--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's a terrible thing, I think, in life…" description: "\"“It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There's..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/691/hugh-laurie-2413_activity_it-s-a-terrible-thing-i-think-in-life-to_14499.jpg" --- # It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until… ![“It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There's almost no such thing as ready. There's only now. And you may as well do it now. I mean, I say that confidently as if I'm about to go bungee jumping…” quote by Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/691/hugh-laurie-2413_activity_it-s-a-terrible-thing-i-think-in-life-to_14499.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/691/hugh-laurie-2413_activity_it-s-a-terrible-thing-i-think-in-life-to_14499.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/691/hugh-laurie-2413_activity_it-s-a-terrible-thing-i-think-in-life-to_14499.jpg) > ““It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There's almost no such thing as ready. There's only now. And you may as well do it now. I mean, I say that confidently as if I'm about to go bungee jumping or something--I'm not. I'm not a crazed risk taker. But I do think that, generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.”” [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that waiting for perfect readiness is futile; action should be taken in the present because true readiness rarely exists. **In simple terms:** Act now, don’t wait for readiness. Key Takeaway Now is the only viable moment for action. Themes impermanence agency motivation risk timing Mood determined urgent optimistic Type advice philosophical motivational When to use this quote - starting a new project - making a career change - overcoming procrastination - taking a personal risk Key Concepts readiness present-moment decision-making Practical Applications - personal development coaching - motivational speaking Questions to Reflect On - What does 'ready' mean to you? - How can you create conditions that make action possible now? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bungee jumping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bungee-jumping/) [Carpe diem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carpe-diem/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Risk Taker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk-taker/) [Timing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/timing/) ## Related quotes > [It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/it-s-a-terrible-thing-i-think-in-life-to-wait-until-you-re-ready-i-2/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [“I don't think it's a matter of ready-I mean, not in an all-the-way sense. You're never completely ready-you just get to the point where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cohn/i-don-t-think-it-s-a-matter-of-ready-i-mean-not-in-an-all-the-way/) [Rachel Cohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cohn/) > [Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be andhe will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/treat-a-man-as-he-is-and-he-will-remain-as-he-is-treat-a-man-as-he/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You have the choice to either pray then plan or pray and wait; but keep in mind miracles are usually accessed somewhere between the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnnie-dent-jr/you-have-the-choice-to-either-pray-then-plan-or-pray-and-wait-but/) [Johnnie Dent Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnnie-dent-jr/) > [“We have within us the power to choose how we respond to a hurtful situation. We cannot control the actions of others, but we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-c-taylor/we-have-within-us-the-power-to-choose-how-we-respond-to-a-hurtful/) [Cameron C. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-c-taylor/) > [“Wouldn't it be ironic if everyone who got a radio up and running just sat around waiting for everyone else to transmit a message?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-hamill/wouldn-t-it-be-ironic-if-everyone-who-got-a-radio-up-and-running-just/) [Patricia Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-hamill/) > [“It is better to beg forgiveness, than ask permission.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-murray-hopper/it-is-better-to-beg-forgiveness-than-ask-permission/) [Grace Murray Hopper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-murray-hopper/) > [“Are you ready for this thing called life? 'Cause I can't do it without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-aleo/are-you-ready-for-this-thing-called-life-cause-i-can-t-do-it-without/) [Toni Aleo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-aleo/) > [A role is never just a ready-made thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-granik/a-role-is-never-just-a-ready-made-thing/) [Debra Granik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-granik/) > [To be ready is one thing, to be able to wait is another; but to seize the right moment is everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schnitzler/to-be-ready-is-one-thing-to-be-able-to-wait-is-another-but-to-seize/) [Arthur Schnitzler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schnitzler/) > [“Ready to cry ready to dy ready for any thing is how I come to it now. In fear and tremmering only not running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-hoban/ready-to-cry-ready-to-dy-ready-for-any-thing-is-how-i-come-to-it-now/) [Russell Hoban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-hoban/) > [Our friends are generally ready to do everything for us, except the very thing we wish them to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/our-friends-are-generally-ready-to-do-everything-for-us-except-the/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [No one is ready for a thing until he believes he can acquire it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/no-one-is-ready-for-a-thing-until-he-believes-he-can-acquire-it/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [When one is truly ready for a thing, it puts in its appearance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/when-one-is-truly-ready-for-a-thing-it-puts-in-its-appearance/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [“Good things don’t wait until you’re ready. Sometimes they come right before, when you’re almost there. And I figured when that happens, you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-jenkins-reid/good-things-don-t-wait-until-you-re-ready-sometimes-they-come-right/) [Taylor Jenkins Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-jenkins-reid/) ## More by Hugh Laurie > [Ideas are 10 a penny. It's the execution that's the hard thing to do. House is standing up against a tide of sentiment and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/ideas-are-10-a-penny-it-s-the-execution-that-s-the-hard-thing-to-do/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [To be a head boy, you have to be very clever, you have to be a scholar, and I was never a scholar in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/to-be-a-head-boy-you-have-to-be-very-clever-you-have-to-be-a-scholar/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [To me, he's a hero, ... He's not polite. He's not someone you want to take home to meet your mother, necessarily. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/to-me-he-s-a-hero-he-s-not-polite-he-s-not-someone-you-want-to-take/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [People will survive, and they will find happiness. Happiness only comes when you're not looking for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/people-will-survive-and-they-will-find-happiness-happiness-only-comes/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [It alarms me to think of all that I have read and how little of it has stayed with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/it-alarms-me-to-think-of-all-that-i-have-read-and-how-little-of-it/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [This was the tricky bit. The really tricky bit, trickiness cubed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/this-was-the-tricky-bit-the-really-tricky-bit-trickiness-cubed/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [“We want different things. Men want to have sex with a woman. Then they want to have sex with another woman. And then another.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/we-want-different-things-men-want-to-have-sex-with-a-woman-then-they/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [I travel to work on my motorcycle, so it's jeans, boots and a brown Aero leather jacket that weighs as much as I do.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/i-travel-to-work-on-my-motorcycle-so-it-s-jeans-boots-and-a-brown/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [I just read an 800-page history of the Scottish Enlightenment and, honestly, I may as well just start it again now, because I cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/i-just-read-an-800-page-history-of-the-scottish-enlightenment-and/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [The only good thing I've ever noticed about money, the only positive aspect of an otherwise pretty vulgar commodity, is that you can use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/the-only-good-thing-i-ve-ever-noticed-about-money-the-only-positive/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [“Plus laid aussi qu'un parking”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/plus-laid-aussi-qu-un-parking/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [I was too shy, I think, to sing publicly. 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And when I was young, I was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/i-was-too-shy-i-think-to-sing-publicly-it-takes-a-particular-kind-of/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [Acting is largely about putting on masks, and music is about removing them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/acting-is-largely-about-putting-on-masks-and-music-is-about-removing/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [“I said no thank you a dozen times, and fuck off once.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/i-said-no-thank-you-a-dozen-times-and-fuck-off-once/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [I never thought I'd end up living in Los Angeles while my children grew up in Britain, but here I am, and we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/i-never-thought-i-d-end-up-living-in-los-angeles-while-my-children/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) [Explore all 159 Hugh Laurie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) ## More Activity quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [For the longest time, neuroscientists were forced to be passive observers of brain activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gero-miesenbock/for-the-longest-time-neuroscientists-were-forced-to-be-passive/) Gero Miesenbock > [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I have to consider everything I eat; I consider every activity I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kimball/i-have-to-consider-everything-i-eat-i-consider-every-activity-i-do/) [Charlie Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kimball/) > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. 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