--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's a part of all of us whose impulse…" description: "\"There's a part of all of us whose impulse is to say, \"Let's keep everything the same until I die and then you can do whatever you want afterward.\" And ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e8/bill-mckibben-1057_difficult_there-s-a-part-of-all-of-us-whose-impuls_1436297.jpg" --- # There's a part of all of us whose impulse is to say… ![“There's a part of all of us whose impulse is to say, "Let's keep everything the same until I die and then you can do whatever you want afterward." And that's a difficult part.” quote by Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e8/bill-mckibben-1057_difficult_there-s-a-part-of-all-of-us-whose-impuls_1436297.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e8/bill-mckibben-1057_difficult_there-s-a-part-of-all-of-us-whose-impuls_1436297.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e8/bill-mckibben-1057_difficult_there-s-a-part-of-all-of-us-whose-impuls_1436297.jpg) > “There's a part of all of us whose impulse is to say, "Let's keep everything the same until I die and then you can do whatever you want afterward." And that's a difficult part.” [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People fear change, preferring stability even after death, which can hinder growth. **In simple terms:** Comfort in sameness limits progress. Key Takeaway Embrace change while alive. Themes change fear growth Mood contemplative motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal life - career planning - relationships Key Concepts psychology life stages mortality Questions to Reflect On - What changes would improve your life? - How can you balance stability and growth? A Different Perspective Stability can be beneficial. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afterward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afterward/) [Afterward Difficult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afterward-difficult-4435956/) [Difficult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult/) [Impulse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse/) [Impulse Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse-say-3052622/) [Want Afterward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-afterward-5127974/) ## Related quotes > [“In situations where I feel unclear or I do not know what to say or do, I turn my attention within myself. Then I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-dhyan-giten/in-situations-where-i-feel-unclear-or-i-do-not-know-what-to-say-or-do/) [Swami Dhyan Giten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-dhyan-giten/) > [I am working, but when one has ceased to do seascape, it is the devil afterward - very difficult; it changes at every instant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/i-am-working-but-when-one-has-ceased-to-do-seascape-it-is-the-devil/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [. . . we should be men first, and subjects afterward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-should-be-men-first-and-subjects-afterward/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“A thorn is a pain, but the flower is a beauty if it vanishes it will leave hundreds of seeds afterward.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamaran-ihsan-salih/a-thorn-is-a-pain-but-the-flower-is-a-beauty-if-it-vanishes-it-will/) [Kamaran Ihsan Salih](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamaran-ihsan-salih/) > [Here's a thing about the death of your mother, or anyone else you love: You can't anticipate how you'll feel afterward. People will tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-schmich/here-s-a-thing-about-the-death-of-your-mother-or-anyone-else-you-love/) [Mary Schmich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-schmich/) > [History does not usually make real sense until long afterward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/history-does-not-usually-make-real-sense-until-long-afterward/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [It's okay to screw up. It's what we do afterward that defines us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-mallery/it-s-okay-to-screw-up-it-s-what-we-do-afterward-that-defines-us/) [Susan Mallery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-mallery/) > [Don't think about what you’ll tell people afterward. The time is here and now. Make the most of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/don-t-think-about-what-you-ll-tell-people-afterward-the-time-is-here/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Once a decision was made, I didn't worry about it afterward...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/once-a-decision-was-made-i-didn-t-worry-about-it-afterward/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [As a matter of fact I had a terribly traumatic childhood. But afterward I sort of reraised myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gruber/as-a-matter-of-fact-i-had-a-terribly-traumatic-childhood-but/) [Michael Gruber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gruber/) > [Apologies don't mean anything if you're going to act the same way afterward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/apologies-don-t-mean-anything-if-you-re-going-to-act-the-same-way/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And in everything that came afterward, I could never stop thinking that maybe she loved mysteries so much that she became one”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/and-in-everything-that-came-afterward-i-could-never-stop-thinking/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Stories are invented as you go along...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/stories-are-invented-as-you-go-along/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [When that shutter clicks, anything else that can be done afterward is not worth consideration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-steichen/when-that-shutter-clicks-anything-else-that-can-be-done-afterward-is/) [Edward Steichen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-steichen/) > [We can do all we wish while we live; afterward, we are less than the meanest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-xiv/we-can-do-all-we-wish-while-we-live-afterward-we-are-less-than-the/) [Louis XIV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-xiv/) ## More by Bill McKibben > [I try not to be either optimistic or pessimistic. I try not to think about outcomes on that scale. My job, it seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-try-not-to-be-either-optimistic-or-pessimistic-i-try-not-to-think/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Oil companies are radical because they're willing to alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/oil-companies-are-radical-because-they-re-willing-to-alter-the/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Whenever anyone challenges anything, the powers that be try to paint them as extremists or radicals or whatever. And I think that's actually nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/whenever-anyone-challenges-anything-the-powers-that-be-try-to-paint/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [My guess is that liberating the fossil fuel industry to frack anywhere they want will drive down the rate at which we're converting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/my-guess-is-that-liberating-the-fossil-fuel-industry-to-frack/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [What makes us different? We're the creature that can decide not to do something that we are capable of doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/what-makes-us-different-we-re-the-creature-that-can-decide-not-to-do/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“The snow was coming down so hard. It looked like the flakes were hurrying to get out of the sky so the next ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-snow-was-coming-down-so-hard-it-looked-like-the-flakes-were/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Most of the men and women who vote in Congress each year to continue subsidies have taken campaign donations from big energy companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/most-of-the-men-and-women-who-vote-in-congress-each-year-to-continue/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“I’ve sat behind a microphone and listened for decades as Americans learned to stop talking with each other and start shouting instead. No discussions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-ve-sat-behind-a-microphone-and-listened-for-decades-as-americans/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [People in low-lying countries like Bangladesh with almost 140 million people who are managing to feed themselves, whose carbon emissions can't really be calculated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/people-in-low-lying-countries-like-bangladesh-with-almost-140-million/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We're putting more carbon into the atmosphere than the atmosphere can absorb. And everybody told us when we started, coz we knew nothing when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmosphere-than-the-atmosphere-can/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Everything that the administration has done has been counterproductive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everything-that-the-administration-has-done-has-been-counterproductive/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We use the web to help people organize in the flesh, and then we take the images of those events and put them back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-use-the-web-to-help-people-organize-in-the-flesh-and-then-we-take/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [everyone knows, at some level, that the sharp line between "good weather" and "bad weather" is a fiction, that we need rain as surely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everyone-knows-at-some-level-that-the-sharp-line-between-good-weather/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [The thing about global warming is that you can address it on a great number of levels - in fact you have to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-thing-about-global-warming-is-that-you-can-address-it-on-a-great/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Where people aren't as deeply reliant on fossil fuel as in the United States, it's far easier for them to imagine change on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/where-people-aren-t-as-deeply-reliant-on-fossil-fuel-as-in-the-united/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) [Explore all 299 Bill McKibben quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## More Afterward quotes > [Don't think about what you’ll tell people afterward. The time is here and now. Make the most of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/don-t-think-about-what-you-ll-tell-people-afterward-the-time-is-here/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [When that shutter clicks, anything else that can be done afterward is not worth consideration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-steichen/when-that-shutter-clicks-anything-else-that-can-be-done-afterward-is/) [Edward Steichen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-steichen/) > [“Stories are invented as you go along...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/stories-are-invented-as-you-go-along/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“And in everything that came afterward, I could never stop thinking that maybe she loved mysteries so much that she became one”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/and-in-everything-that-came-afterward-i-could-never-stop-thinking/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Apologies don't mean anything if you're going to act the same way afterward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/apologies-don-t-mean-anything-if-you-re-going-to-act-the-same-way/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [As a matter of fact I had a terribly traumatic childhood. But afterward I sort of reraised myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gruber/as-a-matter-of-fact-i-had-a-terribly-traumatic-childhood-but/) [Michael Gruber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gruber/) > [Once a decision was made, I didn't worry about it afterward...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/once-a-decision-was-made-i-didn-t-worry-about-it-afterward/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [It's okay to screw up. It's what we do afterward that defines us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-mallery/it-s-okay-to-screw-up-it-s-what-we-do-afterward-that-defines-us/) [Susan Mallery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-mallery/) > [History does not usually make real sense until long afterward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/history-does-not-usually-make-real-sense-until-long-afterward/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [Here's a thing about the death of your mother, or anyone else you love: You can't anticipate how you'll feel afterward. People will tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-schmich/here-s-a-thing-about-the-death-of-your-mother-or-anyone-else-you-love/) [Mary Schmich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-schmich/) > [“A thorn is a pain, but the flower is a beauty if it vanishes it will leave hundreds of seeds afterward.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamaran-ihsan-salih/a-thorn-is-a-pain-but-the-flower-is-a-beauty-if-it-vanishes-it-will/) [Kamaran Ihsan Salih](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamaran-ihsan-salih/) > [. . . we should be men first, and subjects afterward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-should-be-men-first-and-subjects-afterward/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [We can do all we wish while we live; afterward, we are less than the meanest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-xiv/we-can-do-all-we-wish-while-we-live-afterward-we-are-less-than-the/) [Louis XIV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-xiv/) > [The real question in life isn't whether you'll be loved, it's whether you can take the hurt afterward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-real-question-in-life-isn-t-whether-you-ll-be-loved-it-s-whether/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [First he wrought, and afterward he taught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/first-he-wrought-and-afterward-he-taught/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) [Browse all 21 Afterward quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afterward/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There's a part of all of us whose impulse is to say, \"Let's keep everything the same until I die and then you can do whatever you want afterward.\" And that's a difficult part.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill McKibben" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/there-s-a-part-of-all-of-us-whose-impulse-is-to-say-let-s-keep/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Afterward" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/there-s-a-part-of-all-of-us-whose-impulse-is-to-say-let-s-keep/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e8/bill-mckibben-1057_difficult_there-s-a-part-of-all-of-us-whose-impuls_1436297.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e8/bill-mckibben-1057_difficult_there-s-a-part-of-all-of-us-whose-impuls_1436297.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e8/bill-mckibben-1057_difficult_there-s-a-part-of-all-of-us-whose-impuls_1436297.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There's a part of all of us whose impulse is to say, \"Let's keep everything the same until I die and then…” — Bill McKibben", "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": "Bill McKibben", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There's a part of all of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/there-s-a-part-of-all-of-us-whose-impulse-is-to-say-let-s-keep/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/there-s-a-part-of-all-of-us-whose-impulse-is-to-say-let-s-keep/#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 } } ] } ```