--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So now, less than five years later, you…" description: "\"“So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94b/hunter-s-thompson-278_five-years_so-now-less-than-five-years-later-you-ca_2706474.jpg" --- # So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a… ![“So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.” quote by Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94b/hunter-s-thompson-278_five-years_so-now-less-than-five-years-later-you-ca_2706474.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94b/hunter-s-thompson-278_five-years_so-now-less-than-five-years-later-you-ca_2706474.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94b/hunter-s-thompson-278_five-years_so-now-less-than-five-years-later-you-ca_2706474.jpg) > ““So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”” [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Observing the horizon with insight reveals the limits of chaos, marking where turbulence ends. **In simple terms:** Insight shows where chaos stops. Key Takeaway Seek perspective to find calm. Themes perception chaos insight environment Mood reflective adventurous Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - travel - meditation - creative work - stress management Key Concepts philosophy of observation psychology of stress geography of mind Questions to Reflect On - What “high‑water mark” have you identified in life? - How does changing your view alter your experience? A Different Perspective Perspective can be biased, missing hidden turmoil. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Las vegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/las-vegas/) [River](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river/) [Vegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vegas/) ## Related quotes > [“It seems like a lifetime, or at least a Main Era — the kind of peak that never comes again. San Francisco in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/it-seems-like-a-lifetime-or-at-least-a-main-era-the-kind-of-peak-that/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [“Strange memories on this nervous night in Las Vegas. Five years later? Six? It seems like a lifetime, or at least a Main Era—the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/strange-memories-on-this-nervous-night-in-las-vegas-five-years-later/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [And that, I think, was the handle--that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/and-that-i-think-was-the-handle-that-sense-of-inevitable-victory-over/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [“There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/there-was-madness-in-any-direction-at-any-hour-if-not-across-the-bay/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [“Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run… but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/maybe-it-meant-something-maybe-not-in-the-long-run-but-no-explanation-2/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [“Why did we so consistently look at the West through the sights of a rifle?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-flores/why-did-we-so-consistently-look-at-the-west-through-the-sights-of-a/) Dan Flores > [Men look to the East for the dawning things, for the light of a raising sun But they look to the West, to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-malloch/men-look-to-the-east-for-the-dawning-things-for-the-light-of-a/) [Douglas Malloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-malloch/) > [Believe me, I look back on West Ham in a good way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-allardyce/believe-me-i-look-back-on-west-ham-in-a-good-way/) [Sam Allardyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-allardyce/) > [If you stand over on the edge of the west coast of Ireland and look west, you are looking at something you can't see,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-scully/if-you-stand-over-on-the-edge-of-the-west-coast-of-ireland-and-look/) [Sean Scully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-scully/) > [There's that feeling I get when I look to the west, and my spirit is crying for leaving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/led-zeppelin/there-s-that-feeling-i-get-when-i-look-to-the-west-and-my-spirit-is/) [Led Zeppelin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/led-zeppelin/) > [“There's a feeling I get when I look to the west, And my spirit is crying for leaving. In my thoughts I have seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/led-zeppelin/there-s-a-feeling-i-get-when-i-look-to-the-west-and-my-spirit-is/) [Led Zeppelin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/led-zeppelin/) > [They all know I'm back, very much back, and that I will be the general president again come hell or high water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-hoffa/they-all-know-i-m-back-very-much-back-and-that-i-will-be-the-general/) [Jimmy Hoffa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-hoffa/) > [An awful lot of people are living only a foot above high water and do not know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-t-williams-ii/an-awful-lot-of-people-are-living-only-a-foot-above-high-water-and-do/) James T. Williams II > [“Through Hell or high water." "It'll probably be both.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/through-hell-or-high-water-it-ll-probably-be-both/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [Once I finished 'Sicario,' I knew I wanted to follow it up with 'Hell or High Water.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-sheridan/once-i-finished-sicario-i-knew-i-wanted-to-follow-it-up-with-hell-or/) [Taylor Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-sheridan/) ## More by Hunter S. Thompson > [“There was also the fact that sending a penniless writer to get $135 worth of beer was — as Khrushchev said of Nixon —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/there-was-also-the-fact-that-sending-a-penniless-writer-to-get-135/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [“Cases of champagne and scotch lay broken in the street, and everyone I saw had a bottle. They were screaming and dancing, and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/cases-of-champagne-and-scotch-lay-broken-in-the-street-and-everyone-i/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [No music + Bad TV = Bad mood & no pages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/no-music-bad-tv-bad-mood-no-pages/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [By disgracing and degrading the presidency of the United States, by fleeing the White House like a diseased cur, Richard Nixon broke the heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/by-disgracing-and-degrading-the-presidency-of-the-united-states-by/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [No one holds command over me. No man. No god. No Prince. What is a claim of age for ones who are immortal? What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/no-one-holds-command-over-me-no-man-no-god-no-prince-what-is-a-claim/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [“The person who doesn't scatter the morning dew will not comb grey hairs”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/the-person-who-doesn-t-scatter-the-morning-dew-will-not-comb-grey/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [Hope rises and dreams flicker and die. Love plans for tomorrow and loneliness thinks of yesterday. Life is beautiful and living is pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/hope-rises-and-dreams-flicker-and-die-love-plans-for-tomorrow-and/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [If we get chased out of Iraq with our tail between our legs, that will be the fifth consecutive Third-world country with no hint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/if-we-get-chased-out-of-iraq-with-our-tail-between-our-legs-that-will/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [At age 22 I set what I insist is an all-time record for distance hitchhiking in Bermuda shorts: 3,700 miles in three weeks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/at-age-22-i-set-what-i-insist-is-an-all-time-record-for-distance/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [Paranoia is just another mask for ignorance. The truth, when you finally chase it down is almost always far worse than your darkest visions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/paranoia-is-just-another-mask-for-ignorance-the-truth-when-you/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [“No doubt they all Got What Was Coming To Them. All those pathetically eager acid freaks who thought they could buy Peace and Understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/no-doubt-they-all-got-what-was-coming-to-them-all-those-pathetically/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [“For several months they'd been drifting toward political involvement, but the picture was hazy and one of the most confusing elements was their geographical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/for-several-months-they-d-been-drifting-toward-political-involvement/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [He wandered into the Newsroom and asked for a job the same way he’d walk into a barbershop and ask for a haircut, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/he-wandered-into-the-newsroom-and-asked-for-a-job-the-same-way-he-d/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [There's no point in getting into politics at all unless you plan to lash things around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/there-s-no-point-in-getting-into-politics-at-all-unless-you-plan-to/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [There’s a lot of things wrong with this country, but one of the few things still right with it is that a man can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/there-s-a-lot-of-things-wrong-with-this-country-but-one-of-the-few/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) [Explore all 765 Hunter S. Thompson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) ## More Five years quotes > [“Women will be at least 50 percent of the communications community workforce … from executive suite to interns. Why? The “integrated” agency will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoram-wind/women-will-be-at-least-50-percent-of-the-communications-community/) Yoram Wind > [“A clear look back on the Cold War's battlegrounds, along with a sense of relief that the world survived forty-five years of confrontation, evokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-clear-look-back-on-the-cold-war-s-battlegrounds-along-with-a-sense/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Something had been confirmed: I was worth giving a shit about; I was getting to be a successful sick person. Sick is when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/something-had-been-confirmed-i-was-worth-giving-a-shit-about-i-was/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [“His Army Ranger unit had always been ready for an ambush. Five years in special ops had made him suspicious of most. On that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-perini/his-army-ranger-unit-had-always-been-ready-for-an-ambush-five-years/) [Robin Perini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-perini/) > [“I looked at him, tipping down the coarse wine like a man who expects to put up with worse. I felt I was looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-renault/i-looked-at-him-tipping-down-the-coarse-wine-like-a-man-who-expects/) [Mary Renault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-renault/) > [I was sober for five years a long time ago and was just bored out of my tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sheen/i-was-sober-for-five-years-a-long-time-ago-and-was-just-bored-out-of/) [Charlie Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sheen/) > [“Whatand why were never questions for me. How was the only question. When I look back now, I realize that I never thought about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadhguru/whatand-why-were-never-questions-for-me-how-was-the-only-question/) [Sadhguru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadhguru/) > [We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-know-southern-men-declare-that-their-slaves-are-better-off-than/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“most professionals progress until they reach an “acceptable” level, and then they plateau. Software engineers, for instance, usually stop progressing somewhere around five years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-grenny/most-professionals-progress-until-they-reach-an-acceptable-level-and/) [Joseph Grenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-grenny/) > [In five years of my previous tenure, the treasury was never shut for one day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amarinder-singh/in-five-years-of-my-previous-tenure-the-treasury-was-never-shut-for/) [Amarinder Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amarinder-singh/) > [We have been playing every summer on clay since I was five years old, so it is an easy surface for us in Belgium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-goffin/we-have-been-playing-every-summer-on-clay-since-i-was-five-years-old/) [David Goffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-goffin/) > [I'm an immigrant, a legal immigrant to the United States. I only became a citizen five years ago. Every day, for seven months, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-gorka/i-m-an-immigrant-a-legal-immigrant-to-the-united-states-i-only-became/) [Sebastian Gorka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-gorka/) > [“Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/why-did-i-write-it-down-in-order-to-remember-of-course-but-exactly/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Wrestling introduced me to the idea that my body has a purpose besides trying to look five years younger for the first time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-gilpin/wrestling-introduced-me-to-the-idea-that-my-body-has-a-purpose/) [Betty Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-gilpin/) > [“I have entered the New Yorker's Cartoon Caption Contest almost weekly virtually since it began and have never even been a finalist. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-mankoff/i-have-entered-the-new-yorker-s-cartoon-caption-contest-almost-weekly/) Bob Mankoff Browse all 2,724 Five years quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hunter S. 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