--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can't travel the back roads very long…" description: "\"You can't travel the back roads very long without discovering a multitude of gentle people doing good for others with no expectation of gain or recogni..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/271/charles-kuralt-7624_back-roads_you-can-t-travel-the-back-roads-very-lon_3038051.png" --- # You can't travel the back roads very long without… ![“You can't travel the back roads very long without discovering a multitude of gentle people doing good for others with no expectation of gain or recognition. The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines. Some people out there spend their whole…” quote by Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/271/charles-kuralt-7624_back-roads_you-can-t-travel-the-back-roads-very-lon_3038051.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/271/charles-kuralt-7624_back-roads_you-can-t-travel-the-back-roads-very-lon_3038051.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/271/charles-kuralt-7624_back-roads_you-can-t-travel-the-back-roads-very-lon_3038051.png) > “You can't travel the back roads very long without discovering a multitude of gentle people doing good for others with no expectation of gain or recognition. The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines. Some people out there spend their whole lives selflessly.” [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Traveling remote routes reveals countless ordinary people acting selflessly without seeking reward, balancing negative news about greed. **In simple terms:** Kindness appears often in everyday life, offsetting greed. Key Takeaway Notice and emulate selfless acts. Themes kindness community selflessness gratitude Mood warm reflective Type observational inspirational When to use this quote - rural travel - community volunteering - daily interactions Key Concepts social behavior altruism human nature Questions to Reflect On - How can we highlight everyday altruism? - What barriers prevent recognition of quiet kindness? A Different Perspective Selflessness may be overlooked in media narratives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Back roads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/back-roads/) [Doing good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-good/) [Everyday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everyday/) [Expectations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expectations/) [Gentle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gentle/) [Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Recognition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recognition/) [Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel/) ## Related quotes > [The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/the-everyday-kindness-of-the-back-roads-more-than-makes-up-for-the/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [To read the papers and to listen to the news... one would think the country is in terrible trouble. You do not get that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/to-read-the-papers-and-to-listen-to-the-news-one-would-think-the/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [I did stories about unexpected encounters, back roads, small towns and ordinary folk, sometimes doing something a little extraordinary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-did-stories-about-unexpected-encounters-back-roads-small-towns-and/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-stewart/i-wouldn-t-give-you-two-cents-for-all-your-fancy-rules-if-behind-them/) [James Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-stewart/) > [“We live in an immense world, whole universes of taste and touch and scent, of voices commingling in the light, and dying away with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-holsinger/we-live-in-an-immense-world-whole-universes-of-taste-and-touch-and/) Bruce Holsinger > [Roads are long; make them short with a good company!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/roads-are-long-make-them-short-with-a-good-company/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [What does it matter that we take different roads so long as we reach the same goal?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/what-does-it-matter-that-we-take-different-roads-so-long-as-we-reach/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“All roads, whether long or short, are hard," said Frog. "Come, you have begun your journey, and all else necessarily follows from that act.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-hoban/all-roads-whether-long-or-short-are-hard-said-frog-come-you-have/) [Russell Hoban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-hoban/) > [All roads are long which lead to one's heart's desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/all-roads-are-long-which-lead-to-one-s-heart-s-desire/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Though actually the work of man's hands - or, more properly speaking, the work of his travelling feet, - roads have long since come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-le-gallienne/though-actually-the-work-of-man-s-hands-or-more-properly-speaking-the/) [Richard Le Gallienne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-le-gallienne/) > [I had to drive to Minneapolis once, and went on a back road just to see the country. But there was nothing to see.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/i-had-to-drive-to-minneapolis-once-and-went-on-a-back-road-just-to/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Scepticism is always a back road leading to some credo or other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/scepticism-is-always-a-back-road-leading-to-some-credo-or-other/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Take the back roads instead of the highways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minnie-pearl/take-the-back-roads-instead-of-the-highways/) [Minnie Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minnie-pearl/) > [If I ventured in the slipstream between the viaducts of your dreams, where immobile steel rims crack and the ditch in the back roads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/if-i-ventured-in-the-slipstream-between-the-viaducts-of-your-dreams/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [You'll pay the highest price on back roads and in back seats and in a cheap highway motel. But what's a few more strangers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/you-ll-pay-the-highest-price-on-back-roads-and-in-back-seats-and-in-a/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) ## More by Charles Kuralt > [My parents encouraged me in everything I ever wanted to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/my-parents-encouraged-me-in-everything-i-ever-wanted-to-do/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/you-can-find-your-way-across-this-country-using-burger-joints-the-way/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [I did stories about unexpected encounters, back roads, small towns and ordinary folk, sometimes doing something a little extraordinary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-did-stories-about-unexpected-encounters-back-roads-small-towns-and/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [When I worked in Los Angeles covering hard news, very often when something important would happen I'd be off in the woods covering something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/when-i-worked-in-los-angeles-covering-hard-news-very-often-when/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [I would like to explore some side roads in life while I am still in good health and good spirits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-would-like-to-explore-some-side-roads-in-life-while-i-am-still-in/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [To read the papers and to listen to the news... one would think the country is in terrible trouble. You do not get that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/to-read-the-papers-and-to-listen-to-the-news-one-would-think-the/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [TV critics, who traditionally hate television and make their living writing about it, often didn't like what I did on the air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/tv-critics-who-traditionally-hate-television-and-make-their-living/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [There are a lot of people who are doing wonderful things, quietly, with no motive of greed, or hostility toward other people, or delusions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/there-are-a-lot-of-people-who-are-doing-wonderful-things-quietly-with/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [It is liberalism, whether people like it or not, which has animated all the years of my life. What on Earth did conservatism ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/it-is-liberalism-whether-people-like-it-or-not-which-has-animated-all/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [I didn't know what narcissism was until I beheld my own naricssus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-didn-t-know-what-narcissism-was-until-i-beheld-my-own-naricssus/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [A country so rich that it can send people to the moon still has hundreds of thousands of its citizens who can't read. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/a-country-so-rich-that-it-can-send-people-to-the-moon-still-has/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [Good teachers know how to bring out the best in students.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/good-teachers-know-how-to-bring-out-the-best-in-students/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [For a while there, I was a stringer. The expression comes from the old habit of stringing together the column inches that you had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/for-a-while-there-i-was-a-stringer-the-expression-comes-from-the-old/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [There is melancholy in the wind and sorrow in the grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/there-is-melancholy-in-the-wind-and-sorrow-in-the-grass/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [Often I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/often-i-have-been-exhausted-on-trout-streams-uncomfortable-wet-cold/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) [Explore all 89 Charles Kuralt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) ## More Back roads quotes > [You'll pay the highest price on back roads and in back seats and in a cheap highway motel. But what's a few more strangers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/you-ll-pay-the-highest-price-on-back-roads-and-in-back-seats-and-in-a/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) > [I did stories about unexpected encounters, back roads, small towns and ordinary folk, sometimes doing something a little extraordinary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-did-stories-about-unexpected-encounters-back-roads-small-towns-and/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [If I ventured in the slipstream between the viaducts of your dreams, where immobile steel rims crack and the ditch in the back roads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/if-i-ventured-in-the-slipstream-between-the-viaducts-of-your-dreams/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [To read the papers and to listen to the news... one would think the country is in terrible trouble. You do not get that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/to-read-the-papers-and-to-listen-to-the-news-one-would-think-the/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [Take the back roads instead of the highways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minnie-pearl/take-the-back-roads-instead-of-the-highways/) [Minnie Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minnie-pearl/) > [Scepticism is always a back road leading to some credo or other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/scepticism-is-always-a-back-road-leading-to-some-credo-or-other/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [I had to drive to Minneapolis once, and went on a back road just to see the country. But there was nothing to see.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/i-had-to-drive-to-minneapolis-once-and-went-on-a-back-road-just-to/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [You can hear some artists, hear five of their albums and still have no idea who they are. But if you've heard most of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-atkins/you-can-hear-some-artists-hear-five-of-their-albums-and-still-have-no/) [Rodney Atkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-atkins/) > [I see the crowd singing 'Rock 'N Roll' or 'Back Road' at my concerts... they are anthems and they lift up your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-atkins/i-see-the-crowd-singing-rock-n-roll-or-back-road-at-my-concerts-they/) [Rodney Atkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-atkins/) > [ Remarkably, \[Sen. Dianne\] Feinstein was reading her statement. So her mare's-nest of inapposite words and unclear thoughts cannot be excused as symptoms of Biden's… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/remarkably-sen-dianne-feinstein-was-reading-her-statement-so-her-mare/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [I love to deer hunt and fish and drive down the back roads in my truck. All those things basically equal freedom to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-shelton/i-love-to-deer-hunt-and-fish-and-drive-down-the-back-roads-in-my/) [Blake Shelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-shelton/) > [ I saw all that \[white trash\] growing up in Alabama and Georgia. I had a group of country cousins and we'd go visit them… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-young/i-saw-all-that-white-trash-growing-up-in-alabama-and-georgia-i-had-a/) [Steve Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-young/) > [On the old highway maps of America, the main routes were red and the back roads blue. Now even the colors are changing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/on-the-old-highway-maps-of-america-the-main-routes-were-red-and-the/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) [Browse all 14 Back roads quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/back-roads/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You can't travel the back roads very long without discovering a multitude of gentle people doing good for others with no expectation of gain or recognition. The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines. Some people out there spend their whole lives selflessly.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Kuralt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/you-can-t-travel-the-back-roads-very-long-without-discovering-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Back roads" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/you-can-t-travel-the-back-roads-very-long-without-discovering-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/271/charles-kuralt-7624_back-roads_you-can-t-travel-the-back-roads-very-lon_3038051.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/271/charles-kuralt-7624_back-roads_you-can-t-travel-the-back-roads-very-lon_3038051.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/271/charles-kuralt-7624_back-roads_you-can-t-travel-the-back-roads-very-lon_3038051.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You can't travel the back roads very long without discovering a multitude of gentle people doing good for…” — Charles Kuralt", "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": "Charles Kuralt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You can't travel the back roads...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/you-can-t-travel-the-back-roads-very-long-without-discovering-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/you-can-t-travel-the-back-roads-very-long-without-discovering-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 } } ] } ```