--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Wars and elections are both too big and…" description: "\"“Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work--that goes on, and it adds up. It goes into the ground, in..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e6/barbara-kingsolver-200_daily-work_wars-and-elections-are-both-too-big-and_122291.jpg" --- # Wars and elections are both too big and too small to… ![“Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work--that goes on, and it adds up. It goes into the ground, into crops, into children's bellies and their bright eyes. Good things don't get lost.” quote by Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e6/barbara-kingsolver-200_daily-work_wars-and-elections-are-both-too-big-and_122291.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e6/barbara-kingsolver-200_daily-work_wars-and-elections-are-both-too-big-and_122291.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e6/barbara-kingsolver-200_daily-work_wars-and-elections-are-both-too-big-and_122291.jpg) > ““Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work--that goes on, and it adds up. It goes into the ground, into crops, into children's bellies and their bright eyes. Good things don't get lost.”” [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Large-scale events like wars and elections seem decisive, but everyday labor—farming, feeding children—creates lasting impact that outlives headlines. **In simple terms:** Daily work builds lasting change more than grand events. Key Takeaway Consistent small actions shape the future. Themes legacy daily effort long-term impact societal foundations Mood hopeful steady Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - community gardening - local school meals - neighborhood clean‑ups - family caregiving Key Concepts cumulative effect interdependence of actions Practical Applications - Prioritize routine contributions - Measure impact beyond headlines Questions to Reflect On - How can you amplify everyday actions? - What grand events have reshaped daily life? A Different Perspective Grand events can trigger systemic shifts that dwarf daily work, so both scales matter. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Daily work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daily-work/) [Elections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elections/) [Good things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-things/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Wars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wars/) ## Related quotes > [Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-gill/wars-and-elections-are-both-too-big-and-too-small-to-matter-in-the-2/) [Brendan Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-gill/) > [Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work - that goes on, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/wars-and-elections-are-both-too-big-and-too-small-to-matter-in-the-4/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work - that goes on, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/wars-and-elections-are-both-too-big-and-too-small-to-matter-in-the-3/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“It's a shame for a woman's history to be all about men-first boys, then other boys, then men, men, men. It reminds me of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/it-s-a-shame-for-a-woman-s-history-to-be-all-about-men-first-boys/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [The daily work - that goes on, it adds up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/the-daily-work-that-goes-on-it-adds-up/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“You're thinking of revolution as a great all-or-nothing. I think of it as one more morning in a muggy cotton field, checking the undersides…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/you-re-thinking-of-revolution-as-a-great-all-or-nothing-i-think-of-it/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [It doesn't matter how long it takes to fulfill your Dream, all that matters is that you have one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/it-doesn-t-matter-how-long-it-takes-to-fulfill-your-dream-all-that/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [“I don’t think you ever learn everything about anyone, no matter how long you know them, or how well. There’s always another pocket somewhere.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/i-don-t-think-you-ever-learn-everything-about-anyone-no-matter-how/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [No matter how long the neck is the is always on top](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/smithlawal/no-matter-how-long-the-neck-is-the-is-always-on-top/) Smithlawal > [Things that happen, however painful they are at the time, do not matter very much for long. Only how we behave to them matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/things-that-happen-however-painful-they-are-at-the-time-do-not-matter/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [I'll wait for you no matter how long it takes..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ll-wait-for-you-no-matter-how-long-it-takes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Winning doesn't really matter as long as you win](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vinnie-jones/winning-doesn-t-really-matter-as-long-as-you-win/) [Vinnie Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vinnie-jones/) > [You know that it doesn't matter as long as we got each other. Turn it up.. Turn it up .. Mash it up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-sean/you-know-that-it-doesn-t-matter-as-long-as-we-got-each-other-turn-it/) [Jay Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-sean/) > [“The amount of money you owe doesn't matter; as long as you use it for good”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-chami-kassis/the-amount-of-money-you-owe-doesn-t-matter-as-long-as-you-use-it-for/) [Sandra Chami Kassis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-chami-kassis/) > [There's that one person you'll never get over no matter how long it's been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eniss/there-s-that-one-person-you-ll-never-get-over-no-matter-how-long-it-s/) [Eniss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eniss/) ## More by Barbara Kingsolver > [“Jesus was a more reliable backer, evidently, less likely to drink himself unconscious or get liver cancer. No wonder people chose Him as their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/jesus-was-a-more-reliable-backer-evidently-less-likely-to-drink/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/now-i-m-starting-to-think-he-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-my-whole-life-he/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Cooking is 80 percent confidence, a skill best acquired starting from when the apron strings wrap around you twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/cooking-is-80-percent-confidence-a-skill-best-acquired-starting-from/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“In Bobby Ogle's version of heaven everyone would wind up in one place, criminals and Muslims included.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/in-bobby-ogle-s-version-of-heaven-everyone-would-wind-up-in-one-place/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Weeds are job security for the gardener.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/weeds-are-job-security-for-the-gardener/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/it-s-what-you-do-that-makes-your-soul-not-the-other-way-around/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Lusa turned to Crys, her eyes shining. "That was a luna." Crys shrugged. "So?" "So? So what? You want it should sing, too?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/lusa-turned-to-crys-her-eyes-shining-that-was-a-luna-crys-shrugged-so/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [The strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/the-strength-of-motherhood-is-greater-than-natural-laws/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“An imperfectly remembered life is a useless treachery. Every day, more fragments of the past roll around heavily in the chambers of an empty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/an-imperfectly-remembered-life-is-a-useless-treachery-every-day-more/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Respecting the dignity of a spectacular food means enjoying it at its best. Europeans celebrate the short season of abundant asparagus as a form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/respecting-the-dignity-of-a-spectacular-food-means-enjoying-it-at-its/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Somehow it had come to pass that this man was her whole world, and she had failed to take his measure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/somehow-it-had-come-to-pass-that-this-man-was-her-whole-world-and-she/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [After 'The Poisonwood Bible' was published, several people believed that my parents were missionaries, which could not be further from the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/after-the-poisonwood-bible-was-published-several-people-believed-that/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [I can count all the ways in which being a mother has enriched my understanding of the world, of character, my sense of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-can-count-all-the-ways-in-which-being-a-mother-has-enriched-my/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [But we've all ended up giving body and soul to Africa, one way or another. Even Adah, who's becoming an expert in tropical epidemiology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/but-we-ve-all-ended-up-giving-body-and-soul-to-africa-one-way-or/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [If the Lord hasn't got a boyfriend lined up for me to marry, that's his business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/if-the-lord-hasn-t-got-a-boyfriend-lined-up-for-me-to-marry-that-s/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) [Explore all 939 Barbara Kingsolver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## More Daily work quotes > [“Sometimes its was better to keep silent, Because when we are silent we know what we forget back in life, In this fast daily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pradeep-h-hivare/sometimes-its-was-better-to-keep-silent-because-when-we-are-silent-we/) Pradeep H Hivare > [Our daily work ethic - that need to always do better and top our last performance - is what makes USWNT football players who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-krieger/our-daily-work-ethic-that-need-to-always-do-better-and-top-our-last/) [Ali Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-krieger/) > [“Joyfully we undertake our daily work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/joyfully-we-undertake-our-daily-work/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Once you are accustomed to giving your body a daily workout, you feel constrained when you don't exercise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-ellen/once-you-are-accustomed-to-giving-your-body-a-daily-workout-you-feel/) [Vera-Ellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-ellen/) > [The welfare, the happiness, the energy and spirit of the men and women who do the daily workis the underlying necessity of all prosperity……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-welfare-the-happiness-the-energy-and-spirit-of-the-men-and-women/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [“You're thinking of revolution as a great all-or-nothing. I think of it as one more morning in a muggy cotton field, checking the undersides…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/you-re-thinking-of-revolution-as-a-great-all-or-nothing-i-think-of-it/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks, but for the ledger of our daily work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-guess-we-all-like-to-be-recognized-not-for-one-piece-of-fireworks/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [“Grandpa, in his male armchair, deaf aid occasionally whistling and pipe making a hubble-bubble noise as he sucked on it, would shake his head…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/grandpa-in-his-male-armchair-deaf-aid-occasionally-whistling-and-pipe/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [The Prophet introduced a system of prayer in that it was interwoven into man's daily work: a prayer in the morning when he arose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/the-prophet-introduced-a-system-of-prayer-in-that-it-was-interwoven/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [“we value improvement of our daily work more than daily work itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/we-value-improvement-of-our-daily-work-more-than-daily-work-itself/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [Results should not be too voluntarily aimed at or too busily thought of. They are sure to float up of their own accord from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/results-should-not-be-too-voluntarily-aimed-at-or-too-busily-thought/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Nothing about the daily workings of the prison system focuses its inhabitants’ attention on what life back on the outside, as a free citizen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/nothing-about-the-daily-workings-of-the-prison-system-focuses-its/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [I used to think hard work made me come alive, honestly. I used to have a daily work schedule with millions of things on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-bingbing/i-used-to-think-hard-work-made-me-come-alive-honestly-i-used-to-have/) [Li Bingbing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-bingbing/) > [It feels like it is a daily work and an ongoing task to undo all of the f - - g programming that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-palmer/it-feels-like-it-is-a-daily-work-and-an-ongoing-task-to-undo-all-of/) [Amanda Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-palmer/) > [I myself and my wife - in order to escape the disgrace of deposition or capitulation - choose death. It is our wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/i-myself-and-my-wife-in-order-to-escape-the-disgrace-of-deposition-or/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) [Browse all 120 Daily work quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daily-work/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work--that goes on, and it adds up. It goes into the ground, into crops, into children's bellies and their bright eyes. 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