--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: About 95% of people can be compared to…" description: "\"About 95% of people can be compared to ships without rudders. Subject to every shift of wind and tide, they're helplessly adrift. And while they fondly..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b0/earl-nightingale-1728_adrift_about-95-of-people-can-be-compared-to-sh_253858.jpg" --- # About 95% of people can be compared to ships without… ![“About 95% of people can be compared to ships without rudders. Subject to every shift of wind and tide, they're helplessly adrift. And while they fondly hope that they'll one day drift into a rich and successful port, you and I know that for every narrow harbor entrance, there are a 1,000 miles of…” quote by Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b0/earl-nightingale-1728_adrift_about-95-of-people-can-be-compared-to-sh_253858.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b0/earl-nightingale-1728_adrift_about-95-of-people-can-be-compared-to-sh_253858.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b0/earl-nightingale-1728_adrift_about-95-of-people-can-be-compared-to-sh_253858.jpg) > “About 95% of people can be compared to ships without rudders. Subject to every shift of wind and tide, they're helplessly adrift. And while they fondly hope that they'll one day drift into a rich and successful port, you and I know that for every narrow harbor entrance, there are a 1,000 miles of rocky coastline. The chances against their drifting into port are 1,000 to one.” [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People lacking direction are easily swayed by circumstances and rarely reach true success without clear goals. **In simple terms:** Without direction, people drift aimlessly. Key Takeaway Set clear goals and steer your life. Themes direction goal-setting success leadership Mood reflective determined Type motivational inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - personal development - entrepreneurship - financial planning Key Concepts self-determination navigation probability Questions to Reflect On - What core purpose will you choose? - How can you stay steady amid changing winds? A Different Perspective Even with direction, external obstacles can still hinder progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Port](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/port/) [River](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Tides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tides/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/) ## Related quotes > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“The sand was smooth. The damp morning fog had hardened its top layer and the heat of the day had set it so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-kahler/the-sand-was-smooth-the-damp-morning-fog-had-hardened-its-top-layer/) [Victoria Kahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-kahler/) > [Nuclear power plants built in the areas usually thought of as earthquake zones, such as the California coastline, have a surprisingly low risk of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/nuclear-power-plants-built-in-the-areas-usually-thought-of-as/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [If NATO troops walk in Crimea, they will immediately deploy their forces there. Such a move would be geopolitically sensitive for us because, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/if-nato-troops-walk-in-crimea-they-will-immediately-deploy-their/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [California has a beautiful coastline. It can be a rough coastline. The waves are huge. The rocks are steep. Same thing in Vancouver. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-granholm/california-has-a-beautiful-coastline-it-can-be-a-rough-coastline-the/) [Jennifer Granholm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-granholm/) > [And if there is one thing we can be sure of, it’s that extreme weather events like Superstorm Sandy, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/and-if-there-is-one-thing-we-can-be-sure-of-it-s-that-extreme-weather/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [I traveled to Ireland to research 'Sandcastles,' to visit the coastline where my ancestors looked toward America, the tiny town they once loved so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luanne-rice/i-traveled-to-ireland-to-research-sandcastles-to-visit-the-coastline/) [Luanne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luanne-rice/) > [No amphibious attack in history has approached this one in size. Along miles of coastline there were hundreds of vessels and small boats afloat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/no-amphibious-attack-in-history-has-approached-this-one-in-size-along/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [What makes Biarritz special, as far as I'm concerned, are the fantastic coastline, the beaches - such as the Cotes des Basques - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-pigott-smith/what-makes-biarritz-special-as-far-as-i-m-concerned-are-the-fantastic/) [Tim Pigott-Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-pigott-smith/) > [Between highway sounds I heard waves and thought how the curve of the coastline here had sheltered and nurtured live-born sharks, humans, and migrating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/between-highway-sounds-i-heard-waves-and-thought-how-the-curve-of-the/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [It is a noble land that God has given us: a land that can feed and clothe the world; a land whose coastlines would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-j-beveridge/it-is-a-noble-land-that-god-has-given-us-a-land-that-can-feed-and/) [Albert J. Beveridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-j-beveridge/) > [I grew up running miles of the Norfolk coastline. I'd think nothing of a six-mile run before breakfast. I still run, though not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dyson/i-grew-up-running-miles-of-the-norfolk-coastline-i-d-think-nothing-of/) [James Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dyson/) > [ In ten years \[i.e., 1980\] all important animal life in the sea will be extinct. Large areas of coastline will have to be evacuated… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-r-ehrlich/in-ten-years-i-e-1980-all-important-animal-life-in-the-sea-will-be/) [Paul R. Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-r-ehrlich/) > [The Arctic is going to be an area of intense interest. Russia has the longest coastline in the world with the Arctic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/the-arctic-is-going-to-be-an-area-of-intense-interest-russia-has-the/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/smedley-butler/i-believe-in-adequate-defense-at-the-coastline-and-nothing-else-if-a/) [Smedley Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/smedley-butler/) ## More by Earl Nightingale > [It's difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of the people ever really get the word about life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/it-s-difficult-for-people-to-come-to-the-understanding-that-only-a/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Open your ears before you open your mouth, it may surprise your eyes!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/open-your-ears-before-you-open-your-mouth-it-may-surprise-your-eyes/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [People don't have great attitudes because of great success, they have great success largely because of great attitudes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/people-don-t-have-great-attitudes-because-of-great-success-they-have/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Now, success is not the result of making money; making money is the result of success - and success is in direct proportion to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/now-success-is-not-the-result-of-making-money-making-money-is-the/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/the-more-intensely-we-feel-about-an-idea-or-a-goal-the-more-assuredly/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or her own light.\[so we can see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/we-all-walk-in-the-dark-and-each-of-us-must-learn-to-turn-on-his-or/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [We tend to minimize the things we can do, the goals we can accomplish, and for some equally strange reason we think other people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/we-tend-to-minimize-the-things-we-can-do-the-goals-we-can-accomplish/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [You can predict a person?s future and divine his bank balance if you know two things: the books he reads, the people he associates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/you-can-predict-a-person-s-future-and-divine-his-bank-balance-if-you/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [The amount of money we receive will always be in direct ratio to the demand for what we do; our ability to do it;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/the-amount-of-money-we-receive-will-always-be-in-direct-ratio-to-the/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [“And the greatest teacher of them all, the carpenter from the plains of Galilee, gave us the Secret time and time again, "As ye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/and-the-greatest-teacher-of-them-all-the-carpenter-from-the-plains-of/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Do what experts since the dawn of recorded history have told you you must do: pay the price by becoming the person you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/do-what-experts-since-the-dawn-of-recorded-history-have-told-you-you/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [A success is anyone who is doing deliberately a pre-determined job, because that's what he decided to do deliberately. But only one out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/a-success-is-anyone-who-is-doing-deliberately-a-pre-determined-job/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Achievement requires more than a vision - it takes courage, resolve and tenacity. All you have got to do is plant that seed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/achievement-requires-more-than-a-vision-it-takes-courage-resolve-and/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/the-biggest-mistake-that-you-can-make-is-to-believe-that-you-are/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [We may avoid the laws of man, but there are greater laws that can't be broken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/we-may-avoid-the-laws-of-man-but-there-are-greater-laws-that-can-t-be/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) [Explore all 213 Earl Nightingale quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) ## More Adrift quotes > [And if I can't be with you I would rather have a different face And if I can't be near you I would rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-finn/and-if-i-can-t-be-with-you-i-would-rather-have-a-different-face-and/) [Neil Finn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-finn/) > [And loneliness. I should say something of loneliness. The panic, the sweeping hysteria that comes not when you are without others, but when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/and-loneliness-i-should-say-something-of-loneliness-the-panic-the/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [Losing my parents really set me adrift in more ways than one. It's not just losing them. It's losing the possibility of family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/losing-my-parents-really-set-me-adrift-in-more-ways-than-one-it-s-not/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [Tell us what it is to be a woman so that we may know what it is to be a man. What moves at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/tell-us-what-it-is-to-be-a-woman-so-that-we-may-know-what-it-is-to-be/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Be for once a white boat adrift, in debt to no lighthouse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hyde/be-for-once-a-white-boat-adrift-in-debt-to-no-lighthouse/) Robin Hyde > [“Driving home after her first night course at San Francisco State University, Iris was adrift in the darkness. She rarely travelled this far south…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-mofina/driving-home-after-her-first-night-course-at-san-francisco-state/) [Rick Mofina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-mofina/) > [How to check these unconstitutional invasions of rights by the Federal judiciary? Not by impeachment in the first instance, but by a strong protestation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/how-to-check-these-unconstitutional-invasions-of-rights-by-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I find myself regarding existence as though from beyond the tomb, from another world; all is strange to me; I am, as it were,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-frederic-amiel/i-find-myself-regarding-existence-as-though-from-beyond-the-tomb-from/) [Henri Frederic Amiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-frederic-amiel/) > [“It's the story that was to big for me to tell, the one that grew to fill the depths of my being the far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-kuehn/it-s-the-story-that-was-to-big-for-me-to-tell-the-one-that-grew-to/) [Stephanie Kuehn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-kuehn/) > [“So much anger in here. So much hate. So much to take out on someone. This time it's going to count. She's adrift in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/so-much-anger-in-here-so-much-hate-so-much-to-take-out-on-someone/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [With spirit we are all children of the cosmos; Without it we are orphaned and adrift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/with-spirit-we-are-all-children-of-the-cosmos-without-it-we-are/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [She cried out into his kiss, her hands clawing his shoulders, adrift now in a pleasure that threatened to consume her. In her sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lora-leigh/she-cried-out-into-his-kiss-her-hands-clawing-his-shoulders-adrift/) [Lora Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lora-leigh/) > [The very concept of solid ground is a myth. The galaxy itself is adrift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-davies/the-very-concept-of-solid-ground-is-a-myth-the-galaxy-itself-is-adrift/) [Luke Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-davies/) > [“Ever since I woke up in Faerie, I had felt sort of adrift between the two worlds. Seeing him was like finding an anchor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-lynch/ever-since-i-woke-up-in-faerie-i-had-felt-sort-of-adrift-between-the/) [Karen Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-lynch/) > [“Adrift upon the sea of time, the lonely god wanders from shore to distant shore, upholding the laws of the stars above.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/adrift-upon-the-sea-of-time-the-lonely-god-wanders-from-shore-to/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) Browse all 93 Adrift quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "About 95% of people can be compared to ships without rudders. Subject to every shift of wind and tide, they're helplessly adrift. And while they fondly hope that they'll one day drift into a rich and successful port, you and I know that for every narrow harbor entrance, there are a 1,000 miles of rocky coastline. 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