--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Like, no one ever actually knows what the…" description: "\"“Like, no one ever actually knows what the right thing to do is. I mean, you can think that you know what’s right, and you can tell yourself that you k..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/eleanor-catton-2384_clarity_like-no-one-ever-actually-knows-what-the_953013.png" --- # Like, no one ever actually knows what the right thing to… ![“Like, no one ever actually knows what the right thing to do is. I mean, you can think that you know what’s right, and you can tell yourself that you know, but at the point that you make your choice, like, in the moment, you’re never really certain. You just hope. You just act and you hope for the…” quote by Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/eleanor-catton-2384_clarity_like-no-one-ever-actually-knows-what-the_953013.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/eleanor-catton-2384_clarity_like-no-one-ever-actually-knows-what-the_953013.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/eleanor-catton-2384_clarity_like-no-one-ever-actually-knows-what-the_953013.png) > ““Like, no one ever actually knows what the right thing to do is. I mean, you can think that you know what’s right, and you can tell yourself that you know, but at the point that you make your choice, like, in the moment, you’re never really certain. You just hope. You just act and you hope for the best, and maybe it turns out that you did the right thing, or maybe it turns out that you didn’t—in which case, all you can say is that at least you tried. But, like, the wrong thing to do, that’s often much clearer. Wrong is, like, easier to see than right, a lot of the time. It’s more definite—like, this is the line I know I will not cross, this is what I absolutely will not do.’ ‘Yeah,’ said Mira. ‘I see that.’ ‘So anyway,’ Shelley went on, ‘this is what I was thinking: that, like, the real choices that you make in your life, the really difficult, defining choices, are never between what’s right and what’s easy. They’re between what’s wrong and what’s hard.”” [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. Choosing is often a struggle between uncertain right and clearly wrong, requiring hope and effort rather than certainty. **In simple terms:** Right choices are uncertain; wrong choices are clearer. Key Takeaway Act with hope, accept uncertainty. Themes decision-making uncertainty morality Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career decisions - relationships - ethical dilemmas - personal development Key Concepts ethical dilemmas personal growth Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate between right and wrong when both are unclear? - What role does hope play in your decisions? A Different Perspective Even with hope, outcomes may still be unfavorable, leading to regret. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) [Decisions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decisions/) [Hope for the best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope-for-the-best/) [Right thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-thing/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Wars are all fought by men who either believe they are right or who have no other choice. How they fight defines who they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucas-bale/wars-are-all-fought-by-men-who-either-believe-they-are-right-or-who/) Lucas Bale > [“One day this will end. In liberation, in peace, or in eradication at a scale so overwhelming it resets history. It’ll end when sanctions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-el-akkad/one-day-this-will-end-in-liberation-in-peace-or-in-eradication-at-a/) [Omar El Akkad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-el-akkad/) > [“I marvel at how even the wrong choices can keep us on the right path. 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Perhaps, the choice you made was the best choice under the given set of circumstances and at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neelam-saxena-chandra/choices-are-never-right-or-wrong-perhaps-the-choice-you-made-was-the/) [Neelam Saxena Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neelam-saxena-chandra/) > [Your range of available choices - right now - is limitless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-carl-frieseke/your-range-of-available-choices-right-now-is-limitless/) [Frederick Carl Frieseke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-carl-frieseke/) > ["My #1 guiding principle for a successful life (learned from J Brad Britton): "Do the right thing; not the easy thing." Everyday, you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-elrod/my-1-guiding-principle-for-a-successful-life-learned-from-j-brad/) [Hal Elrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-elrod/) > [“We make the choices that are right for us. 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Life is a series of choices, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-pfeiffer/ultimately-i-believe-the-only-secret-to-a-happy-marriage-is-choosing/) [Michelle Pfeiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-pfeiffer/) > [You may have made a lot of wrong choices, but you’ve also made a lot of choices that were right. Focus on your good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/you-may-have-made-a-lot-of-wrong-choices-but-you-ve-also-made-a-lot/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [Sometimes the wrong choices get you to the right places!..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-the-wrong-choices-get-you-to-the-right-places/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometimes you have to choose between a bunch of wrong choices and no right ones. You just have to choose which wrong choices feels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/sometimes-you-have-to-choose-between-a-bunch-of-wrong-choices-and-no/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) > [As difficult as these choices were, they were right choices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-difficult-as-these-choices-were-they-were-right-choices/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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. 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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 Clarity quotes > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Its a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/its-a-lack-of-clarity-that-creates-chaos-and-frustration-those/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) > [Anything well written with good language and clarity and honesty is worth doing. It comes out of the same tradition as Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moriarty/anything-well-written-with-good-language-and-clarity-and-honesty-is/) [Michael Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moriarty/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. 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The longer I have to sit and wait, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/venus-williams/rain-is-good-for-me-i-feel-like-i-achieve-clarity-actually-when-it/) [Venus Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/venus-williams/) > [It's my feeling that any writer can get an emotion into a story without being sentimental as long as the emotion is dealt with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baxter/it-s-my-feeling-that-any-writer-can-get-an-emotion-into-a-story/) [Charles Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baxter/) > [President Obama has never summarized the Obama Doctrine with such clarity, but here is what it would look like: 'I will undertake any military…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/president-obama-has-never-summarized-the-obama-doctrine-with-such/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [The law of polarity brings forth clarity to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-mercado/the-law-of-polarity-brings-forth-clarity-to-your-life/) [Joseph Mercado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-mercado/) > [In meditation you withdraw from others and focus your attention inside to gain purity of mind and wisdom energy. 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I had utter clarity that this would be my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hooper/i-decided-to-be-a-filmmaker-when-i-was-12-i-had-utter-clarity-that/) [Tom Hooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hooper/) > [The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. Everything suddenly there--life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-hardens-into-a-bead-of-such/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) [Browse all 1,601 Clarity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Like, no one ever actually knows what the right thing to do is. I mean, you can think that you know what’s right, and you can tell yourself that you know, but at the point that you make your choice, like, in the moment, you’re never really certain. You just hope. You just act and you hope for the best, and maybe it turns out that you did the right thing, or maybe it turns out that you didn’t—in which case, all you can say is that at least you tried. But, like, the wrong thing to do, that’s often much clearer. Wrong is, like, easier to see than right, a lot of the time. It’s more definite—like, this is the line I know I will not cross, this is what I absolutely will not do.’ ‘Yeah,’ said Mira. ‘I see that.’ ‘So anyway,’ Shelley went on, ‘this is what I was thinking: that, like, the real choices that you make in your life, the really difficult, defining choices, are never between what’s right and what’s easy. 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