---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: . . . Maybe even if we're not always so…"
description: "\"“. . . Maybe even if we're not always so glad to be here it's our task to immerse ourselves anyway: wade straight through it, right through the cesspoo..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/625/donna-tartt-391_cesspool_maybe-even-if-we-re-not-always-so-glad-t_333973.jpg"
---

#  . . . Maybe even if we're not always so glad to be here…

![“. . . Maybe even if we're not always so glad to be here it's our task to immerse ourselves anyway: wade straight through it, right through the cesspool, while keeping eyes and hearts open.” quote by Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/625/donna-tartt-391_cesspool_maybe-even-if-we-re-not-always-so-glad-t_333973.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/625/donna-tartt-391_cesspool_maybe-even-if-we-re-not-always-so-glad-t_333973.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/625/donna-tartt-391_cesspool_maybe-even-if-we-re-not-always-so-glad-t_333973.jpg)

> ““. . . Maybe even if we're not always so glad to be here it's our task to immerse ourselves anyway: wade straight through it, right through the cesspool, while keeping eyes and hearts open.””

[Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

One must confront life's messiness directly, staying open-hearted despite hardship, to find meaning.

**In simple terms:** Face life's mess head‑on, stay open.

Key Takeaway

Engage fully with life's challenges.

Themes

resilience acceptance mindfulness

Mood

thoughtful hopeful

Type

inspirational philosophical

When to use this quote

- grief
- career setbacks
- personal crises
- creative pursuits

Key Concepts

existentialism emotional honesty growth mindset

Questions to Reflect On

- What does “wading through the cesspool” mean to you?
- How can you keep your heart open in difficult times?

A Different Perspective

Facing pain can be overwhelming and may lead to avoidance.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Cesspool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cesspool/)

## Related quotes

> [Over all, many of society's values are a cesspool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/over-all-many-of-society-s-values-are-a-cesspool/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [It is three and a half hours long, four characters wide and a cesspool deep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jay-chapman/it-is-three-and-a-half-hours-long-four-characters-wide-and-a-cesspool/)

[John Jay Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jay-chapman/)

> [It breaks my heart to find myself within the cesspool of reality TV shows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-funt/it-breaks-my-heart-to-find-myself-within-the-cesspool-of-reality-tv/)

Peter Funt

> [Git an eyeful of cesspool alley the land of opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/git-an-eyeful-of-cesspool-alley-the-land-of-opportunity/)

[John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/)

> [Using the commons as a cesspool does not harm the general public under frontier conditions, because there is no public, the same behavior in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrett-hardin/using-the-commons-as-a-cesspool-does-not-harm-the-general-public/)

[Garrett Hardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrett-hardin/)

> [Prostitution in the towns is like the cesspool in the palace; take away the cesspool and the palace will become an unclean and evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/prostitution-in-the-towns-is-like-the-cesspool-in-the-palace-take/)

[Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/)

> [A grudge is like a cesspool; forgiveness like a flowing river.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-grudge-is-like-a-cesspool-forgiveness-like-a-flowing-river/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [ \[The UN should remain in New York\] because every country needs a cesspool. And the UN is always interesting as a theater of the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-koch/the-un-should-remain-in-new-york-because-every-country-needs-a/)

[Ed Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-koch/)

> [Brands are the solution, not the problem. Brands are how you sort out the cesspool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schmidt/brands-are-the-solution-not-the-problem-brands-are-how-you-sort-out/)

[Eric Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schmidt/)

> [“I have come to the conclusion that Seinfeld is a dank cesspool of humanity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-saperstein/i-have-come-to-the-conclusion-that-seinfeld-is-a-dank-cesspool-of/)

Jesse Saperstein

> [To let politics become a cesspool, and then avoid it because it is a cesspool, is a double crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-crosby/to-let-politics-become-a-cesspool-and-then-avoid-it-because-it-is-a/)

Howard Crosby

> [The Internet is fast becoming a cesspool where false information thrives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schmidt/the-internet-is-fast-becoming-a-cesspool-where-false-information/)

[Eric Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schmidt/)

> [I know the activists I deal with, we sort of try and check each other to make sure that we haven't gone native, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grover-norquist/i-know-the-activists-i-deal-with-we-sort-of-try-and-check-each-other/)

[Grover Norquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grover-norquist/)

> [I think we have such a political cesspool in America right now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-t-flynn/i-think-we-have-such-a-political-cesspool-in-america-right-now/)

[Michael T. Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-t-flynn/)

> [“The Planet Earth is a cesspool of avarice and apathy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/the-planet-earth-is-a-cesspool-of-avarice-and-apathy/)

[Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/)

## More by Donna Tartt

> [I hope we're all ready to leave the phenomenal world, and enter into the sublime?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/i-hope-we-re-all-ready-to-leave-the-phenomenal-world-and-enter-into/)

[Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

> [And I add my own love to the history of people who have loved beautiful things, and looked out for them, and pulled them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-i-add-my-own-love-to-the-history-of-people-who-have-loved/)

[Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

> [And the flavor of Pippa's kiss--bittersweet and strange--stayed with me all the way back uptown, swaying and sleepy as I sailed home on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-the-flavor-of-pippa-s-kiss-bittersweet-and-strange-stayed-with-me/)

[Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

> [“The world won't come to me...so I must go to it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/the-world-won-t-come-to-me-so-i-must-go-to-it/)

[Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

> [There's an expectation these days that novels - like any other consumer product - should be made on a production line, with one dropping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/there-s-an-expectation-these-days-that-novels-like-any-other-consumer/)

[Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

> [“A month or two before, I would have been appalled at the idea of any murder at all. But that Sunday afternoon, as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/a-month-or-two-before-i-would-have-been-appalled-at-the-idea-of-any/)

[Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

> [Well, I think storytellers have always found murder a fascinating device.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/well-i-think-storytellers-have-always-found-murder-a-fascinating/)

[Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

> [Always remember, the person we’re really working for is the person who’s restoring the piece a hundred years from now. He’s the one we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/always-remember-the-person-we-re-really-working-for-is-the-person-who/)

[Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

> [“The silence between us was happy and strange, connected by the cord and the icy voices thinly echoing. “You don’t have to talk,” she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/the-silence-between-us-was-happy-and-strange-connected-by-the-cord/)

[Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

> [“It is a terrible thing to learn as a child that one is a being separate from all the world, that no one and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/it-is-a-terrible-thing-to-learn-as-a-child-that-one-is-a-being/)

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[Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

> [A great sorrow, and one that I am only beginning to understand: we don’t get to choose our own hearts. We can’t make ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/a-great-sorrow-and-one-that-i-am-only-beginning-to-understand-we-don/)

[Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

> [“Upon meeting Julian Morrow, one has the impression that he is a man of extraordinary sympathy and warmth. But what you call his 'Asiatic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/upon-meeting-julian-morrow-one-has-the-impression-that-he-is-a-man-of/)

[Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

[Explore all 590 Donna Tartt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/)

## More Cesspool quotes

> [Over all, many of society's values are a cesspool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/over-all-many-of-society-s-values-are-a-cesspool/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I think we have such a political cesspool in America right now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-t-flynn/i-think-we-have-such-a-political-cesspool-in-america-right-now/)

[Michael T. Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-t-flynn/)

> [I know the activists I deal with, we sort of try and check each other to make sure that we haven't gone native, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grover-norquist/i-know-the-activists-i-deal-with-we-sort-of-try-and-check-each-other/)

[Grover Norquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grover-norquist/)

> [The Internet is fast becoming a cesspool where false information thrives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schmidt/the-internet-is-fast-becoming-a-cesspool-where-false-information/)

[Eric Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schmidt/)

> [To let politics become a cesspool, and then avoid it because it is a cesspool, is a double crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-crosby/to-let-politics-become-a-cesspool-and-then-avoid-it-because-it-is-a/)

Howard Crosby

> [“I have come to the conclusion that Seinfeld is a dank cesspool of humanity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-saperstein/i-have-come-to-the-conclusion-that-seinfeld-is-a-dank-cesspool-of/)

Jesse Saperstein

> [Brands are the solution, not the problem. Brands are how you sort out the cesspool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schmidt/brands-are-the-solution-not-the-problem-brands-are-how-you-sort-out/)

[Eric Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schmidt/)

> [ \[The UN should remain in New York\] because every country needs a cesspool. And the UN is always interesting as a theater of the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-koch/the-un-should-remain-in-new-york-because-every-country-needs-a/)

[Ed Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-koch/)

> [A grudge is like a cesspool; forgiveness like a flowing river.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-grudge-is-like-a-cesspool-forgiveness-like-a-flowing-river/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Prostitution in the towns is like the cesspool in the palace; take away the cesspool and the palace will become an unclean and evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/prostitution-in-the-towns-is-like-the-cesspool-in-the-palace-take/)

[Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/)

> [Using the commons as a cesspool does not harm the general public under frontier conditions, because there is no public, the same behavior in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrett-hardin/using-the-commons-as-a-cesspool-does-not-harm-the-general-public/)

[Garrett Hardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrett-hardin/)

> [Git an eyeful of cesspool alley the land of opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/git-an-eyeful-of-cesspool-alley-the-land-of-opportunity/)

[John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/)

> [It breaks my heart to find myself within the cesspool of reality TV shows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-funt/it-breaks-my-heart-to-find-myself-within-the-cesspool-of-reality-tv/)

Peter Funt

> [It is three and a half hours long, four characters wide and a cesspool deep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jay-chapman/it-is-three-and-a-half-hours-long-four-characters-wide-and-a-cesspool/)

[John Jay Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jay-chapman/)

> [“The Planet Earth is a cesspool of avarice and apathy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/the-planet-earth-is-a-cesspool-of-avarice-and-apathy/)

[Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/)

[Browse all 26 Cesspool quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cesspool/)

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