--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So unless we’re going to get down on our…" description: "\"“So unless we’re going to get down on our knees and give thanks every time disaster misses, it makes no sense to moan when it strikes. Us, or anyone el..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d9/hugh-laurie-2413_disaster_so-unless-we-re-going-to-get-down-on-our_891288.png" --- # So unless we’re going to get down on our knees and give… ![“So unless we’re going to get down on our knees and give thanks every time disaster misses, it makes no sense to moan when it strikes. Us, or anyone else. Because we’re not comparing it with anything. And anyway, we’re all dead, or never born, and the whole thing really is a dream. There, you see…” quote by Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d9/hugh-laurie-2413_disaster_so-unless-we-re-going-to-get-down-on-our_891288.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d9/hugh-laurie-2413_disaster_so-unless-we-re-going-to-get-down-on-our_891288.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d9/hugh-laurie-2413_disaster_so-unless-we-re-going-to-get-down-on-our_891288.png) > ““So unless we’re going to get down on our knees and give thanks every time disaster misses, it makes no sense to moan when it strikes. Us, or anyone else. Because we’re not comparing it with anything. And anyway, we’re all dead, or never born, and the whole thing really is a dream. There, you see. That’s a funny side.”” [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. Gratitude for avoided disaster is futile; life is fleeting and possibly illusory. **In simple terms:** Don’t dwell on avoided misfortunes. Key Takeaway Live presently. Themes gratitude mortality perspective Mood philosophical humorous Type reflective wry When to use this quote - recovering from illness - natural disasters - personal loss Key Concepts existentialism stoicism Questions to Reflect On - What does “the whole thing is a dream” imply? - How can you balance gratitude with realistic planning? A Different Perspective Focusing on gratitude may improve resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disaster/) ## Related quotes > [Death and disaster are at our shoulders every second of our lives, trying to get at us. Missing, a lot of the time. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/death-and-disaster-are-at-our-shoulders-every-second-of-our-lives/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [We didn't want to live anymore in the old logic. And I like that. The consequence of that is to create the dream of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-serra/we-didn-t-want-to-live-anymore-in-the-old-logic-and-i-like-that-the/) [Albert Serra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-serra/) > [Misogyny was rife when I started out. You'd moan about it with your friends, but you just got on with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-redman/misogyny-was-rife-when-i-started-out-you-d-moan-about-it-with-your/) [Amanda Redman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-redman/) > [“When I have you bent over this couch, which one of your names should I moan?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-mummert/when-i-have-you-bent-over-this-couch-which-one-of-your-names-should-i/) [Teresa Mummert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-mummert/) > [“A testimony = a test often accompanied by a moan!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evinda-lepins/a-testimony-a-test-often-accompanied-by-a-moan/) [Evinda Lepins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evinda-lepins/) > [“I would pour out the contents of my heart and set it all aflame, just to hear her impossible mouth slowly moan my name.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirk-diedrich/i-would-pour-out-the-contents-of-my-heart-and-set-it-all-aflame-just/) [Kirk Diedrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirk-diedrich/) > [“And hear across the moan of many seas The whisper and the laughter of my brook.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-hay-whitney/and-hear-across-the-moan-of-many-seas-the-whisper-and-the-laughter-of/) Helen Hay Whitney > [You moan a lot and jingle your change But let's face it, there's no escape You can flick the remote as much as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-walter-bratton/you-moan-a-lot-and-jingle-your-change-but-let-s-face-it-there-s-no/) [John Walter Bratton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-walter-bratton/) > [I can't stand it when writers moan about what film-makers might do or have done to their books. There's a very simple answer: don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/i-can-t-stand-it-when-writers-moan-about-what-film-makers-might-do-or/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [“Go Moan for Man”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/go-moan-for-man/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Pompous asses knows how to put the moan in sanctimonious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-hargreaves/pompous-asses-knows-how-to-put-the-moan-in-sanctimonious/) [Andy Hargreaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-hargreaves/) > [Damn nigga calm down... i aint trying to steal your ho i just wanna make her wet make her moan my name](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tay/damn-nigga-calm-down-i-aint-trying-to-steal-your-ho-i-just-wanna-make/) [Tay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tay/) > [Oh baby can you hear me moan?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muse/oh-baby-can-you-hear-me-moan/) [Muse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muse/) > [So let me be thy choir, and make a moan Upon the midnight hours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/so-let-me-be-thy-choir-and-make-a-moan-upon-the-midnight-hours/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [But woe to him, who left to moan, Reviews the hours of brightness gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/but-woe-to-him-who-left-to-moan-reviews-the-hours-of-brightness-gone/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) ## More by Hugh Laurie > [“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/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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. It takes a particular kind of person. 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/) [Explore all 159 Hugh Laurie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) ## More Disaster quotes > [Public infrastructure around the world is facing unprecedented stress, with hurricanes, cyclones, floods and forest fires all increasing in frequency and intensity. It's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/public-infrastructure-around-the-world-is-facing-unprecedented-stress/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [One of the undervalued contributors to Trump's stunning 2016 victory was the masterful performance Pence had in his debate against Hillary Clinton running mate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mollie-hemingway/one-of-the-undervalued-contributors-to-trump-s-stunning-2016-victory/) [Mollie Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mollie-hemingway/) > [You know, we can't beat ISIS. We can't do anything. We can't take care of our vets. We can't have good health care. "Obama…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/you-know-we-can-t-beat-isis-we-can-t-do-anything-we-can-t-take-care/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [My mind shrank from the menace sweeping down on us, as children's do from belief in death and misfortune, vainly clinging to the fancy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-pankhurst/my-mind-shrank-from-the-menace-sweeping-down-on-us-as-children-s-do/) [Sylvia Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-pankhurst/) > [The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-compensations-of-calamity-are-made-apparent-to-the-understanding/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [You can't have people making decisions about the future of the world who are scientifically illiterate. That's a recipe for disaster. And I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/you-can-t-have-people-making-decisions-about-the-future-of-the-world/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“She was—of course—perfectly normal— quiet and polite and reasonably intelligent and...normal and self destructive and lonely and terrified of every thing And she loved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tah-the-trickster/she-was-of-course-perfectly-normal-quiet-and-polite-and-reasonably/) Tah the Trickster > [Obviously, it's my goal to be the top scorer in the Bundesliga, but it wouldn't be a disaster if I didn't achieve that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-gomez/obviously-it-s-my-goal-to-be-the-top-scorer-in-the-bundesliga-but-it/) [Mario Gomez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-gomez/) > [Yes, life in Chechnya so far looks more like a life after a natural disaster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/yes-life-in-chechnya-so-far-looks-more-like-a-life-after-a-natural/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [Even disasters -- there are always disasters when you travel -- can be turned into adventures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-french/even-disasters-there-are-always-disasters-when-you-travel-can-be/) [Marilyn French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-french/) > [We are always just one successful terrorist attack away from a nuclear disaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-thompson/we-are-always-just-one-successful-terrorist-attack-away-from-a/) [Fred Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-thompson/) > [WHANGDEPOOTENAWAH, n. In the Ojibwa tongue, disaster; an unexpected affliction that strikes hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/whangdepootenawah-n-in-the-ojibwa-tongue-disaster-an-unexpected/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Architects mostly work for privileged people, people who have money and power, Power and money are invisible, so people hire us to visualize their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shigeru-ban/architects-mostly-work-for-privileged-people-people-who-have-money/) [Shigeru Ban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shigeru-ban/) > [The only aspect of our travels that is interesting to others is disaster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-gellmanmartha-gellman/the-only-aspect-of-our-travels-that-is-interesting-to-others-is/) Martha GellmanMartha Gellman [Browse all 2,239 Disaster quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disaster/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So unless we’re going to get down on our knees and give thanks every time disaster misses, it makes no sense to moan when it strikes. 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