--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The thing is to take your life in your…" description: "\"“The thing is to take your life in your hands.”\" — Emma Donoghue" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/emma-donoghue-1499_hands_the-thing-is-to-take-your-life-in-your-h_1569373.png" --- # The thing is to take your life in your hands. ![“The thing is to take your life in your hands.” quote by Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/emma-donoghue-1499_hands_the-thing-is-to-take-your-life-in-your-h_1569373.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/emma-donoghue-1499_hands_the-thing-is-to-take-your-life-in-your-h_1569373.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/emma-donoghue-1499_hands_the-thing-is-to-take-your-life-in-your-h_1569373.png) > ““The thing is to take your life in your hands.”” [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Take control of your destiny by actively shaping your life. **In simple terms:** Control your life. Key Takeaway Make decisive choices. Themes agency self-determination empowerment Mood determined empowering Type self-help philosophical When to use this quote - career planning - health goals Key Concepts decision-making personal responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What area of life need you seize? - How will you act on that decision? A Different Perspective Overconfidence can ignore external factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-hands-479813/) [Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing/) [Thing Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-life/) ## Related quotes > [There's not been one normal thing in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-hesse/there-s-not-been-one-normal-thing-in-my-life/) [Eva Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-hesse/) > [“Whatever you expected for your life, this is the most important thing you will ever do. Look around this room. Every life here is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-p-ching/whatever-you-expected-for-your-life-this-is-the-most-important-thing/) [G.P. Ching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-p-ching/) > [“It was a life that I had in my hands, it was a gift that I had been given. It feels so real. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-halimi/it-was-a-life-that-i-had-in-my-hands-it-was-a-gift-that-i-had-been/) [Eve Halimi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-halimi/) > [As your life is in His hands, so are the days of your life. But don’t let the sands of time get into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-elliot/as-your-life-is-in-his-hands-so-are-the-days-of-your-life-but-don-t/) [Jim Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-elliot/) > [When life hands you melons, eat them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-nutini/when-life-hands-you-melons-eat-them/) [Paolo Nutini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-nutini/) > [As a writer, I am constantly aware that I take my life in my hands with everything I do and say. It's just a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/as-a-writer-i-am-constantly-aware-that-i-take-my-life-in-my-hands/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one is to blame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/take-your-life-in-your-own-hands-and-what-happens-a-terrible-thing-no/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [If you never put your life in someone else's hands, then you can't really expect them to put theirs in yours. In the long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-jeffries/if-you-never-put-your-life-in-someone-else-s-hands-then-you-can-t/) [Sabrina Jeffries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-jeffries/) > [I never want to possibly take another life in my hands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-richie/i-never-want-to-possibly-take-another-life-in-my-hands/) [Nicole Richie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-richie/) > [Lay hold of life with both hands, whenever thou mayest seize it, it is interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/lay-hold-of-life-with-both-hands-whenever-thou-mayest-seize-it-it-is/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“Never take lightly that becoming an employer puts another person’s ability to provide for their life in your hands.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-hurdle/never-take-lightly-that-becoming-an-employer-puts-another-person-s/) [Amber Hurdle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-hurdle/) > [“It is not so much about what life hands you, but what you do with what you get.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idowu-koyenikan/it-is-not-so-much-about-what-life-hands-you-but-what-you-do-with-what/) [Idowu Koyenikan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idowu-koyenikan/) > [That awkward moment when you think your life is the hands of other people so they should treat you with care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crosby-kwaw/that-awkward-moment-when-you-think-your-life-is-the-hands-of-other/) [Crosby Kwaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crosby-kwaw/) > [I have got immense love from the poor people. What more do I need? I don't think of death and ailment. Life is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lalu-prasad-yadav/i-have-got-immense-love-from-the-poor-people-what-more-do-i-need-i/) [Lalu Prasad Yadav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lalu-prasad-yadav/) > [Your life is in your hands, to make of it what you choose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kehoe/your-life-is-in-your-hands-to-make-of-it-what-you-choose/) [John Kehoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kehoe/) ## More by Emma Donoghue > [Before I had kids, I thought you should never lie to a kid. But now I've had them, I realize you almost lie to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/before-i-had-kids-i-thought-you-should-never-lie-to-a-kid-but-now-i/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [People don't always want to be with people. It gets tiring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/people-don-t-always-want-to-be-with-people-it-gets-tiring/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [What writing ROOM taught me was that I know exactly how to be the perfect mother, but I'm not willing to do it for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/what-writing-room-taught-me-was-that-i-know-exactly-how-to-be-the/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [With my first book, I was hired to write a draft of the script. I was so young and less confident. 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I guess the time gets spread very thin like butter all over the world, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/in-room-me-and-ma-had-time-for-everything-i-guess-the-time-gets/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [I am clumsy, a late and nervous driver, and despise all sports except a little gentle dancing or yoga.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/i-am-clumsy-a-late-and-nervous-driver-and-despise-all-sports-except-a/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [“I looked in my mirror and saw, not myself, but every place I'd never been.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/i-looked-in-my-mirror-and-saw-not-myself-but-every-place-i-d-never/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [“I tell you frankly, Mrs. Damer, the more I see of different nations, the less sure I feel about the pre-eminence of my own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/i-tell-you-frankly-mrs-damer-the-more-i-see-of-different-nations-the/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [Actually,the nightmarish thought occurred to me that with electronic delivery of books becoming a norm, soon writers may be expected to provide several versions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/actually-the-nightmarish-thought-occurred-to-me-that-with-electronic/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [Writing is nearly always a matter of finding whatever your brain needs to trick it into being creative, and in my case, a tiny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/writing-is-nearly-always-a-matter-of-finding-whatever-your-brain/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) [Explore all 232 Emma Donoghue quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) ## More Hands quotes > [When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back at him. 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