--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Living is like working out a long…" description: "\"Living is like working out a long addition sum, and if you make a mistake in the first two totals you will never find the right answer. It means involv..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05f/cesare-pavese-1924_circumstances_living-is-like-working-out-a-long-additi_536667.jpg" --- # Living is like working out a long addition sum, and if you… ![“Living is like working out a long addition sum, and if you make a mistake in the first two totals you will never find the right answer. It means involving oneself in a complicated chain of circumstances.” quote by Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05f/cesare-pavese-1924_circumstances_living-is-like-working-out-a-long-additi_536667.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05f/cesare-pavese-1924_circumstances_living-is-like-working-out-a-long-additi_536667.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05f/cesare-pavese-1924_circumstances_living-is-like-working-out-a-long-additi_536667.jpg) > “Living is like working out a long addition sum, and if you make a mistake in the first two totals you will never find the right answer. It means involving oneself in a complicated chain of circumstances.” [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is likened to a complex arithmetic problem where early errors compound, making later correction impossible, highlighting the importance of careful beginnings. **In simple terms:** Early mistakes ruin later outcomes. Key Takeaway Pay attention to initial steps. Themes responsibility precision consequences Mood analytical cautious Type practical instructive When to use this quote - project management - financial planning - education - software development Key Concepts systems thinking error propagation Questions to Reflect On - Can you identify a foundational mistake you made? - What strategies ensure accuracy early on? A Different Perspective Sometimes later adjustments can salvage outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) ## Related quotes > [“It is not worth involving with people; that is kusang (negative association; company that takes you away from the Self). Involving oneself with satsang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/it-is-not-worth-involving-with-people-that-is-kusang-negative/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [As designers, we are the interface. Trying to make things understandable. That requires involving oneself with what's going on in the world. One must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-chermayeff/as-designers-we-are-the-interface-trying-to-make-things/) [Ivan Chermayeff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-chermayeff/) > [“Be committed to a real relationship with Jesus. Don’t look to fit him into your schedule, but fit your schedule around him. Think more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-breakey/be-committed-to-a-real-relationship-with-jesus-don-t-look-to-fit-him/) [Caleb Breakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-breakey/) > [“flying and swimming and living like a real SeaWing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tui-t-sutherland/flying-and-swimming-and-living-like-a-real-seawing/) [Tui T. Sutherland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tui-t-sutherland/) > [I'm used to living alone, and I like it that way. You become so selfish living alone...I'd make a terrible husband anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-lynde/i-m-used-to-living-alone-and-i-like-it-that-way-you-become-so-selfish/) [Paul Lynde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-lynde/) > [Living is like training for an athletic event. You have to have goals and challenges; you need to exercise and eat right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-lalanne/living-is-like-training-for-an-athletic-event-you-have-to-have-goals/) [Jack LaLanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-lalanne/) > [Are we all living like this? Two lives, the ideal outer life and the inner imaginative life where we keep our secrets?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/are-we-all-living-like-this-two-lives-the-ideal-outer-life-and-the/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/the-art-of-living-is-more-like-wrestling-than-dancing/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“In a war one is either living like a prince or a vagabond. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanna-clarke/in-a-war-one-is-either-living-like-a-prince-or-a-vagabond-i/) [Susanna Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanna-clarke/) > [“Surviving one’s own life, living on the other side of it like a spectator, is quite comfortable after all. You no longer expect anything,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/surviving-one-s-own-life-living-on-the-other-side-of-it-like-a/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [I enjoy living like a hermit, but I cannot live like a hermit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-dale/i-enjoy-living-like-a-hermit-but-i-cannot-live-like-a-hermit/) [Dick Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-dale/) > [“A lot of us are living like this, right? Taking cabs and ordering takeout Thai on payday, then walking the three blocks to work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-irby/a-lot-of-us-are-living-like-this-right-taking-cabs-and-ordering/) [Samantha Irby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-irby/) > [“Living like that utterly convinced me of the extreme limitations of language. I was just a child then, so I had only an intuitive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banana-yoshimoto/living-like-that-utterly-convinced-me-of-the-extreme-limitations-of/) [Banana Yoshimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banana-yoshimoto/) > [My grandfather always said that living is like licking honey off a thorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-adamic/my-grandfather-always-said-that-living-is-like-licking-honey-off-a/) Louis Adamic > [Living for ever would be like marrying yourself, with no possibility of a divorce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/living-for-ever-would-be-like-marrying-yourself-with-no-possibility/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) ## More by Cesare Pavese > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [In the mental disturbance and effort of writing, what sustains you is the certainty that on every page there is something left unsaid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/in-the-mental-disturbance-and-effort-of-writing-what-sustains-you-is/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Why does a man who is truly in love insist that this relationship must continue and be "lifelong"? Because life is pain and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/why-does-a-man-who-is-truly-in-love-insist-that-this-relationship/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [I thought of how many places there are in the world that belong in this way to someone, who has it in his blood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/i-thought-of-how-many-places-there-are-in-the-world-that-belong-in/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Now that I've seen what war is, what civil war is, I know that everybody, if one day it should end, ought to ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/now-that-i-ve-seen-what-war-is-what-civil-war-is-i-know-that/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [It had to happen to you, to concentrate your whole life on one point, and then discover that you can do anything except live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/it-had-to-happen-to-you-to-concentrate-your-whole-life-on-one-point/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [There is only one pleasure-that of being alive. All the rest is misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/there-is-only-one-pleasure-that-of-being-alive-all-the-rest-is-misery/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [But here's the worst part: the trick to life lies in hiding from those we hold most dear how much they mean to is;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/but-here-s-the-worst-part-the-trick-to-life-lies-in-hiding-from-those/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/traveling-is-a-brutality-it-forces-you-to-trust-strangers-and-to-lose/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [“Meanwhile we arrived at our lane and the sight of the olive tree rubbed me the wrong way. I began to see that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/meanwhile-we-arrived-at-our-lane-and-the-sight-of-the-olive-tree/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi. (Death will come and it will have your eyes.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/verr-la-morte-e-avr-i-tuoi-occhi-death-will-come-and-it-will-have/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [All our "most sacred affections " are merely prosaic habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/all-our-most-sacred-affections-are-merely-prosaic-habit/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [There comes a day when, for someone who has persecuted us, we feel only indifference, a weariness at his stupidity. Then we forgive him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/there-comes-a-day-when-for-someone-who-has-persecuted-us-we-feel-only/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [A consoling thought: what matters is not what we do, but the spirit in which we do it. Others suffer too; so much so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/a-consoling-thought-what-matters-is-not-what-we-do-but-the-spirit-in/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [One does not kill oneself for love of a woman, but because love - any love - reveals us in our nakedness, our misery,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/one-does-not-kill-oneself-for-love-of-a-woman-but-because-love-any/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) [Explore all 171 Cesare Pavese quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) ## More Circumstances quotes > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [Jobs and money are never the primary cause of stress. Thinking, negative thinking causes stress. The real cause of all problems lie in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/jobs-and-money-are-never-the-primary-cause-of-stress-thinking/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Although under particular circumstances, the violence method - any method - can be justified, nevertheless once you commit violence, then counterviolence will be returned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/although-under-particular-circumstances-the-violence-method-any/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Trust is about keeping commitments, but in many instances, circumstances change and organizations therefore shed commitments, things such as retiree medical benefits, pension obligations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/trust-is-about-keeping-commitments-but-in-many-instances/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) > [The fortunate circumstances of our lives are generally found, at last, to be of our own producing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/the-fortunate-circumstances-of-our-lives-are-generally-found-at-last/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [“The set of circumstances that justifies the use of deadly force is a situation of immediate danger of death or great bodily harm to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/massad-ayoob/the-set-of-circumstances-that-justifies-the-use-of-deadly-force-is-a/) [Massad Ayoob](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/massad-ayoob/) > [My sister-in-law works for a group that supports orphanages in Cairo. She and her colleagues take care of children left behind by circumstances beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-elbaradei/my-sister-in-law-works-for-a-group-that-supports-orphanages-in-cairo/) [Mohamed ElBaradei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-elbaradei/) > [It's impossible to know who Donald might have been under different circumstances and with different parents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-l-trump/it-s-impossible-to-know-who-donald-might-have-been-under-different/) [Mary L. Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-l-trump/) > [When we watch a play under the standard circumstances, we've lost volition and time is passing. A still play feels like an existential threat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/when-we-watch-a-play-under-the-standard-circumstances-we-ve-lost/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [Being positive helps you to keep away negative thoughts. And helps you to stand in adverse circumstances with the hope that in the end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/being-positive-helps-you-to-keep-away-negative-thoughts-and-helps-you/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [It seemed to me that the human beings I met reacted pretty much the same to the same stimuli. Different idioms,yes. Circumstances and conditions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zora-neale-hurston/it-seemed-to-me-that-the-human-beings-i-met-reacted-pretty-much-the/) [Zora Neale Hurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zora-neale-hurston/) > [I don't think you would have missed that putt, but in these circumstances, I would never give you the opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicklaus/i-don-t-think-you-would-have-missed-that-putt-but-in-these/) [Jack Nicklaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicklaus/) > [I used to think I could shape the circumstances around me, but now I know Jesus uses circumstances to shape me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-goff/i-used-to-think-i-could-shape-the-circumstances-around-me-but-now-i/) [Bob Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-goff/) > [Instead of complaining about your circumstances, get busy creating new ones. You either suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/instead-of-complaining-about-your-circumstances-get-busy-creating-new/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 4,560 Circumstances quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Living is like working out a long addition sum, and if you make a mistake in the first two totals you will never find the right answer. It means involving oneself in a complicated chain of circumstances.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cesare Pavese" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/living-is-like-working-out-a-long-addition-sum-and-if-you-make-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Circumstances" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/living-is-like-working-out-a-long-addition-sum-and-if-you-make-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05f/cesare-pavese-1924_circumstances_living-is-like-working-out-a-long-additi_536667.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05f/cesare-pavese-1924_circumstances_living-is-like-working-out-a-long-additi_536667.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05f/cesare-pavese-1924_circumstances_living-is-like-working-out-a-long-additi_536667.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Living is like working out a long addition sum, and if you make a mistake in the first two totals you will…” — Cesare Pavese", "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": "Cesare Pavese", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Living is like working out a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/living-is-like-working-out-a-long-addition-sum-and-if-you-make-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/living-is-like-working-out-a-long-addition-sum-and-if-you-make-a/#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 } } ] } ```