---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: . . . why some men choose to fill their…"
description: "\". . . why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow.\" — Erik Larson"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ac/erik-larson-1710_allotments_why-some-men-choose-to-fill-their-brief_126206.png"
---

#  . . . why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of…

![“. . . why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow.” quote by Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ac/erik-larson-1710_allotments_why-some-men-choose-to-fill-their-brief_126206.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ac/erik-larson-1710_allotments_why-some-men-choose-to-fill-their-brief_126206.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ac/erik-larson-1710_allotments_why-some-men-choose-to-fill-their-brief_126206.png)

> “. . . why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow.”

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Some people pursue impossible goals, while others create sorrow through their actions.

**In simple terms:** People chase the impossible or cause sadness.

Key Takeaway

Choose purposeful challenges over harmful habits.

Themes

ambition despair choice

Mood

reflective serious

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- career decisions
- personal projects

Key Concepts

existentialism human behavior

Practical Applications

- set realistic goals
- avoid harmful patterns

Questions to Reflect On

- What drives you to tackle tough tasks?
- How do you prevent your actions from harming others?

A Different Perspective

May oversimplify complex motivations.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Allotments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allotments/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/)

## Related quotes

> [Beneath the gore and smoke and loam, this book is about the evanescence of life, and why some men choose to fill their brief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/beneath-the-gore-and-smoke-and-loam-this-book-is-about-the/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [“Followers of Jesus do well to spend more time engaging him than explaining him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-brackin/followers-of-jesus-do-well-to-spend-more-time-engaging-him-than/)

[Ron Brackin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-brackin/)

> [“allotments, 8 f in the hill country, in the lowland,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/allotments-8-f-in-the-hill-country-in-the-lowland/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“We are surrounded by forces that technology cannot yet measure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dowding/we-are-surrounded-by-forces-that-technology-cannot-yet-measure/)

[Charles Dowding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dowding/)

> [As I get considerably beyond the biblical allotment of three score years and ten, I feel with increasing intensity that I can express my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/as-i-get-considerably-beyond-the-biblical-allotment-of-three-score/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [Sex was like Disneyland to her: an allotment of organized wonders and legal mischief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/sex-was-like-disneyland-to-her-an-allotment-of-organized-wonders-and/)

[Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/)

> [The paramount problem... is how to make this new form of property ownership a workable agent toward repeopleizing the proprietorship of the country's industries.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-s-grosscup/the-paramount-problem-is-how-to-make-this-new-form-of-property/)

Peter S. Grosscup

> [This power becomes particularly irresistible when exercised by those who, because they hold and control money, are able also to govern credit and determine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-xi/this-power-becomes-particularly-irresistible-when-exercised-by-those/)

[Pope Pius XI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-xi/)

> [“The more you harvest, the quicker and easier it becomes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dowding/the-more-you-harvest-the-quicker-and-easier-it-becomes/)

[Charles Dowding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dowding/)

> [Yet the small house, probably more than anything else that man has done, has made the face of Australia and to an extent the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-boyd/yet-the-small-house-probably-more-than-anything-else-that-man-has/)

[Robin Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-boyd/)

> [Remember: Matter: how tiny your share of it. Time: how brief and fleeting your allotment of it. Fate: how small a role you play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/remember-matter-how-tiny-your-share-of-it-time-how-brief-and-fleeting/)

[Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/)

> [Many practitioners think there is some giant balance scale, where someone is keeping track, like Santa Claus, and that will determine your allotment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/many-practitioners-think-there-is-some-giant-balance-scale-where/)

[Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

> [“No dig saves time and keeps it simple, so that you can continue cropping all year without using synthetic feeds or poisons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dowding/no-dig-saves-time-and-keeps-it-simple-so-that-you-can-continue/)

[Charles Dowding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dowding/)

> [We have a funny concept of time in this culture. We revere it as we revere money, yet we rarely spend any of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-phillips/we-have-a-funny-concept-of-time-in-this-culture-we-revere-it-as-we/)

[Jan Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-phillips/)

> [Why be saddled with this thing called life expectancy? Of what relevance to an individual is such a statistic? Am I to concern myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/why-be-saddled-with-this-thing-called-life-expectancy-of-what/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## More by Erik Larson

> [I've heard from the movie marketplace that James Cameron did such a killer job with 'Titanic' that it's almost impossible to do anything better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/i-ve-heard-from-the-movie-marketplace-that-james-cameron-did-such-a/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [As a rule, I am very skeptical of tying books to anniversaries. I don't think readers care. I also feel that it just about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/as-a-rule-i-am-very-skeptical-of-tying-books-to-anniversaries-i-don-t/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [“look as if they had been plucked from the Palace of Versailles or a Jacobean mansion—that you were aboard a ship being propelled far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/look-as-if-they-had-been-plucked-from-the-palace-of-versailles-or-a/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [That's what I love about history - nuance. I don't believe in unalloyed heroes. Everyone's got warts, and everyone's got a surprise side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/that-s-what-i-love-about-history-nuance-i-don-t-believe-in-unalloyed/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [“Holmes was charming and gracious, but something about him made Belknap uneasy. He could not have defined it. Indeed, for the next several decades…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/holmes-was-charming-and-gracious-but-something-about-him-made-belknap/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [“At present," he said, "I am responsible for conveying my associates to a place called Chicago. I understand it is somewhere in the hinterland.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/at-present-he-said-i-am-responsible-for-conveying-my-associates-to-a/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [I knew from an online search that the Wisconsin State Historical Society, on the vast University of Wisconsin campus, held the papers of Sigrid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/i-knew-from-an-online-search-that-the-wisconsin-state-historical/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [Dodd continued to hope that the murders would so outrage the German public that the regime would fall, but as the days passed he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/dodd-continued-to-hope-that-the-murders-would-so-outrage-the-german/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [I envy other writers who claim to have a backlog of books they'd like to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/i-envy-other-writers-who-claim-to-have-a-backlog-of-books-they-d-like/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [Trying to find ideas is the hardest part of my job. You'd think it would be the most fun. Just sitting around reading whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/trying-to-find-ideas-is-the-hardest-part-of-my-job-you-d-think-it/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [“Her blind endorsement of Hitler’s regime first faded to a kind of sympathetic skepticism, but as summer approached,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/her-blind-endorsement-of-hitler-s-regime-first-faded-to-a-kind-of/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [“Perhaps, Herr Ditzen, it is less important where one lives than how one lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/perhaps-herr-ditzen-it-is-less-important-where-one-lives-than-how-one/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [I figured, correctly, that Berlin in February was not a destination coveted by tourists. I found good airfares on Lufthansa, an airline I quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/i-figured-correctly-that-berlin-in-february-was-not-a-destination/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [“It was truly a transitional moment: There he was, at the cusp of the twentieth century, using the telephone to send a telegram.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/it-was-truly-a-transitional-moment-there-he-was-at-the-cusp-of-the/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [“The Chancellor’s assurances were so satisfying and so unexpected that I think they are on the whole too good to be true,” Messersmith wrote.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/the-chancellor-s-assurances-were-so-satisfying-and-so-unexpected-that/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

[Explore all 214 Erik Larson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

## More Allotments quotes

> [“allotments, 8 f in the hill country, in the lowland,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/allotments-8-f-in-the-hill-country-in-the-lowland/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [We have a funny concept of time in this culture. We revere it as we revere money, yet we rarely spend any of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-phillips/we-have-a-funny-concept-of-time-in-this-culture-we-revere-it-as-we/)

[Jan Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-phillips/)

> [“No dig saves time and keeps it simple, so that you can continue cropping all year without using synthetic feeds or poisons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dowding/no-dig-saves-time-and-keeps-it-simple-so-that-you-can-continue/)

[Charles Dowding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dowding/)

> [Many practitioners think there is some giant balance scale, where someone is keeping track, like Santa Claus, and that will determine your allotment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/many-practitioners-think-there-is-some-giant-balance-scale-where/)

[Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

> [Remember: Matter: how tiny your share of it. Time: how brief and fleeting your allotment of it. Fate: how small a role you play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/remember-matter-how-tiny-your-share-of-it-time-how-brief-and-fleeting/)

[Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/)

> [Yet the small house, probably more than anything else that man has done, has made the face of Australia and to an extent the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-boyd/yet-the-small-house-probably-more-than-anything-else-that-man-has/)

[Robin Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-boyd/)

> [“The more you harvest, the quicker and easier it becomes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dowding/the-more-you-harvest-the-quicker-and-easier-it-becomes/)

[Charles Dowding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dowding/)

> [This power becomes particularly irresistible when exercised by those who, because they hold and control money, are able also to govern credit and determine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-xi/this-power-becomes-particularly-irresistible-when-exercised-by-those/)

[Pope Pius XI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-xi/)

> [The paramount problem... is how to make this new form of property ownership a workable agent toward repeopleizing the proprietorship of the country's industries.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-s-grosscup/the-paramount-problem-is-how-to-make-this-new-form-of-property/)

Peter S. Grosscup

> [Sex was like Disneyland to her: an allotment of organized wonders and legal mischief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/sex-was-like-disneyland-to-her-an-allotment-of-organized-wonders-and/)

[Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/)

> [As I get considerably beyond the biblical allotment of three score years and ten, I feel with increasing intensity that I can express my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/as-i-get-considerably-beyond-the-biblical-allotment-of-three-score/)

[Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/)

> [Beneath the gore and smoke and loam, this book is about the evanescence of life, and why some men choose to fill their brief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/beneath-the-gore-and-smoke-and-loam-this-book-is-about-the/)

[Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/)

> [“We are surrounded by forces that technology cannot yet measure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dowding/we-are-surrounded-by-forces-that-technology-cannot-yet-measure/)

[Charles Dowding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dowding/)

> [Why be saddled with this thing called life expectancy? Of what relevance to an individual is such a statistic? Am I to concern myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/why-be-saddled-with-this-thing-called-life-expectancy-of-what/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [When we ask Negroes to abide by the law, let us also declare that the white man does not abide by law in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/when-we-ask-negroes-to-abide-by-the-law-let-us-also-declare-that-the/)

[Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/)

[Browse all 20 Allotments quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allotments/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": ". . . why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Erik Larson"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/why-some-men-choose-to-fill-their-brief-allotment-of-time-engaging/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Allotments"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/why-some-men-choose-to-fill-their-brief-allotment-of-time-engaging/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ac/erik-larson-1710_allotments_why-some-men-choose-to-fill-their-brief_126206.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ac/erik-larson-1710_allotments_why-some-men-choose-to-fill-their-brief_126206.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ac/erik-larson-1710_allotments_why-some-men-choose-to-fill-their-brief_126206.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“. . . why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the…” — Erik Larson",
                "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": "Erik Larson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": ". . . why some men...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/why-some-men-choose-to-fill-their-brief-allotment-of-time-engaging/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/why-some-men-choose-to-fill-their-brief-allotment-of-time-engaging/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
