--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He would change my life and behave with…" description: "\"“He would change my life and behave with selfless cruelty as he prepared to set out on a journey with no hope of return.”\" — Ian McEwan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7c/ian-mcewan-494_hope_he-would-change-my-life-and-behave-with_649747.png" --- # He would change my life and behave with selfless cruelty… ![“He would change my life and behave with selfless cruelty as he prepared to set out on a journey with no hope of return.” quote by Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7c/ian-mcewan-494_hope_he-would-change-my-life-and-behave-with_649747.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7c/ian-mcewan-494_hope_he-would-change-my-life-and-behave-with_649747.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7c/ian-mcewan-494_hope_he-would-change-my-life-and-behave-with_649747.png) > ““He would change my life and behave with selfless cruelty as he prepared to set out on a journey with no hope of return.”” [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A character sacrifices himself, embracing harshness, before embarking on a hopeless journey. **In simple terms:** Selfless cruelty before a hopeless quest. Key Takeaway Accept sacrifice when necessary. Themes sacrifice hope journey Mood somber reflective Type literary dramatic When to use this quote - military service - space exploration - personal crisis - heroic quests Key Concepts existentialism selflessness Questions to Reflect On - What would you give up for a cause? - Can cruelty ever be justified? A Different Perspective The act may cause lasting trauma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Behave Selfless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behave-selfless-5199077/) [Change My Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-my-life/) [Cruelty Prepared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruelty-prepared-5199076/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Journey Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey-hope-328063/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Selfless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfless/) [Selfless Cruelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfless-cruelty-5199075/) ## Related quotes > [Reincarnation is the journey of hope because in each lifetime we move forward to place a better than our last lifetime, a place within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/reincarnation-is-the-journey-of-hope-because-in-each-lifetime-we-move/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“The lightest weight anyone can carry on life’s journey is hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/the-lightest-weight-anyone-can-carry-on-life-s-journey-is-hope/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [I believe that God is not lost. 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I don't see why I should.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sting/i-can-t-really-change-my-life-to-accommodate-people-who-are-jealous-i/) [Sting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sting/) > [I'm in this sport to change my life. I'm in this sport to change my parents' lives and the loved ones around me. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aljamain-sterling/i-m-in-this-sport-to-change-my-life-i-m-in-this-sport-to-change-my/) [Aljamain Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aljamain-sterling/) ## More by Ian McEwan > [“As you will see, we do not believe that artists have an obligation to strike up attitudes to the war. Indeed, they are wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-you-will-see-we-do-not-believe-that-artists-have-an-obligation-to/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/you-could-say-that-all-novels-are-spy-novels-and-all-novelists-are/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-ve-never-had-a-moment-s-doubt-i-love-you-i-believe-in-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It is shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-is-shaming-sometimes-how-the-body-will-not-or-cannot-lie-about/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Once, on a walk by a river- Eskdale in low reddish sunlight, with a dusting of snow- his daughter quoted to him an opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/once-on-a-walk-by-a-river-eskdale-in-low-reddish-sunlight-with-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Perhaps it's one of those cases of a microcosm giving you the whole world. 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He did not know, or would not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/on-chesil-beach-he-could-have-called-out-to-florence-he-could-have/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [It was always the view of my parents...that hot weather encouraged loose morals among young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-always-the-view-of-my-parents-that-hot-weather-encouraged/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-apologize-for-being-obvious-but-every-time-i-watch-the-curtain-come/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I would rather be physically disabled obviously than mentally. I would rather be paraplegic than nuts. And it is a terrifying prospect and actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-would-rather-be-physically-disabled-obviously-than-mentally-i-would/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Words, as I'm beginning to appreciate, can make things true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/words-as-i-m-beginning-to-appreciate-can-make-things-true/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only writing that was appropriate to that horrendous event was journalism, reportage. And, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it-seemed-the-only-writing-that/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I did not kill my father, but I sometimes felt I had helped him on his way. And but for the fact that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-did-not-kill-my-father-but-i-sometimes-felt-i-had-helped-him-on-his/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Explore all 496 Ian McEwan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## More Hope quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“What can we do in any hardship? We can hope with prayerful praise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/what-can-we-do-in-any-hardship-we-can-hope-with-prayerful-praise/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [If one truly has lost hope, one would not be on hand to say so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bentley/if-one-truly-has-lost-hope-one-would-not-be-on-hand-to-say-so/) [Eric Bentley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bentley/) > [“too—I realized that my only hope was to give up the life that had been, in order to make room for the life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/too-i-realized-that-my-only-hope-was-to-give-up-the-life-that-had/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. 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I have no room left for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenn-f/stop-trying-to-give-me-hope-i-have-no-room-left-for-it/) [Jenn F](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenn-f/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Give me love, give me peace on earth, give me light, give me life, keep me free from birth, give me hope, help me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/give-me-love-give-me-peace-on-earth-give-me-light-give-me-life-keep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pray, hope, don't worry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/pray-hope-don-t-worry/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. 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