---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a whole crazy world around you…"
description: "\"There is a whole crazy world around you. You can't control it, so don't even try. Because the more you try to control your environment, the more it con..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3df/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_there-is-a-whole-crazy-world-around-you_1980435.jpg"
---

#  There is a whole crazy world around you. You can't control…

![“There is a whole crazy world around you. You can't control it, so don't even try. Because the more you try to control your environment, the more it controls you.” quote by Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3df/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_there-is-a-whole-crazy-world-around-you_1980435.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3df/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_there-is-a-whole-crazy-world-around-you_1980435.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3df/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_there-is-a-whole-crazy-world-around-you_1980435.jpg)

> “There is a whole crazy world around you. You can't control it, so don't even try. Because the more you try to control your environment, the more it controls you.”

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

## About This Quote

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

Attempting to control an uncontrollable world leads to personal enslavement; acceptance yields freedom.

**In simple terms:** Trying to control everything traps you; accept what you cannot change.

Key Takeaway

Embrace uncertainty, focus on response.

Themes

control acceptance freedom

Mood

reflective calm

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- personal stress
- political activism
- environmental crises
- relationship dynamics

Key Concepts

psychology determinism

Questions to Reflect On

- What aspects of life can you realistically influence?
- How does acceptance change your emotional response?

A Different Perspective

Control may be necessary in safety-critical contexts.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Buddhism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/) [Control](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/control/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Our environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-environment/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/)

## Related quotes

> [As an enlightened teacher of Buddhism, I'd like to welcome you to the pathway to enlightenment. I'd like to encourage you to be more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/as-an-enlightened-teacher-of-buddhism-i-d-like-to-welcome-you-to-the/)

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

> [But we can’t control the environment; all we can control is the way we react to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-levine/but-we-can-t-control-the-environment-all-we-can-control-is-the-way-we/)

[Alison Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-levine/)

> [if we can control the environment in which rapid cognition takes place, then we can control rapid cognition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/if-we-can-control-the-environment-in-which-rapid-cognition-takes/)

[Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/)

> [I found for me that my safe place was work. I could control my environment. I became very fastidious and detailed, and wanted things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-osmond/i-found-for-me-that-my-safe-place-was-work-i-could-control-my/)

[Marie Osmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-osmond/)

> [“We think we control our environment but in fact it controls us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-goldsmith/we-think-we-control-our-environment-but-in-fact-it-controls-us/)

[Marshall Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-goldsmith/)

> [We think we control our environment, but in fact, it's our environment that controls us. We can't change the world. The only thing we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-spier/we-think-we-control-our-environment-but-in-fact-it-s-our-environment/)

[Guy Spier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-spier/)

> [“There are always ways to control your environment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-redhead/there-are-always-ways-to-control-your-environment/)

[Steven Redhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-redhead/)

> [Am I a control freak? No. Do I believe in organization? You bet. In discipline? In being on time and making sure everything at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-riley/am-i-a-control-freak-no-do-i-believe-in-organization-you-bet-in/)

[Pat Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-riley/)

> [Some people need a command-and-control environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-t-chambers/some-people-need-a-command-and-control-environment/)

[John T. Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-t-chambers/)

> [The most important question we have to deal with is a combination of population control and the control of our environment - how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-packard/the-most-important-question-we-have-to-deal-with-is-a-combination-of/)

[David Packard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-packard/)

> [We live inside too much. We live inside and we have square thoughts and square ideas because we live in square houses. Our lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/we-live-inside-too-much-we-live-inside-and-we-have-square-thoughts/)

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

> [If you are going to impose your will on the world, you must have control over what you believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/if-you-are-going-to-impose-your-will-on-the-world-you-must-have/)

[Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/)

> [I love people who try to keep the world in control - because the world is inherently not in control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-gasteyer/i-love-people-who-try-to-keep-the-world-in-control-because-the-world/)

[Ana Gasteyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-gasteyer/)

> [“The one aim of these financiers is world control by the creation of inextinguishable debt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/the-one-aim-of-these-financiers-is-world-control-by-the-creation-of/)

[Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/)

> [I am the center of the world, but the control panel seems to be somewhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/i-am-the-center-of-the-world-but-the-control-panel-seems-to-be/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

## More by Frederick Lenz

> [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/)

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

> [You can draw power from everything in your life. In order to do that, everything has to be set up in a proper way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-draw-power-from-everything-in-your-life-in-order-to-do-that/)

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

> [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/)

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

> [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/)

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

> [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-the-most-miraculous-thing-is-learning-i-get-out-of-the-way/)

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

> [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/)

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

> [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/)

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

> [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/)

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

> [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/)

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

> [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/)

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

> [The sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs, faces the passing human generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sound-man-immune-as-to-a-sacrifice-of-straw-dogs-faces-the/)

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

> [Karma means changing planes of reality or changing fields of attention. There will be perhaps a resulting physical action stemming from the change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-means-changing-planes-of-reality-or-changing-fields-of/)

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

> [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/)

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

> [Why waste your time being around people who drag you down? You don't live forever, at least in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/why-waste-your-time-being-around-people-who-drag-you-down-you-don-t/)

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

> [Everybody here is so caught up in the game of life they don't see death. They don't see beyond their deaths. They are on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everybody-here-is-so-caught-up-in-the-game-of-life-they-don-t-see/)

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

[Explore all 4,399 Frederick Lenz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

## More Buddhism quotes

> [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/)

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

> [Enlightenment is lightening up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-myers/enlightenment-is-lightening-up/)

[Mike Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-myers/)

> [The very best players, when they are practicing, put everything they've got into it. But then they leave it for a while. And it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/the-very-best-players-when-they-are-practicing-put-everything-they-ve/)

[Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/)

> [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/)

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

> [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/)

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

> [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-the-most-miraculous-thing-is-learning-i-get-out-of-the-way/)

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

> [“Exactly. I think the original tantric Buddhists took notice of was some very wise old people who never studied in their youth, but took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-niemczura/exactly-i-think-the-original-tantric-buddhists-took-notice-of-was/)

[Joe Niemczura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-niemczura/)

> [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/)

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

> [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/)

[Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/)

> [My mom and my aunties are really devout Christians. My mom married a Muslim when I was 12, so I got teachings from both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tech-n9ne/my-mom-and-my-aunties-are-really-devout-christians-my-mom-married-a/)

[Tech N9ne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tech-n9ne/)

> [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/)

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

> [“The extraction of discrete parts of Chöd teachings from their broader philosophical contexts is symptomatic of how Chöd has been incorporated into and transmitted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-sorensen/the-extraction-of-discrete-parts-of-ch-d-teachings-from-their-broader/)

[Michelle Sorensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-sorensen/)

> [Buddhism advises you not to implant feelings that you don’t really have or avoid feelings that you do have. If you are miserable you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/buddhism-advises-you-not-to-implant-feelings-that-you-don-t-really/)

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

> [“That's all there is, enlightenment on the end of a cock. It doesn't get any more Zen than that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaden-wilkes/that-s-all-there-is-enlightenment-on-the-end-of-a-cock-it-doesn-t-get/)

[Jaden Wilkes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaden-wilkes/)

> [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/)

[Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/)

[Browse all 6,100 Buddhism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "There is a whole crazy world around you. You can't control it, so don't even try. Because the more you try to control your environment, the more it controls you.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Frederick Lenz"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-is-a-whole-crazy-world-around-you-you-can-t-control-it-so-don-t/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Buddhism"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-is-a-whole-crazy-world-around-you-you-can-t-control-it-so-don-t/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3df/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_there-is-a-whole-crazy-world-around-you_1980435.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3df/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_there-is-a-whole-crazy-world-around-you_1980435.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3df/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_there-is-a-whole-crazy-world-around-you_1980435.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“There is a whole crazy world around you. You can't control it, so don't even try. Because the more you try…” — Frederick Lenz",
                "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": "Frederick Lenz",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "There is a whole crazy world...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-is-a-whole-crazy-world-around-you-you-can-t-control-it-so-don-t/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-is-a-whole-crazy-world-around-you-you-can-t-control-it-so-don-t/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```