--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The rules you were given were the rules…" description: "\"The rules you were given were the rules that worked for the person who created them.\" — Ellen Langer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ab/ellen-langer-23571_given_the-rules-you-were-given-were-the-rules_2115475.png" --- # The rules you were given were the rules that worked for… ![“The rules you were given were the rules that worked for the person who created them.” quote by Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ab/ellen-langer-23571_given_the-rules-you-were-given-were-the-rules_2115475.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ab/ellen-langer-23571_given_the-rules-you-were-given-were-the-rules_2115475.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ab/ellen-langer-23571_given_the-rules-you-were-given-were-the-rules_2115475.png) > “The rules you were given were the rules that worked for the person who created them.” [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Rules reflect creators' contexts; flexibility requires questioning assumptions. **In simple terms:** Rules fit their makers; question them. Key Takeaway Reevaluate outdated rules. Themes change mindfulness authority Mood analytical curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - policy reform - organizational change - personal habits - educational curricula Key Concepts critical thinking systems theory Questions to Reflect On - When is it wise to keep a rule? - How do you test a rule's relevance? A Different Perspective Rigid rules can provide needed structure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [I think we've all worked with that person at the office who takes themselves and their job so seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-kinsey/i-think-we-ve-all-worked-with-that-person-at-the-office-who-takes/) [Angela Kinsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-kinsey/) > [It feels like breaking rules is almost a given now on TV.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/it-feels-like-breaking-rules-is-almost-a-given-now-on-tv/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [My doctrine is not a doctrine but just a vision. I have not given you any set rules, I have not given you a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddha/my-doctrine-is-not-a-doctrine-but-just-a-vision-i-have-not-given-you/) [Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddha/) > [ “\[F\]or when you get in love you are made all over again. The person who loves you has picked you out of the great… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/f-or-when-you-get-in-love-you-are-made-all-over-again-the-person-who/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [God's grace will never be available to you to become another person. He created to be you - the best "you" you can be!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/god-s-grace-will-never-be-available-to-you-to-become-another-person/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [“Sometimes the guilty one is not the person who has committed the crime, but the person who has created the possibility for it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristiane-serruya/sometimes-the-guilty-one-is-not-the-person-who-has-committed-the/) [Cristiane Serruya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristiane-serruya/) > [Being a true good person is never been created by human, it is naturally flowing in your blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novoice/being-a-true-good-person-is-never-been-created-by-human-it-is/) Novoice > [“When you are on the right path, you know it. You become the person you were created to be. You start to acknowledge the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darrell-foster/when-you-are-on-the-right-path-you-know-it-you-become-the-person-you/) Darrell Foster > [A person cannot approach the divine by reaching beyond the human. To become human, is what this individual person, has been created for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/a-person-cannot-approach-the-divine-by-reaching-beyond-the-human-to/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [Culture is the process by which a person becomes all that they were created capable of being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/culture-is-the-process-by-which-a-person-becomes-all-that-they-were/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Can someone kill the person who created GOODBYES.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curly-girl/can-someone-kill-the-person-who-created-goodbyes/) Curly Girl > [So here I am walking around with another person inside of me. Though I think I put it better the day we parted when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-james-waller/so-here-i-am-walking-around-with-another-person-inside-of-me-though-i/) [Robert James Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-james-waller/) > [Each person is a V.S.P. (a Very Special Person) because we are each created in the image of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/each-person-is-a-v-s-p-a-very-special-person-because-we-are-each/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Any human act that gives rise to something new is referred to as a creative act, regardless of whether what is created is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-s-vygotsky/any-human-act-that-gives-rise-to-something-new-is-referred-to-as-a/) [Lev S. Vygotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-s-vygotsky/) > [“Imagine a person created for you. Another being so in tune with you that their voice was the clearest you’ve ever heard in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hunter/imagine-a-person-created-for-you-another-being-so-in-tune-with-you/) [Elizabeth Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hunter/) ## More by Ellen Langer > [Out of the questions of students come most of the creative ideas and discoveries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/out-of-the-questions-of-students-come-most-of-the-creative-ideas-and/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [What we have learned to look for in a situation determines mostly what we see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/what-we-have-learned-to-look-for-in-a-situation-determines-mostly/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [If we respect students abilities to define their own experiences, to generate their own hypotheses, and to discover new ways of categorizing the world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/if-we-respect-students-abilities-to-define-their-own-experiences-to/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [Stress is a function not of events, but of our view of those events.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/stress-is-a-function-not-of-events-but-of-our-view-of-those-events/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [Mindfulness is the cure for everything; the essence of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/mindfulness-is-the-cure-for-everything-the-essence-of-being-alive/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [Once you've seen there is another perspective, you can never not see that there's another point of view.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/once-you-ve-seen-there-is-another-perspective-you-can-never-not-see/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [There is always a step small enough from where we are to get us to where we want to be. If we take that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/there-is-always-a-step-small-enough-from-where-we-are-to-get-us-to/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [“The same situation of stimulus called by a different name is a different stimulus. Roller coasters are fun but bumpy plane rides are not!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/the-same-situation-of-stimulus-called-by-a-different-name-is-a/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [Wherever you put the mind, the body will follow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/wherever-you-put-the-mind-the-body-will-follow/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [Certainty is a cruel mindset. It hardens our minds against possibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/certainty-is-a-cruel-mindset-it-hardens-our-minds-against-possibility/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [When people are not in the moment, they're not there to know that they're not there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/when-people-are-not-in-the-moment-they-re-not-there-to-know-that-they/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [Virtually all of life's ills boil down to mindlessness. If you can understand someone else's perspective, then there's no reason to be angry at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/virtually-all-of-life-s-ills-boil-down-to-mindlessness-if-you-can/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [In the perspective of every person lies a lens through which we may better understand ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/in-the-perspective-of-every-person-lies-a-lens-through-which-we-may/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [We should open ourselves to the impossible and embrace a psychology of possibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/we-should-open-ourselves-to-the-impossible-and-embrace-a-psychology/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) > [Life consists only of moments, nothing more than that. So if you make the moment matter, it all matters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/life-consists-only-of-moments-nothing-more-than-that-so-if-you-make/) [Ellen Langer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) [Explore all 25 Ellen Langer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/) ## More Given quotes > [I could not limit my values and pursuits to what makes others comfortable. Being possessed by a promise I live without options. I will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/i-could-not-limit-my-values-and-pursuits-to-what-makes-others/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [A low-minded person should not be given good advice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/a-low-minded-person-should-not-be-given-good-advice/) [Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/) > [The old charters of Massachusetts, Virginia, and the Carolinas had given title to strips of territory extending from the Atlantic westward to the Pacific.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-bushnell-hart/the-old-charters-of-massachusetts-virginia-and-the-carolinas-had/) [Albert Bushnell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-bushnell-hart/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [Susan B. Anthony must be turning in her grave if she knew that millions of women who have the right to vote are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-m-kunin/susan-b-anthony-must-be-turning-in-her-grave-if-she-knew-that/) [Madeleine M. Kunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-m-kunin/) > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [If life were like a competitive race, some people would be given a flying start and others would line up with weights tied to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mardy-grothe/if-life-were-like-a-competitive-race-some-people-would-be-given-a/) [Mardy Grothe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mardy-grothe/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Music is one of the ways by which you can know everything which is going on in the world. You can feel... through music...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-simone/music-is-one-of-the-ways-by-which-you-can-know-everything-which-is/) [Nina Simone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-simone/) > [Today, at Harvard, any student with the currently fashionable color of skin is given rights denied to students of the currently unfashionable color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-capp/today-at-harvard-any-student-with-the-currently-fashionable-color-of/) [Al Capp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-capp/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [God has given believers the responsibility of spreading the Gospel to all the world, and we need to use all at our disposal to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-epp/god-has-given-believers-the-responsibility-of-spreading-the-gospel-to/) [Theodore Epp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-epp/) Browse all 10,948 Given quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The rules you were given were the rules that worked for the person who created them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ellen Langer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/the-rules-you-were-given-were-the-rules-that-worked-for-the-person/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Given" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/the-rules-you-were-given-were-the-rules-that-worked-for-the-person/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ab/ellen-langer-23571_given_the-rules-you-were-given-were-the-rules_2115475.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ab/ellen-langer-23571_given_the-rules-you-were-given-were-the-rules_2115475.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ab/ellen-langer-23571_given_the-rules-you-were-given-were-the-rules_2115475.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The rules you were given were the rules that worked for the person who created them.” — Ellen Langer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ellen Langer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-langer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The rules you were given were...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/the-rules-you-were-given-were-the-rules-that-worked-for-the-person/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-langer/the-rules-you-were-given-were-the-rules-that-worked-for-the-person/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```