--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nobody knows what to do when there’s a…" description: "\"“Nobody knows what to do when there’s a tragedy. Nobody practices for it.”\" — Jean Thompson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8aa/jean-thompson-28964_nobody-knows_nobody-knows-what-to-do-when-there-s-a-t_1328757.jpg" --- # Nobody knows what to do when there’s a tragedy. Nobody… ![“Nobody knows what to do when there’s a tragedy. Nobody practices for it.” quote by Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8aa/jean-thompson-28964_nobody-knows_nobody-knows-what-to-do-when-there-s-a-t_1328757.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8aa/jean-thompson-28964_nobody-knows_nobody-knows-what-to-do-when-there-s-a-t_1328757.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8aa/jean-thompson-28964_nobody-knows_nobody-knows-what-to-do-when-there-s-a-t_1328757.jpg) > ““Nobody knows what to do when there’s a tragedy. Nobody practices for it.”” [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People are unprepared for tragedies because they never practice responses **In simple terms:** Tragedies catch us unprepared Key Takeaway Prepare mentally for crises Themes preparedness crisis response psychology Mood thoughtful serious Type advice reflective When to use this quote - personal emergencies - community disasters - health crises Key Concepts risk assessment emergency drills mental rehearsal Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take to build crisis resilience? - How can you balance preparation with living fully? A Different Perspective Practicing for tragedy can cause anxiety and fear ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Knows Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows-tragedy-3309852/) [Nobody knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nobody-knows/) [Practices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practices/) [Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy/) [Tragedy Practices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy-practices-4451789/) ## Related quotes > [every actor knows that tragedy, being linear and inevitable, is taxing - but comedy, which depends on the element of surprise, is the hardest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-morgan/every-actor-knows-that-tragedy-being-linear-and-inevitable-is-taxing/) [Robin Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-morgan/) > [Nobody knows the tragedy of a small island divided against itself better than a Cypriot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-adonis-baron-adonis/nobody-knows-the-tragedy-of-a-small-island-divided-against-itself/) [Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-adonis-baron-adonis/) > [It's a bit cliche, but you can't go wrong by writing what you know. Even if you're a horrible writer, your own knowledge and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/issa-rae/it-s-a-bit-cliche-but-you-can-t-go-wrong-by-writing-what-you-know/) [Issa Rae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/issa-rae/) > [Unfair servicing practices can worsen a family's already difficult economic situation, and the injury echoes from the family to the community and ultimately throughout…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/unfair-servicing-practices-can-worsen-a-family-s-already-difficult/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [Business principles are only as good as the practices that back them up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chip-conley/business-principles-are-only-as-good-as-the-practices-that-back-them/) [Chip Conley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chip-conley/) > [These core principles - helping patients, preventing medical errors, promoting best practices and improving quality - are the reasons that health IT is featured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/these-core-principles-helping-patients-preventing-medical-errors/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [Shaking's one of the oldest practices known to man. Standing round a fire and connecting with the Earth and moving energy through the body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-flynn/shaking-s-one-of-the-oldest-practices-known-to-man-standing-round-a/) [Jerome Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-flynn/) > [“practices are displayed only in performances: a practice is the trace, the residue, of its performances. Practices are not "stable compositions of easily recognized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-nardin/practices-are-displayed-only-in-performances-a-practice-is-the-trace/) [Terry Nardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-nardin/) > [When you build a product, you make a lot of assumptions about the state of the art of technology, the best business practices, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-sinofsky/when-you-build-a-product-you-make-a-lot-of-assumptions-about-the/) [Steven Sinofsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-sinofsky/) > [“If you are doing best practices, you are not innovating.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-levy/if-you-are-doing-best-practices-you-are-not-innovating/) [Jaime Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-levy/) > ['Vogue' has the power to make and break - whether it's fashion trends, designers, models, and yes, even industry practices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyra-banks/vogue-has-the-power-to-make-and-break-whether-it-s-fashion-trends/) [Tyra Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyra-banks/) > [Developing a good, healthy culture is extremely important at a startup. Culture reflects the essence of a startup's operation because it directly affects the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-weiss/developing-a-good-healthy-culture-is-extremely-important-at-a-startup/) [Scott Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-weiss/) > [My practices were not set up to be easy or enjoyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-knight/my-practices-were-not-set-up-to-be-easy-or-enjoyed/) [Bobby Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-knight/) > [I'm really fascinated and you know I've been wondering about that usage of language, various breathing techniques and why in these practices language is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/i-m-really-fascinated-and-you-know-i-ve-been-wondering-about-that/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [Best practices usually aren't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-locke/best-practices-usually-aren-t/) [Christopher Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-locke/) ## More by Jean Thompson > [“Head full of beer, fists jammed into his empty pockets, halos of blur around the parking lot lights, yup, one more wasted evening, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/head-full-of-beer-fists-jammed-into-his-empty-pockets-halos-of-blur/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“Maybe getting to know a child wasn't entirely unlike meditation. You kept going at it from all different angles, and once in a while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/maybe-getting-to-know-a-child-wasn-t-entirely-unlike-meditation-you/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“After all, your head only had so much room in it. No surprise if it overflowed once in a while with little bits of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/after-all-your-head-only-had-so-much-room-in-it-no-surprise-if-it/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“The danger of sending your children to college was that they would be contaminated by subversive forces, bad influences and bawdy women." Rolled with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/the-danger-of-sending-your-children-to-college-was-that-they-would-be/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“She'd permed her hair to within an inch of its life. When she moved her head, the mass of hair followed along behind her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/she-d-permed-her-hair-to-within-an-inch-of-its-life-when-she-moved/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“Did poverty in itself lead to moral failings, such as crime? Was "goodness" something that could be objectified and measured? Did society benefit directly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/did-poverty-in-itself-lead-to-moral-failings-such-as-crime-was/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“What a lopsided stumpy mess people made of a family tree these days. The last thing any of them needed was some new little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/what-a-lopsided-stumpy-mess-people-made-of-a-family-tree-these-days/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“You wanted to believe that getting older, growing up, would change everything, transform you into the amazing person you were meant to be. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/you-wanted-to-believe-that-getting-older-growing-up-would-change/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“His heart cracked open and flooded all the space around it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/his-heart-cracked-open-and-flooded-all-the-space-around-it/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“He was beginning to see how having a teenager might be the equivalent of having a bad class in permanent session.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/he-was-beginning-to-see-how-having-a-teenager-might-be-the-equivalent/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“She had a heart like a Twinkie, full of oversweet goo, yes, a real junk-food heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/she-had-a-heart-like-a-twinkie-full-of-oversweet-goo-yes-a-real-junk/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“We were afraid of so many things: Of our children, who lived in their own world of casually lurid pleasures, zombies and cartoon killers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/we-were-afraid-of-so-many-things-of-our-children-who-lived-in-their/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“Somehow, television made behavior that you would go out of your way to avoid in real life into something fascinating.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/somehow-television-made-behavior-that-you-would-go-out-of-your-way-to/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“Conner thought he understood how pride could back up in somebody, get turned around and come out as meanness. But that didn’t make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/conner-thought-he-understood-how-pride-could-back-up-in-somebody-get/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) > [“She didn’t look like Louise. She didn’t look much like anybody except herself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-thompson/she-didn-t-look-like-louise-she-didn-t-look-much-like-anybody-except/) [Jean Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) [Explore all 19 Jean Thompson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-thompson/) ## More Knows quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [You've touched people and known it. You've touched people and never may know it. Either way, you have something to give. It is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schlessinger/you-ve-touched-people-and-known-it-you-ve-touched-people-and-never/) [Laura Schlessinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schlessinger/) > [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/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [As a child, I had a lot of older gay men taking care of me. There's a trust there. I feel like little girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/as-a-child-i-had-a-lot-of-older-gay-men-taking-care-of-me-there-s-a/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) > [He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-who-knows-does-not-speak-he-who-speaks-does-not-know/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I did not know that the planning for biological and chemical warfare was so widespread in England, and even in France before France fell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-did-not-know-that-the-planning-for-biological-and-chemical-warfare/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) [Browse all 53,133 Knows quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Nobody knows what to do when there’s a tragedy. 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