--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I know that things can’t stay the same…" description: "\"“I know that things can’t stay the same, that change is the whole of the law: but that not just the human world but the earth and the weather and life ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47b/john-crowley-7544_change_i-know-that-things-can-t-stay-the-same-t_1932054.jpg" --- # I know that things can’t stay the same, that change is the… ![“I know that things can’t stay the same, that change is the whole of the law: but that not just the human world but the earth and the weather and life itself could be different at the end of a single lifetime from how it was at the beginning . . . you feel that the world, the earth, can die along…” quote by John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47b/john-crowley-7544_change_i-know-that-things-can-t-stay-the-same-t_1932054.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47b/john-crowley-7544_change_i-know-that-things-can-t-stay-the-same-t_1932054.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47b/john-crowley-7544_change_i-know-that-things-can-t-stay-the-same-t_1932054.jpg) > ““I know that things can’t stay the same, that change is the whole of the law: but that not just the human world but the earth and the weather and life itself could be different at the end of a single lifetime from how it was at the beginning . . . you feel that the world, the earth, can die along with you. Can it? How can I believe that all around me is ruination unless I believe it was once as it should be, and I was alive then to see it? And how am I to know that this is so?”” [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is impermanent; change is inevitable, and we confront mortality and the universe’s cycles, seeking meaning amid decay **In simple terms:** All things change, and we must find meaning despite decay Key Takeaway Embrace impermanence and seek purpose now Themes impermanence mortality meaning Mood melancholic contemplative Type existential literary When to use this quote - grief processing - environmental activism - spiritual contemplation - creative writing Key Concepts existentialism philosophy cosmology Questions to Reflect On - How do you find hope in change? - What anchors your belief in meaning? A Different Perspective Human perspective is limited; certainty is elusive ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believe Ruination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-ruination-3029796/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Earth Die](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth-die-698813/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life itself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-itself/) [Lifetime Beginning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifetime-beginning-3029798/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Ruination Unless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruination-unless-3029797/) ## Related quotes > [Hollywood is the one place on earth where you could die of encouragement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/hollywood-is-the-one-place-on-earth-where-you-could-die-of/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [Around, around the sun we go: The moon goes round the earth. We do not die of death: We die of vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/around-around-the-sun-we-go-the-moon-goes-round-the-earth-we-do-not/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [“Smells, I think, may be the last thing on earth to die.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fern-schumer-chapman/smells-i-think-may-be-the-last-thing-on-earth-to-die/) [Fern Schumer Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fern-schumer-chapman/) > [The worse thing in the world is for an individual to live, breath and exist and leave this earth, die, and not make impact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-sapp/the-worse-thing-in-the-world-is-for-an-individual-to-live-breath-and/) [Marvin Sapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-sapp/) > [If you are not already dead, forgive. Rancor is heavy, it is worldly; leave it on earth: die light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/if-you-are-not-already-dead-forgive-rancor-is-heavy-it-is-worldly/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Nobody On The Face Of This Earth Has To Die For Me, So May I Live By My Choices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquez-brown/nobody-on-the-face-of-this-earth-has-to-die-for-me-so-may-i-live-by/) [Marquez Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquez-brown/) > [“My father said this to me: "Israelmore, if you don't make any impact on earth, you will die before you die. But if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/my-father-said-this-to-me-israelmore-if-you-don-t-make-any-impact-on/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [The Earth would die If the sun stopped kissing her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-earth-would-die-if-the-sun-stopped-kissing-her/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“As circulation improves over the next couple weeks, you'll start to get a persistent tingling, and then you'll need physical therapy to work toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-winters/as-circulation-improves-over-the-next-couple-weeks-you-ll-start-to/) [Ben Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-winters/) > [Few Relations In Earth Never Die--- take first letter from each word to get what I mean. it is Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/few-relations-in-earth-never-die-take-first-letter-from-each-word-to/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [Few Relationships In Earth Never Die.. want to know what it is?READ again the first 6 words with their first letters only..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/few-relationships-in-earth-never-die-want-to-know-what-it-is-read/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [There is a way in which the collective knowledge of mankind expresses itself, for the finite individual, through mere daily living . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurens-van-der-post/there-is-a-way-in-which-the-collective-knowledge-of-mankind-expresses/) [Laurens van der Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurens-van-der-post/) > [Cinema has become my life. I dont mean a parallel world, I mean my life itself. I sometimes have the impression that the daily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pedro-almodovar/cinema-has-become-my-life-i-dont-mean-a-parallel-world-i-mean-my-life/) [Pedro Almodovar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pedro-almodovar/) > [The greatest mystery in life is not life itself, but death. Death is the culmination of life, the ultimate blossoming of life. In death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-greatest-mystery-in-life-is-not-life-itself-but-death-death-is/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“Rodrigo tried to draw a deep breath, but his chest was too filled with anguish, rage and guilt. He kissed his ash-coated fingers. “I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-valdez/rodrigo-tried-to-draw-a-deep-breath-but-his-chest-was-too-filled-with/) [Lisa Valdez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-valdez/) ## More by John Crowley > [“The Crows of the region could have told them that there are almost always more Crows around them than they can see; but like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/the-crows-of-the-region-could-have-told-them-that-there-are-almost/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [Learning to decipher words had only added to the pleasures of holding spines and turning pages, measuring the journey to the end with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/learning-to-decipher-words-had-only-added-to-the-pleasures-of-holding/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [It occurred to him that seeing a woman's child is like seeing a woman naked, in the way it changes how her face looks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/it-occurred-to-him-that-seeing-a-woman-s-child-is-like-seeing-a-woman/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“He learned, though slowly, what all great harrowed lovers learn: that love is what most surely compels love -- is perhaps, except for brute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/he-learned-though-slowly-what-all-great-harrowed-lovers-learn-that/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“...only think a moment that we are here now, and that that was then, and it has come to this, and how odd, odd,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/only-think-a-moment-that-we-are-here-now-and-that-that-was-then-and/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [Love is a myth.' 'Love is a myth,' Grandfather Trout said. 'Like summer.' 'What?' 'In winter,'Grandfather Trout said, 'summer is a myth. A report,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/love-is-a-myth-love-is-a-myth-grandfather-trout-said-like-summer-what/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“The Tale was behind them. And it was to there they journeyed. One step would take them there; they were there already”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/the-tale-was-behind-them-and-it-was-to-there-they-journeyed-one-step/) [john crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“They called him John Storm: John after his grandfather, but Storm after his father and his mother.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/they-called-him-john-storm-john-after-his-grandfather-but-storm-after/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“Handsome guy, Victor, in a brutal, black-Irish way. Like most New York bartenders, he was really an actor, or was it the reverse? ("Novelty")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/handsome-guy-victor-in-a-brutal-black-irish-way-like-most-new-york/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [The things that make us happy make us wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/the-things-that-make-us-happy-make-us-wise/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“There was a game she had played with Sophie in the long hallways of Edgewood, where she and Sophie would stand as far apart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/there-was-a-game-she-had-played-with-sophie-in-the-long-hallways-of/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“... their lives were full of quiet drama, full of vague yet thrilling signs that life was not as the common run supposed it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/their-lives-were-full-of-quiet-drama-full-of-vague-yet-thrilling/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [It was anyway all a long time ago; the world, we know now, is as it is and not different; if there was ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/it-was-anyway-all-a-long-time-ago-the-world-we-know-now-is-as-it-is/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“I could be listening to Painted Red weave the stories of the saints in her rich roomy voice, and beginning to see how all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/i-could-be-listening-to-painted-red-weave-the-stories-of-the-saints/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“What you learn as you get older is that the world is old, and has been old for a long time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/what-you-learn-as-you-get-older-is-that-the-world-is-old-and-has-been/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) [Explore all 88 John Crowley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) ## More Change quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [Nobody can tell me that no changes are necessary in Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-weld/nobody-can-tell-me-that-no-changes-are-necessary-in-washington/) [William Weld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-weld/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [When you walk down the street of Kabul your values for life changes, they do change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-pierre-white/when-you-walk-down-the-street-of-kabul-your-values-for-life-changes/) [Marco Pierre White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-pierre-white/) > [Your world will change whether or not you choose to change, but you have the power to choose it's direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/your-world-will-change-whether-or-not-you-choose-to-change-but-you/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [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/) > [“Stay focused on bringing people together and more on positive messaging so that you can be the change you wish to see in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/stay-focused-on-bringing-people-together-and-more-on-positive/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [“After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/after-the-funeral-my-life-changed-i-felt-as-if-time-were-suddenly/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Irish research will contribute to global progress and have the potential to help all countries realise the potential of their land sectors in addressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enda-kenny/irish-research-will-contribute-to-global-progress-and-have-the/) [Enda Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enda-kenny/) > [No man can change himself into anything from sheer reason; he can only change into what he potentially is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/no-man-can-change-himself-into-anything-from-sheer-reason-he-can-only/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 33,920 Change quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I know that things can’t stay the same, that change is the whole of the law: but that not just the human world but the earth and the weather and life itself could be different at the end of a single lifetime from how it was at the beginning . . . you feel that the world, the earth, can die along with you. 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