--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nobody gets everything in this life. You…" description: "\"Nobody gets everything in this life. You decide your priorities and you make your choices. I'd decided long ago that any cake I had would be eaten.\" — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b6/donald-e-westlake-4285_cake_nobody-gets-everything-in-this-life-you_2126634.jpg" --- # Nobody gets everything in this life. You decide your… ![“Nobody gets everything in this life. You decide your priorities and you make your choices. I'd decided long ago that any cake I had would be eaten.” quote by Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b6/donald-e-westlake-4285_cake_nobody-gets-everything-in-this-life-you_2126634.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b6/donald-e-westlake-4285_cake_nobody-gets-everything-in-this-life-you_2126634.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b6/donald-e-westlake-4285_cake_nobody-gets-everything-in-this-life-you_2126634.jpg) > “Nobody gets everything in this life. You decide your priorities and you make your choices. I'd decided long ago that any cake I had would be eaten.” [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life requires prioritizing; you must accept that you cannot have everything and make deliberate choices accordingly. **In simple terms:** You must pick priorities and accept limits. Key Takeaway Focus on what truly matters. Themes priorities choice acceptance self‑discipline Mood pragmatic determined Type motivational inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - budgeting - time management - relationship decisions Key Concepts decision making opportunity cost personal values Questions to Reflect On - What are your non‑negotiable priorities? - How do you handle regret from unmet desires? A Different Perspective All desires cannot be satisfied simultaneously. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cake/) [Cake Eaten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cake-eaten-1796340/) [Choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Decide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decide/) [Decide Priorities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decide-priorities-481471/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Decide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-decide/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-ago/) [Make Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-choices/) [Priorities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priorities/) [This life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/this-life/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [It seemed Barrons had finally gotten his cake and eaten it too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/it-seemed-barrons-had-finally-gotten-his-cake-and-eaten-it-too/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“Don’t allow another human to decide your priorities. Their decisions are made without the slightest concern for how you’re inconvenienced.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-talmage-mathis/don-t-allow-another-human-to-decide-your-priorities-their-decisions/) [John-Talmage Mathis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-talmage-mathis/) > [Decide what your priorities are and how much time you'll spend on them. If you don't, someone else will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-mackay/decide-what-your-priorities-are-and-how-much-time-you-ll-spend-on/) [Harvey Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-mackay/) > [People have to decide on priorities if they want to get anywhere. The best lessons I learned was to just do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/people-have-to-decide-on-priorities-if-they-want-to-get-anywhere-the/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [I suppose it's whether you want to be a famous person, or whether you want to be an actor. 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It is an amazing journey, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-best-day-in-your-life-is-the-one-on-which-you-decide-your-life-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I AM ALL ABOUT SELF-DETERMINATION. Will. Control. I determine my path in life. I decide my failures and successes. Screw fate. Destiny can kiss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-chase/i-am-all-about-self-determination-will-control-i-determine-my-path-in/) [Emma Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-chase/) ## More by Donald E. Westlake > [Science fiction is a weird category, because it's the only area of fiction I can think of where the story is not of primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/science-fiction-is-a-weird-category-because-it-s-the-only-area-of/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [The other thing that I got back then - the Parker novels have never had much of anything to do with race. 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Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [“Well, you might not think it to look at me,” Dortmunder told him, “but I got a family crest.” “Have you?” “Yeah. And it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/well-you-might-not-think-it-to-look-at-me-dortmunder-told-him-but-i/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [“telling the jokes—was the setups. Why were that priest, that rabbi, and that minister walking down that street? Where were they headed? How had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/telling-the-jokes-was-the-setups-why-were-that-priest-that-rabbi-and/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [“Dortmunder followed Kelp as he carried the tray down along the bar past the regulars, where the third was now saying, “The idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/dortmunder-followed-kelp-as-he-carried-the-tray-down-along-the-bar/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [Nothing about it interested me. Or about anything else, except making up stories. If literacy weren't so nearly universal, God knows what I'd be.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/nothing-about-it-interested-me-or-about-anything-else-except-making/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [When Stark isn't off sulking somewhere, or whatever he's doing when he won't return my calls, I alternate between the two. That usually works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/when-stark-isn-t-off-sulking-somewhere-or-whatever-he-s-doing-when-he/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [“There are no Territories to light out for, not in this century. It was no longer easy to become the new you. New or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/there-are-no-territories-to-light-out-for-not-in-this-century-it-was/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [“wish you would.” “Right. When I had the emerald again, I was in a cell. I guess they were afraid the rest of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/wish-you-would-right-when-i-had-the-emerald-again-i-was-in-a-cell-i/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [Seem to be telling this, but really telling that. Three-dimensional writing, like three-dimensional chess. Nabokov was the other master of that. You could learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/seem-to-be-telling-this-but-really-telling-that-three-dimensional/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) [Explore all 113 Donald E. Westlake quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) ## More Cake quotes > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-erhard/a-compromise-is-the-art-of-dividing-a-cake-in-such-a-way-that/) [Ludwig Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-erhard/) > [You can’t bake a cake without getting the kitchen messy. 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