--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no smooth road into the future…" description: "\"There is no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles.\" — D. H. Lawrence" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/d-h-lawrence-426_journey_there-is-no-smooth-road-into-the-future_922505.png" --- # There is no smooth road into the future: but we go round… ![“There is no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles.” quote by D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/d-h-lawrence-426_journey_there-is-no-smooth-road-into-the-future_922505.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/d-h-lawrence-426_journey_there-is-no-smooth-road-into-the-future_922505.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/d-h-lawrence-426_journey_there-is-no-smooth-road-into-the-future_922505.png) > “There is no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles.” [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. States that progress is never smooth; one must navigate or overcome obstacles to move forward. **In simple terms:** No easy path to the future; obstacles must be faced. Key Takeaway Embrace challenges as part of growth. Themes obstacles progress future adaptation resilience Mood determined optimistic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - project management - personal development Key Concepts philosophy life strategy problem solving Questions to Reflect On - What obstacles can you anticipate? - How can you prepare to navigate them? A Different Perspective The view may underplay the value of strategic planning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Future Round](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future-round-1438976/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Obstacles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obstacles/) [Road Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/road-future-1438975/) [Rounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rounds/) [Scramble Obstacles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scramble-obstacles-1438974/) [Smooth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smooth/) [Smooth Road](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smooth-road-847505/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I am not interested in the past, except as the road to the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianni-versace/i-am-not-interested-in-the-past-except-as-the-road-to-the-future/) [Gianni Versace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianni-versace/) > [It hasn't been a totally smooth road, but in the whole span of things I feel like a very lucky person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-furlong/it-hasn-t-been-a-totally-smooth-road-but-in-the-whole-span-of-things/) [Edward Furlong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-furlong/) > [When I make a commitment to someone, it is for the smooth road and the rocky road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-casey-jr/when-i-make-a-commitment-to-someone-it-is-for-the-smooth-road-and-the/) [Bob Casey, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-casey-jr/) > [Road humps re the to slow u a down a bit but u enjoy a smooth road after them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknwn/road-humps-re-the-to-slow-u-a-down-a-bit-but-u-enjoy-a-smooth-road/) [Unknwn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unknwn/) > [“May you have warm words on a cool evening, a full moon on a dark night, and a smooth road all the way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-b-kerr/may-you-have-warm-words-on-a-cool-evening-a-full-moon-on-a-dark-night/) [P.B. Kerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-b-kerr/) > [“Privilege is driving a smooth road and not even knowing it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ampersand/privilege-is-driving-a-smooth-road-and-not-even-knowing-it/) [Ampersand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ampersand/) > [“Life has many curved roads we will eventually end up on the smooth road of life if we drive long enough. And don’t give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janiece-rendon/life-has-many-curved-roads-we-will-eventually-end-up-on-the-smooth/) [Janiece Rendon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janiece-rendon/) > [A Smooth Road Never Makes Good Drivers. Smooth Seas Never Make Good Sailors,,, A Clear Skies Never Make Good Pilots. Remember, A Problem-Free Life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/a-smooth-road-never-makes-good-drivers-smooth-seas-never-make-good/) [Pacifiersucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pacifiersucker/) > [Smooth road never make gud driver, Clear sky never make gud pilot, Problem free life never make good person, Life is challenge. Face it …](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/smooth-road-never-make-gud-driver-clear-sky-never-make-gud-pilot/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [Life has no smooth road for any of us, we just have to keep looking upward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-has-no-smooth-road-for-any-of-us-we-just-have-to-keep-looking/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If the life were a smooth road then we would never enjoy this smoothness to the utmost. Every obstacle in your path is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankit-singh/if-the-life-were-a-smooth-road-then-we-would-never-enjoy-this/) [Ankit Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankit-singh/) > [“Your people eat dry and tasteless flesh but it is off plates as smooth as ivory and as round as the sun.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/your-people-eat-dry-and-tasteless-flesh-but-it-is-off-plates-as/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Middle-class prosperity is lapidary; the flow of cash rounds and smooths a person like water does riverbed stones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/middle-class-prosperity-is-lapidary-the-flow-of-cash-rounds-and/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [and Venus among the fishes skips and is a she-dolphin she is the gay, delighted porpoise sporting with love and the sea she is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/and-venus-among-the-fishes-skips-and-is-a-she-dolphin-she-is-the-gay/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Be in a state of gratitude for everything that shows up in your life. Be thankful for the storms as well as the smooth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/be-in-a-state-of-gratitude-for-everything-that-shows-up-in-your-life/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) ## More by D. H. Lawrence > [Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me! A fine wind is blowing the new direction of Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/not-i-not-i-but-the-wind-that-blows-through-me-a-fine-wind-is-blowing/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [and Venus among the fishes skips and is a she-dolphin she is the gay, delighted porpoise sporting with love and the sea she is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/and-venus-among-the-fishes-skips-and-is-a-she-dolphin-she-is-the-gay/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [If I had my way, I would build a lethal chamber as big as the Crystal Palace, with a military band playing softly, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/if-i-had-my-way-i-would-build-a-lethal-chamber-as-big-as-the-crystal/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Now it is autumn and the falling fruit and the long journey towards oblivion. The apples falling like great drops of dew to bruise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/now-it-is-autumn-and-the-falling-fruit-and-the-long-journey-towards/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [We have to hate our immediate predecessors to get free of their authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/we-have-to-hate-our-immediate-predecessors-to-get-free-of-their/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Reach me a gentian, give me a torch! Let me guide myself with the blue, forked torch of a flower down the darker and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/reach-me-a-gentian-give-me-a-torch-let-me-guide-myself-with-the-blue/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [The war is dreadful. It is the business of the artist to follow it home to the heart of the individual fighters - not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/the-war-is-dreadful-it-is-the-business-of-the-artist-to-follow-it/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [The nearer a conception comes towards finality, the nearer does the dynamic relation, out of which this concept has arisen, draw to a close.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/the-nearer-a-conception-comes-towards-finality-the-nearer-does-the/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [It is our business to go as we are impelled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/it-is-our-business-to-go-as-we-are-impelled/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/ours-is-essentially-a-tragic-age-so-we-refuse-to-take-it-tragically/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [If only we could live two lives: the first in which to make one's mistakes, and the second in which to profit by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/if-only-we-could-live-two-lives-the-first-in-which-to-make-one-s/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [They say geniuses mostly have great mothers. They mostly have sad fates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/they-say-geniuses-mostly-have-great-mothers-they-mostly-have-sad-fates/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [When one jumps over the edge, one is bound to land somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/when-one-jumps-over-the-edge-one-is-bound-to-land-somewhere/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [The living moment is everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/the-living-moment-is-everything/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [If a woman's got nothing but her fair fame to feed on, why, it's thin tack, and a donkey would die of it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/if-a-woman-s-got-nothing-but-her-fair-fame-to-feed-on-why-it-s-thin/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) [Explore all 570 D. H. Lawrence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) ## More Journey quotes > [The end is nothing; the road is all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-end-is-nothing-the-road-is-all/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [What people tend to forget is the journey that I had getting to Formula One. There were plenty of years where I had to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hamilton/what-people-tend-to-forget-is-the-journey-that-i-had-getting-to/) [Lewis Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hamilton/) > [It is a sweet thing that we serve a dissatisfied God who has destinations in mind for us that we would never choose for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-david-tripp/it-is-a-sweet-thing-that-we-serve-a-dissatisfied-god-who-has/) [Paul David Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-david-tripp/) > [The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being--one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/the-path-i-choose-through-the-maze-makes-me-what-i-am-i-am-not-only-a/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [Have a Blast; Life wont last! Make the best of the journey before it is over!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/have-a-blast-life-wont-last-make-the-best-of-the-journey-before-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Cocoon's cry to first fly, Travels thousands of miles— So much in so little life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-negi/cocoon-s-cry-to-first-fly-travels-thousands-of-miles-so-much-in-so/) [Ritu Negi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-negi/) > [He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/he-who-is-content-with-what-has-been-done-is-an-obstacle-in-the-path/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Loving yourself is a journey, not a destination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-holliday/loving-yourself-is-a-journey-not-a-destination/) [Tess Holliday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-holliday/) > [“Everywhere is home, let is go home”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzuco-hu-nh/everywhere-is-home-let-is-go-home/) [Dzuco Huỳnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzuco-hu-nh/) > [Life is a journey, not a destination. Fall into the deep - rise to new heights. .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashish-basumatary/life-is-a-journey-not-a-destination-fall-into-the-deep-rise-to-new/) [Ashish Basumatary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashish-basumatary/) > [Be the inner journeys, be the outer travels, all trips elevate man, all voyages lift him up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/be-the-inner-journeys-be-the-outer-travels-all-trips-elevate-man-all/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The hardest roads are often empty; the darkest paths are mostly silent; toughest destinations are almost peopleless! No easy road brings you great victory!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/the-hardest-roads-are-often-empty-the-darkest-paths-are-mostly-silent/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“May the seas bend to your journey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoraida-c-rdova/may-the-seas-bend-to-your-journey/) [Zoraida Córdova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoraida-c-rdova/) [Browse all 11,861 Journey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "D. H. Lawrence" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/there-is-no-smooth-road-into-the-future-but-we-go-round-or-scramble/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Journey" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/there-is-no-smooth-road-into-the-future-but-we-go-round-or-scramble/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/d-h-lawrence-426_journey_there-is-no-smooth-road-into-the-future_922505.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/d-h-lawrence-426_journey_there-is-no-smooth-road-into-the-future_922505.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/d-h-lawrence-426_journey_there-is-no-smooth-road-into-the-future_922505.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles.” — D. H. Lawrence", "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": "D. H. Lawrence", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is no smooth road into...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/there-is-no-smooth-road-into-the-future-but-we-go-round-or-scramble/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/there-is-no-smooth-road-into-the-future-but-we-go-round-or-scramble/#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 } } ] } ```