--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I arise in the morning torn between a…" description: "\"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.\" — E. B. White" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/e-b-white-1448_desire_i-arise-in-the-morning-torn-between-a-de_1657064.png" --- # I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve… ![“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” quote by E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/e-b-white-1448_desire_i-arise-in-the-morning-torn-between-a-de_1657064.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/e-b-white-1448_desire_i-arise-in-the-morning-torn-between-a-de_1657064.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de8/e-b-white-1448_desire_i-arise-in-the-morning-torn-between-a-de_1657064.png) > “I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Balancing altruism with personal enjoyment creates daily tension. **In simple terms:** Wanting to help and enjoy life can conflict. Key Takeaway Seek harmony between service and self‑care. Themes ethics pleasure balance Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - volunteering - leisure planning - goal setting Key Concepts self‑determination theory moral psychology Questions to Reflect On - What small actions can you take to serve others today? - How do you schedule joy? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on one side can lead to burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world,” E. B. White once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-m-grant/i-arise-in-the-morning-torn-between-a-desire-to-improve-the-world-and-3/) [Adam M. 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If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white-2/if-the-world-were-merely-seductive-that-would-be-easy-if-it-were/) [E.B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white-2/) > [It's hard to know when to respond to the seductiveness of the world and when to respond to its challenge. If the world were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/it-s-hard-to-know-when-to-respond-to-the-seductiveness-of-the-world/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [As we arise in morning let us determine to respond with more love kindness to whatever might come our way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-arise-in-morning-let-us-determine-to-respond-with-more-love/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everything is perfect in the universe - even your desire to improve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/everything-is-perfect-in-the-universe-even-your-desire-to-improve-it/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [I have an activist's desire to improve people's lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-de-blasio/i-have-an-activist-s-desire-to-improve-people-s-lives/) [Bill de Blasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-de-blasio/) > [We need to push. We need to have ambition. We need to have desire to improve every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unai-emery/we-need-to-push-we-need-to-have-ambition-we-need-to-have-desire-to/) [Unai Emery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unai-emery/) > [“I believe that the need to have meaningful work is connected to man’s innate desire to improve.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-dalio/i-believe-that-the-need-to-have-meaningful-work-is-connected-to-man-s/) [Ray Dalio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-dalio/) > [“The next time you have the urge to complain, stop and ask yourself what it is you truly want. Do you just want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-next-time-you-have-the-urge-to-complain-stop-and-ask-yourself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think if the desire to improve what I do starts to plateau then what's the point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/i-think-if-the-desire-to-improve-what-i-do-starts-to-plateau-then/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [A woman in love will do almost anything for a man, except give up the desire to improve him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/a-woman-in-love-will-do-almost-anything-for-a-man-except-give-up-the/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-arise-in-the-morning-think-of-what-a-precious-privilege-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by E. B. White > [Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/writing-is-an-act-of-faith-not-a-trick-of-grammar/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [“To hear, in the short space of one week, a Scottish terrier booed by an audience and President Roosevelt criticized by Charles Lindbergh was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/to-hear-in-the-short-space-of-one-week-a-scottish-terrier-booed-by-an/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [The sea answers all questions, and always in the same way; for when you read in the papers the interminable discussions and the bickering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-sea-answers-all-questions-and-always-in-the-same-way-for-when-you/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [New York blends the gift of privacy with the excitement of participation; and better than most dense communities it succeeds in insulating the individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/new-york-blends-the-gift-of-privacy-with-the-excitement-of/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [The terror of the atom age is not the violence of the new power but the speed of man's adjustment to it, the speed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-terror-of-the-atom-age-is-not-the-violence-of-the-new-power-but/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [When my wife's Aunt Caroline was in her nineties, she lived with us, and she once remarked: 'Remembrance is sufficient of the beauty we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/when-my-wife-s-aunt-caroline-was-in-her-nineties-she-lived-with-us/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/sailors-have-an-expression-about-the-weather-they-say-the-weather-is/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [Anyone who writes down to children is simply wasting his time. You have to write up, not down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/anyone-who-writes-down-to-children-is-simply-wasting-his-time-you/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [A writer should concern himself with whatever absorbs his fancy, stirs his heart, and unlimbers his typewriter. ... A writer has the duty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/a-writer-should-concern-himself-with-whatever-absorbs-his-fancy-stirs/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [Every morning I awake torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/every-morning-i-awake-torn-between-a-desire-to-save-the-world-and-an/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [I seldom went to bed before two or three o'clock in the morning, on the theory that if anything of interest were to happen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/i-seldom-went-to-bed-before-two-or-three-o-clock-in-the-morning-on/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [Necessity first mothered invention. Now invention has little ones of her own, and they look just like grandma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/necessity-first-mothered-invention-now-invention-has-little-ones-of/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [The bonus is really one of the great give-aways in business enterprise. It is the annual salve applied to the conscience of the rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-bonus-is-really-one-of-the-great-give-aways-in-business/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [There's no limit to how complicated things can get, on account of one thing always leading to another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/there-s-no-limit-to-how-complicated-things-can-get-on-account-of-one/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) > [The critic leaves at curtain fall To find, in starting to review it, He scarcely saw the play at all For starting to review…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/the-critic-leaves-at-curtain-fall-to-find-in-starting-to-review-it-he/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) [Explore all 240 E. B. White quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [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/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "E. B. 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