--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The unexpected thing, the miraculous…" description: "\"“The unexpected thing, the miraculous thing, is when a car that's been shattered in a crash, that's been left in the rain to rust for years at a time, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/carolyn-parkhurst-14899_crash_the-unexpected-thing-the-miraculous-thin_447518.jpg" --- # The unexpected thing, the miraculous thing, is when a car… ![“The unexpected thing, the miraculous thing, is when a car that's been shattered in a crash, that's been left in the rain to rust for years at a time, can be coaxed to growl to a start and slowly begin rolling down the hill.” quote by Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/carolyn-parkhurst-14899_crash_the-unexpected-thing-the-miraculous-thin_447518.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/carolyn-parkhurst-14899_crash_the-unexpected-thing-the-miraculous-thin_447518.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/carolyn-parkhurst-14899_crash_the-unexpected-thing-the-miraculous-thin_447518.jpg) > ““The unexpected thing, the miraculous thing, is when a car that's been shattered in a crash, that's been left in the rain to rust for years at a time, can be coaxed to growl to a start and slowly begin rolling down the hill.”” [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even severely damaged things can be revived and regain purpose with effort and care. **In simple terms:** Broken things can be fixed and work again. Key Takeaway Invest time to restore what seems lost. Themes restoration resilience hope Mood inspirational reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - car repair - personal setbacks - community projects - environmental cleanup Key Concepts mechanics miracles recovery Questions to Reflect On - What can you restore in your life? - When is it better to let go? A Different Perspective Restoration may be costly and not always possible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rain/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I believe the act of giving birth to be the single most miraculous thing a human being can do and it is surely the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-difranco/i-believe-the-act-of-giving-birth-to-be-the-single-most-miraculous/) [Ani DiFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-difranco/) > [The miraculous thing is that miracles do happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-pinckney/the-miraculous-thing-is-that-miracles-do-happen/) Josephine Pinckney > [The act of writing surprises me all the time. A miraculous thing happens when you have an idea and you want to convert it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janette-turner-hospital/the-act-of-writing-surprises-me-all-the-time-a-miraculous-thing/) [Janette Turner Hospital](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janette-turner-hospital/) > [“...it was a miraculous thing to be able to watch the person you love undetected,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/it-was-a-miraculous-thing-to-be-able-to-watch-the-person-you-love/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [Krishna was once asked what was the most miraculous thing in all creation, and he replied, "That a man should wake each morning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-pike/krishna-was-once-asked-what-was-the-most-miraculous-thing-in-all/) [Christopher Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-pike/) > [The fact of the matter is that the most unexpected and miraculous thing in my life was the arrival in it of poetry itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/the-fact-of-the-matter-is-that-the-most-unexpected-and-miraculous/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Money is a miraculous thing. It is your personal energy reduced to a portable form and endowed with power you yourself do not possess.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-emerson-fosdick/money-is-a-miraculous-thing-it-is-your-personal-energy-reduced-to-a/) [Harry Emerson Fosdick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-emerson-fosdick/) > [Did they know - the young and fearless - what a miraculous thing it was to have all of anyone?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/did-they-know-the-young-and-fearless-what-a-miraculous-thing-it-was/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-the-most-miraculous-thing-is-learning-i-get-out-of-the-way/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [It is moonlight. Alone in the silence I ascend my stairs once more, While waves remote in pale blue starlight Crash on a white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-is-moonlight-alone-in-the-silence-i-ascend-my-stairs-once-more/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [Consider developing your whole self with the same raw focus and intensity that you develop a particular skill set. Get focused. Go out, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-holden/consider-developing-your-whole-self-with-the-same-raw-focus-and/) [Anthony Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-holden/) > [And I always think of life like a giant wave. You know, it rises and it crests and it flies, and it's just magnificent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-seymour/and-i-always-think-of-life-like-a-giant-wave-you-know-it-rises-and-it/) [Jane Seymour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-seymour/) > [I was too tired to think. I merely felt the town as a unique unreality. What was it? I knew -- the moon's picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-too-tired-to-think-i-merely-felt-the-town-as-a-unique-unreality/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I had no desire to crash a man's world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-lupino/i-had-no-desire-to-crash-a-man-s-world/) [Ida Lupino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-lupino/) > [If Wall Street crashes, does Main Street follow? Not necessarily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bernanke/if-wall-street-crashes-does-main-street-follow-not-necessarily/) [Ben Bernanke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bernanke/) ## More by Carolyn Parkhurst > [“Anyway, I thought, it's wishful thinking, all this talk of ghosts. If the dead wandered among us, their spirits still present on this earth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/anyway-i-thought-it-s-wishful-thinking-all-this-talk-of-ghosts-if-the/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [“Walking out of the store with my parrot & sushi, I feel hideous, like everything I've done must be written on my skin. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/walking-out-of-the-store-with-my-parrot-sushi-i-feel-hideous-like/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [“That's the fundamental flaw in the illusion that writers like to maintain, the idea that we can craft anything approaching the truth. No matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/that-s-the-fundamental-flaw-in-the-illusion-that-writers-like-to/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [How can it be, I wondered, that we can be lying in bed next to a person we love wholly and helplessly, a person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/how-can-it-be-i-wondered-that-we-can-be-lying-in-bed-next-to-a-person/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [“This is happening; this is not fiction. And the thing about life? It doesn't have texture at all. Go ahead, feel the space around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/this-is-happening-this-is-not-fiction-and-the-thing-about-life-it/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [“I remember my wife in white. I remember her walking toward me on our wedding day, a bouquet of red flowers in her hand,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/i-remember-my-wife-in-white-i-remember-her-walking-toward-me-on-our/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [The conclusion I have reached is that, above all, dogs are witnesses. They are allowed access to our most private moments. They are there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/the-conclusion-i-have-reached-is-that-above-all-dogs-are-witnesses/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [It's true, isn't it, that each of us has two hearts? The secret heart, curled behind like a fist, living gnarled and shrunken beneath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/it-s-true-isn-t-it-that-each-of-us-has-two-hearts-the-secret-heart/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [“Go on,"Lexy said. "What do you want to be today?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/go-on-lexy-said-what-do-you-want-to-be-today/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [The simplest thing that can be said about any person, any relationship, is that it's not simple at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/the-simplest-thing-that-can-be-said-about-any-person-any-relationship/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [What's it like, Lexy? You wake up and you feel - what? Heaviness, an ache inside, a weight, yes. A soft crumpling of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/what-s-it-like-lexy-you-wake-up-and-you-feel-what-heaviness-an-ache/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [Perhaps she saw before her a lifetime of walking on the ruined earth and chose instead a single moment in the air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/perhaps-she-saw-before-her-a-lifetime-of-walking-on-the-ruined-earth/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [“And sitting here now, with all of Lexy's dreams in my lap, I realize there are things about her I will never know. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/and-sitting-here-now-with-all-of-lexy-s-dreams-in-my-lap-i-realize/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [“You are my finest knight”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/you-are-my-finest-knight/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [“All I wanted for the rest of my life was to keep making her laugh like that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/all-i-wanted-for-the-rest-of-my-life-was-to-keep-making-her-laugh/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) [Explore all 45 Carolyn Parkhurst quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) ## More Crash quotes > [If Wall Street crashes, does Main Street follow? Not necessarily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bernanke/if-wall-street-crashes-does-main-street-follow-not-necessarily/) [Ben Bernanke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bernanke/) > [I had no desire to crash a man's world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-lupino/i-had-no-desire-to-crash-a-man-s-world/) [Ida Lupino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-lupino/) > [I was too tired to think. I merely felt the town as a unique unreality. What was it? I knew -- the moon's picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-too-tired-to-think-i-merely-felt-the-town-as-a-unique-unreality/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [And I always think of life like a giant wave. You know, it rises and it crests and it flies, and it's just magnificent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-seymour/and-i-always-think-of-life-like-a-giant-wave-you-know-it-rises-and-it/) [Jane Seymour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-seymour/) > [Consider developing your whole self with the same raw focus and intensity that you develop a particular skill set. Get focused. Go out, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-holden/consider-developing-your-whole-self-with-the-same-raw-focus-and/) [Anthony Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-holden/) > [It is moonlight. Alone in the silence I ascend my stairs once more, While waves remote in pale blue starlight Crash on a white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-is-moonlight-alone-in-the-silence-i-ascend-my-stairs-once-more/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [“A shooting star, a cloud, or some sign from the Goddess…? One second later, the world shattered. Her father's grumbling voice was suddenly cut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-l-shreffler/a-shooting-star-a-cloud-or-some-sign-from-the-goddess-one-second/) [T.L. Shreffler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-l-shreffler/) > [But I am only human and I bleed when I fall down I am only human and I crash and I break down u…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/human/but-i-am-only-human-and-i-bleed-when-i-fall-down-i-am-only-human-and/) Human > [You put together two people who have not been put together before. Sometimes it is like that first attempt to harness a hydrogen balloon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/you-put-together-two-people-who-have-not-been-put-together-before/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [It's like when we get the transformer movies. It was all a bunch of smaller robot pieces and then you're on set, and you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-nicotero/it-s-like-when-we-get-the-transformer-movies-it-was-all-a-bunch-of/) [Gregory Nicotero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-nicotero/) > [CGI has fully ruined car crashes. Because how can you be impressed with them now? When you watch them in the '70s, it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-tarantino/cgi-has-fully-ruined-car-crashes-because-how-can-you-be-impressed/) [Quentin Tarantino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-tarantino/) > [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/) > [We need to take a leaf out of natures book. Any species that clones itself will eventually be attacked by a parasite, leading to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-suarez/we-need-to-take-a-leaf-out-of-natures-book-any-species-that-clones/) [Daniel Suarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-suarez/) > [Among those today who believe that modern poetry must do without rhyme or metre, there is an assumption that the alternative to free verse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-fenton/among-those-today-who-believe-that-modern-poetry-must-do-without/) [James Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-fenton/) > [I do not use airplanes. They strike me as unsporting. You can have an automobile accident-and survive. You can be on a sinking ship-and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/i-do-not-use-airplanes-they-strike-me-as-unsporting-you-can-have-an/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) Browse all 836 Crash quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The unexpected thing, the miraculous thing, is when a car that's been shattered in a crash, that's been left in the rain to rust for years at a time, can be coaxed to growl to a start and slowly begin rolling down the hill.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carolyn Parkhurst" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/the-unexpected-thing-the-miraculous-thing-is-when-a-car-that-s-been/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crash" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/the-unexpected-thing-the-miraculous-thing-is-when-a-car-that-s-been/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/carolyn-parkhurst-14899_crash_the-unexpected-thing-the-miraculous-thin_447518.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/carolyn-parkhurst-14899_crash_the-unexpected-thing-the-miraculous-thin_447518.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86d/carolyn-parkhurst-14899_crash_the-unexpected-thing-the-miraculous-thin_447518.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The unexpected thing, the miraculous thing, is when a car that's been shattered in a crash, that's been left…” — Carolyn Parkhurst", "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": "Carolyn Parkhurst", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The unexpected thing, the miraculous thing,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/the-unexpected-thing-the-miraculous-thing-is-when-a-car-that-s-been/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/the-unexpected-thing-the-miraculous-thing-is-when-a-car-that-s-been/#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 } } ] } ```