--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do not be dust in the wind, but the wind…" description: "\"“Do not be dust in the wind, but the wind that creates the dust storm.”\" — E.W. Greenlee" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/e-w-greenlee-102546_dust_do-not-be-dust-in-the-wind-but-the-wind_2315466.jpg" --- # Do not be dust in the wind, but the wind that creates the… ![“Do not be dust in the wind, but the wind that creates the dust storm.” quote by E.W. Greenlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/e-w-greenlee-102546_dust_do-not-be-dust-in-the-wind-but-the-wind_2315466.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/e-w-greenlee-102546_dust_do-not-be-dust-in-the-wind-but-the-wind_2315466.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/e-w-greenlee-102546_dust_do-not-be-dust-in-the-wind-but-the-wind_2315466.jpg) > ““Do not be dust in the wind, but the wind that creates the dust storm.”” [E.W. Greenlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-w-greenlee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Be the active force that creates change, not a passive particle swept by it. **In simple terms:** Become the wind, not dust. Key Takeaway Take active initiative. Themes motivation change agency nature philosophy Mood empowering reflective Type advice personal philosophical When to use this quote - activism - entrepreneurship - leadership training - personal goal setting - community projects Key Concepts systems thinking personal agency environmental metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How to balance influence and humility? A Different Perspective Passive acceptance can be safer. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creates Dust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creates-dust-5515198/) [Dust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust/) [Dust Storm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust-storm-411061/) [Dust Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust-wind-935886/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Wind Creates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind-creates-5515197/) ## Related quotes > [I learned more about the economy from one South Dakota dust storm that I did in all my years of college.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey/i-learned-more-about-the-economy-from-one-south-dakota-dust-storm/) [Hubert H. Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) > [All we are is dust in the wind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kansas/all-we-are-is-dust-in-the-wind/) [Kansas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kansas/) > [“But the heat and the drought were in some ways the least of it. On May 9 a colossal dust storm had swung out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-james-brown/but-the-heat-and-the-drought-were-in-some-ways-the-least-of-it-on-may/) [Daniel James Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-james-brown/) > [“I glanced back at the dust storm raging outside and the one raging in my pants.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cox/i-glanced-back-at-the-dust-storm-raging-outside-and-the-one-raging-in/) [James Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cox/) > [Gather out of star-dust, Earth-dust, Cloud-dust, Storm-dust, And splinters of hail, One handful of dream-dust, Not for sale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/langston-hughes/gather-out-of-star-dust-earth-dust-cloud-dust-storm-dust-and/) [Langston Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/langston-hughes/) > [I'm gonna hunker down like a jack rabbit in a dust storm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/i-m-gonna-hunker-down-like-a-jack-rabbit-in-a-dust-storm/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [I learnt more about politics during one South Dakota dust storm than in seven years at the university.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey-2/i-learnt-more-about-politics-during-one-south-dakota-dust-storm-than/) [Hubert H Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey-2/) > [“And sometimes a dust storm would stand off in the desert, towering so high it was like another city -- a terrifying new era…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/and-sometimes-a-dust-storm-would-stand-off-in-the-desert-towering-so/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“There is a birch-rod kept behind the looking-glass in the schoolroom, and every now and then it is brought out and used, for no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniele-var/there-is-a-birch-rod-kept-behind-the-looking-glass-in-the-schoolroom/) [Daniele Varè](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniele-var/) > [I'm just dust in the wind, a breeze not noticed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-janssen/i-m-just-dust-in-the-wind-a-breeze-not-noticed/) [Kenny Janssen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-janssen/) > [Our lives feel like these epochs, but really, we are dust in the wind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-vernon/our-lives-feel-like-these-epochs-but-really-we-are-dust-in-the-wind/) [Justin Vernon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-vernon/) > [Everything disappears with time the only thing that remains is the dust and wind !!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron/everything-disappears-with-time-the-only-thing-that-remains-is-the/) [AaRon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron/) > [I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment's gone All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity, Dust in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-livgren/i-close-my-eyes-only-for-a-moment-and-the-moment-s-gone-all-my-dreams/) [Kerry Livgren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-livgren/) > [“ I will love you even when I am dust on the wind. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/i-will-love-you-even-when-i-am-dust-on-the-wind/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea. All we do, crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kansas/same-old-song-just-a-drop-of-water-in-an-endless-sea-all-we-do/) [Kansas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kansas/) ## More by E.W. Greenlee > [“The only life lost, is the life not lived.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-w-greenlee/the-only-life-lost-is-the-life-not-lived/) [E.W. Greenlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-w-greenlee/) [Explore all 2 E.W. Greenlee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-w-greenlee/) ## More Dust quotes > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [“Veiled by the dust of its own passing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-rogers/veiled-by-the-dust-of-its-own-passing/) [Cameron Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-rogers/) > [She had been dragged in the most humiliating of all dusts, the dust reserved for older women who let themselves be approached, on amorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/she-had-been-dragged-in-the-most-humiliating-of-all-dusts-the-dust/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [We think literature is immortal, but even that decays and ultimately turns to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-farren/we-think-literature-is-immortal-but-even-that-decays-and-ultimately/) [Mick Farren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-farren/) > [Wild honey smells of freedom The dust - of sunlight The mouth of a young girl, like a violet But gold - smells of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/wild-honey-smells-of-freedom-the-dust-of-sunlight-the-mouth-of-a/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Mr. Bumpy from Bump in the Night was this funky little guy who lived under the bed and thought eating dust bunnies was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/mr-bumpy-from-bump-in-the-night-was-this-funky-little-guy-who-lived/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/at-about-10-o-clock-in-the-morning-the-sun-threw-a-bright-dust-laden/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I assume my stance, and take back the club, low, slowly; at the top, my eyes fog over, and my joints dip and swirl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-assume-my-stance-and-take-back-the-club-low-slowly-at-the-top-my/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [When any civilization is dust and ashes," he said, "art is all that's left over. Images, words, music. Imaginative structures. Meaning—human meaning, that is—is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/when-any-civilization-is-dust-and-ashes-he-said-art-is-all-that-s/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [When a man is not wanted in the village, he is always accused of raising dust even when he falls in a pool of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/when-a-man-is-not-wanted-in-the-village-he-is-always-accused-of/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/gatsby-turned-out-all-right-at-the-end-it-is-what-preyed-on-gatsby/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [I'm not a prophet, but I always thought it was natural for dictatorships to fall. I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Passing beauties are only the fugitive reflections of the eternal. All beauty alters and all life melts away; in short, everything passes with marvelous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliphas-levi/passing-beauties-are-only-the-fugitive-reflections-of-the-eternal-all/) [Eliphas Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliphas-levi/) > [The trees are white with dust, that o'er their sleep Wave their broad curtains in the south-wind's breath, While underneath such leafy tents they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-trees-are-white-with-dust-that-o-er-their-sleep-wave-their-broad/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) [Browse all 1,783 Dust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Do not be dust in the wind, but the wind that creates the dust storm.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "E.W. 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