---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If your job is to leaven ordinary lives…"
description: "\"If your job is to leaven ordinary lives with elevating spectacle, be elevating or be gone.\" — George Will"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/george-will-1177_elevating_if-your-job-is-to-leaven-ordinary-lives_2201071.png"
---

#  If your job is to leaven ordinary lives with elevating…

![“If your job is to leaven ordinary lives with elevating spectacle, be elevating or be gone.” quote by George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/george-will-1177_elevating_if-your-job-is-to-leaven-ordinary-lives_2201071.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/george-will-1177_elevating_if-your-job-is-to-leaven-ordinary-lives_2201071.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/george-will-1177_elevating_if-your-job-is-to-leaven-ordinary-lives_2201071.png)

> “If your job is to leaven ordinary lives with elevating spectacle, be elevating or be gone.”

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

## About This Quote

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

Encourages individuals to either uplift others through inspiring actions or step aside if they cannot

Key Takeaway

Elevate others or step aside

Themes

Choose to inspire or withdraw

Mood

determined serious

Type

motivational ethical

When to use this quote

- Ethics
- social impact
- personal agency

Key Concepts

leadership inspiration responsibility

Practical Applications

- public speaking
- community projects
- leadership roles
- creative endeavors

Questions to Reflect On

- What can you do today to uplift someone?
- How do you recognize when you’re merely filling a role?

A Different Perspective

If one cannot inspire, they may still contribute positively in other ways

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Elevating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elevating/) [Elevating Gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elevating-gone-4835188/) [Elevating Spectacle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elevating-spectacle-4835186/) [Gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gone/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Lives Elevating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lives-elevating-4835187/) [Ordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary/) [Ordinary life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-life/) [Royalty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/royalty/) [Spectacle Elevating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spectacle-elevating-4835185/)

## Related quotes

> [I don't just try to score. The challenge is elevating my teammates to be able to win a championship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobe-bryant/i-don-t-just-try-to-score-the-challenge-is-elevating-my-teammates-to/)

[Kobe Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobe-bryant/)

> [Our success in influencing or elevating others is in proportion to their belief in our belief in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-drummond/our-success-in-influencing-or-elevating-others-is-in-proportion-to/)

[Henry Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-drummond/)

> [The prince exults whomever he selects as his consort, but the queen, rather than elevating the subject of her choice, humiliates him as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/the-prince-exults-whomever-he-selects-as-his-consort-but-the-queen/)

[Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/)

> [Complete nudity in itself is not erotic. It becomes so only when preceeded by or contrasted to a state of dress. In this limited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-irvine/complete-nudity-in-itself-is-not-erotic-it-becomes-so-only-when/)

[Lucy Irvine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-irvine/)

> [Envy is a horrible thing. It is unlike all other kinds of suffering in that there is no disguising it, no elevating it into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/envy-is-a-horrible-thing-it-is-unlike-all-other-kinds-of-suffering-in/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [... one does people the best service by giving them some elevating work to do and thus indirectly elevating them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/one-does-people-the-best-service-by-giving-them-some-elevating-work/)

[Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/)

> [These inventors were elevating the formulation of entrepreneurial ideas to the status of a visionary activity. Though forced to justify their efforts in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/these-inventors-were-elevating-the-formulation-of-entrepreneurial/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [Elevate. Each day, live to elevate yourself, each day elevate one person. Make elevation your religion and you shall reach infinity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/elevate-each-day-live-to-elevate-yourself-each-day-elevate-one-person/)

[Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/)

> [Hope is the elevating feeling we experience when we see - in the mind's eye - a path to a better future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-groopman/hope-is-the-elevating-feeling-we-experience-when-we-see-in-the-mind-s/)

[Jerome Groopman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-groopman/)

> [Defeatist thoughts handicap persons from elevating their mechanistic life to superior states. The majority of persons consider themselves defeated even before beginning the struggle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samael-aun-weor/defeatist-thoughts-handicap-persons-from-elevating-their-mechanistic/)

[Samael Aun Weor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samael-aun-weor/)

> [I was uploading on YouTube and stuff, and they were liking it or whatever. I just kept elevating and elevating. I had little setbacks,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kodak-black/i-was-uploading-on-youtube-and-stuff-and-they-were-liking-it-or/)

[Kodak Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kodak-black/)

> [You know, I've been around for a long time. And I pride myself on not only being around for such a long time but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/snow-tha-product/you-know-i-ve-been-around-for-a-long-time-and-i-pride-myself-on-not/)

[Snow Tha Product](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/snow-tha-product/)

> [We need to eliminate the existing hierarchy of subjects. Elevating some disciplines over others only reinforces outmoded assumptions of industrialism and offends the principle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-robinson/we-need-to-eliminate-the-existing-hierarchy-of-subjects-elevating/)

[Ken Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-robinson/)

> [Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man can clothe himself, the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/self-respect-is-the-noblest-garment-with-which-a-man-can-clothe/)

[Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/)

> [I am not elevating women to sainthood, nor am I suggesting that all women share the same views, or that all women are good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-abzug/i-am-not-elevating-women-to-sainthood-nor-am-i-suggesting-that-all/)

[Bella Abzug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bella-abzug/)

## More by George Will

> [The average American expends more time becoming informed about choosing a car than choosing a candidate. But, then, the consequences of the former choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/the-average-american-expends-more-time-becoming-informed-about/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [Pettiness is the tendency of people without large purposes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/pettiness-is-the-tendency-of-people-without-large-purposes/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [A politician's words reveal less about what he thinks about his subject than what he thinks about his audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/a-politician-s-words-reveal-less-about-what-he-thinks-about-his/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [As has been said, standards are always out of date - that is why we call them standards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/as-has-been-said-standards-are-always-out-of-date-that-is-why-we-call/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [Hart is still like that little tub of vaguely milklike gunk that comes with airline coffee. It is labeled a "nondairy" product. Fine: we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/hart-is-still-like-that-little-tub-of-vaguely-milklike-gunk-that/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [The realistic way to reduce the amount of money in politics is to reduce the amount of politics in money -- the importance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/the-realistic-way-to-reduce-the-amount-of-money-in-politics-is-to/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [It is important that Miers not be confirmed unless, in her 61st year, she suddenly and unexpectedly is found to have hitherto undisclosed interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/it-is-important-that-miers-not-be-confirmed-unless-in-her-61st-year/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [Greek philosophers considered sport a religious and civic-in a word, moral-undertaking. Sport, they said, is morally serious because mankind's noblest aim is the loving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/greek-philosophers-considered-sport-a-religious-and-civic-in-a-word/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [The cultivation - even celebration - of victimhood by intellectuals, tort lawyers, politicians and the media is both cause and effect of today's culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/the-cultivation-even-celebration-of-victimhood-by-intellectuals-tort/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [When I'm in my car, I'm listening to books, audio books, always.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/when-i-m-in-my-car-i-m-listening-to-books-audio-books-always/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [Just as the common law derives from ancient precedents - judges' decisions - rather than statutes, baseball's codes are the game's distilled mores. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/just-as-the-common-law-derives-from-ancient-precedents-judges/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [“Football combines two of the worst things in American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/football-combines-two-of-the-worst-things-in-american-life-it-is/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [I've lived in Washington now for 44 years, and that's a lot of folly to witness up close. Whatever confidence and optimism I felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/i-ve-lived-in-washington-now-for-44-years-and-that-s-a-lot-of-folly/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [The business of America is not business. Neither is it war. The business of america is justice and securing the blessings of liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/the-business-of-america-is-not-business-neither-is-it-war-the/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

> [Freedom is not only the absence of external restraints. It is also the absence of irresistible internal compulsions, unmanageable passion, and uncensorable highlights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/freedom-is-not-only-the-absence-of-external-restraints-it-is-also-the/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

[Explore all 279 George Will quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

## More Elevating quotes

> [I don't just try to score. The challenge is elevating my teammates to be able to win a championship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobe-bryant/i-don-t-just-try-to-score-the-challenge-is-elevating-my-teammates-to/)

[Kobe Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobe-bryant/)

> [Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man can clothe himself, the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/self-respect-is-the-noblest-garment-with-which-a-man-can-clothe/)

[Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/)

> [We need to eliminate the existing hierarchy of subjects. Elevating some disciplines over others only reinforces outmoded assumptions of industrialism and offends the principle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-robinson/we-need-to-eliminate-the-existing-hierarchy-of-subjects-elevating/)

[Ken Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-robinson/)

> [You know, I've been around for a long time. And I pride myself on not only being around for such a long time but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/snow-tha-product/you-know-i-ve-been-around-for-a-long-time-and-i-pride-myself-on-not/)

[Snow Tha Product](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/snow-tha-product/)

> [I was uploading on YouTube and stuff, and they were liking it or whatever. I just kept elevating and elevating. I had little setbacks,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kodak-black/i-was-uploading-on-youtube-and-stuff-and-they-were-liking-it-or/)

[Kodak Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kodak-black/)

> [Defeatist thoughts handicap persons from elevating their mechanistic life to superior states. The majority of persons consider themselves defeated even before beginning the struggle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samael-aun-weor/defeatist-thoughts-handicap-persons-from-elevating-their-mechanistic/)

[Samael Aun Weor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samael-aun-weor/)

> [Hope is the elevating feeling we experience when we see - in the mind's eye - a path to a better future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-groopman/hope-is-the-elevating-feeling-we-experience-when-we-see-in-the-mind-s/)

[Jerome Groopman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-groopman/)

> [Elevate. Each day, live to elevate yourself, each day elevate one person. Make elevation your religion and you shall reach infinity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/elevate-each-day-live-to-elevate-yourself-each-day-elevate-one-person/)

[Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/)

> [These inventors were elevating the formulation of entrepreneurial ideas to the status of a visionary activity. Though forced to justify their efforts in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/these-inventors-were-elevating-the-formulation-of-entrepreneurial/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [... one does people the best service by giving them some elevating work to do and thus indirectly elevating them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/one-does-people-the-best-service-by-giving-them-some-elevating-work/)

[Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/)

> [Envy is a horrible thing. It is unlike all other kinds of suffering in that there is no disguising it, no elevating it into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/envy-is-a-horrible-thing-it-is-unlike-all-other-kinds-of-suffering-in/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [Complete nudity in itself is not erotic. It becomes so only when preceeded by or contrasted to a state of dress. In this limited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-irvine/complete-nudity-in-itself-is-not-erotic-it-becomes-so-only-when/)

[Lucy Irvine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-irvine/)

> [The prince exults whomever he selects as his consort, but the queen, rather than elevating the subject of her choice, humiliates him as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/the-prince-exults-whomever-he-selects-as-his-consort-but-the-queen/)

[Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/)

> [Our success in influencing or elevating others is in proportion to their belief in our belief in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-drummond/our-success-in-influencing-or-elevating-others-is-in-proportion-to/)

[Henry Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-drummond/)

> [I am not elevating women to sainthood, nor am I suggesting that all women share the same views, or that all women are good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-abzug/i-am-not-elevating-women-to-sainthood-nor-am-i-suggesting-that-all/)

[Bella Abzug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bella-abzug/)

[Browse all 88 Elevating quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elevating/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "If your job is to leaven ordinary lives with elevating spectacle, be elevating or be gone.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "George Will"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/if-your-job-is-to-leaven-ordinary-lives-with-elevating-spectacle-be/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Elevating"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/if-your-job-is-to-leaven-ordinary-lives-with-elevating-spectacle-be/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/george-will-1177_elevating_if-your-job-is-to-leaven-ordinary-lives_2201071.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/george-will-1177_elevating_if-your-job-is-to-leaven-ordinary-lives_2201071.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/george-will-1177_elevating_if-your-job-is-to-leaven-ordinary-lives_2201071.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“If your job is to leaven ordinary lives with elevating spectacle, be elevating or be gone.” — George Will",
                "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": "George Will",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "If your job is to leaven...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/if-your-job-is-to-leaven-ordinary-lives-with-elevating-spectacle-be/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/if-your-job-is-to-leaven-ordinary-lives-with-elevating-spectacle-be/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
