--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When the water reaches the upper level…" description: "\"When the water reaches the upper level, follow the rats.\" — Claude A. Swanson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61a/claude-a-swanson-228620_dignity_when-the-water-reaches-the-upper-level-f_2649349.png" --- # When the water reaches the upper level, follow the rats. ![“When the water reaches the upper level, follow the rats.” quote by Claude A. Swanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61a/claude-a-swanson-228620_dignity_when-the-water-reaches-the-upper-level-f_2649349.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61a/claude-a-swanson-228620_dignity_when-the-water-reaches-the-upper-level-f_2649349.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61a/claude-a-swanson-228620_dignity_when-the-water-reaches-the-upper-level-f_2649349.png) > “When the water reaches the upper level, follow the rats.” Claude A. Swanson ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Follow the path of the rats when water rises, implying adaptability and learning from those already coping. **In simple terms:** Adapt by following those who already manage the change. Key Takeaway Observe and learn from those already navigating challenges. Themes adaptability survival observation Mood cautious pragmatic Type advice observation survival When to use this quote - career advice - emergency planning Key Concepts environmental change risk management Questions to Reflect On - When have you followed a seemingly undesirable example? - What risks arise from copying others? A Different Perspective The advice may not apply if rats are not a reliable guide. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dignity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [“Follow those rats! They may lead us back to Muggins!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-f-stewart/follow-those-rats-they-may-lead-us-back-to-muggins/) [A.F. Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-f-stewart/) > [The river , corrected the Rat, It's my world...What it hasn't got is not worth having.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-grahame/the-river-corrected-the-rat-it-s-my-world-what-it-hasn-t-got-is-not/) [Kenneth Grahame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-grahame/) > [“Rat bites are almost certainly under reported because only the most serious cases attract attention, but even using the most conservative figures, at least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/rat-bites-are-almost-certainly-under-reported-because-only-the-most/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Money has never been important to me. I come from garbage. I'm a sewer rat who made it here. I have no interest in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-dehaan/money-has-never-been-important-to-me-i-come-from-garbage-i-m-a-sewer/) [Dane DeHaan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-dehaan/) > [Death by rats would be the worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-howard/death-by-rats-would-be-the-worst/) [Russell Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-howard/) > [“I see an actress smoking a cigarette in an old Fred McMurray movie. She’s clever and beautiful and manipulative. I feel envy. I suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chila-woychik/i-see-an-actress-smoking-a-cigarette-in-an-old-fred-mcmurray-movie/) [Chila Woychik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chila-woychik/) > [“To Robin’s recollection, one of the first shots that went out on the Television Food Network was of rats scurrying across a black floor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-salkin/to-robin-s-recollection-one-of-the-first-shots-that-went-out-on-the/) [Allen Salkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-salkin/) > [If Under fell, if Over leaped, If death was life and Death life reaped, Something rises from the gloom, To make the Underland a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/if-under-fell-if-over-leaped-if-death-was-life-and-death-life-reaped/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“Rats would’ve eaten the tender parts: eyes, nose, earlobes, testicles…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/rats-would-ve-eaten-the-tender-parts-eyes-nose-earlobes-testicles/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [It is restful, tragedy, because one knows that there is no more lousy hope left. You know you're caught, caught at last like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/it-is-restful-tragedy-because-one-knows-that-there-is-no-more-lousy/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [I wouldn't mind the rat race - if the rats would lose once in a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wilson/i-wouldn-t-mind-the-rat-race-if-the-rats-would-lose-once-in-a-while/) [Tom Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wilson/) > [He wanted to go running home to Mommy, what can I say? Of course, it's hard for me to believe that anyone would choose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-grant/he-wanted-to-go-running-home-to-mommy-what-can-i-say-of-course-it-s/) [Michael Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-grant/) > [He looked exactly like a rat. Like the human being version of a rat. Like the villain in a Don Bluth movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/he-looked-exactly-like-a-rat-like-the-human-being-version-of-a-rat/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [But there was more to it than that. As the Amazing Maurice said, it was just a story about people and rats. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/but-there-was-more-to-it-than-that-as-the-amazing-maurice-said-it-was/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [I remember that the bass was turned up slightly more on the mix from last week, and I thought that was good - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ronson/i-remember-that-the-bass-was-turned-up-slightly-more-on-the-mix-from/) [Mark Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ronson/) ## More Dignity quotes > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [I take the responsibility of playing another ethnicity very, very seriously, and I promise myself and those people that I will represent them with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-curtis/i-take-the-responsibility-of-playing-another-ethnicity-very-very/) [Cliff Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-curtis/) > [One achieves true human dignity only when one serves. Only he is great who subjects himself to taking part in the achievement of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-antonio-primo-de-rivera/one-achieves-true-human-dignity-only-when-one-serves-only-he-is-great/) Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera > [I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malala-yousafzai/i-speak-not-for-myself-but-so-those-without-a-voice-can-be-heard/) [Malala Yousafzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malala-yousafzai/) > [Use every man according to his desert and who should 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity, the less they deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/use-every-man-according-to-his-desert-and-who-should-scape-whipping/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [The dignity of man is in free choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-frisch/the-dignity-of-man-is-in-free-choice/) [Max Frisch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-frisch/) > [One of the things I love about Africa is the amount of dignity and respect and humility you see all the time. You don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-scott/one-of-the-things-i-love-about-africa-is-the-amount-of-dignity-and/) [Jill Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-scott/) > [It is well for a man when he has learned to endure what he cannot change, and to give up with dignity what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/it-is-well-for-a-man-when-he-has-learned-to-endure-what-he-cannot/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Daily contact with some teachers is itself all-sided ethical education for the child without a spoken precept. Here, too, the real advantage of male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/daily-contact-with-some-teachers-is-itself-all-sided-ethical/) [G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/) > [A man, as a man, could arrive at all the dignity that a man was capable of obtaining or receiving; but it needed a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor/a-man-as-a-man-could-arrive-at-all-the-dignity-that-a-man-was-capable/) [John Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor/) > [There is something to be said for anyone who sits alone with dignity and silently begs for God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-is-something-to-be-said-for-anyone-who-sits-alone-with-dignity/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [I just remember that disturbing feeling of walking into that prison, the complete loss of privacy, the complete loss of stimulation, dignity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/i-just-remember-that-disturbing-feeling-of-walking-into-that-prison/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [Henry Kissinger may have wished I had presented him as a combination of Charles DeGaulle and Disraeli, but I didn't…out of respect for DeGaulle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/henry-kissinger-may-have-wished-i-had-presented-him-as-a-combination/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [The dignity of a woman's life is infinite, her status immeasurable, her capacity unbounded, her role divine...In the fast changing world of today her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/the-dignity-of-a-woman-s-life-is-infinite-her-status-immeasurable-her/) [Maharishi Mahesh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/) [Browse all 3,116 Dignity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When the water reaches the upper level, follow the rats.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Claude A. 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