--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Occasionally, I just need to escape from…" description: "\"Occasionally, I just need to escape from my work or be reminded of the comparative bliss of my own life, so I pick up a novel.\" — David Macaulay" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/david-macaulay-43845_bliss_occasionally-i-just-need-to-escape-from_1971413.jpg" --- # Occasionally, I just need to escape from my work or be… ![“Occasionally, I just need to escape from my work or be reminded of the comparative bliss of my own life, so I pick up a novel.” quote by David Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/david-macaulay-43845_bliss_occasionally-i-just-need-to-escape-from_1971413.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/david-macaulay-43845_bliss_occasionally-i-just-need-to-escape-from_1971413.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/david-macaulay-43845_bliss_occasionally-i-just-need-to-escape-from_1971413.jpg) > “Occasionally, I just need to escape from my work or be reminded of the comparative bliss of my own life, so I pick up a novel.” [David Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-macaulay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading novels offers a mental retreat, providing perspective and relief from work stress through imagined experiences. **In simple terms:** Books provide a mental getaway. Key Takeaway Read to recharge. Themes escape relief imagination balance Mood relaxed reflective Type literary self‑care When to use this quote - commutes - breaks - vacations - nighttime routines - creative projects Key Concepts literature stress management psychology of flow Questions to Reflect On - What novel restores your sense of peace? - How does reading change your work mindset? A Different Perspective Escapism may avoid confronting real issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bliss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bliss/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Comparative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparative/) [Escape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/escape/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [My own life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-own-life/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [I go to work now, and I'm always reminded of those times when I was doing it for free and doing it with my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-consani/i-go-to-work-now-and-i-m-always-reminded-of-those-times-when-i-was/) [Alex Consani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-consani/) > [I try to create paintings that are a window for the imagination. If people look at my work and are reminded of the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-kinkade/i-try-to-create-paintings-that-are-a-window-for-the-imagination-if/) [Thomas Kinkade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-kinkade/) > [Live nutty. Just occasionally. Just once in a while. And see what happens. It brightens up the day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-buscaglia/live-nutty-just-occasionally-just-once-in-a-while-and-see-what/) [Leo Buscaglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-buscaglia/) > [When I'd come home from work, you know, I'd watch television like every other average guy, go to the movies occasionally, and I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wahl/when-i-d-come-home-from-work-you-know-i-d-watch-television-like-every/) [Ken Wahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wahl/) > [There's no real escape from the work, but in some ways, if you're as obsessive as I am, it's a sweet little thing we've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-helberg/there-s-no-real-escape-from-the-work-but-in-some-ways-if-you-re-as/) [Simon Helberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-helberg/) > [“The people who take society as an escape from work are putting it to its proper use; but when it becomes the thing worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-people-who-take-society-as-an-escape-from-work-are-putting-it-to/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Don't have work-life balance - at least in the sense of trying to escape from work so you can have a life. Work should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-tapscott/don-t-have-work-life-balance-at-least-in-the-sense-of-trying-to/) [Don Tapscott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-tapscott/) > [There are men who are wanting in the comparative, they as a rule are the most interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/there-are-men-who-are-wanting-in-the-comparative-they-as-a-rule-are/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Comparative religion is an admirable recipe for making people comparatively religious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-knox/comparative-religion-is-an-admirable-recipe-for-making-people/) [Ronald Knox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-knox/) > [I'm a professor of comparative literature, among other things, so I'm able to read in a couple of other languages, and I understand that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-m-a-professor-of-comparative-literature-among-other-things-so-i-m/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Priests are often well-meaning people who haven't yet looked too thoroughly into comparative religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/priests-are-often-well-meaning-people-who-haven-t-yet-looked-too/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [The methodologies of examining hip hop are borrowed from sociology, politics, religion, economics, urban studies, journalism, communications theory, American studies, transatlantic studies, black studies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/the-methodologies-of-examining-hip-hop-are-borrowed-from-sociology/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [The history of religions, of which Christianity is a transcendent element, awaits the deepest study. It requires Bibles to free from Bibles. Comparative theology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-bronson-alcott/the-history-of-religions-of-which-christianity-is-a-transcendent/) [Amos Bronson Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-bronson-alcott/) > [Lets take away the incentives to do 'to' patients and instead create incentives to do 'for' patients, to be 'with' patients. We don't need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/lets-take-away-the-incentives-to-do-to-patients-and-instead-create/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [It is not sufficiently considered in the hour of exultation, that all human excellence is comparative; that no man performs much but in proportion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/it-is-not-sufficiently-considered-in-the-hour-of-exultation-that-all/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) ## More by David Macaulay > [I'm a big fan of the digestive system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-macaulay/i-m-a-big-fan-of-the-digestive-system/) [David Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-macaulay/) > [If you are lucky enough to be successful, you get drawn further in and you stop paying attention to the stuff that matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-macaulay/if-you-are-lucky-enough-to-be-successful-you-get-drawn-further-in-and/) [David Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-macaulay/) > [Making books is hard work. Some books are, of course, more demanding than others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-macaulay/making-books-is-hard-work-some-books-are-of-course-more-demanding/) [David Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-macaulay/) > [I've never thought about the ages of my readers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-macaulay/i-ve-never-thought-about-the-ages-of-my-readers/) [David Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-macaulay/) > [“What I remember most clearly is how it felt. I’d just finished painting a red fire engine-like the one I often walked past near…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-macaulay/what-i-remember-most-clearly-is-how-it-felt-i-d-just-finished/) [David Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-macaulay/) > [I went back to the notion of story, which is always a good thing to have if you're trying to get people to pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-macaulay/i-went-back-to-the-notion-of-story-which-is-always-a-good-thing-to/) [David Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-macaulay/) > [For some time now, I have been encouraging people to ask themselves why things look the way they do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-macaulay/for-some-time-now-i-have-been-encouraging-people-to-ask-themselves/) [David Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-macaulay/) > [I'm just looking for projects I enjoy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-macaulay/i-m-just-looking-for-projects-i-enjoy/) [David Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-macaulay/) [Explore all 9 David Macaulay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-macaulay/) ## More Bliss quotes > [Ignorance is not bliss — it is oblivion. Determined ignorance is the hastiest kind of oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-wylie/ignorance-is-not-bliss-it-is-oblivion-determined-ignorance-is-the/) [Philip Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-wylie/) > [The artist's experience lies so unbelievably close to the sexual, to its pain and its pleasure, that the two phenomena are really just different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-artist-s-experience-lies-so-unbelievably-close-to-the-sexual-to/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [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/) > [Music is a lot more like solving an intricate puzzle with moments of pure, random creative bliss... whereas painting is much more purely random…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-boyd/music-is-a-lot-more-like-solving-an-intricate-puzzle-with-moments-of/) [Brandon Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-boyd/) > [Work and leisure are complementary parts of the same living process and cannot be separated without destroying the joy of work and the bliss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/work-and-leisure-are-complementary-parts-of-the-same-living-process/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [“Being around her now was nine parts bliss and one part torment. And he wanted it to last as long as possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ringle/being-around-her-now-was-nine-parts-bliss-and-one-part-torment-and-he/) [Molly Ringle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ringle/) > [“He was still a mystery to me. And God, did I want to play Nancy Drew.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-carmack/he-was-still-a-mystery-to-me-and-god-did-i-want-to-play-nancy-drew/) [Cora Carmack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-carmack/) > [Eating, drinking, sleeping a little laughter ! much weeping! Is that all ? Do not die here like a worm. Wake up! Attain immortal bliss!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sivananda/eating-drinking-sleeping-a-little-laughter-much-weeping-is-that-all/) [Sivananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sivananda/) > [How do you find the divine power in yourself? The word enthusiasm means 'filled with a god,' so what makes you enthusiastic? Follow it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/how-do-you-find-the-divine-power-in-yourself-the-word-enthusiasm/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When you follow your bliss a kind of track opens up, that's always been there, waiting for you. And the life that you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-follow-your-bliss-a-kind-of-track-opens-up-that-s-always/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When you drop your unnecessary things, you finally can swoop and fly in vast space. It is so blue, so bright, and so nice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/when-you-drop-your-unnecessary-things-you-finally-can-swoop-and-fly/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [“The smell of her hair lingered just out of reach of his memory and left him with a nervous hum resonating throughout his body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-tomblin/the-smell-of-her-hair-lingered-just-out-of-reach-of-his-memory-and/) [Erik Tomblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-tomblin/) > [“They happen only when you are distant,aloof. They happen, they cannot be brought. They happen you cannot force them to happen. They are spontaneous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/they-happen-only-when-you-are-distant-aloof-they-happen-they-cannot/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [“Ignorance was bliss. Or at least less painfull”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/ignorance-was-bliss-or-at-least-less-painfull/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) [Browse all 1,311 Bliss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bliss/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Occasionally, I just need to escape from my work or be reminded of the comparative bliss of my own life, so I pick up a novel.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Macaulay" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-macaulay/occasionally-i-just-need-to-escape-from-my-work-or-be-reminded-of-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bliss" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-macaulay/occasionally-i-just-need-to-escape-from-my-work-or-be-reminded-of-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/david-macaulay-43845_bliss_occasionally-i-just-need-to-escape-from_1971413.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/david-macaulay-43845_bliss_occasionally-i-just-need-to-escape-from_1971413.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/david-macaulay-43845_bliss_occasionally-i-just-need-to-escape-from_1971413.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Occasionally, I just need to escape from my work or be reminded of the comparative bliss of my own life, so…” — David Macaulay", "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": "David Macaulay", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-macaulay/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Occasionally, I just need to escape...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-macaulay/occasionally-i-just-need-to-escape-from-my-work-or-be-reminded-of-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-macaulay/occasionally-i-just-need-to-escape-from-my-work-or-be-reminded-of-the/#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 } } ] } ```