--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most people think, when they're young…" description: "\"Most people think, when they're young, that they're going to the top of their chosen world, and that the climb up is only a formality. Without that fai..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/dick-francis-13976_chosen_most-people-think-when-they-re-young-tha_2915483.jpg" --- # Most people think, when they're young, that they're going… ![“Most people think, when they're young, that they're going to the top of their chosen world, and that the climb up is only a formality. Without that faith, I suppose, they might never start. Somewhere on the way they lift their eyes to the summit and know they aren't going to reach it; and…” quote by Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/dick-francis-13976_chosen_most-people-think-when-they-re-young-tha_2915483.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/dick-francis-13976_chosen_most-people-think-when-they-re-young-tha_2915483.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/dick-francis-13976_chosen_most-people-think-when-they-re-young-tha_2915483.jpg) > “Most people think, when they're young, that they're going to the top of their chosen world, and that the climb up is only a formality. Without that faith, I suppose, they might never start. Somewhere on the way they lift their eyes to the summit and know they aren't going to reach it; and happiness then is looking down and enjoying the view they've got, not envying the one they haven't.” [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Young ambition often assumes success is inevitable, but reality shows limits; happiness comes from appreciating current achievements rather than envying unattainable heights. **In simple terms:** Success isn’t guaranteed; enjoy what you have. Key Takeaway Find contentment in present successes. Themes ambition realism contentment Mood reflective balanced Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career advancement - sports competition - personal growth Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - Do you measure success by external milestones or internal fulfillment? - How can you shift focus from unattainable goals to present joys? A Different Perspective Happiness may be fleeting if one constantly compares to higher goals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Summit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/summit/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Not everyone has to fly high to prove they exist; some of us are perfectly happy flying low and enjoying the view.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-a-lancaster/not-everyone-has-to-fly-high-to-prove-they-exist-some-of-us-are/) [Mike A. Lancaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-a-lancaster/) > [“TIA OR TARA has stopped applying makeup to my wife’s face and is looking at Scottie with disapproval. The light is hitting this woman’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaui-hart-hemmings/tia-or-tara-has-stopped-applying-makeup-to-my-wife-s-face-and-is/) [Kaui Hart Hemmings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaui-hart-hemmings/) > [“If there was a such thing as arm porn, I was watching my very own channel. It felt wrong to look, but God, was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vi-keeland/if-there-was-a-such-thing-as-arm-porn-i-was-watching-my-very-own/) [Vi Keeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vi-keeland/) > [“He pressed the blade of his sword into the ground. As he pulled his arm over his head for a stretch, a bead of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-o-neale/he-pressed-the-blade-of-his-sword-into-the-ground-as-he-pulled-his/) [Stacey O'Neale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-o-neale/) > [“For you guys out there who think looking doesn’t hurt? You’re wrong. Because we women don’t think you’re just enjoying the view. We think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-chase/for-you-guys-out-there-who-think-looking-doesn-t-hurt-you-re-wrong/) [Emma Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-chase/) > [“In the time we spend reeling in confusion, grasping at straws trying to piece our egos together, we forget to acknowledge some things. Society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brianna-wiest/in-the-time-we-spend-reeling-in-confusion-grasping-at-straws-trying/) [Brianna Wiest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brianna-wiest/) > [“Does it really matter if we reach our destination or not? As long as you are enjoying the view, going in circles also counts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhaidev/does-it-really-matter-if-we-reach-our-destination-or-not-as-long-as/) [Abhaidev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhaidev/) > [“Enjoying the view?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-ellen-malpas/enjoying-the-view/) [Jodi Ellen Malpas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-ellen-malpas/) > [Morality is a mountain which we cannot climb by our own efforts; and if we could we should only perish in the ice and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/morality-is-a-mountain-which-we-cannot-climb-by-our-own-efforts-and/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [I'm always surprised reading my old journals. There's this idea that life is hard now, but then I'll reach that moment where it'll change.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pine/i-m-always-surprised-reading-my-old-journals-there-s-this-idea-that/) [Chris Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pine/) > […life isn’t a puzzle to be solved. It’s an adventure to be savored. Let every challenge be a new mountain to climb, not an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/life-isn-t-a-puzzle-to-be-solved-it-s-an-adventure-to-be-savored-let/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-child/somewhere-between-the-bottom-of-the-climb-and-the-summit-is-the/) [Greg Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-child/) > [“To reach the top you don’t have to climb up to the top; just define a height as the top, that’s’ it, very simple!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/to-reach-the-top-you-don-t-have-to-climb-up-to-the-top-just-define-a/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I don't actually care what I climb, only how it affects me. Which means the summit doesn't matter as much as the emotional process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twight/i-don-t-actually-care-what-i-climb-only-how-it-affects-me-which-means/) [Mark Twight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twight/) > [It's one of the ironies of mountaineering,' said Young, 'that grown men are happy to spend months preparing for a climb, weeks rehearsing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-archer/it-s-one-of-the-ironies-of-mountaineering-said-young-that-grown-men/) [Jeffrey Archer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-archer/) ## More by Dick Francis > [Historically, more people have died of religion than cancer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/historically-more-people-have-died-of-religion-than-cancer/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [I guessed life was like that. You gained and you lost, and if you saved anything from the ruins, even if only a shred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/i-guessed-life-was-like-that-you-gained-and-you-lost-and-if-you-saved/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [“To be logical you have to dig up and face your own hidden motives and emotions, and of course they're hidden principally because you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/to-be-logical-you-have-to-dig-up-and-face-your-own-hidden-motives-and/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [Some are born weird, some achieve it, others have weirdness thrust upon them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/some-are-born-weird-some-achieve-it-others-have-weirdness-thrust-upon/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [“It's people with obsessions who do the real harm in the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/it-s-people-with-obsessions-who-do-the-real-harm-in-the-world/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [“She said several times that Malcolm was a fiend who was determined to destroy his children, and that I was the devil incarnate helping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/she-said-several-times-that-malcolm-was-a-fiend-who-was-determined-to/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [“But what do you say if you're asked a direct question and you can't tell the truth and you can't tell a lie?' 'You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/but-what-do-you-say-if-you-re-asked-a-direct-question-and-you-can-t/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [The dignity of man was everywhere tissue-paper thin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/the-dignity-of-man-was-everywhere-tissue-paper-thin/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [Physics is the science of all the tremendously powerful invisibilities - of magnetism, electricity, gravity, light, sound, cosmic rays. Physics is the science of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/physics-is-the-science-of-all-the-tremendously-powerful/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [“Gawd, he thought furiously, he hadn't expected it to be like this. Just a lousy walk down the yard to give a carrot to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/gawd-he-thought-furiously-he-hadn-t-expected-it-to-be-like-this-just/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [“The bad scorn the good . . . and the crooked despise the straight." ~Greville”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/the-bad-scorn-the-good-and-the-crooked-despise-the-straight-greville/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [“The house was dark. Upstairs, behind the black open window with the pale curtain flapping in the spartan air, slept Arthur Morrison, trainer of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/the-house-was-dark-upstairs-behind-the-black-open-window-with-the/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [“He gave me a last dark look, not admitting defeat,not giving an inch .I watched him with unexpected regret. Watched him until the consciousness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/he-gave-me-a-last-dark-look-not-admitting-defeat-not-giving-an-inch-i/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [“Mrs Palis­sey and I tend­ed to have the same con­ver­sa­tions over and over and slight­ly too of­ten. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/mrs-palis-sey-and-i-tend-ed-to-have-the-same-con-ver-sa-tions-over/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [Love's easy to learn. It's like taking a risk. You set your mind on it and refuse to be afraid, and in no time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/love-s-easy-to-learn-it-s-like-taking-a-risk-you-set-your-mind-on-it/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) [Explore all 48 Dick Francis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) ## More Chosen quotes > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [My Chosen Daughter, No one can define you without your permission. I want you to be so secure in who you are in Me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/god/my-chosen-daughter-no-one-can-define-you-without-your-permission-i/) God > [I would have let you shoot me without further ado! But it is not possible to hang the German Reichsmarschall! I cannot permit this.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-goring/i-would-have-let-you-shoot-me-without-further-ado-but-it-is-not/) [Hermann Goring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-goring/) > [People have a whole lot more choices than they've had in the past, and I have only earned the right to be considered -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-cole/people-have-a-whole-lot-more-choices-than-they-ve-had-in-the-past-and/) [Kenneth Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-cole/) > [You basically have a group of four spies who are chosen for a mission they feel for the fact of how competent they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-leblanc/you-basically-have-a-group-of-four-spies-who-are-chosen-for-a-mission/) [Matt LeBlanc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-leblanc/) > [ \[In science any model depends on a pre-chosen taxonomy\] a set of classifications into which we divide the enormous complexity of the real world...… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/in-science-any-model-depends-on-a-pre-chosen-taxonomy-a-set-of/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [It seems that the whole world is beginning to decay, and that its putrefaction has chosen to spread outward from here, from the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/it-seems-that-the-whole-world-is-beginning-to-decay-and-that-its/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [At a time when painting itself often seems to be a threatened, even despised, form of artistic activity, Andrew Salgado emerges as a dazzlingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-lucie-smith/at-a-time-when-painting-itself-often-seems-to-be-a-threatened-even/) Edward Lucie-Smith > [Love your country. Your country is the land where your parents sleep, where is spoken that language in which the chosen of your heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-mazzini/love-your-country-your-country-is-the-land-where-your-parents-sleep/) [Giuseppe Mazzini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-mazzini/) > [You'd chosen to be an upright biped on the surface of a small planet of a minor sun on the edge of a minor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/you-d-chosen-to-be-an-upright-biped-on-the-surface-of-a-small-planet/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [The Republicans have chosen to neglect young Americans who need assistance with the costs of higher education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-conyers/the-republicans-have-chosen-to-neglect-young-americans-who-need/) [John Conyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-conyers/) > [When adults come together to form an intimate relationship, each person releases into it unresolved issues from their trans-generational pool of unconscious fantasies. Partners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-raphael-leff/when-adults-come-together-to-form-an-intimate-relationship-each/) [Joan Raphael-Leff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-raphael-leff/) > [Here's my advice to you: don't marry until you can tell yourself that you've done all you could, and until you've stopped loving the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/here-s-my-advice-to-you-don-t-marry-until-you-can-tell-yourself-that/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I am responsible. Yes, I have chosen to be single.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadya-suleman/i-am-responsible-yes-i-have-chosen-to-be-single/) [Nadya Suleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadya-suleman/) Browse all 1,955 Chosen quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Most people think, when they're young, that they're going to the top of their chosen world, and that the climb up is only a formality. Without that faith, I suppose, they might never start. Somewhere on the way they lift their eyes to the summit and know they aren't going to reach it; and happiness then is looking down and enjoying the view they've got, not envying the one they haven't.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dick Francis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/most-people-think-when-they-re-young-that-they-re-going-to-the-top-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chosen" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/most-people-think-when-they-re-young-that-they-re-going-to-the-top-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/dick-francis-13976_chosen_most-people-think-when-they-re-young-tha_2915483.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/dick-francis-13976_chosen_most-people-think-when-they-re-young-tha_2915483.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/296/dick-francis-13976_chosen_most-people-think-when-they-re-young-tha_2915483.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Most people think, when they're young, that they're going to the top of their chosen world, and that the…” — Dick Francis", "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": "Dick Francis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Most people think, when they're young,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/most-people-think-when-they-re-young-that-they-re-going-to-the-top-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/most-people-think-when-they-re-young-that-they-re-going-to-the-top-of/#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 } } ] } ```