--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All my life I have said, \"Whatever…" description: "\"All my life I have said, \"Whatever happens there will always be tables and chairs\"--and what a mistake.\" — Elizabeth Bowen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acb/elizabeth-bowen-1197_chairs_all-my-life-i-have-said-whatever-happens_1030371.png" --- # All my life I have said, "Whatever happens there will… ![“All my life I have said, "Whatever happens there will always be tables and chairs"--and what a mistake.” quote by Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acb/elizabeth-bowen-1197_chairs_all-my-life-i-have-said-whatever-happens_1030371.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acb/elizabeth-bowen-1197_chairs_all-my-life-i-have-said-whatever-happens_1030371.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acb/elizabeth-bowen-1197_chairs_all-my-life-i-have-said-whatever-happens_1030371.png) > “All my life I have said, "Whatever happens there will always be tables and chairs"--and what a mistake.” [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Assumptions about comfort can be mistaken; flexibility is needed. **In simple terms:** Comfort isn’t always reliable. Key Takeaway Adapt to changing circumstances. Themes flexibility comfort mistake Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - Travel planning - career changes - personal growth Key Concepts Literature psychology human behavior Questions to Reflect On - When have you misjudged a situation? - How can you stay open to new possibilities? A Different Perspective Clinging to familiar comforts can hinder progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chairs/) [Chairs Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chairs-mistake-2350151/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens/) [Happens Tables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens-tables-2350152/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-said/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Said Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said-happens-1528714/) [Security](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/security/) [Tables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tables/) [Tables and chairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tables-and-chairs-182345/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War of the worlds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-of-the-worlds/) [Whatever happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whatever-happens/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World war i](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-war-i/) [World war ii](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-war-ii/) ## Related quotes > [When one is a child, the disposition of objects, tables and chairs and doors, seems part of the natural order: a house-move lets in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/when-one-is-a-child-the-disposition-of-objects-tables-and-chairs-and/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [“Ghosts don’t kill people,” Eddie said. “That only happens in movies and books.” “With”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-ronan/ghosts-don-t-kill-people-eddie-said-that-only-happens-in-movies-and/) [Evan Ronan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-ronan/) > [“I said, “This is what happens when you find Gideon.” Eyes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/i-said-this-is-what-happens-when-you-find-gideon-eyes/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [I've always said everything happens the way it's supposed to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lanegan/i-ve-always-said-everything-happens-the-way-it-s-supposed-to/) [Mark Lanegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lanegan/) > [“If you can't PRAY for the peace your church, PROMOTE the Christian doctrines, PREPARE for every good work and PROVIDE for the expansion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/if-you-can-t-pray-for-the-peace-your-church-promote-the-christian/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [All minds quote. 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Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [Friendship is not about who you've known for the longest...It's about who walked into your life and said I am here for you and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/friendship-is-not-about-who-you-ve-known-for-the-longest-it-s-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You’re destined for greatness,” Life said. “But first, I’m going to make you cry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/you-re-destined-for-greatness-life-said-but-first-i-m-going-to-make/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“You have tasted of death now,” said the old man. “Is it good?” “It is good,” said Mossy. “It is better than life.” “No,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/you-have-tasted-of-death-now-said-the-old-man-is-it-good-it-is-good/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [“Then he asked me if I wasn’t interested in a change of life. I said that people never change their lives, that in any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/then-he-asked-me-if-i-wasn-t-interested-in-a-change-of-life-i-said/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Life is stressful and times are tough. Just got to keep moving on, because life is life, no one said it was going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/life-is-stressful-and-times-are-tough-just-got-to-keep-moving-on/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) ## More by Elizabeth Bowen > [Temperamentally, the writer exists on happenings, on contacts, conflicts, action and reaction, speed, pressure, tension. Were he acontemplative purely, he would not write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/temperamentally-the-writer-exists-on-happenings-on-contacts-conflicts/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [“Are you really an orphan? Yes, I am, said Portia a shade shortly. 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One's relation to them, the daily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/only-in-a-house-where-one-has-learnt-to-be-lonely-does-one-have-this/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [To walk into history is to be free at once, to be at large among people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/to-walk-into-history-is-to-be-free-at-once-to-be-at-large-among-people/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [The wish to lead out one's lover must be a tribal feeling; the wish to be seen as loved is part of one's self-respect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/the-wish-to-lead-out-one-s-lover-must-be-a-tribal-feeling-the-wish-to/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [Convention was our safeguard: could one have stronger?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/convention-was-our-safeguard-could-one-have-stronger/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [“First love, with its frantic haughty imagination, swings its object clear of the everyday, over the rut of living, making him all looks, silences,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/first-love-with-its-frantic-haughty-imagination-swings-its-object/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [to leap is not only to leap, it is to hit the ground somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/to-leap-is-not-only-to-leap-it-is-to-hit-the-ground-somewhere/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [That is partly why women marry - to keep up the fiction of being in the hub of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/that-is-partly-why-women-marry-to-keep-up-the-fiction-of-being-in-the/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [“But Miss Pym gave an impression, somehow, of having been attacked from within .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/but-miss-pym-gave-an-impression-somehow-of-having-been-attacked-from/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [rudeness to Mrs. Dosely was like dropping a pat of butter on to a hot plate - it slid and melted away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/rudeness-to-mrs-dosely-was-like-dropping-a-pat-of-butter-on-to-a-hot/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) [Explore all 275 Elizabeth Bowen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) ## More Chairs quotes > [“Yes, when I get big and have my own home, no plush chairs and lace curtains for me. And no rubber plants. I'll have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-smith/yes-when-i-get-big-and-have-my-own-home-no-plush-chairs-and-lace/) [Betty Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-smith/) > [I've always thought that the most extraordinary special effect you could do is to buy a child at the moment of its birth, sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/i-ve-always-thought-that-the-most-extraordinary-special-effect-you/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-had-three-chairs-in-my-house-one-for-solitude-two-for-friendship/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [He sank into the rocking chair, the same one in which Rebecca had sat during the early days of the house to give embroidery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/he-sank-into-the-rocking-chair-the-same-one-in-which-rebecca-had-sat/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [Forget the noose. Forget the Iron Maiden. Forget the electric chair or the guillotine. The mind was mankind's most painful torture chamber, the blessed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffanie-debartolo/forget-the-noose-forget-the-iron-maiden-forget-the-electric-chair-or/) [Tiffanie DeBartolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffanie-debartolo/) > [I thought being in the wheelchair might be kind of limiting for me as an actor. It turned out cool in a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-beaver/i-thought-being-in-the-wheelchair-might-be-kind-of-limiting-for-me-as/) [Jim Beaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-beaver/) > [Now know I well what people sought formerly above all else when they sought Teachers of virtue. Good sleep they sought for themselves, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/now-know-i-well-what-people-sought-formerly-above-all-else-when-they/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Keelhaul the poets in the vestry chairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/keelhaul-the-poets-in-the-vestry-chairs/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [He's earned all his money himself, with his fists. He didn't steal it like the rest of our politicians. And he'll be less tempted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vitali-klitschko/he-s-earned-all-his-money-himself-with-his-fists-he-didn-t-steal-it/) [Vitali Klitschko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vitali-klitschko/) > [Dentists tell you not to pick your teeth with any sharp metal object. 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