--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no call for you to get tragic…" description: "\"“There is no call for you to get tragic about it. Tragedy is easy enough to contrive. And if you want to be tragic, you can be tragic without destroyin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b1/cordwainer-smith-32342_old-books_there-is-no-call-for-you-to-get-tragic-a_713959.jpg" --- # There is no call for you to get tragic about it. Tragedy… ![“There is no call for you to get tragic about it. Tragedy is easy enough to contrive. And if you want to be tragic, you can be tragic without destroying thirty thousand other people or without wasting a large amount of Earth property. You can drown in water right here, or jump into a volcano like…” quote by Cordwainer Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b1/cordwainer-smith-32342_old-books_there-is-no-call-for-you-to-get-tragic-a_713959.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b1/cordwainer-smith-32342_old-books_there-is-no-call-for-you-to-get-tragic-a_713959.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b1/cordwainer-smith-32342_old-books_there-is-no-call-for-you-to-get-tragic-a_713959.jpg) > ““There is no call for you to get tragic about it. Tragedy is easy enough to contrive. And if you want to be tragic, you can be tragic without destroying thirty thousand other people or without wasting a large amount of Earth property. You can drown in water right here, or jump into a volcano like the Japanese in the old books. Tragedy is not the hard part. The hard part is when you don’t quite succeed and you have to keep on fighting. When you must keep going on and on and on in the face of really hopeless odds, of real temptations to despair.”” [Cordwainer Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cordwainer-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Enduring relentless effort despite overwhelming odds defines true courage, not the act of tragedy itself. **In simple terms:** Courage is persisting when hope is low. Key Takeaway Keep fighting despite hopeless odds. Themes courage perseverance despair hope resilience Mood determined reflective Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - war zones - personal crises - long‑term projects - recovering from failure Key Concepts existential struggle human spirit determination Questions to Reflect On - What drives you to persist when success seems impossible? - How do you distinguish between healthy struggle and self‑destructive despair? A Different Perspective Tragedy can be a distraction from the harder work of sustained perseverance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy/) [Tragic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragic/) ## Related quotes > [“Acid filled Sara’s mouth. It wasn’t fair. That’s what Sara wanted to say. To scream at the top of her lungs. It just wasn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/acid-filled-sara-s-mouth-it-wasn-t-fair-that-s-what-sara-wanted-to/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [“You can't blame her,' said Amit. 'After a life so full of tragedy anyone would become hard.' 'What tragedy?' asked Mrs. Chatterji. 'Well, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-seth/you-can-t-blame-her-said-amit-after-a-life-so-full-of-tragedy-anyone/) [Vikram Seth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-seth/) > [“Real tragedy is never resolved. It goes on hopelessly forever. Conventional tragedy is too easy. The hero dies and we feel a purging of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/real-tragedy-is-never-resolved-it-goes-on-hopelessly-forever/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [In tragedy, it's hard to find a good resolution; it's not black and white: it's a big fog of gray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dano/in-tragedy-it-s-hard-to-find-a-good-resolution-it-s-not-black-and/) [Paul Dano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dano/) > [I’m not sad, but the boys who are looking for sad girls always find me. 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That's how I want to live every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-keller/i-want-tragic-and-poetic-forever-that-s-how-i-want-to-live-every-day/) [Rachel Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-keller/) > [I love to read the dedications of old books written in monarchies for they invariably honor some (usually insignificant) knight or duke with fulsome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-love-to-read-the-dedications-of-old-books-written-in-monarchies-for/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [When I was twelve, the passage from silent film to the talkies had an impact on me-I still watch silent films. I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-resnais/when-i-was-twelve-the-passage-from-silent-film-to-the-talkies-had-an/) [Alain Resnais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-resnais/) > [OLD, adj. In that stage of usefulness which is not inconsistent with general inefficiency, as an "old man". Discredited by lapse of time and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/old-adj-in-that-stage-of-usefulness-which-is-not-inconsistent-with/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [I read a lot. I always have, but in those two years I gorged myself on books with a voluptuous, almost erotic gluttony. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tana-french/i-read-a-lot-i-always-have-but-in-those-two-years-i-gorged-myself-on/) [Tana French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tana-french/) > [Old books that we have known but not possessed cross our path and invite themselves over. New books try to seduce us daily with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/old-books-that-we-have-known-but-not-possessed-cross-our-path-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“We all grow old, even books. But are you, is anyone, worth less, or less important, because they’ve been around for longer?’ ‘It’s”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-george/we-all-grow-old-even-books-but-are-you-is-anyone-worth-less-or-less/) [Nina George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-george/) > [“Now don't think I've lost my mind - but I'll tell you, I'll look at some of the cards I have, some of Van…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/now-don-t-think-i-ve-lost-my-mind-but-i-ll-tell-you-i-ll-look-at-some/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [“And yet sometimes she worried about what those musty old books were doing to her. Some people majored in English to prepare for law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides-the-marriage-plot-2/and-yet-sometimes-she-worried-about-what-those-musty-old-books-were/) Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot ## More by Cordwainer Smith > [“It was not the site of the earth which surprised him – it was the smell. … This earth and air smelled alive. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cordwainer-smith/it-was-not-the-site-of-the-earth-which-surprised-him-it-was-the-smell/) [Cordwainer Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cordwainer-smith/) > [“We shall take a star out of the skies and shall set thousands of worlds on fire...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cordwainer-smith/we-shall-take-a-star-out-of-the-skies-and-shall-set-thousands-of/) [Cordwainer Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cordwainer-smith/) > [“Was that what people learned between the stars? 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