--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Though I knew I had the potential to do…" description: "\"“Though I knew I had the potential to do this locked in me like a poisonous pet snake, I knew I didn't have the part of a person you must have to turn ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/402/catherine-lacey-3511_awful_though-i-knew-i-had-the-potential-to-do_3216585.jpg" --- # Though I knew I had the potential to do this locked in me… ![“Though I knew I had the potential to do this locked in me like a poisonous pet snake, I knew I didn't have the part of a person you must have to turn that potential kinetic, to be the kind of person who can let their awful plow.” quote by Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/402/catherine-lacey-3511_awful_though-i-knew-i-had-the-potential-to-do_3216585.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/402/catherine-lacey-3511_awful_though-i-knew-i-had-the-potential-to-do_3216585.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/402/catherine-lacey-3511_awful_though-i-knew-i-had-the-potential-to-do_3216585.jpg) > ““Though I knew I had the potential to do this locked in me like a poisonous pet snake, I knew I didn't have the part of a person you must have to turn that potential kinetic, to be the kind of person who can let their awful plow.”” [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Potential alone is insufficient; without the right mindset and effort, it remains dormant. **In simple terms:** Potential needs action to become reality. Key Takeaway Cultivate discipline to unlock potential. Themes potential discipline self‑growth Mood reflective determined Type advice motivational When to use this quote - career advancement - personal projects - skill development - creative pursuits Key Concepts psychology motivation Questions to Reflect On - What habits block your potential? - How can you shift mindset to act? A Different Perspective Talent without effort rarely materializes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Catherine-lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catherine-lacey/) [Nobody-is-ever-missing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nobody-is-ever-missing/) ## Related quotes > [“Every few minutes or so I would remember the look from the man who had wanted fifty cents, and I'd look at that framed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/every-few-minutes-or-so-i-would-remember-the-look-from-the-man-who/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [“I worried that what I had seen in the driver was something I'd seen in myself, that it took me to know me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/i-worried-that-what-i-had-seen-in-the-driver-was-something-i-d-seen/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [“That boy never seemed to smile and he wore long sleeves year-round, and I was not so different from him—we were both unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/that-boy-never-seemed-to-smile-and-he-wore-long-sleeves-year-round/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [“I wondered why my husband couldn't have just been all bad. 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There was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/this-wasn-t-a-commodifiable-realization-the-kind-of-thing-in-college/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) ## More by Catherine Lacey > [“Isn’t everyone on the planet or at least everyone on the planet called me stuck between the two impulses of wanting to walk away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/isn-t-everyone-on-the-planet-or-at-least-everyone-on-the-planet/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [“...no moment cares, and the ones you wish could stretch out like a hammock for you to lie in, well, those moments leave the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/no-moment-cares-and-the-ones-you-wish-could-stretch-out-like-a/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [“The late-afternoon light was thick and orange and she passed four different couples taking photos of themselves on the same cobblestoned block, all their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/the-late-afternoon-light-was-thick-and-orange-and-she-passed-four/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [“Every few minutes or so I would remember the look from the man who had wanted fifty cents, and I'd look at that framed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/every-few-minutes-or-so-i-would-remember-the-look-from-the-man-who/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [“How someone wants to explain catastrophe isn't important--that's what I know now. 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I wouldn't even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/i-thought-that-if-i-could-ever-do-a-background-check-on-myself-i-knew/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [“ We have reached a point as a culture, where the predominant view of romantic partnership is no longer about survival or wealth or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/we-have-reached-a-point-as-a-culture-where-the-predominant-view-of/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [“There was at least one morning I was certain, though only for a few hours, that everything that could ever really happen to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/there-was-at-least-one-morning-i-was-certain-though-only-for-a-few/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [“I closed my eyes, tried to get as far away from myself as I could.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/i-closed-my-eyes-tried-to-get-as-far-away-from-myself-as-i-could/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) [Explore all 129 Catherine Lacey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) ## More Awful quotes > [It must be that I am dreaming, and that I shall awaken in a moment to see that awful knife descending toward my heart-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-rice-burroughs/it-must-be-that-i-am-dreaming-and-that-i-shall-awaken-in-a-moment-to/) [Edgar Rice Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-rice-burroughs/) > [I spent two years in Palo Alto - what an awful, suffocating place for those of us who don't care about yoga, yogurts and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/i-spent-two-years-in-palo-alto-what-an-awful-suffocating-place-for/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [Layla brought her arms around herself, no doubt because she was remembering the feel of another, stronger set. 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