--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But walking down the stairs feeling each…" description: "\"“But walking down the stairs feeling each stair carefully and holding to the banister he thought, I must get her away and get her away as soon as I can..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/ernest-hemingway-83_stairs_but-walking-down-the-stairs-feeling-each_143036.jpg" --- # But walking down the stairs feeling each stair carefully… ![“But walking down the stairs feeling each stair carefully and holding to the banister he thought, I must get her away and get her away as soon as I can without hurting her. Because I am not doing too well at this. That I can promise you. But what else can you do? Nothing, he thought. There's…” quote by Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/ernest-hemingway-83_stairs_but-walking-down-the-stairs-feeling-each_143036.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/ernest-hemingway-83_stairs_but-walking-down-the-stairs-feeling-each_143036.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/ernest-hemingway-83_stairs_but-walking-down-the-stairs-feeling-each_143036.jpg) > ““But walking down the stairs feeling each stair carefully and holding to the banister he thought, I must get her away and get her away as soon as I can without hurting her. Because I am not doing too well at this. That I can promise you. But what else can you do? Nothing, he thought. There's nothing you can do. But maybe, as you go along, you will get good at it.”” [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Careful, protective actions in crisis reflect urgency and uncertainty, highlighting the struggle to act responsibly under pressure. **In simple terms:** Crisis demands careful, urgent action. Key Takeaway Act responsibly despite uncertainty. Themes crisis responsibility urgency Mood tense determined Type practical philosophical When to use this quote - emergency response - parenting - health emergencies Key Concepts decision making under pressure ethical action Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take in a crisis? - How do you balance speed and caution? A Different Perspective Overanalysis can paralyze action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [Jumping from the last few stairs feeling really good about yourself!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/jumping-from-the-last-few-stairs-feeling-really-good-about-yourself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Where I'm is one of those stair climbing machines the agent has installed. You climb and climb forever and never get off the ground.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/where-i-m-is-one-of-those-stair-climbing-machines-the-agent-has/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“A stair will be precious for you if only you climb up it! For a thing to be precious for you, you must live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/a-stair-will-be-precious-for-you-if-only-you-climb-up-it-for-a-thing/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [All rising to great places is by a winding stair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/all-rising-to-great-places-is-by-a-winding-stair/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Where do we find ourselves? In a series of which we do not know the extremes, and believe that it has none. We wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/where-do-we-find-ourselves-in-a-series-of-which-we-do-not-know-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Life is a journey up a spiral staircase; as we grow older we cover the ground covered we have covered before, only higher up;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/life-is-a-journey-up-a-spiral-staircase-as-we-grow-older-we-cover-the/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [When you reach for a star, only angels are there. And it's not very far, just a step on a stair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-bush/when-you-reach-for-a-star-only-angels-are-there-and-it-s-not-very-far/) [Kate Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-bush/) > [Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/langston-hughes/well-son-i-ll-tell-you-life-for-me-ain-t-been-no-crystal-stair-it-s/) [Langston Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/langston-hughes/) > [Stand on the highest pavement of the stair- Lean on a garden urn- Weave, weave the sunlight in your hair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/stand-on-the-highest-pavement-of-the-stair-lean-on-a-garden-urn-weave/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The other day upon the stair, I saw a man who wasn't there. He wasn't there again today; how I wish he'd go away!"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/the-other-day-upon-the-stair-i-saw-a-man-who-wasn-t-there-he-wasn-t/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when you hear a step upon the stair which is walking into your life, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/now-is-the-dramatic-moment-of-fate-watson-when-you-hear-a-step-upon/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [To ask me is in vain; For who goes up your winding stair Can ne'er come down again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-howitt/to-ask-me-is-in-vain-for-who-goes-up-your-winding-stair-can-ne-er/) [Mary Howitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-howitt/) > [I summon to the winding ancient stair; Set all your mind upon the steep ascent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-summon-to-the-winding-ancient-stair-set-all-your-mind-upon-the/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [As I was going up the stair I met a man who wan't there He wasn't there again today Oh I wish he'd go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hughes-mearns/as-i-was-going-up-the-stair-i-met-a-man-who-wan-t-there-he-wasn-t/) William Hughes Mearns > [Life for me ain't been no crystal stair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/langston-hughes/life-for-me-ain-t-been-no-crystal-stair/) [Langston Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/langston-hughes/) ## More by Ernest Hemingway > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“There was no wind, and, outside now of the warm air of the cave, heavy with smoke of both tobacco and charcoal, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-was-no-wind-and-outside-now-of-the-warm-air-of-the-cave-heavy/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“It was not brilliant bull-fighting. It was only perfect bull-fighting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-was-not-brilliant-bull-fighting-it-was-only-perfect-bull-fighting/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [One cat just leads to another. The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/one-cat-just-leads-to-another-the-place-is-so-damned-big-it-doesn-t/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Creation's probably overrated. After all, God made the world in only six days and rested on the seventh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/creation-s-probably-overrated-after-all-god-made-the-world-in-only/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“Viva my husband who was Mayor of this town”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/viva-my-husband-who-was-mayor-of-this-town/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“The earth gets tired of being exploited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-earth-gets-tired-of-being-exploited/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [What is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-good-after-and-what-is-immoral-is-what/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“We drove out along the coast road. There was the green of the headlands, the white, red-roofed villas, patches of forest, and the ocean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/we-drove-out-along-the-coast-road-there-was-the-green-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [As a Nobel Prize winner I cannot but regret that the award was never given to Mark Twain, nor to Henry James, speaking only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/as-a-nobel-prize-winner-i-cannot-but-regret-that-the-award-was-never/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Oh, darling, I've been so miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/oh-darling-i-ve-been-so-miserable/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write, and then I remember that it was always difficult,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-read-my-own-books-sometimes-to-cheer-me-when-it-is-hard-to-write/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“You find everything on earth at Harry's." "Yes, my Colonel. Except, possibly, happiness." "I'll damn well find happiness, too," the Colonel assured him. "Happiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-find-everything-on-earth-at-harry-s-yes-my-colonel-except/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“No. It's bad for me. Cole Porter wrote the words and the music. This knowledge that you're going mad for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/no-it-s-bad-for-me-cole-porter-wrote-the-words-and-the-music-this/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. The boy keeps me alive, he thought. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/everything-kills-everything-else-in-some-way-fishing-kills-me-exactly/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) [Explore all 1,464 Ernest Hemingway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## More Stairs quotes > [The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs... one step at a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-girard/the-elevator-to-success-is-out-of-order-you-ll-have-to-use-the-stairs/) [Joe Girard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-girard/) > [I'd think the house was the source of great sadness or pressure. I knew it wasn't. I knew it was just where I lived.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-granduciel/i-d-think-the-house-was-the-source-of-great-sadness-or-pressure-i/) [Adam Granduciel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-granduciel/) > [“We headed down a narrow flight of stairs that ended at a low arch. Beyond the arch was yet another murky room. Did these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawkins/we-headed-down-a-narrow-flight-of-stairs-that-ended-at-a-low-arch/) [Rachel Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawkins/) > [When I go to my health club, and it's in the basement, you have to take the elevator down. And this drives me crazy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/when-i-go-to-my-health-club-and-it-s-in-the-basement-you-have-to-take/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [I'm neurotic in the sense that I can have a crowd of 300 people cheering you, applauding you, standing O, but one guy come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-white/i-m-neurotic-in-the-sense-that-i-can-have-a-crowd-of-300-people/) [Wayne White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-white/) > [It is moonlight. Alone in the silence I ascend my stairs once more, While waves remote in pale blue starlight Crash on a white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-is-moonlight-alone-in-the-silence-i-ascend-my-stairs-once-more/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [When I saw 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' and Audrey Hepburn was standing in front of Tiffany's in this Givenchy dress, or when I saw 'All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-whitfield/when-i-saw-breakfast-at-tiffany-s-and-audrey-hepburn-was-standing-in/) [Lynn Whitfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-whitfield/) > [A man falls down a flight of stairs and somebody rushes over to him and asks, Did you miss a step? No, he answers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-berle/a-man-falls-down-a-flight-of-stairs-and-somebody-rushes-over-to-him/) [Milton Berle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-berle/) > [Hey Brian! I turned the stairs into a waterslide!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-griffin/hey-brian-i-turned-the-stairs-into-a-waterslide/) [Peter Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-griffin/) > [Reach me a gentian, give me a torch! Let me guide myself with the blue, forked torch of a flower down the darker and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/reach-me-a-gentian-give-me-a-torch-let-me-guide-myself-with-the-blue/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Shi seh di lift doesnt run run up the stairs and come and if u dnt come quick you not gonna see your son/](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barrington-levy/shi-seh-di-lift-doesnt-run-run-up-the-stairs-and-come-and-if-u-dnt/) [Barrington Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barrington-levy/) > [“Where I'm is one of those stair climbing machines the agent has installed. You climb and climb forever and never get off the ground.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/where-i-m-is-one-of-those-stair-climbing-machines-the-agent-has/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Whenever my teenage daughter comes down the stairs dressed like a tramp for her date, I think to myself: 'Damn, why won't her mother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-henry/whenever-my-teenage-daughter-comes-down-the-stairs-dressed-like-a/) [David Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-henry/) > [A Poem from Edna St. Vincent Millay: Grown-up Was it for this I uttered prayers, And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs, That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/a-poem-from-edna-st-vincent-millay-grown-up-was-it-for-this-i-uttered/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [Life tells you to take the elevator, but love tells you to take the stairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/life-tells-you-to-take-the-elevator-but-love-tells-you-to-take-the/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) Browse all 572 Stairs quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But walking down the stairs feeling each stair carefully and holding to the banister he thought, I must get her away and get her away as soon as I can without hurting her. Because I am not doing too well at this. That I can promise you. But what else can you do? Nothing, he thought. There's nothing you can do. But maybe, as you go along, you will get good at it.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernest Hemingway" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/but-walking-down-the-stairs-feeling-each-stair-carefully-and-holding/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Stairs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/but-walking-down-the-stairs-feeling-each-stair-carefully-and-holding/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/ernest-hemingway-83_stairs_but-walking-down-the-stairs-feeling-each_143036.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/ernest-hemingway-83_stairs_but-walking-down-the-stairs-feeling-each_143036.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/ernest-hemingway-83_stairs_but-walking-down-the-stairs-feeling-each_143036.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But walking down the stairs feeling each stair carefully and holding to the banister he thought, I must get…” — Ernest Hemingway", "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": "Ernest Hemingway", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“But walking down the stairs feeling...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/but-walking-down-the-stairs-feeling-each-stair-carefully-and-holding/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/but-walking-down-the-stairs-feeling-each-stair-carefully-and-holding/#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 } } ] } ```