--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every little thing now has to be about…" description: "\"“Every little thing now has to be about maximising your potential, and perfecting yourself, and honing yourself, and getting the best deal out of your ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/eleanor-catton-2384_acid-trip_every-little-thing-now-has-to-be-about-m_978340.jpg" --- # Every little thing now has to be about maximising your… ![“Every little thing now has to be about maximising your potential, and perfecting yourself, and honing yourself, and getting the best deal out of your life, and out of your body, and out of your precious fucking time. Everything’s a corporate retreat now. Everything has utility . You want to get…” quote by Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/eleanor-catton-2384_acid-trip_every-little-thing-now-has-to-be-about-m_978340.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/eleanor-catton-2384_acid-trip_every-little-thing-now-has-to-be-about-m_978340.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/eleanor-catton-2384_acid-trip_every-little-thing-now-has-to-be-about-m_978340.jpg) > ““Every little thing now has to be about maximising your potential, and perfecting yourself, and honing yourself, and getting the best deal out of your life, and out of your body, and out of your precious fucking time. Everything’s a corporate retreat now. Everything has utility . You want to get fucked up and just escape your own existence for once, just check out of your life for a while, like every other human being who has ever lived? No. Even a fucking acid trip has to be a means to an end. It has to be about team-building. It has to be about trust and wellness and creativity. It has to be about your authentic journey towards physical and psychological perfection. It has to be about you asserting the integrity of your choice to do it in the first place. It can’t be a lapse of judgment. There are no lapses of judgment. It can’t be wrong . There are no wrongs. There’s just choice, and choice is neutral, and we’re neutral, and everything is neutral, and everything’s a game, and if you want to win the game then you’re going to have to optimise yourself, and actualise yourself, and utilise yourself, and get the edge, and God forbid that you should have an actual human experience of frailty, or mortality, or limitation, or humanity, or of the fucking onward march of time--those are just distractions, those are obstacles, they’re defects, they’re inconveniences in the face of our curated, bespoke, freely fucking chosen authentic existence, and sure, we can never quite decide if we’re the consumers of our lives or the products of them, but there’s one thing we are damn sure of, which is that nobody on earth has any right to pass any judgment on us, either way. Freedom in the marketplace! It’s the only thing that matters! It’s the only thing that exists !”” [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage critiques the modern obsession with optimizing every aspect of life, arguing that this mindset turns even escapism into another productivity tool, eroding genuine human experience. **In simple terms:** Constant self‑optimization turns all actions into work, stripping away authentic living. Key Takeaway Question the need for endless self‑improvement. Themes productivity self‑optimization authenticity freedom consumerism Mood critical contemplative Type sociopolitical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - wellness retreats - personal development - mindful living Key Concepts existentialism capitalist critique psychology of perfection Questions to Reflect On - Do you feel pressured to constantly improve? - How can you allow space for imperfection? A Different Perspective It may ignore the benefits of self‑improvement and the nuance of personal choice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acid trip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acid-trip/) [Actualization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actualization/) [Authentic Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authentic-existence-1923951/) [Escape Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/escape-existence-673804/) [Existence Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-just-912022/) [First place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-place/) [Fucking Acid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fucking-acid-1923950/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Human experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-experience/) [Improvement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improvement/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Optimization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimization/) [Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfection/) [Potential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/potential/) [Psychological Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychological-perfection-1923949/) [Self help](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-help/) [Self improvement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-improvement/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Utilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utilization/) ## Related quotes > [“Samuel Johnson: A book should either allow us to escape existence or teach us how to endure it .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/samuel-johnson-a-book-should-either-allow-us-to-escape-existence-or/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [A book should either allow us to escape existence or teach us how to endure it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/a-book-should-either-allow-us-to-escape-existence-or-teach-us-how-to/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [You focus on the here and now in order to escape existence forever and vanish into Nirvana. There is another religious impulse that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/you-focus-on-the-here-and-now-in-order-to-escape-existence-forever/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [Everything is just now. Your existence is just now. Just timeless Now. All the rest is just a dream due to conditioning and memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mooji/everything-is-just-now-your-existence-is-just-now-just-timeless-now/) [Mooji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mooji/) > [“A truly radical resolution would be to embrace existence just as it is, as the only thing that matters, to proclaim that the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crimethinc-workers-collective/a-truly-radical-resolution-would-be-to-embrace-existence-just-as-it/) [Crimethinc. Workers' Collective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crimethinc-workers-collective/) > [What do you do when everyone in the world has given up on you? As if there is no where else to go. Because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paige-smith/what-do-you-do-when-everyone-in-the-world-has-given-up-on-you-as-if/) [Paige Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paige-smith/) > [“Everything dies eventually. We all know that. People, cities, whole civilations. Nothing lasts. So if existence was just binary, dead or alive, here or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/everything-dies-eventually-we-all-know-that-people-cities-whole-3/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [We don't ask a flower any special reason for its existence. We just look at it and are able to accept it as being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/we-don-t-ask-a-flower-any-special-reason-for-its-existence-we-just/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [“Everything dies eventually. We all know that. People, cities, whole civilizations. Nothing lasts. So if existence was just binary, dead or alive, here or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/everything-dies-eventually-we-all-know-that-people-cities-whole-2/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [“So if existence was just binary, dead or alive, here or not here, what would be the fucking point in anything? My mom used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/so-if-existence-was-just-binary-dead-or-alive-here-or-not-here-what/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [“It’s a continuum in this soap opera called existence. We’re all just a series of overlapping continuous stories, weaving in and out of people’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/si-n-o-gorman/it-s-a-continuum-in-this-soap-opera-called-existence-we-re-all-just-a/) [Siân O'Gorman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/si-n-o-gorman/) > [“A man matters, his experiences matter, but in a city, where experiences come by the thousands, we can no longer relate them to ourselves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/a-man-matters-his-experiences-matter-but-in-a-city-where-experiences/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“Everything dies eventually. We all know that. People, cities, whole civilizations. Nothing lasts. So if existence was just binary, dead or alive, here or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/everything-dies-eventually-we-all-know-that-people-cities-whole/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [“/You’ve been presented with a rare opportunity that,at the moment,remains unresolved. But why is the unknown a burden? It doesn’t have to be. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-reid/you-ve-been-presented-with-a-rare-opportunity-that-at-the-moment/) [Iain Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-reid/) > [“In fact, the balance wheel which maintains in motion the watch of metaphysics that never runs down, is the clear knowledge that this world's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/in-fact-the-balance-wheel-which-maintains-in-motion-the-watch-of/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) ## More by Eleanor Catton > [“We spend our entire lives thinking about death. Without that project to divert us, I expect we would all be dreadfully bored. We would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/we-spend-our-entire-lives-thinking-about-death-without-that-project/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [I often feel intellectually frustrated when I'm in a position where I'm not moving forward; when I'm not enquiring about something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/i-often-feel-intellectually-frustrated-when-i-m-in-a-position-where-i/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“own reputation, by associating himself with a story of cuckoldry, blackmail, murder, and revenge, and nor did he spare a thought for how Balfour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/own-reputation-by-associating-himself-with-a-story-of-cuckoldry/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“In my experience people are rarely contented to end up where they started.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/in-my-experience-people-are-rarely-contented-to-end-up-where-they/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“His temperament was deeply nostalgic, not for for his own past, but for past ages; he was cynical of the present, fearful of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/his-temperament-was-deeply-nostalgic-not-for-for-his-own-past-but-for/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“What was glimpsed in Aquarius—what was envisioned, believed in, prophesied, predicted, doubted, and forewarned—is made, in Pisces, manifest. Those solitary visions that, but a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/what-was-glimpsed-in-aquarius-what-was-envisioned-believed-in/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“Gaining control isn't the exciting part. Sleeping with a minor isn't exciting because you get to boss them around. It's exciting because you're risking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/gaining-control-isn-t-the-exciting-part-sleeping-with-a-minor-isn-t/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [Astrology's a moving system that depends on where you're looking at it from on Earth. My horoscope here in London would be completely different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/astrology-s-a-moving-system-that-depends-on-where-you-re-looking-at/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [As an artist, you need to be not at all entitled in your relation with the work. So money is kind of worrying. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/as-an-artist-you-need-to-be-not-at-all-entitled-in-your-relation-with/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [The nice thing about the zodiac as a system is it is quite comprehensive as a range of impulses and psychological states it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/the-nice-thing-about-the-zodiac-as-a-system-is-it-is-quite/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“True feeling is always circular - either circular, or paradoxical - simply because its cause and its expression are tow halves of the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/true-feeling-is-always-circular-either-circular-or-paradoxical-simply/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“he built his persona as a shield around his person, because he knew very well how little his person could withstand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/he-built-his-persona-as-a-shield-around-his-person-because-he-knew/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“It must have been unpleasant to be discussed as a curiosity, spoken about over breakfast, and between rounds at billiards, as if one's soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/it-must-have-been-unpleasant-to-be-discussed-as-a-curiosity-spoken/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [Theatre is a concentrate of life as normal. Theatre is a purified version of real life, an extraction, an essence of human behaviour that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/theatre-is-a-concentrate-of-life-as-normal-theatre-is-a-purified/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) [Explore all 168 Eleanor Catton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) ## More Acid trip quotes > [Grew up in a small town where there was only one crazy guy. He didn't even go insane doing anything good, like going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-posehn/grew-up-in-a-small-town-where-there-was-only-one-crazy-guy-he-didn-t/) [Brian Posehn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-posehn/) > [The first line (of I Am The Walrus) was written on one acid trip one weekend. The second line was written on the next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/the-first-line-of-i-am-the-walrus-was-written-on-one-acid-trip-one/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [“Big Cyndi is six-six and on the planetoid side of three hundred pounds, the former intercontinental tag-team wrestling champion with Esperanza, aka Big Chief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-coben/big-cyndi-is-six-six-and-on-the-planetoid-side-of-three-hundred/) [Harlan Coben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-coben/) > [“Amy Grech has a cinematographer's eye, and a surgeon's hand—at once brutal and tender, unsettling yet humane. These stories linger like traces of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-bonansinga/amy-grech-has-a-cinematographer-s-eye-and-a-surgeon-s-hand-at-once/) [Jay Bonansinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-bonansinga/) > [With 'Black Swan,' the ballerina saga flips its tiara and goes on a hallucinatory bender, a scary acid trip where transfiguration and disfiguration meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wolcott/with-black-swan-the-ballerina-saga-flips-its-tiara-and-goes-on-a/) [James Wolcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wolcott/) > [Honesty is not necessarily interesting. I don't want to hear about your dreams or your acid trips, probably unless you make them really interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/honesty-is-not-necessarily-interesting-i-don-t-want-to-hear-about/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“He glanced beside him then patted at his round shoulders. “Want to come up here?” “What, on your shoulders?” He grinned and shrugged. “Yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karina-halle/he-glanced-beside-him-then-patted-at-his-round-shoulders-want-to-come/) [Karina Halle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karina-halle/) > [The concept of emotional or spiritual survival has an honorable history, but it does invite self-indulgence. In my own case, the worst I ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/the-concept-of-emotional-or-spiritual-survival-has-an-honorable/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [Atom bombs, something's wrong. D.E.A sent to Guam. Acid Trips, big fat chics. Purple Finstone Vitamins.All the needy rich are greedy. I find out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-bennington/atom-bombs-something-s-wrong-d-e-a-sent-to-guam-acid-trips-big-fat/) [Chester Bennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-bennington/) > [There's a way to do an acid trip like Harold & Kumar, and there's a way to be on acid. What I know of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shia-labeouf/there-s-a-way-to-do-an-acid-trip-like-harold-kumar-and-there-s-a-way/) [Shia LaBeouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shia-labeouf/) > [“Can we talk about the miracle that is the Small World ride? It's like an acid trip drag show.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/can-we-talk-about-the-miracle-that-is-the-small-world-ride-it-s-like/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [“With battle-weary arms, Sheridan slugged his way across the luminous waves sending light-filled droplets splashing into the air like Fourth of July sparklers. Stumbling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-white/with-battle-weary-arms-sheridan-slugged-his-way-across-the-luminous/) [Phillip White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-white/) > [In my head I am in one of those Buddhist caves where you see a thousand Buddha faces on the wall. In my head…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesco-clemente/in-my-head-i-am-in-one-of-those-buddhist-caves-where-you-see-a/) [Francesco Clemente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesco-clemente/) > [Every other movie is one of those action things. I mean, 'Lost in Space'? A bunch of good actors running around shooting at special…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-berenger/every-other-movie-is-one-of-those-action-things-i-mean-lost-in-space/) [Tom Berenger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-berenger/) > [“Despite the promises of utopian hedonism, many youth and middle-aged adults quickly enticed by these did not escape from their addictions easily, if at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-alajajian/despite-the-promises-of-utopian-hedonism-many-youth-and-middle-aged/) [Philip Alajajian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-alajajian/) [Browse all 20 Acid trip quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acid-trip/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Every little thing now has to be about maximising your potential, and perfecting yourself, and honing yourself, and getting the best deal out of your life, and out of your body, and out of your precious fucking time. Everything’s a corporate retreat now. Everything has utility . You want to get fucked up and just escape your own existence for once, just check out of your life for a while, like every other human being who has ever lived? No. Even a fucking acid trip has to be a means to an end. It has to be about team-building. It has to be about trust and wellness and creativity. It has to be about your authentic journey towards physical and psychological perfection. It has to be about you asserting the integrity of your choice to do it in the first place. It can’t be a lapse of judgment. There are no lapses of judgment. It can’t be wrong . There are no wrongs. There’s just choice, and choice is neutral, and we’re neutral, and everything is neutral, and everything’s a game, and if you want to win the game then you’re going to have to optimise yourself, and actualise yourself, and utilise yourself, and get the edge, and God forbid that you should have an actual human experience of frailty, or mortality, or limitation, or humanity, or of the fucking onward march of time--those are just distractions, those are obstacles, they’re defects, they’re inconveniences in the face of our curated, bespoke, freely fucking chosen authentic existence, and sure, we can never quite decide if we’re the consumers of our lives or the products of them, but there’s one thing we are damn sure of, which is that nobody on earth has any right to pass any judgment on us, either way. Freedom in the marketplace! It’s the only thing that matters! 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