--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you’re surrounded by endless…" description: "\"“When you’re surrounded by endless possibilities, one of the hardest things you can do is pass them up.”\" — Haruki Murakami" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_when-you-re-surrounded-by-endless-possib_180581.jpg" --- # When you’re surrounded by endless possibilities, one of… ![“When you’re surrounded by endless possibilities, one of the hardest things you can do is pass them up.” quote by Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_when-you-re-surrounded-by-endless-possib_180581.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_when-you-re-surrounded-by-endless-possib_180581.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_when-you-re-surrounded-by-endless-possib_180581.jpg) > ““When you’re surrounded by endless possibilities, one of the hardest things you can do is pass them up.”” [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When faced with limitless options, the hardest choice is often to reject them, leading to missed opportunities. **In simple terms:** Too many choices make it hard to act. Key Takeaway Choose and act rather than overthink. Themes choice possibility indecision action opportunity Mood thoughtful motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career decisions - dating options - investment choices - creative projects Key Concepts decision fatigue paradox of choice Questions to Reflect On - How do you prioritize options? - What small step can you take now? A Different Perspective Too many options can cause paralysis, not just missed chances. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Endless possibilities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endless-possibilities/) [Possibilities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibilities/) ## Related quotes > [“All things pass. None of us can manage to hold on to anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/all-things-pass-none-of-us-can-manage-to-hold-on-to-anything/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Things pass us by. Nobody can catch them. That's the way we live our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/things-pass-us-by-nobody-can-catch-them-that-s-the-way-we-live-our/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I've always tried to not put a limit on myself. There are endless possibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armand-duplantis/i-ve-always-tried-to-not-put-a-limit-on-myself-there-are-endless/) [Armand Duplantis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armand-duplantis/) > [With science fiction there's endless possibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-torv/with-science-fiction-there-s-endless-possibilities/) [Anna Torv](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-torv/) > [The challenges of life, lead us to the challenges in love, coupled with the endless possibilities of the two.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-challenges-of-life-lead-us-to-the-challenges-in-love-coupled-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Life is a paradise of endless possibilities!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/life-is-a-paradise-of-endless-possibilities/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“As long as you have life...you also have endless possibilities!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-pina/as-long-as-you-have-life-you-also-have-endless-possibilities/) [Timothy Pina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-pina/) > [I wanted to become an artist because it meant endless possibilities. Art was a way of reinventing myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-taylor-wood/i-wanted-to-become-an-artist-because-it-meant-endless-possibilities/) [Sam Taylor-Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-taylor-wood/) > [“Beyond low self esteem, there is a bright horizon of endless possibilities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athene-mutyambizi/beyond-low-self-esteem-there-is-a-bright-horizon-of-endless/) Athene Mutyambizi > [I think the reality-show format is brilliant, has endless possibilities. It's documentary! But unfortunately, it's rarely executed well. So it becomes just a scripted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-kirk/i-think-the-reality-show-format-is-brilliant-has-endless/) [Justin Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-kirk/) > [It has endless possibilities, and but what we do with our arrangements, we move the borders of cello playing and discover new ways of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luka-sulic/it-has-endless-possibilities-and-but-what-we-do-with-our-arrangements/) [Luka Sulic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luka-sulic/) > [I will be vigilant to protect the independence and integrity of the Supreme Court, and I will work to ensure that it upholds the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roberts/i-will-be-vigilant-to-protect-the-independence-and-integrity-of-the/) [John Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roberts/) > [“I play the if game too, Tavish. It´s practically a hobby of mine, but I´ve found it´s a game of endless possibilities with no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-e-pearson/i-play-the-if-game-too-tavish-it-s-practically-a-hobby-of-mine-but-i/) [Mary E. Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-e-pearson/) > [“If human beings possessed endless possibilities, then cities contained exponential hopes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/if-human-beings-possessed-endless-possibilities-then-cities-contained/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [I love our shared island, our shared Ireland and its core decency. I love it for its imagination and its celebration of the endless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-d-higgins/i-love-our-shared-island-our-shared-ireland-and-its-core-decency-i/) [Michael D. Higgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-d-higgins/) ## More by Haruki Murakami > [I always feel like I'm struggling to become someone else. Like I'm trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-always-feel-like-i-m-struggling-to-become-someone-else-like-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-writing-novels-is-like-planting-a-forest-then-writing-short/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too soon needed ten, then thirty, thena full minute...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-sad-truth-is-that-what-i-could-recall-in-five-seconds-all-too/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Intelligent teenage girls were often instinctively theatrical, purposely eccentric, mouthing highly suggestive words to confuse people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/intelligent-teenage-girls-were-often-instinctively-theatrical/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory. This really came home to me once I started writing fiction, that memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/memory-is-like-fiction-or-else-it-s-fiction-that-s-like-memory-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The most dangerous creature here would have to be me. So maybe I'm just scared of my own shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-most-dangerous-creature-here-would-have-to-be-me-so-maybe-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If you listen to the radio for a whole hour there's maybe one decent song. The rest is mass-produced garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-listen-to-the-radio-for-a-whole-hour-there-s-maybe-one-decent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“that one of our problems was our inability to recognize and accept our own deformities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/that-one-of-our-problems-was-our-inability-to-recognize-and-accept/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When I look back at myself at age twenty, what I remember most is being alone and lonely. I had no girlfriend to warm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-look-back-at-myself-at-age-twenty-what-i-remember-most-is/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“There's not a branch of publishing or broadcasting that doesn't depend in some way on advertising. It'd be like an aquarium without water. 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Some people make huge model boats out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/some-people-get-a-kick-out-of-reading-railway-timetables-and-that-s/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When the time comes, everybody’s got to end up where they belong. Only me, I didn’t have a place to call my own. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-the-time-comes-everybody-s-got-to-end-up-where-they-belong-only/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“You let something out of the bag before yourself knew what it was all about”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/you-let-something-out-of-the-bag-before-yourself-knew-what-it-was-all/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Explore all 2,928 Haruki Murakami quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## More Dostoyevsky quotes > [The soul is healed by being with children. --Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-soul-is-healed-by-being-with-children-fyodor-dostoyevsky/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“From an encounter in 1862... “Dickens told me,” Dostoyevsky recalled in a letter written years later, “that all the good, simple people in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/from-an-encounter-in-1862-dickens-told-me-dostoyevsky-recalled-in-a/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [If they can learn to say Tchaikovsky and Michelangelo and Dostoyevsky, they can learn to say Uzoamaka.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uzo-aduba/if-they-can-learn-to-say-tchaikovsky-and-michelangelo-and-dostoyevsky/) [Uzo Aduba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uzo-aduba/) > [ “\[Dostoyevsky\] eloquently proves that heartless ideas are often a source of immorality: they bring with them destructiveness, hatred, cynicism, and misanthropy. The novelist also… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-l-kline/dostoyevsky-eloquently-proves-that-heartless-ideas-are-often-a-source/) George L. Kline > [“Gogol was usually the leading social poet, while Dostoyevsky usually the leading psychological poet. The former is known as the representative of the contemporary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerian-maykov/gogol-was-usually-the-leading-social-poet-while-dostoyevsky-usually/) Valerian Maykov > [“Then it happened. One night as the rain beat on the slanted kitchen roof a great spirit slipped forever into my life. I held…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fante/then-it-happened-one-night-as-the-rain-beat-on-the-slanted-kitchen/) [John Fante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fante/) > [As a piece of literacy criticism, Freud's best writing is about Dostoyevsky. It's a kind of displaced literacy criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/as-a-piece-of-literacy-criticism-freud-s-best-writing-is-about/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [“You must write as if Dostoyevsky himself will be reading your novel, and Shakespeare will be acting it out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-westover/you-must-write-as-if-dostoyevsky-himself-will-be-reading-your-novel/) [Christina Westover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-westover/) > [In adopting the form of the adventure novel, Wells deepened it, raised its intellectual value, and brought into it elements of social philosophy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/in-adopting-the-form-of-the-adventure-novel-wells-deepened-it-raised/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [“Dostoyevsky says, “love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams” (The Brothers Karamazov).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/dostoyevsky-says-love-in-action-is-a-harsh-and-dreadful-thing/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [A cultivated and decent man cannot be vain without setting a fearfully high standard for himself, and without despising and almost hating himself at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-cultivated-and-decent-man-cannot-be-vain-without-setting-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Many a person has been saved from summer alcoholism, not to mention hypertoxicity, by Dostoyevsky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-blount-jr/many-a-person-has-been-saved-from-summer-alcoholism-not-to-mention/) [Roy Blount, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-blount-jr/) > [“Two kinds of writers. Those who think this life is all there is, and want to describe everything: the fall, the battle, the accouchement,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/two-kinds-of-writers-those-who-think-this-life-is-all-there-is-and/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“A novel! Why do you say this won't liberate anyone? Where does any man go to be free, whether he is poor or rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/a-novel-why-do-you-say-this-won-t-liberate-anyone-where-does-any-man/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“...thinking about laughing with 2 yr old Findlay today - Dostoyevsky was right, “The soul is healed by being with children.” ...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/thinking-about-laughing-with-2-yr-old-findlay-today-dostoyevsky-was/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) Browse all 99 Dostoyevsky quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When you’re surrounded by endless possibilities, one of the hardest things you can do is pass them up.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Haruki Murakami" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-you-re-surrounded-by-endless-possibilities-one-of-the-hardest/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dostoyevsky" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-you-re-surrounded-by-endless-possibilities-one-of-the-hardest/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_when-you-re-surrounded-by-endless-possib_180581.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_when-you-re-surrounded-by-endless-possib_180581.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/haruki-murakami-21_dostoyevsky_when-you-re-surrounded-by-endless-possib_180581.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When you’re surrounded by endless possibilities, one of the hardest things you can do is pass them up.” — Haruki Murakami", "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": "Haruki Murakami", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“When you’re surrounded by endless possibilities,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-you-re-surrounded-by-endless-possibilities-one-of-the-hardest/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-you-re-surrounded-by-endless-possibilities-one-of-the-hardest/#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 } } ] } ```