just-imagine-all-her-friends-and-family-mourning-around-her/) [Cherise Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherise-sinclair/) > [I now believe when I'm dead and buried my tombstone will read, "I'm not entirely sure the band's over."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-mason/i-now-believe-when-i-m-dead-and-buried-my-tombstone-will-read-i-m-not/) [Nick Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-mason/) > [“On her tombstone it would read: She came. She saw. She made it awkward.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lia-riley/on-her-tombstone-it-would-read-she-came-she-saw-she-made-it-awkward/) [Lia Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lia-riley/) > [I want my tombstone to read YOU ARE HERE with a red arrow pointing down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/green-monk/i-want-my-tombstone-to-read-you-are-here-with-a-red-arrow-pointing/) [Green Monk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/green-monk/) > [The chances that your tombstone will read 'Killed by Asteroid' are about the same as they'd be for 'Killed in Airplane Crash.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-chances-that-your-tombstone-will-read-killed-by-asteroid-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [I want my tombstone to read: If this is a joke, I don't get it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brenner/i-want-my-tombstone-to-read-if-this-is-a-joke-i-don-t-get-it/) [David Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brenner/) > [Never in my life have I seen a tombstone that read: Died for not forwarding that text to 10 people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-in-my-life-have-i-seen-a-tombstone-that-read-died-for-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I had to go back and reread the page a few times. As I read it, I kept drifting out of the book, out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patton-oswalt/i-had-to-go-back-and-reread-the-page-a-few-times-as-i-read-it-i-kept/) [Patton Oswalt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patton-oswalt/) > [I've never had time to read. But no one ever kept me from finishing a novel I loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pennac/i-ve-never-had-time-to-read-but-no-one-ever-kept-me-from-finishing-a/) [Daniel Pennac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pennac/) > [When I die, I want my tombstone to read: All because I didn't forward that damn text to ten people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-todd/when-i-die-i-want-my-tombstone-to-read-all-because-i-didn-t-forward/) Robert Todd > [Everything's going to be fine. She'll be back at work soon. Let's just keep the house clean." Oh yeah, I want to say, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/everything-s-going-to-be-fine-she-ll-be-back-at-work-soon-let-s-just/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) ## More by Ann Richards > [ \[Our understanding is\] not intellectual, but instinctive. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/our-understanding-is-not-intellectual-but-instinctive/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [I like candidates who tell me something that is going to make a difference to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-like-candidates-who-tell-me-something-that-is-going-to-make-a/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [I have very strong feelings about how you lead your life. You always look ahead, you never look back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-have-very-strong-feelings-about-how-you-lead-your-life-you-always/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [We have forgotten to be our brothers and sisters keepers. And we have forgotten that the Number 1 goal is to love one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/we-have-forgotten-to-be-our-brothers-and-sisters-keepers-and-we-have/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [I was born during the Depression in a little community just outside Waco, and I grew up listening to Franklin Roosevelt on the radio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-was-born-during-the-depression-in-a-little-community-just-outside/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [July does not a November election make.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/july-does-not-a-november-election-make/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [I think you have to deal with grief in the sense that you have to recognize that you have it, and say that it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-think-you-have-to-deal-with-grief-in-the-sense-that-you-have-to/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [Cherish your friends and family as if your life depended on it. Because it does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/cherish-your-friends-and-family-as-if-your-life-depended-on-it/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [I had such high expectations of myself. I was going to be the best mother, the best housewife, the best entertainer, the best nurse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-had-such-high-expectations-of-myself-i-was-going-to-be-the-best/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [Young women should begin to build bone mass early in their lives. The more mass there is, the less they will lose in later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/young-women-should-begin-to-build-bone-mass-early-in-their-lives-the/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [I've always told my children that life is like a layer cake. You get to put one layer on top of the other, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-ve-always-told-my-children-that-life-is-like-a-layer-cake-you-get/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [Teaching was the hardest work I had ever done, and it remains the hardest work I have done to date.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/teaching-was-the-hardest-work-i-had-ever-done-and-it-remains-the/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [ Poor George \[Bush\], he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/poor-george-bush-he-can-t-help-it-he-was-born-with-a-silver-foot-in/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [I've always said that in politics, your enemies can't hurt you, but your friends will kill you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-ve-always-said-that-in-politics-your-enemies-can-t-hurt-you-but/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [Life isn't fair, but government must be,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/life-isn-t-fair-but-government-must-be/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) [Explore all 71 Ann Richards quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) ## More Clean house quotes > [Everything's going to be fine. She'll be back at work soon. Let's just keep the house clean." Oh yeah, I want to say, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/everything-s-going-to-be-fine-she-ll-be-back-at-work-soon-let-s-just/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [I tell her all the time I'd gladly retire and hang out with the kids and clean the house. I want to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-lachey/i-tell-her-all-the-time-i-d-gladly-retire-and-hang-out-with-the-kids/) [Nick Lachey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-lachey/) > [I sing, I clean house, I write poetry. I cry. And I tell everyone I can, "I Believe in YOU."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lim/i-sing-i-clean-house-i-write-poetry-i-cry-and-i-tell-everyone-i-can-i/) [Robin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lim/) > [“We never clean at my house. We move in, trash the place for five years, then move out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimmy-gibbler/we-never-clean-at-my-house-we-move-in-trash-the-place-for-five-years/) Kimmy Gibbler > [I am lonely. I clean up the house, put kids to bed and there I sit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-gosselin/i-am-lonely-i-clean-up-the-house-put-kids-to-bed-and-there-i-sit/) [Kate Gosselin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-gosselin/) > [I hate when you clean up the house and it get right back dirty. I be ready to fight!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dionta-long/i-hate-when-you-clean-up-the-house-and-it-get-right-back-dirty-i-be/) [Dionta Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dionta-long/) > [“I have a quick remedy for the lack of contentment. Clean your house. Clean every room. Start with your child’s bedroom and then move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zondervan-publishing/i-have-a-quick-remedy-for-the-lack-of-contentment-clean-your-house/) [Zondervan Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zondervan-publishing/) > [The darn trouble with cleaning the house is it gets dirty the next day anyway, so skip a week if you have to. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bush/the-darn-trouble-with-cleaning-the-house-is-it-gets-dirty-the-next/) [Barbara Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bush/) > [I think that we are in a very strange time, when everybody is thinking about what is going to happen, and everybody is kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alber-elbaz/i-think-that-we-are-in-a-very-strange-time-when-everybody-is-thinking/) [Alber Elbaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alber-elbaz/) > [If your house is really a mess and a stranger comes to the door greet him with, 'Who could have done this? We have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-diller/if-your-house-is-really-a-mess-and-a-stranger-comes-to-the-door-greet/) [Phyllis Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-diller/) > [A clean house will result in peace in the Middle East as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/a-clean-house-will-result-in-peace-in-the-middle-east-as-well/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [Read no less than ½ hour a day or listen to audiobooks while in the car or cleaning the house. Biographies of great people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/read-no-less-than-hour-a-day-or-listen-to-audiobooks-while-in-the-car/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [ It's an individual morality in values that matters in these companies \[like Wells Fargo\]. I mean, they ought to clean house. And they ought… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kasich/it-s-an-individual-morality-in-values-that-matters-in-these-companies/) [John Kasich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kasich/) > [Whether you are cooking, cleaning house, or planting flowers, try to concentrate on the textures, the smells, colors, tastes, sounds, all Zen moments of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-lynch/whether-you-are-cooking-cleaning-house-or-planting-flowers-try-to/) Jerry Lynch > [Everything I do is metal. When I clean my house, it's metal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-ian/everything-i-do-is-metal-when-i-clean-my-house-it-s-metal/) [Scott Ian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-ian/) Browse all 91 Clean house quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ann Richards" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-did-not-want-my-tombstone-to-read-she-kept-a-really-clean-house/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Clean house" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-did-not-want-my-tombstone-to-read-she-kept-a-really-clean-house/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/ann-richards-9674_clean-house_i-did-not-want-my-tombstone-to-read-she_447991.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/ann-richards-9674_clean-house_i-did-not-want-my-tombstone-to-read-she_447991.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/958/ann-richards-9674_clean-house_i-did-not-want-my-tombstone-to-read-she_447991.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.” — Ann Richards", "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": "Ann Richards", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I did not want my tombstone...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-did-not-want-my-tombstone-to-read-she-kept-a-really-clean-house/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-did-not-want-my-tombstone-to-read-she-kept-a-really-clean-house/#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 } } ] } ```