--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And yet can it be that I was fit for…" description: "\"“And yet can it be that I was fit for nothing, that for me there was, as it were, no work on earth to do?”\" — Ivan Turgenev" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72e/ivan-turgenev-2671_nature_and-yet-can-it-be-that-i-was-fit-for-not_900708.jpg" --- # And yet can it be that I was fit for nothing, that for me… ![“And yet can it be that I was fit for nothing, that for me there was, as it were, no work on earth to do?” quote by Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72e/ivan-turgenev-2671_nature_and-yet-can-it-be-that-i-was-fit-for-not_900708.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72e/ivan-turgenev-2671_nature_and-yet-can-it-be-that-i-was-fit-for-not_900708.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72e/ivan-turgenev-2671_nature_and-yet-can-it-be-that-i-was-fit-for-not_900708.jpg) > ““And yet can it be that I was fit for nothing, that for me there was, as it were, no work on earth to do?”” [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker doubts his purpose, feeling there is no meaningful work for him on earth. **In simple terms:** Feeling useless and lacking purpose. Key Takeaway Seek meaningful work that aligns with your values. Themes existential doubt purpose self‑worth Mood contemplative melancholic Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - career search - volunteer work - creative projects - spiritual exploration Key Concepts nihilism identity crisis Questions to Reflect On - What does meaningful work look like for you? - How can you create purpose in daily life? A Different Perspective Purpose can be found in small, everyday actions, not only grand achievements. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [Kindness is an essential part of Gods work and ours here on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/kindness-is-an-essential-part-of-gods-work-and-ours-here-on-earth/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [We are immortal until our work on earth is done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-whitefield/we-are-immortal-until-our-work-on-earth-is-done/) [George Whitefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-whitefield/) > [Marriages are said to be made in Heaven, which may be why they don't work here on Earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/marriages-are-said-to-be-made-in-heaven-which-may-be-why-they-don-t/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [I am just a man, not fit to do the work of God... or the Devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ustinov/i-am-just-a-man-not-fit-to-do-the-work-of-god-or-the-devil/) [Peter Ustinov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ustinov/) > [Honestly, I don't need to diet or cut things out to stay fit because I work out a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devon-windsor/honestly-i-don-t-need-to-diet-or-cut-things-out-to-stay-fit-because-i/) [Devon Windsor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devon-windsor/) > [We really just fit our work in and around the family's needs. 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I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) ## More by Ivan Turgenev > [What a magnificent body, how I should like to see it on the dissecting table.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/what-a-magnificent-body-how-i-should-like-to-see-it-on-the-dissecting/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“I think; here I lie under a haystack… The tiny space I occupy is so infinitely small in comparison with the rest of space,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/i-think-here-i-lie-under-a-haystack-the-tiny-space-i-occupy-is-so/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [That is what poetry can do. It speaks to us of what does not exist, which is not only better than what exists, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/that-is-what-poetry-can-do-it-speaks-to-us-of-what-does-not-exist/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [So long as one's just dreaming about what to do, one can soar like an eagle and move mountains, it seems, but as soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/so-long-as-one-s-just-dreaming-about-what-to-do-one-can-soar-like-an/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Most people can't understand how others can blow their noses differently than they do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/most-people-can-t-understand-how-others-can-blow-their-noses/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [The past was a dream wasn't it? And who ever remembers dreams?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/the-past-was-a-dream-wasn-t-it-and-who-ever-remembers-dreams/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“But I think that I have already been moving too long in a sphere which is not my own. Flying fishes can hold out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/but-i-think-that-i-have-already-been-moving-too-long-in-a-sphere/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“There was nothing ugly in the small, unprepossessing figure of this emancipated woman, but the expression on her face made a bad impression on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/there-was-nothing-ugly-in-the-small-unprepossessing-figure-of-this/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“In his funeral oration the spokesman of the most artistic and critical of European nations, Ernest Renan, hailed him as one of the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/in-his-funeral-oration-the-spokesman-of-the-most-artistic-and/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Love isn't actually a feeling at all--it's an illness, a certain condition of body and soul… Usually it takes possession of someone without his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/love-isn-t-actually-a-feeling-at-all-it-s-an-illness-a-certain/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [There's something tragic in the fate of almost every person--it's just that the tragic is often concealed from a person by the banal surface…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/there-s-something-tragic-in-the-fate-of-almost-every-person-it-s-just/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“But I had absolutely lost all sense of personal dignity, and could not tear myself away from the spectacle of my own misery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/but-i-had-absolutely-lost-all-sense-of-personal-dignity-and-could-not/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“My son,' he wrote to me, 'fear the love of woman; fear that bliss, that poison…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/my-son-he-wrote-to-me-fear-the-love-of-woman-fear-that-bliss-that/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Great God, grant that twice two be not four.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/great-god-grant-that-twice-two-be-not-four/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [What's terrible is that there's nothing terrible, that the very essence of life is petty, uninteresting, and degradingly trite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/what-s-terrible-is-that-there-s-nothing-terrible-that-the-very/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) [Explore all 146 Ivan Turgenev quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) ## More Earth quotes > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. 'It' has been on Earth for millions of years. He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [Give me strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/give-me-strength-to-walk-the-soft-earth-a-relative-to-all-that-is/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Then all this earth shines like one house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/then-all-this-earth-shines-like-one-house/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [When man of slender visits you / Nothing on earth that one can do / In well he’ll hide, or watery hole / And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-goldstein/when-man-of-slender-visits-you-nothing-on-earth-that-one-can-do-in/) [Jack Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-goldstein/) > [Cities are 2% of the earth's crust, but they are 50% of the world's population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-ratti/cities-are-2-of-the-earth-s-crust-but-they-are-50-of-the-world-s/) [Carlo Ratti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-ratti/) > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. 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