--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We find after years of struggle that we…" description: "\"We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.\" — John Steinbeck" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/john-steinbeck-71_struggle_we-find-after-years-of-struggle-that-we_2946321.jpg" --- # We find after years of struggle that we do not take a… ![“We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.” quote by John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/john-steinbeck-71_struggle_we-find-after-years-of-struggle-that-we_2946321.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/john-steinbeck-71_struggle_we-find-after-years-of-struggle-that-we_2946321.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/john-steinbeck-71_struggle_we-find-after-years-of-struggle-that-we_2946321.jpg) > “We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.” [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Travel is not a choice but a force that moves us; journeys shape us more than we shape them. **In simple terms:** Trips shape us. Key Takeaway Embrace journeys' impact. Themes life travel destiny Mood reflective poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career moves - education - migration - spiritual quests Key Concepts determinism personal development Questions to Reflect On - Do you feel driven or passive? - How do journeys change you? A Different Perspective Travel can feel forced, not chosen. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Struggle Trip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle-trip-3915590/) [Trip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trip/) [Trip Takes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trip-takes-2134372/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Years Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-struggle-326004/) ## Related quotes > [“A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. An all plans, safeguards, policies and coercion are fruitless. We find after years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-journey-is-a-person-in-itself-no-two-are-alike-an-all-plans/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [We don't take a trip. A trip takes us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/we-don-t-take-a-trip-a-trip-takes-us/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/when-i-was-very-young-and-the-urge-to-be-someplace-else-was-on-me-i-2/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/one-day-in-retrospect-the-years-of-struggle-will-strike-you-as-the/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“After several years of struggle to bring the country to subjection, during which Henry had to keep armies in the field at ruinous cost,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-costain/after-several-years-of-struggle-to-bring-the-country-to-subjection/) [Thomas B. 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God alone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/now-at-the-end-of-three-years-struggle-the-nation-s-condition-is-not/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [It is only after years of struggle and deprivation that the young artist should touch color - and then only in the company of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/el-greco/it-is-only-after-years-of-struggle-and-deprivation-that-the-young/) [El Greco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/el-greco/) ## More by John Steinbeck > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Prayer never brought in no side-meat. Takes a shoat to bring in pork.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/prayer-never-brought-in-no-side-meat-takes-a-shoat-to-bring-in-pork/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“And now submarines are armed with mass murder, our silly, only way of deterring mass murder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/and-now-submarines-are-armed-with-mass-murder-our-silly-only-way-of/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“I’d think there are degrees of greatness,” Adam said. “I don’t think so,” said Samuel. “That would be like saying there is a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-d-think-there-are-degrees-of-greatness-adam-said-i-don-t-think-so/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“He was forever inventing a new way of doing an old thing and doing it better and quicker, but he never in his whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/he-was-forever-inventing-a-new-way-of-doing-an-old-thing-and-doing-it/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“You come back a changed man. 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The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/sometimes-a-lie-is-told-in-kindness-i-don-t-believe-it-ever-works/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [People like you to be something, preferably what they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/people-like-you-to-be-something-preferably-what-they-are/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Suddenly he knew joy and sorrow felted into one fabric. Courage and fear were one thing too. He found that he had started to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/suddenly-he-knew-joy-and-sorrow-felted-into-one-fabric-courage-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I am writing this from what we Americans call Yurrp. In Yurrp writers are taken as seriously as Lana Turner's legs are in America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-am-writing-this-from-what-we-americans-call-yurrp-in-yurrp-writers/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I write because I like to write. I find joy in the texture and tone and rhythm of words. 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The heavy responsibility, often suddenly and unexpectedly imposed—the struggle for success, when success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-william-polidori/to-the-extreme-of-this-feeling-i-was-ever-a-victim-the-heavy/) [John William Polidori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-william-polidori/) > [There could be no more powerful argument against mixing religion and government than the success of independent African American churches in placing racial segregation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/there-could-be-no-more-powerful-argument-against-mixing-religion-and/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [I don't know that any woman could ever not think about that at some point - even making the choice not to do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-watts/i-don-t-know-that-any-woman-could-ever-not-think-about-that-at-some/) [Naomi Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-watts/) > [If I had been an Italian I am sure that I should have been whole-heartedly with you from the start to finish in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/if-i-had-been-an-italian-i-am-sure-that-i-should-have-been-whole/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Grace is the power of the Holy Spirit coming to us free of charge to enable you to do with ease what you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/grace-is-the-power-of-the-holy-spirit-coming-to-us-free-of-charge-to/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [There's little in taking or giving, There's little in water or wine: This living, this living, this living, Was never a project of mine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/there-s-little-in-taking-or-giving-there-s-little-in-water-or-wine/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) [Browse all 8,339 Struggle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Steinbeck" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/we-find-after-years-of-struggle-that-we-do-not-take-a-trip-a-trip/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Struggle" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/we-find-after-years-of-struggle-that-we-do-not-take-a-trip-a-trip/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/john-steinbeck-71_struggle_we-find-after-years-of-struggle-that-we_2946321.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/john-steinbeck-71_struggle_we-find-after-years-of-struggle-that-we_2946321.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fd/john-steinbeck-71_struggle_we-find-after-years-of-struggle-that-we_2946321.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.” — John Steinbeck", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Steinbeck", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We find after years of struggle...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/we-find-after-years-of-struggle-that-we-do-not-take-a-trip-a-trip/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/we-find-after-years-of-struggle-that-we-do-not-take-a-trip-a-trip/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```