---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We found ourselves wanting to hurry time…"
description: "\"We found ourselves wanting to hurry time along, which was not in the long run good for our health. Everybody was trapped in this contradiction but nobo..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de0/joshua-ferris-4070_contradiction_we-found-ourselves-wanting-to-hurry-time_2879231.jpg"
---

#  We found ourselves wanting to hurry time along, which was…

![“We found ourselves wanting to hurry time along, which was not in the long run good for our health. Everybody was trapped in this contradiction but nobody ever dared to articulate it.” quote by Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de0/joshua-ferris-4070_contradiction_we-found-ourselves-wanting-to-hurry-time_2879231.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de0/joshua-ferris-4070_contradiction_we-found-ourselves-wanting-to-hurry-time_2879231.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de0/joshua-ferris-4070_contradiction_we-found-ourselves-wanting-to-hurry-time_2879231.jpg)

> “We found ourselves wanting to hurry time along, which was not in the long run good for our health. Everybody was trapped in this contradiction but nobody ever dared to articulate it.”

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

## About This Quote

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

Rushing time harms health; people recognize contradictions but rarely discuss them.

**In simple terms:** Hurrying harms health, yet unspoken.

Key Takeaway

Slow down, reflect.

Themes

wellness time society

Mood

reflective serious

Type

literary observational

When to use this quote

- personal diaries
- health workshops
- media commentary

Key Concepts

work‑life balance mental health awareness

Questions to Reflect On

- Why do we avoid talking about time stress?
- What habits can restore balance?

A Different Perspective

Societal pressure to be productive persists.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Contradiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) [Contradiction Dared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction-dared-3981188/) [Everybody Trapped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everybody-trapped-3981187/) [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Health Everybody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health-everybody-3981190/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long run](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-run/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Trapped Contradiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trapped-contradiction-3981189/)

## Related quotes

> [It's because we're so trapped in our culture, in the being of being human on this planet with the brains we have, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/it-s-because-we-re-so-trapped-in-our-culture-in-the-being-of-being/)

[Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/)

> [“Everybody’s trapped in the thing he does best.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/everybody-s-trapped-in-the-thing-he-does-best/)

[Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/)

> [Nothing that rest on some contradictory basis shall succeed or last in the long run ("ne saurait réussir ou durer, à la longue", Fr.);…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/african-spir/nothing-that-rest-on-some-contradictory-basis-shall-succeed-or-last/)

[African Spir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/african-spir/)

> [There is, in short, no 'spatial fix' that can contain the contradictions of capitalism in the long run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/there-is-in-short-no-spatial-fix-that-can-contain-the-contradictions/)

[David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/)

> [“A truth is not necessary, because we negatively are not able to conceive the actual existence of the opposite thereof;but a truth is necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-l-dabney/a-truth-is-not-necessary-because-we-negatively-are-not-able-to/)

[R.L. Dabney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-l-dabney/)

> [I have never agreed with my other self wholly. The truth of the matter seems to lie between us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/i-have-never-agreed-with-my-other-self-wholly-the-truth-of-the-matter/)

[Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/)

> [“In these creations, life and symbolic value are not in contradiction: they intensify each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/in-these-creations-life-and-symbolic-value-are-not-in-contradiction/)

[Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/)

> [To exist (in mathematics), said Henri Poincaré, is to be free from contradiction. But mere existence does not guarantee survival. To survive in mathematics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kac/to-exist-in-mathematics-said-henri-poincar-is-to-be-free-from/)

[Mark Kac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kac/)

> [There are evidently limits to the achievements of science; and there are irresolvable contradictions both between prosperity and virtue, and between happiness and ''the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/there-are-evidently-limits-to-the-achievements-of-science-and-there/)

[Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/)

> [I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-m-a-skeptic-not-because-i-do-not-want-to-believe-but-because-i-want/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [“The tiny features below, taken together with the gentle mass of Montblanc towering above them, the Vanoise glacier almost invisible in the shimmering distance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/the-tiny-features-below-taken-together-with-the-gentle-mass-of/)

[W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/)

> [Contradictions in human character are one of its most consistent notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-spark/contradictions-in-human-character-are-one-of-its-most-consistent-notes/)

[Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-spark/)

> [It is also plausible that those movements with the greatest inner contradiction and between profession and practice - that is to say with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-also-plausible-that-those-movements-with-the-greatest-inner/)

[Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/)

> [Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/courage-is-almost-a-contradiction-in-terms-it-means-a-strong-desire/)

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

> [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/)

[Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/)

## More by Joshua Ferris

> [“Using a wide variety of media, we could demonstrate for our fellow Americans their anxieties, desires, insufficiencies, and frustrations--and how to assuage them all.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/using-a-wide-variety-of-media-we-could-demonstrate-for-our-fellow/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [If someone were plucked from the group and given those responsibilities, they might find themselves growing more aloof, just by virtue of that promotion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/if-someone-were-plucked-from-the-group-and-given-those/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [“I was already at one remove before the Internet came along. I need another remove? Now I have to spend the time that I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/i-was-already-at-one-remove-before-the-internet-came-along-i-need/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [“One thing we knew for certain- despite all our certainties, it was very difficult to guess what one individual was thinking at any given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/one-thing-we-knew-for-certain-despite-all-our-certainties-it-was-very/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [To conform is to lose your soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/to-conform-is-to-lose-your-soul/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [“There was so much unpleasantness in the workaday world. The last thing you ever wanted to do at night was go home and do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/there-was-so-much-unpleasantness-in-the-workaday-world-the-last-thing/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [We loved killing time and had perfected several ways of doing so. We wandered the hallways carrying papers that indicated some mission of business…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/we-loved-killing-time-and-had-perfected-several-ways-of-doing-so-we/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [“For a long time thereafter I stared almost steadily at the bright and ostentatious VERIZON sign on top of one of the tallest buildings—the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/for-a-long-time-thereafter-i-stared-almost-steadily-at-the-bright-and/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [“Of course I alienate myself from society. It's the only way I know of not being constantly reminded of all the ways I'm alienated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/of-course-i-alienate-myself-from-society-it-s-the-only-way-i-know-of/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [“That was the last time she was allowed back at the Bennigan's. From then on, she started drinking at the T.G.I. Friday's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/that-was-the-last-time-she-was-allowed-back-at-the-bennigan-s-from/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [I've always thought things were absurd. It would take a lot more effort for me to see things as reasonable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/i-ve-always-thought-things-were-absurd-it-would-take-a-lot-more/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [“...she had the conviction of the newly converted, which wouldn't last forever, but would for the moment brook no discouragement or allow for second-guessing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/she-had-the-conviction-of-the-newly-converted-which-wouldn-t-last/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [“I swore never to use the emoticon ever… until one day, offhandedly and without much thought, I used my first :) and, shortly thereafter,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/i-swore-never-to-use-the-emoticon-ever-until-one-day-offhandedly-and/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [I think one of the ways you avoid being angry is to avoid being angry at the people in power. They might do crappy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/i-think-one-of-the-ways-you-avoid-being-angry-is-to-avoid-being-angry/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

> [“Without monstrous distortions, I was slowly learning, without lies and hypocrisy, one cannot have the idealized American life I so longed for.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/without-monstrous-distortions-i-was-slowly-learning-without-lies-and/)

[Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

[Explore all 114 Joshua Ferris quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/)

## More Contradiction quotes

> [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/)

[Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/)

> [Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/courage-is-almost-a-contradiction-in-terms-it-means-a-strong-desire/)

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

> [It is also plausible that those movements with the greatest inner contradiction and between profession and practice - that is to say with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-also-plausible-that-those-movements-with-the-greatest-inner/)

[Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/)

> [Contradictions in human character are one of its most consistent notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-spark/contradictions-in-human-character-are-one-of-its-most-consistent-notes/)

[Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-spark/)

> [“The tiny features below, taken together with the gentle mass of Montblanc towering above them, the Vanoise glacier almost invisible in the shimmering distance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/the-tiny-features-below-taken-together-with-the-gentle-mass-of/)

[W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/)

> [I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-m-a-skeptic-not-because-i-do-not-want-to-believe-but-because-i-want/)

[Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/)

> [There are evidently limits to the achievements of science; and there are irresolvable contradictions both between prosperity and virtue, and between happiness and ''the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/there-are-evidently-limits-to-the-achievements-of-science-and-there/)

[Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/)

> [To exist (in mathematics), said Henri Poincaré, is to be free from contradiction. But mere existence does not guarantee survival. To survive in mathematics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kac/to-exist-in-mathematics-said-henri-poincar-is-to-be-free-from/)

[Mark Kac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kac/)

> [“In these creations, life and symbolic value are not in contradiction: they intensify each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/in-these-creations-life-and-symbolic-value-are-not-in-contradiction/)

[Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/)

> [I have never agreed with my other self wholly. The truth of the matter seems to lie between us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/i-have-never-agreed-with-my-other-self-wholly-the-truth-of-the-matter/)

[Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/)

> [“A truth is not necessary, because we negatively are not able to conceive the actual existence of the opposite thereof;but a truth is necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-l-dabney/a-truth-is-not-necessary-because-we-negatively-are-not-able-to/)

[R.L. Dabney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-l-dabney/)

> [The pictures that were coming from Vietnam were showing us what was really happening on the ground level. It was in contradiction to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/the-pictures-that-were-coming-from-vietnam-were-showing-us-what-was/)

[James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/)

> [Here I encounter the most popular fallacy of our times. It is not considered sufficient that the law should guarantee to every citizen the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/here-i-encounter-the-most-popular-fallacy-of-our-times-it-is-not/)

[Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/)

> [That the sun will not rise tomorrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction, than the affirmation, that it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/that-the-sun-will-not-rise-tomorrow-is-no-less-intelligible-a/)

[David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/)

> [The reflection of nature in man's thought must be understood not lifelessly but in the eternal process of movement, the arising of contradictions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/the-reflection-of-nature-in-man-s-thought-must-be-understood-not/)

[Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/)

[Browse all 1,263 Contradiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "We found ourselves wanting to hurry time along, which was not in the long run good for our health. Everybody was trapped in this contradiction but nobody ever dared to articulate it.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Joshua Ferris"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/we-found-ourselves-wanting-to-hurry-time-along-which-was-not-in-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Contradiction"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/we-found-ourselves-wanting-to-hurry-time-along-which-was-not-in-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de0/joshua-ferris-4070_contradiction_we-found-ourselves-wanting-to-hurry-time_2879231.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de0/joshua-ferris-4070_contradiction_we-found-ourselves-wanting-to-hurry-time_2879231.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de0/joshua-ferris-4070_contradiction_we-found-ourselves-wanting-to-hurry-time_2879231.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“We found ourselves wanting to hurry time along, which was not in the long run good for our health. Everybody…” — Joshua Ferris",
                "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": "Joshua Ferris",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "We found ourselves wanting to hurry...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/we-found-ourselves-wanting-to-hurry-time-along-which-was-not-in-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/we-found-ourselves-wanting-to-hurry-time-along-which-was-not-in-the/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
