--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When we have disorderly lives, it makes…" description: "\"When we have disorderly lives, it makes it difficult for our minds to be orderly and for us to be at ease with disorder.\" — Joan Halifax" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ee/joan-halifax-11817_difficult_when-we-have-disorderly-lives-it-makes-i_2647722.png" --- # When we have disorderly lives, it makes it difficult for… ![“When we have disorderly lives, it makes it difficult for our minds to be orderly and for us to be at ease with disorder.” quote by Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ee/joan-halifax-11817_difficult_when-we-have-disorderly-lives-it-makes-i_2647722.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ee/joan-halifax-11817_difficult_when-we-have-disorderly-lives-it-makes-i_2647722.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ee/joan-halifax-11817_difficult_when-we-have-disorderly-lives-it-makes-i_2647722.png) > “When we have disorderly lives, it makes it difficult for our minds to be orderly and for us to be at ease with disorder.” [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Disordered external lives disrupt mental order and ease, highlighting the need for external organization to support inner calm. **In simple terms:** Messy surroundings cloud the mind. Key Takeaway Organize your environment to calm thoughts. Themes order mindfulness environment ease Mood calm practical Type advice self‑help When to use this quote - home organization - workplace setup - daily routines Key Concepts psychology spiritual practice decluttering Questions to Reflect On - What habits create mental clutter? - How can you maintain order amidst chaos? A Different Perspective External order may not guarantee inner peace. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [When God is made the master of a family, he disorders the disorderly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/when-god-is-made-the-master-of-a-family-he-disorders-the-disorderly/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [“A disorderly spirituality that makes the practitioner dreamy, eccentric, or uncontrolled is a very bad sign indeed. In”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/a-disorderly-spirituality-that-makes-the-practitioner-dreamy/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-milne/one-of-the-advantages-of-being-disorderly-is-that-one-is-constantly/) [A. A. Milne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-milne/) > [I believe my soul isn't entirely German because my home is so disorderly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-westheimer/i-believe-my-soul-isn-t-entirely-german-because-my-home-is-so/) [Ruth Westheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-westheimer/) > [A disorderly mob is no more an army than a heap of building materials is a house](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/a-disorderly-mob-is-no-more-an-army-than-a-heap-of-building-materials/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [“One advantage of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-milne-2/one-advantage-of-being-disorderly-is-that-one-is-constantly-making/) [A.A. Milne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-milne-2/) > [I guess my life was in a pretty disorderly fashion, so I think the music came out that way a little bit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sune-rose-wagner/i-guess-my-life-was-in-a-pretty-disorderly-fashion-so-i-think-the/) [Sune Rose Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sune-rose-wagner/) > [“We have deficited upon their attention in the most disorderly fashion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-wood/we-have-deficited-upon-their-attention-in-the-most-disorderly-fashion/) [Geoffrey Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-wood/) > [Life is not orderly. 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Let us, through persuasion and education, seek to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-goldwater/social-and-cultural-change-however-desirable-should-not-be-effected/) [Barry Goldwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-goldwater/) > [Order is a prerequisite of survival; therefore the impulse to produce orderly arrangements is inbred by evolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/order-is-a-prerequisite-of-survival-therefore-the-impulse-to-produce/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [We Brits are law abiding folk. We pride ourselves on our natural tendency to form an orderly queue rather than a scrum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-boles/we-brits-are-law-abiding-folk-we-pride-ourselves-on-our-natural/) [Nick Boles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-boles/) > [. . . to know the order of nature, and regard the universe as orderly is the highest function of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/to-know-the-order-of-nature-and-regard-the-universe-as-orderly-is-the/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [Nature, being a wise and provident lady, governs her parts very wisely, methodically, and orderly: Also, she is very industrious and hates to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cavendish/nature-being-a-wise-and-provident-lady-governs-her-parts-very-wisely/) [Margaret Cavendish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cavendish/) ## More by Joan Halifax > [We have even done a weekend on Japanese grammar! Not that I know anything about Japanese grammar, but it was Kaz's idea, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/we-have-even-done-a-weekend-on-japanese-grammar-not-that-i-know/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [Developing our capacity for compassion makes it possible for us to help others in a more skillful and effective way. And compassion helps us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/developing-our-capacity-for-compassion-makes-it-possible-for-us-to/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [Buddhist practice is the grounding for this work, this life, this way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/buddhist-practice-is-the-grounding-for-this-work-this-life-this-way/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [ We have been teaching together \[with Kaz\] now for more than twenty years in sesshins, in international travel programs in Japan and China, as… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/we-have-been-teaching-together-with-kaz-now-for-more-than-twenty/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [All are interconnected...the environment; rights of the dying; care of caregivers; education and medical care for peoples of the Himalayas; prison work; those living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/all-are-interconnected-the-environment-rights-of-the-dying-care-of/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [“Within and around the earth, within and around the hills, within and around the mountains your authority returns to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/within-and-around-the-earth-within-and-around-the-hills-within-and/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [“Some of us are drawn to mountains the way the moon draws the tide. Both the great forests and the mountains live in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/some-of-us-are-drawn-to-mountains-the-way-the-moon-draws-the-tide/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [I am working on a technical paper on compassion. So I am reading everything I can on the subject, including my own mind and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/i-am-working-on-a-technical-paper-on-compassion-so-i-am-reading/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [ \[Kaz\] is a great scholar, very funny - a true man of no rank! ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/kaz-is-a-great-scholar-very-funny-a-true-man-of-no-rank/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [Compassion has enemies, and those enemies are things like pity, moral outrage, fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/compassion-has-enemies-and-those-enemies-are-things-like-pity-moral/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [The roots of all living things are tied together. Deep in the ground of being, they tangle and embrace. This understanding is expressed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/the-roots-of-all-living-things-are-tied-together-deep-in-the-ground/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [ I remember having a discussion with \[Kaz\] about his translation of the word shunyata as "boundlessness," instead of the more traditional "emptiness." I said:… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/i-remember-having-a-discussion-with-kaz-about-his-translation-of-the/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [If compassion is so good for us, why don't we train our health care providers in compassion so that they can do what they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/if-compassion-is-so-good-for-us-why-don-t-we-train-our-health-care/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [May I see my own limits with compassion, just as I view the limits of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/may-i-see-my-own-limits-with-compassion-just-as-i-view-the-limits-of/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) > [Cease consuming, practice generosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-halifax/cease-consuming-practice-generosity/) [Joan Halifax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) [Explore all 57 Joan Halifax quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-halifax/) ## More Difficult quotes > [Companies with cultures that celebrate diverse opinions and encourage the exchange of ideas have an advantage when solving difficult problems. 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