--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Dear God, teach me to be careless." description: "\"Dear God, teach me to be careless.\" — Hanif Kureishi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca9/hanif-kureishi-3233_careless_dear-god-teach-me-to-be-careless-2522923_2522923.jpg" --- # Dear God, teach me to be careless. ![“Dear God, teach me to be careless.” quote by Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca9/hanif-kureishi-3233_careless_dear-god-teach-me-to-be-careless-2522923_2522923.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca9/hanif-kureishi-3233_careless_dear-god-teach-me-to-be-careless-2522923_2522923.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca9/hanif-kureishi-3233_careless_dear-god-teach-me-to-be-careless-2522923_2522923.jpg) > “Dear God, teach me to be careless.” [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He asks for divine guidance to become carefree, highlighting a desire for freedom from over‑thinking. **In simple terms:** Pray to become less cautious. Key Takeaway Embrace spontaneity. Themes spirituality carefreeness desire Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - meditation - creative pursuits - letting go Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does being carefree mean to you? - How can you balance freedom and responsibility? A Different Perspective Carelessness may lead to reckless choices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Careless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/careless/) [Dear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dear/) [Dear god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dear-god/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [God Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-teach-278594/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) [Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach/) [Teach Careless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach-careless-1268604/) ## Related quotes > [The only power a god can teach is the power of doing without happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-only-power-a-god-can-teach-is-the-power-of-doing-without-happiness/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The school of suffering never graduates any students, so ask God to teach to you the lessons He wants you to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-w-wiersbe/the-school-of-suffering-never-graduates-any-students-so-ask-god-to/) [Warren W. 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That a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophilus/today-i-learned-that-things-happen-when-they-have-to-happen-that/) [Theophilus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophilus/) > [Teach him to think for himself? Oh, my God, teach him rather to think like other people!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/teach-him-to-think-for-himself-oh-my-god-teach-him-rather-to-think/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples; even though some of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-patrick/if-i-have-any-worth-it-is-to-live-my-life-for-god-so-as-to-teach/) [Saint Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-patrick/) > [“Oh God, teach us thy truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/oh-god-teach-us-thy-truth/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) ## More by Hanif Kureishi > [I'm always writing. I'm an obsessive. It's not because I'm a disciplined person. It's because I'm crazy about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/i-m-always-writing-i-m-an-obsessive-it-s-not-because-i-m-a/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [I've never had any desire to be good. I don't like goodness particularly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/i-ve-never-had-any-desire-to-be-good-i-don-t-like-goodness/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [ Harvey \[Weinstein\] didn't want to release \[MY SON THE FANATIC\]; he held it for two years because he wanted a happy ending, although I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/harvey-weinstein-didn-t-want-to-release-my-son-the-fanatic-he-held-it/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [“Starenje nije za slabice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/starenje-nije-za-slabice/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [“Ali isto tako sam i shvatio da prestupnistvo samo ucvrscuje pravila koja pokusava da prekrsi. Nista ne osnazuje normu kao odstupanje od nje.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/ali-isto-tako-sam-i-shvatio-da-prestupnistvo-samo-ucvrscuje-pravila/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [One would hope, as well that intimacy would leave more of a mark, that more of it would remain. But it doesn’t. You just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/one-would-hope-as-well-that-intimacy-would-leave-more-of-a-mark-that/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [“You see people truly when they enjoy the most.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/you-see-people-truly-when-they-enjoy-the-most/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [I guess writing is a kind of therapy in the sense that there are things you need to say and you say them, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/i-guess-writing-is-a-kind-of-therapy-in-the-sense-that-there-are/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [What a quality of innocence people have when they don't expect to be harmed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/what-a-quality-of-innocence-people-have-when-they-don-t-expect-to-be/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [“People who were only ever half right about things drove me mad. I hated the flood of opinion, the certainty, the easy talk about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/people-who-were-only-ever-half-right-about-things-drove-me-mad-i/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [“Desire is naughty and doesn't conform to our ideals, which is why we have such a need of them. Desire mocks all human endeavour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/desire-is-naughty-and-doesn-t-conform-to-our-ideals-which-is-why-we/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [I began to enjoy my own generosity; I felt the pleasure of pleasing others, especially as this was accompanied by money-power. I was paying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/i-began-to-enjoy-my-own-generosity-i-felt-the-pleasure-of-pleasing/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [“Maybe you never stop feeling like an eight-year-old in front of your parents. 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We are as careless with our personal resources as we are with the resources of nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-crook-de-camp/we-americans-tend-to-be-a-prodigal-lot-we-are-as-careless-with-our/) [Catherine Crook de Camp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-crook-de-camp/) > [“The rich eat life, the poor eat death; so what is the problem they ask?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/the-rich-eat-life-the-poor-eat-death-so-what-is-the-problem-they-ask/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [the greater part of the suffering in the world is caused not by wicked intents and hard hearts, but by the careless desire to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marah-ellis-ryan/the-greater-part-of-the-suffering-in-the-world-is-caused-not-by/) [Marah Ellis Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marah-ellis-ryan/) > [It is the habit of mankind to entrust to careless hope what they long for, and to use sovereign reason to thrust aside what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/it-is-the-habit-of-mankind-to-entrust-to-careless-hope-what-they-long/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [And hast thou sworn on every slight pretence, Till perjuries are common as bad pence, While thousands, careless of the damning sin, Kiss the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cowper/and-hast-thou-sworn-on-every-slight-pretence-till-perjuries-are/) [William Cowper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cowper/) > [“They are not brave, the days when we are twenty-one. 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Your life becomes so narrow, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tsoknyi-rinpoche/being-carefree-you-can-fit-in-anywhere-if-you-re-not-carefree-you/) [Tsoknyi Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tsoknyi-rinpoche/) > [The paradox of courage is that a man must be a little careless of his life even in order to keep it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-paradox-of-courage-is-that-a-man-must-be-a-little-careless-of-his/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Phaedra shook her head. “If your people mean no offense, they should not speak their thoughts out loud in front of their children, Tesadora.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/phaedra-shook-her-head-if-your-people-mean-no-offense-they-should-not/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [Galvanized people can do careless things. It is in the extreme and emotion-laden moments that distance and coolness are most required. 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