---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A frontier is never a place; it is a time…"
description: "\"A frontier is never a place; it is a time and a way of life.\" — Hal Borland"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/hal-borland-9706_frontier_a-frontier-is-never-a-place-it-is-a-time_141995.png"
---

#  A frontier is never a place; it is a time and a way of life.

![“A frontier is never a place; it is a time and a way of life.” quote by Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/hal-borland-9706_frontier_a-frontier-is-never-a-place-it-is-a-time_141995.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/hal-borland-9706_frontier_a-frontier-is-never-a-place-it-is-a-time_141995.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/hal-borland-9706_frontier_a-frontier-is-never-a-place-it-is-a-time_141995.png)

> “A frontier is never a place; it is a time and a way of life.”

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

## About This Quote

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

Frontiers are defined by mindset and lifestyle, not geography.

**In simple terms:** A frontier is a way of living.

Key Takeaway

Adopt a pioneering mindset.

Themes

exploration mindset change

Mood

adventurous reflective

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- career shifts
- technological innovation
- cultural movements
- personal growth

Key Concepts

Adventure temporal perspective

Questions to Reflect On

- How does your daily routine reflect frontier thinking?
- What new frontiers can you create?

A Different Perspective

May romanticize change without addressing risks.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Frontier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frontier/) [Frontiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frontiers/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Way of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-of-life/)

## Related quotes

> [The frontier of America is on the Rhine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/the-frontier-of-america-is-on-the-rhine/)

[Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/)

> [All forms of violence are quests for identity. When you live on the frontier, you have no identity. You're a nobody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/all-forms-of-violence-are-quests-for-identity-when-you-live-on-the/)

[Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/)

> [It's possible that your next frontier isn't to get more efficient, it's to get more brave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/it-s-possible-that-your-next-frontier-isn-t-to-get-more-efficient-it/)

[Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/)

> [“Where the frontier of science once was is now the centre.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/where-the-frontier-of-science-once-was-is-now-the-centre/)

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

> [My work explores the frontier between rationalism and superstition and the wavering boundary between the two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-almond/my-work-explores-the-frontier-between-rationalism-and-superstition/)

[David Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-almond/)

> [Oh, the frontier of hell and heaven is only the difference between two ways of looking at things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/oh-the-frontier-of-hell-and-heaven-is-only-the-difference-between-two/)

[George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/)

> [The frontier has gone, and with its going has closed the first period of American history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-jackson-turner/the-frontier-has-gone-and-with-its-going-has-closed-the-first-period/)

[Frederick Jackson Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-jackson-turner/)

> [That long (Canadian) frontier from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, guarded only by neighbourly respect and honourable obligations, as an example to every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/that-long-canadian-frontier-from-the-atlantic-to-the-pacific-ocean/)

[Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/)

> [Life is wide, limitless. There is no border, no frontier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/life-is-wide-limitless-there-is-no-border-no-frontier/)

[Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/)

> [The New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises, it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/the-new-frontier-of-which-i-speak-is-not-a-set-of-promises-it-is-a/)

[John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/)

> [Directing is the last frontier for women in the movie business. We are studio heads, we are producers and we are writers, but we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-obst/directing-is-the-last-frontier-for-women-in-the-movie-business-we-are/)

[Lynda Obst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-obst/)

> ['Into The Wild' had a great sense of wild, unpredictable freedom that I loved, and 'Unforgiven' is just a great western with characters that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-fletcher/into-the-wild-had-a-great-sense-of-wild-unpredictable-freedom-that-i/)

[Brendan Fletcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-fletcher/)

> [The greatest activity of which man is capable: Opening up yet another fragment of the frontier of beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-greatest-activity-of-which-man-is-capable-opening-up-yet-another/)

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

> [We're standing on the edge of a new frontier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-griffin/we-re-standing-on-the-edge-of-a-new-frontier/)

Anthony Griffin

> [America is now a space-faring nation. a frontier good for millions of years. The only time remotely comparable was when Columbus discovered a whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/america-is-now-a-space-faring-nation-a-frontier-good-for-millions-of/)

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

## More by Hal Borland

> [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [Weekend planning is a prime time to apply the Deathbed Priority Test: On your deathbed, will you wish you'd spent more prime weekend hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/weekend-planning-is-a-prime-time-to-apply-the-deathbed-priority-test/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/if-you-would-know-strength-and-patience-welcome-the-company-of-trees/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [Of all the everyday plants of the earth, grass is the least pretentious and the most important to mankind. It clothes the earth is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/of-all-the-everyday-plants-of-the-earth-grass-is-the-least/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [ \[The Christmas story\] is as simple as was the Man himself and His teaching. SA simple as the Sermon on the Mount which still… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/the-christmas-story-is-as-simple-as-was-the-man-himself-and-his/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [Any river is really the summation of a whole valley. It shapes not only the land but the life and even the culture of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/any-river-is-really-the-summation-of-a-whole-valley-it-shapes-not/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [Man is wise and constantly in quest of more wisdom; but the ultimate wisdom, which deals with beginnings, remains locked in a seed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/man-is-wise-and-constantly-in-quest-of-more-wisdom-but-the-ultimate/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [There are some things, but not too many, toward which the countryman knows he must be properly respectful if he would avoid pain, sickness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/there-are-some-things-but-not-too-many-toward-which-the-countryman/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [There is a leisure about walking, no matter what pace you set, that lets down the tension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/there-is-a-leisure-about-walking-no-matter-what-pace-you-set-that/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [The earth's distances invite the eye. And as the eye reaches, so must the mind stretch to meet these new horizons. I challenge anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/the-earth-s-distances-invite-the-eye-and-as-the-eye-reaches-so-must/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [The earth turns, and the seasons, and for all his pride and power man cannot temper the winds or change their course. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/the-earth-turns-and-the-seasons-and-for-all-his-pride-and-power-man/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [A snowdrift is a beautiful thing - if it doesn't lie across the path you have to shovel or block the road that leads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/a-snowdrift-is-a-beautiful-thing-if-it-doesn-t-lie-across-the-path/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [“You cn't be suspicious of a tree, accuse a bird or squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/you-cn-t-be-suspicious-of-a-tree-accuse-a-bird-or-squirrel-of/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [If the voice of the brook was not the first song of celebration, it must have been at least an obbligato for that event.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/if-the-voice-of-the-brook-was-not-the-first-song-of-celebration-it/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

> [You fight dandelions all weekend, and late Monday afternoon there they are, pert as all get out, in full and gorgeous bloom, pretty as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/you-fight-dandelions-all-weekend-and-late-monday-afternoon-there-they/)

[Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

[Explore all 70 Hal Borland quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/)

## More Frontier quotes

> [Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/where-there-is-an-open-mind-there-will-always-be-a-frontier/)

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

> [The Kuiper belt region, which I call the third zone because it lies beyond the rocky terrestrial planets and beyond the giant planets, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-stern/the-kuiper-belt-region-which-i-call-the-third-zone-because-it-lies/)

[Alan Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-stern/)

> [Kids in Alaska don't know they're growing up on the Last Frontier. It's just what they see on the license plates, and it's something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/kids-in-alaska-don-t-know-they-re-growing-up-on-the-last-frontier-it/)

[Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/)

> [As a former Apollo astronaut, I think it's safe to say that SpaceX and the other commercial developers embody the 21st century version of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/as-a-former-apollo-astronaut-i-think-it-s-safe-to-say-that-spacex-and/)

[Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/)

> [The real frontier is making these hybrid systems where you expand the capabilities of biology with chemistry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-arnold/the-real-frontier-is-making-these-hybrid-systems-where-you-expand-the/)

[Frances Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-arnold/)

> [The frontier of America is on the Rhine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/the-frontier-of-america-is-on-the-rhine/)

[Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/)

> [“Christmas 2022 revealed the hazards of flying budget airlines.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/christmas-2022-revealed-the-hazards-of-flying-budget-airlines/)

[Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/)

> [“Circumstances could change quickly at the outer edges of the world, bound as they were to the global economy, yet distant from its heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-emmerson/circumstances-could-change-quickly-at-the-outer-edges-of-the-world/)

[Charles Emmerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-emmerson/)

> [It may be proper to observe, that I had now passed the utmost frontier of the white settlements on that border.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bartram/it-may-be-proper-to-observe-that-i-had-now-passed-the-utmost-frontier/)

[William Bartram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bartram/)

> [We're standing on the edge of a new frontier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-griffin/we-re-standing-on-the-edge-of-a-new-frontier/)

Anthony Griffin

> [“Hannah is a vegetarian; Trace is a cattle rancher. Definitely, not a match made in heaven. “A horse with a sense of humor. Was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cricket-rohman/hannah-is-a-vegetarian-trace-is-a-cattle-rancher-definitely-not-a/)

[Cricket Rohman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cricket-rohman/)

> [“We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light a candle that can guide us through the darkness to a safe and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/we-are-not-here-to-curse-the-darkness-but-to-light-a-candle-that-can/)

[John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/)

> [Could it be, I wonder, that there is such a thing as a wantologist, someone we can hire to figure out what we want?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlie-russell-hochschild/could-it-be-i-wonder-that-there-is-such-a-thing-as-a-wantologist/)

[Arlie Russell Hochschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlie-russell-hochschild/)

> [It's my luck to be at the frontier of what looks to be a resurrection of roots music on the international scene. That's really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-marley/it-s-my-luck-to-be-at-the-frontier-of-what-looks-to-be-a-resurrection/)

[Damian Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-marley/)

> [What we have been living for three decades is frontier capitalism, with the frontier constantly shifting location from crisis to crisis, moving on as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/what-we-have-been-living-for-three-decades-is-frontier-capitalism/)

[Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/)

[Browse all 166 Frontier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frontier/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "A frontier is never a place; it is a time and a way of life.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Hal Borland"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/a-frontier-is-never-a-place-it-is-a-time-and-a-way-of-life/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Frontier"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/a-frontier-is-never-a-place-it-is-a-time-and-a-way-of-life/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/hal-borland-9706_frontier_a-frontier-is-never-a-place-it-is-a-time_141995.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/hal-borland-9706_frontier_a-frontier-is-never-a-place-it-is-a-time_141995.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5c/hal-borland-9706_frontier_a-frontier-is-never-a-place-it-is-a-time_141995.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“A frontier is never a place; it is a time and a way of life.” — Hal Borland",
                "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": "Hal Borland",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "A frontier is never a place;...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/a-frontier-is-never-a-place-it-is-a-time-and-a-way-of-life/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/a-frontier-is-never-a-place-it-is-a-time-and-a-way-of-life/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```