--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To crank myself up I stood on a jack and…" description: "\"To crank myself up I stood on a jack and ran myself up. I tightened myself like a bolt. I inserted myself in a vise-clamp and wound the handle till the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c5/annie-dillard-509_bolts_to-crank-myself-up-i-stood-on-a-jack-and_985298.jpg" --- # To crank myself up I stood on a jack and ran myself up. I… ![“To crank myself up I stood on a jack and ran myself up. I tightened myself like a bolt. I inserted myself in a vise-clamp and wound the handle till the pressure built. I drank coffee in titrated doses. It was a tricky business, requiring the finely tuned judgment of a skilled anesthesiologist…” quote by Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c5/annie-dillard-509_bolts_to-crank-myself-up-i-stood-on-a-jack-and_985298.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c5/annie-dillard-509_bolts_to-crank-myself-up-i-stood-on-a-jack-and_985298.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c5/annie-dillard-509_bolts_to-crank-myself-up-i-stood-on-a-jack-and_985298.jpg) > “To crank myself up I stood on a jack and ran myself up. I tightened myself like a bolt. I inserted myself in a vise-clamp and wound the handle till the pressure built. I drank coffee in titrated doses. It was a tricky business, requiring the finely tuned judgment of a skilled anesthesiologist. There was a tiny range within which coffee was effective, short of which it was useless, and beyond which, fatal.” [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes self‑discipline as a precise, mechanical process, likening personal motivation to calibrated pressure. **In simple terms:** Self‑motivation requires careful balance, like adjusting a machine. Key Takeaway Find your optimal pressure point and maintain it. Themes self‑discipline motivation balance Mood focused determined Type reflective inspirational When to use this quote - daily work routines - creative projects - fitness training - study sessions Key Concepts mechanical metaphor precision self‑regulation Questions to Reflect On - How do you measure your effective limits? - What signals indicate you’re over‑ or under‑pressuring yourself? A Different Perspective Too much pressure can cause burnout; too little leads to stagnation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Coffee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coffee/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Pressure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pressure/) [Wounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounds/) ## Related quotes > [“dicks didn’t need to be inserted for it to be cheating.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-clayton/dicks-didn-t-need-to-be-inserted-for-it-to-be-cheating/) [Alice Clayton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-clayton/) > [“Metaphors are inserted in our language even when they do not stand out (did you notice that?) to us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niklas-torneke/metaphors-are-inserted-in-our-language-even-when-they-do-not-stand/) Niklas Torneke > [We drank our coffee the Russian way. That is to say we had vodka before it and vodka afterwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sington/we-drank-our-coffee-the-russian-way-that-is-to-say-we-had-vodka/) [Philip Sington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sington/) > [“The following day I abandoned my pointless searching and planted myself in one of the open air-cafés where I drank coffee and tried to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/the-following-day-i-abandoned-my-pointless-searching-and-planted/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Sarah indulged in a few more of these bleak thoughts, but just the fact that she could indulge in them while lying in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-smith/sarah-indulged-in-a-few-more-of-these-bleak-thoughts-but-just-the/) [R. Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-smith/) > [We shot 'Delusion' in the middle of the desert and outside of Las Vegas where they did those underground nuclear bomb testings. So I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-rubin/we-shot-delusion-in-the-middle-of-the-desert-and-outside-of-las-vegas/) Jennifer Rubin > [“Somebody comin'," he said softly. "Five or six, maybe." His words were spoken over an empty fire, for each of us vanished ghostlike into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-l-amour/somebody-comin-he-said-softly-five-or-six-maybe-his-words-were-spoken/) [Louis L'Amour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-l-amour/) > [So somebody told me that if I wasn't a coffee drinker yet, by the end of college I'd have to be, because a math…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danica-mckellar/so-somebody-told-me-that-if-i-wasn-t-a-coffee-drinker-yet-by-the-end/) [Danica McKellar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danica-mckellar/) > [“We drank coffee. We talked. She loved Charles Dickens, whom she read in Norwegian. Years after she was dead, I wrote a dissertation on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/we-drank-coffee-we-talked-she-loved-charles-dickens-whom-she-read-in/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [“I’m 32 years old and I’m tired. It’s because I haven’t drank enough coffee. If I had, I’d probably only be 29.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-m-32-years-old-and-i-m-tired-it-s-because-i-haven-t-drank-enough/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [But Shakespeare never drank coffee. Nor did Julius Caesar, or Socrates. Alexander the Great conquered half the world without even a café latte to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-forsyth/but-shakespeare-never-drank-coffee-nor-did-julius-caesar-or-socrates/) [Mark Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-forsyth/) > [“I ate in the silence and drank my coffee and looked occasionally at Susan’s picture on my desk. Let us be true to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-parker/i-ate-in-the-silence-and-drank-my-coffee-and-looked-occasionally-at/) [Robert B. Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-parker/) > [“Before you came to live with us, our lives were as always, and we were happy. We worked, we ate, and then we slept.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-murphy/before-you-came-to-live-with-us-our-lives-were-as-always-and-we-were/) Robert Murphy > [And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten, And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/and-went-on-in-sunlight-into-the-hofgarten-and-drank-coffee-and/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [I drank coffee and read old books and waited for the year to end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/i-drank-coffee-and-read-old-books-and-waited-for-the-year-to-end/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) ## More by Annie Dillard > [Like everyone in his right mind, I feared Santa Claus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/like-everyone-in-his-right-mind-i-feared-santa-claus/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/this-is-a-spendthrift-economy-though-nothing-is-lost-all-is-spent/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The creatures I seek do not want to be seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-creatures-i-seek-do-not-want-to-be-seen/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Nothing moves a woman so deeply as the boyhood of the man she loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/nothing-moves-a-woman-so-deeply-as-the-boyhood-of-the-man-she-loves/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [We live in all we seek. The hidden shows up in too-plain sight. It lives captive on the face of the obvious - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-live-in-all-we-seek-the-hidden-shows-up-in-too-plain-sight-it/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“...The mockingbird took a single step into the air and dropped. His wings were still folded against his sides as though he were singing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-mockingbird-took-a-single-step-into-the-air-and-dropped-his-wings/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“Father had stretched out his long legs and was tilting back in his chair. Mother sat with her knees crossed, in blue slacks, smoking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/father-had-stretched-out-his-long-legs-and-was-tilting-back-in-his/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-frayed-and-nibbled-survivor-in-a-fallen-world-and-i-am-getting/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [It should surprise no one that the life of the writer - such as it is - is colorless to the point of sensory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-should-surprise-no-one-that-the-life-of-the-writer-such-as-it-is/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-is-madness-to-wear-ladies-straw-hats-and-velvet-hats-to-church-we/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The sense impressions of one-celled animals are not edited for the brain. This is philosophically interesting in a rather mournful way, since it means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-sense-impressions-of-one-celled-animals-are-not-edited-for-the/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? It is a kind of gratitude, I think—the gratitude of the ten-year-old who wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/what-can-we-make-of-the-inexpressible-joy-of-children-it-is-a-kind-of/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed. In nature, improbabilities are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common-sense-or-likelihood-we/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [For writing a first draft requires from the writer a peculiar internal state which ordinary life does not induce. ... how to set yourself spinning?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/for-writing-a-first-draft-requires-from-the-writer-a-peculiar/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I am a fugitive and a vagabond, a sojourner seeking signs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-fugitive-and-a-vagabond-a-sojourner-seeking-signs/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) [Explore all 509 Annie Dillard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## More Bolts quotes > [Well, well what do we have here? A most pathetic excuse for a bucket of bolts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vegeta/well-well-what-do-we-have-here-a-most-pathetic-excuse-for-a-bucket-of/) [Vegeta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vegeta/) > [ \[The movies\] glamorize game day a little bit too much. It's such a focus. They miss a lot of the nuts and bolts, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-kehres/the-movies-glamorize-game-day-a-little-bit-too-much-it-s-such-a-focus/) [Vince Kehres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-kehres/) > [Our training pushes us to develop a new set of instincts: instead of reacting to danger with a fight-or-flight adrenaline rush, we're trained to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hadfield/our-training-pushes-us-to-develop-a-new-set-of-instincts-instead-of/) [Chris Hadfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hadfield/) > [ Few years ago I did 30m in 3.7 seconds. Whether that makes me quicker than \[Usain\] Bolt, I don't know! We all know Usain… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-emerick-aubameyang/few-years-ago-i-did-30m-in-3-7-seconds-whether-that-makes-me-quicker/) [Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-emerick-aubameyang/) > [This is what our yoga practice is trying to accomplish. Not white light descending from heaven and engulfing you, not energy released from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-kest/this-is-what-our-yoga-practice-is-trying-to-accomplish-not-white/) [Bryan Kest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-kest/) > [The iron bolt...mysteriously fastens the door of hope and holds our spirits in a gloomy prison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/the-iron-bolt-mysteriously-fastens-the-door-of-hope-and-holds-our/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Muzzle control has to be a religion. You cannot point that weapon at one of your brothers-or yourself. Know where you barrel is at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-couch/muzzle-control-has-to-be-a-religion-you-cannot-point-that-weapon-at/) [Dick Couch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-couch/) > [“In mythology, lightning represents either the loss of ignorance or punishment for those who overstep their bounds. I used two bolts since we intend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joelle-charbonneau/in-mythology-lightning-represents-either-the-loss-of-ignorance-or/) [Joelle Charbonneau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joelle-charbonneau/) > [The nuts and bolts of shooting a film and writing a film are still really difficult. But what makes it easier is the fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-pegg/the-nuts-and-bolts-of-shooting-a-film-and-writing-a-film-are-still/) [Simon Pegg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-pegg/) > [If Vin Scully calling a game is just as good in 2013 as he was in 1963, that's the way a game should sound.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-vin-scully-calling-a-game-is-just-as-good-in-2013-as-he-was-in/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [I don't deal with the nuts and bolts of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lithgow/i-don-t-deal-with-the-nuts-and-bolts-of-life/) [John Lithgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lithgow/) > [My first climb was on lead; there were pitons, no bolts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ueli-steck/my-first-climb-was-on-lead-there-were-pitons-no-bolts/) [Ueli Steck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ueli-steck/) > [The brightest thunder-bolt is elicited from the darkest storm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/the-brightest-thunder-bolt-is-elicited-from-the-darkest-storm/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [The church must never become a government factory, carrying on a nationalized industry of religion with the people as the bolts and nuts; with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-archer/the-church-must-never-become-a-government-factory-carrying-on-a/) Glenn Archer > [They say dreams are the windows of the soul-take a peek and you can see the inner workings, the nuts and bolts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-bromell/they-say-dreams-are-the-windows-of-the-soul-take-a-peek-and-you-can/) [Henry Bromell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-bromell/) Browse all 143 Bolts quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To crank myself up I stood on a jack and ran myself up. 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