---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Something having been done just about…"
description: "\"Something having been done just about everywhere just about always is no kind of justification for doing it now.\" — Jonathan Safran Foer"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/jonathan-safran-foer-136_doing_something-having-been-done-just-about-ev_2960227.png"
---

#  Something having been done just about everywhere just…

![“Something having been done just about everywhere just about always is no kind of justification for doing it now.” quote by Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/jonathan-safran-foer-136_doing_something-having-been-done-just-about-ev_2960227.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/jonathan-safran-foer-136_doing_something-having-been-done-just-about-ev_2960227.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/jonathan-safran-foer-136_doing_something-having-been-done-just-about-ev_2960227.png)

> “Something having been done just about everywhere just about always is no kind of justification for doing it now.”

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Ubiquitous actions lack justification for immediate repetition; context matters.

**In simple terms:** Doing something everywhere doesn’t justify doing it now.

Key Takeaway

Consider context before repeating actions.

Themes

ethics context habit

Mood

thoughtful critical

Type

philosophical analytical

When to use this quote

- policy making
- personal routines
- cultural practices

Key Concepts

philosophy behavioral science social norms

Questions to Reflect On

- When is repetition appropriate?
- How does context alter moral judgment?

A Different Perspective

Overuse of justification can lead to complacency.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Justification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justification/)

## Related quotes

> [There's nothing people can't contrive to praise or condemn and find justification for doing so, according to their age and their inclinations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/there-s-nothing-people-can-t-contrive-to-praise-or-condemn-and-find/)

[Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/)

> [Having just had a baby, I'm not going to be thinking about my arse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/having-just-had-a-baby-i-m-not-going-to-be-thinking-about-my-arse/)

[Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/)

> [We may love money without having it, just as we may have money without loving it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/we-may-love-money-without-having-it-just-as-we-may-have-money-without/)

[J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/)

> [These days, I think we could all agree that having a just-friend is not a bad thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/these-days-i-think-we-could-all-agree-that-having-a-just-friend-is/)

[Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/)

> [Having everything is just an expression of complete inner freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/having-everything-is-just-an-expression-of-complete-inner-freedom/)

[Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/)

> [“Happiness is having just a little bit more than you need.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-is-having-just-a-little-bit-more-than-you-need/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I never wanted to get to a point in my life where I knew what was going to happen next. I felt like most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-never-wanted-to-get-to-a-point-in-my-life-where-i-knew-what-was/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [There is some kind of a sweet innocence in being human in not having to be just happy or just sad in the nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/there-is-some-kind-of-a-sweet-innocence-in-being-human-in-not-having/)

[C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/)

> [Having just enough life to enjoy being dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-holt/having-just-enough-life-to-enjoy-being-dead/)

[Jim Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-holt/)

> [Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing everyone a disservice by perpetuating the idea that beautiful is better than plain, because having done everything just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-gurley-brown/sometimes-i-wonder-if-i-m-doing-everyone-a-disservice-by-perpetuating/)

[Helen Gurley Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-gurley-brown/)

> [Nothing is more dangerous then having just one idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-is-more-dangerous-then-having-just-one-idea/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [There's nothing worse than having everything just to realize you have nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-nothing-worse-than-having-everything-just-to-realize-you-have/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Humans are the only animals that have children on purpose, keep in touch (or don't), care about birthdays, waste and lose time, brush their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/humans-are-the-only-animals-that-have-children-on-purpose-keep-in/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [I would have done anything for him. Maybe that was my sickness. We made love in nothing places and turned the lights off. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-would-have-done-anything-for-him-maybe-that-was-my-sickness-we-made/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [Who doesn't want to shoot for 'Vogue?' I remember updating my Facebook status to say 'Doing 'Vogue' today', it was so exciting. I thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaya-scodelario/who-doesn-t-want-to-shoot-for-vogue-i-remember-updating-my-facebook/)

[Kaya Scodelario](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaya-scodelario/)

## More by Jonathan Safran Foer

> [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [I try not to remember the life that I didn’t want to lose but lost and have to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-try-not-to-remember-the-life-that-i-didn-t-want-to-lose-but-lost/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“I have an aristocratic smile and like to punch people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-have-an-aristocratic-smile-and-like-to-punch-people/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. Some would fall with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-removed-several-pages-of-death-certificates-which-were-picked-up/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [I would have done anything for him. Maybe that was my sickness. We made love in nothing places and turned the lights off. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-would-have-done-anything-for-him-maybe-that-was-my-sickness-we-made/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“One day I wandered away from her and hid. I liked the way it felt to have someone look for me, to hear my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/one-day-i-wandered-away-from-her-and-hid-i-liked-the-way-it-felt-to/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [If nothing matters, there's nothing to save.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/if-nothing-matters-there-s-nothing-to-save/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“It was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-was-one-of-the-best-days-of-my-life-a-day-during-which-i-lived-my/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“The appearance was misleading- human dreams; rubbish heaps abundant yet ephemeral sudden and splendid, only to wilt and perish”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-appearance-was-misleading-human-dreams-rubbish-heaps-abundant-yet/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“the entirety of human society and moral progress represents an explicit transcendence of what’s “natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-entirety-of-human-society-and-moral-progress-represents-an/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“Food is not so much a symbol of freedom as the first requirement of freedom. We eat foods that are native to America on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/food-is-not-so-much-a-symbol-of-freedom-as-the-first-requirement-of/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [“Rationally, factory farming is so obviously wrong, in so many ways. In all of my reading and conversations, I’ve yet to find a credible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/rationally-factory-farming-is-so-obviously-wrong-in-so-many-ways-in/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/just-because-you-re-an-atheist-that-doesn-t-mean-you-wouldn-t-love/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [Do you think I'm wonderful? she asked him one day as they leaned against the trunk of a petrified maple. No, he said. Why?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/do-you-think-i-m-wonderful-she-asked-him-one-day-as-they-leaned/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

> [My insides don't match up with my outsides. -Do anyone's inside and outsides match up? -I don't know. I'm only me. -Maybe that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/my-insides-don-t-match-up-with-my-outsides-do-anyone-s-inside-and/)

[Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

[Explore all 1,117 Jonathan Safran Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/)

## More Doing quotes

> [I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm damn well gonna do it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geri-halliwell/i-don-t-know-what-i-m-doing-but-i-m-damn-well-gonna-do-it/)

[Geri Halliwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geri-halliwell/)

> [I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. Hollywood loves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-s-goyer/i-love-casting-against-type-and-doing-things-you-wouldn-t-expect/)

[David S. Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-s-goyer/)

> [If you think you're doing everything right, then you have a tendency to stand pat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stockton/if-you-think-you-re-doing-everything-right-then-you-have-a-tendency/)

[John Stockton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stockton/)

> [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/)

[Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/)

> [Focus on becoming more to achieve more while doing less](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-elrod/focus-on-becoming-more-to-achieve-more-while-doing-less/)

[Hal Elrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-elrod/)

> [Doing the right things is more important than doing things right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ko-wen-je/doing-the-right-things-is-more-important-than-doing-things-right/)

[Ko Wen-je](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ko-wen-je/)

> [I was in high school and I had an independent album out, and we kept sending that out, and I was doing shows. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-hilton/i-was-in-high-school-and-i-had-an-independent-album-out-and-we-kept/)

[Tyler Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-hilton/)

> [If I'm not thinking about you then I am texting you , if I am not texting you then I am on the phone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-i-m-not-thinking-about-you-then-i-am-texting-you-if-i-am-not/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [.\*. why u hate me..Bitches be doing the most](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty/why-u-hate-me-bitches-be-doing-the-most/)

Kitty

> [“dances with mine as if we’ve been doing this our whole”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corinne-michaels/dances-with-mine-as-if-we-ve-been-doing-this-our-whole/)

[Corinne Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corinne-michaels/)

> [“I take my actions because of my passion not because of compulsion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/i-take-my-actions-because-of-my-passion-not-because-of-compulsion/)

[Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/)

> [When the dollar collapses, it's not doing it in a vacuum. If the dollar loses value, it's doing so relative to some other currency.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/when-the-dollar-collapses-it-s-not-doing-it-in-a-vacuum-if-the-dollar/)

[Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/)

> [When I made it, I still didn't wave the flag and say, Yeah go Asian people. I do want people to know that about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-hugo/when-i-made-it-i-still-didn-t-wave-the-flag-and-say-yeah-go-asian/)

[Chad Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-hugo/)

> [I really can't live without my In-N-Out burgers. Honestly, I can't. Even when I'm doing the whole no-carb thing occasionally, I make an exception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-berkus/i-really-can-t-live-without-my-in-n-out-burgers-honestly-i-can-t-even/)

[Nate Berkus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-berkus/)

> [You can't drain the swamp, as President Trump has touted doing, without getting rid of Mitch McConnell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-mcgrath/you-can-t-drain-the-swamp-as-president-trump-has-touted-doing-without/)

[Amy McGrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-mcgrath/)

Browse all 10,133 Doing quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Something having been done just about everywhere just about always is no kind of justification for doing it now.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Jonathan Safran Foer"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/something-having-been-done-just-about-everywhere-just-about-always-is/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Doing"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/something-having-been-done-just-about-everywhere-just-about-always-is/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/jonathan-safran-foer-136_doing_something-having-been-done-just-about-ev_2960227.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/jonathan-safran-foer-136_doing_something-having-been-done-just-about-ev_2960227.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/jonathan-safran-foer-136_doing_something-having-been-done-just-about-ev_2960227.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Something having been done just about everywhere just about always is no kind of justification for doing it…” — Jonathan Safran Foer",
                "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": "Jonathan Safran Foer",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Something having been done just about...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/something-having-been-done-just-about-everywhere-just-about-always-is/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/something-having-been-done-just-about-everywhere-just-about-always-is/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
