--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If I could have made the change sooner I…" description: "\"If I could have made the change sooner I daresay I should never have given a thought to the literary delights of Paris or London; for life in the count..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c64/edith-wharton-512_change_if-i-could-have-made-the-change-sooner-i_1982638.jpg" --- # If I could have made the change sooner I daresay I should… ![“If I could have made the change sooner I daresay I should never have given a thought to the literary delights of Paris or London; for life in the country is the only state which has always completely satisfied me, and I had never been allowed to gratify it, even for a few weeks at a time. Now I…” quote by Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c64/edith-wharton-512_change_if-i-could-have-made-the-change-sooner-i_1982638.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c64/edith-wharton-512_change_if-i-could-have-made-the-change-sooner-i_1982638.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c64/edith-wharton-512_change_if-i-could-have-made-the-change-sooner-i_1982638.jpg) > “If I could have made the change sooner I daresay I should never have given a thought to the literary delights of Paris or London; for life in the country is the only state which has always completely satisfied me, and I had never been allowed to gratify it, even for a few weeks at a time. Now I was to know the joys of six or seven months a year among fields and woods of my own, and the childish ecstasy of that first spring outing at Mamaroneck swept away all restlessness in the deep joy of communion with the earth.” [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author finds true satisfaction in rural life, contrasting it with the superficial allure of city literary scenes. **In simple terms:** Rural life brings deeper joy than city culture. Key Takeaway Seek nature for genuine fulfillment. Themes nature contentment urban vs rural Mood nostalgic contemplative Type reflective philosophical When to use this quote - vacation planning - relocation decisions - well‑being retreats Key Concepts transcendentalism personal fulfillment Questions to Reflect On - What does “earth communion” mean to you? - How can city dwellers find similar peace? A Different Perspective Rural life may not suit everyone’s career needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Communion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communion/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Ecstasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecstasy/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/london/) [Paris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paris/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Swept away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swept-away/) [Week](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/week/) [Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woods/) ## Related quotes > [The Booker thing was a catalyst for me in a bizarre way. It’s perceived as an accolade to be published as a ‘literary’ writer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-cross/the-booker-thing-was-a-catalyst-for-me-in-a-bizarre-way-it-s/) [Neil Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-cross/) > [I'd always read omnivorously and often thought much literary fiction is read by young men and women in their 20s as substitutes for experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-cross/i-d-always-read-omnivorously-and-often-thought-much-literary-fiction/) [Neil Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-cross/) > [“The sooner you make a change, the sooner you will be living the life you truly want to live.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/the-sooner-you-make-a-change-the-sooner-you-will-be-living-the-life/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [“But we can't change who we are. The sooner you accept that, the better your game and your life will be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wreck-it-ralph-movie/but-we-can-t-change-who-we-are-the-sooner-you-accept-that-the-better/) Wreck it Ralph Movie > [You know, small children take it as a matter of course that things will change every day and grown-ups understand that things change sooner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/you-know-small-children-take-it-as-a-matter-of-course-that-things/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Nothing is permanent in this world. 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Me and Norman, Norman \[Lear\] and me,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-masur/after-we-did-all-in-the-family-that-ended-up-being-a-real-love-fest/) [Richard Masur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-masur/) > [ \[On her seven-month-old son:\] When people see me carrying him in the street they think I'm being attacked by a short, bald man. But… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hurley/on-her-seven-month-old-son-when-people-see-me-carrying-him-in-the/) [Elizabeth Hurley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hurley/) > [“My lifelong involvement with Mrs Dempster began at 5:58 o'clock p.m. on 27 December 1908, at which time I was ten years and seven months old.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/my-lifelong-involvement-with-mrs-dempster-began-at-5-58-o-clock-p-m/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [“Tell me, do you have Tate waiting naked for me in my office? Because that would really be the perfect way to thank me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-frank/tell-me-do-you-have-tate-waiting-naked-for-me-in-my-office-because/) [Ella Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-frank/) > [If we should have any regrets as Manchester United, that is that we only gave David Moyes seven months. I think we should have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schmeichel/if-we-should-have-any-regrets-as-manchester-united-that-is-that-we/) [Peter Schmeichel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schmeichel/) > [I'm an immigrant, a legal immigrant to the United States. I only became a citizen five years ago. Every day, for seven months, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-gorka/i-m-an-immigrant-a-legal-immigrant-to-the-united-states-i-only-became/) [Sebastian Gorka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-gorka/) ## More by Edith Wharton > [“Suddenly the air was full of that deep clangor of bells which periodically covers Rome with a roof of silver.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/suddenly-the-air-was-full-of-that-deep-clangor-of-bells-which/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Untrained human nature was not frank and innocent; it was full of the twists and defences of an instinctive guile. And he felt himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/untrained-human-nature-was-not-frank-and-innocent-it-was-full-of-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“High Pasture Come up--come up: in the dim vale below The autumn mist muffles the fading trees, But on this keen hill-pasture, though the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/high-pasture-come-up-come-up-in-the-dim-vale-below-the-autumn-mist/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Two ways to be a light for all, is to be a flaming candle or the mirror that reflects it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/two-ways-to-be-a-light-for-all-is-to-be-a-flaming-candle-or-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“... no treasure-house of Atreus was ever as rich as a well-stored memory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/no-treasure-house-of-atreus-was-ever-as-rich-as-a-well-stored-memory/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“...the endless labour of rolling human stupidity up the steep hill of understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-endless-labour-of-rolling-human-stupidity-up-the-steep-hill-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of-the-other-marriages-about/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-real-loneliness-is-living-among-all-these-kind-people-who-only/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [With a shiver of foreboding he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/with-a-shiver-of-foreboding-he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Life is the saddest thing there is, next to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-the-saddest-thing-there-is-next-to-death/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/a-classic-is-classic-not-because-it-conforms-to-certain-structural/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [There is too much sour grapes for my taste in the present American attitude. The time to denounce the bankers was when we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/there-is-too-much-sour-grapes-for-my-taste-in-the-present-american/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“But in a few years more perhaps there may be; for, deep within us as the ghost instinct lurks, I seem to see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/but-in-a-few-years-more-perhaps-there-may-be-for-deep-within-us-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Dialogue in fiction should be reserved for the culminating moments and regarded as the spray into which the great wave of narrative breaks in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/dialogue-in-fiction-should-be-reserved-for-the-culminating-moments/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“These Americans, under their forthcoming manner, their surface-gush, as some might call it, have an odd reticence about what goes on underneath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/these-americans-under-their-forthcoming-manner-their-surface-gush-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) [Explore all 504 Edith Wharton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## More Change quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) Phil Hogan > [Nobody can tell me that no changes are necessary in Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-weld/nobody-can-tell-me-that-no-changes-are-necessary-in-washington/) [William Weld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-weld/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [When you walk down the street of Kabul your values for life changes, they do change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-pierre-white/when-you-walk-down-the-street-of-kabul-your-values-for-life-changes/) [Marco Pierre White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-pierre-white/) > [Your world will change whether or not you choose to change, but you have the power to choose it's direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/your-world-will-change-whether-or-not-you-choose-to-change-but-you/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [“Stay focused on bringing people together and more on positive messaging so that you can be the change you wish to see in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/stay-focused-on-bringing-people-together-and-more-on-positive/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [“After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/after-the-funeral-my-life-changed-i-felt-as-if-time-were-suddenly/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Irish research will contribute to global progress and have the potential to help all countries realise the potential of their land sectors in addressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enda-kenny/irish-research-will-contribute-to-global-progress-and-have-the/) [Enda Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enda-kenny/) > [No man can change himself into anything from sheer reason; he can only change into what he potentially is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/no-man-can-change-himself-into-anything-from-sheer-reason-he-can-only/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 33,920 Change quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If I could have made the change sooner I daresay I should never have given a thought to the literary delights of Paris or London; for life in the country is the only state which has always completely satisfied me, and I had never been allowed to gratify it, even for a few weeks at a time. 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