--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Take what you can use and let the rest go…" description: "\"Take what you can use and let the rest go by.\" — Ken Kesey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/ken-kesey-1034_rest_take-what-you-can-use-and-let-the-rest-g_1333559.png" --- # Take what you can use and let the rest go by. ![“Take what you can use and let the rest go by.” quote by Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/ken-kesey-1034_rest_take-what-you-can-use-and-let-the-rest-g_1333559.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/ken-kesey-1034_rest_take-what-you-can-use-and-let-the-rest-g_1333559.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/ken-kesey-1034_rest_take-what-you-can-use-and-let-the-rest-g_1333559.png) > “Take what you can use and let the rest go by.” [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Encourages using useful resources and discarding the rest. **In simple terms:** Use what helps; let go of the rest. Key Takeaway Prioritize usefulness. Themes resourcefulness detachment simplicity Mood reflective practical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal budgeting - decluttering - decision making Key Concepts minimalism pragmatism Questions to Reflect On - What can you let go of today? - How do you decide usefulness? A Different Perspective Over‑focusing on usefulness may ignore potential hidden value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Let Rest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/let-rest/) [Rest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rest/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) ## Related quotes > [When you make burgers, it's good to let them rest for a bit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/april-bloomfield/when-you-make-burgers-it-s-good-to-let-them-rest-for-a-bit/) [April Bloomfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/april-bloomfield/) > [Please, please God - let me rest now and be done with steep uphills for a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/please-please-god-let-me-rest-now-and-be-done-with-steep-uphills-for/) [Unkown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unkown/) > [Give your heart to the trade you have learnt, and draw refreshment from it. 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If you love truth more than happiness, then open; otherwise, let rest.” His”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-wright/truth-destroys-the-worst-in-man-pleasure-destroys-the-best-if-you/) [John C. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-wright/) > [Let me rest in Your will and be silent. Then the light of Your joy will warm my life. Its fire will burn in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/let-me-rest-in-your-will-and-be-silent-then-the-light-of-your-joy/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) ## More by Ken Kesey > [“Time overlaps itself. 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'What more can one ask?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/the-best-of-all-possible-cages-ben-stepped-back-to-regard-the-job/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [Your trouble is, you keep trying to unscrew the unscrutable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/your-trouble-is-you-keep-trying-to-unscrew-the-unscrutable/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [That ain't me, that ain't my face. It wasn't even me when I was trying to be that face. 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Now he knew better; if the book never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/they-think-they-know-the-book-by-its-cover-but-the-book-knows-what-it/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [More was revealed in a human face than a human being can bear face to face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/more-was-revealed-in-a-human-face-than-a-human-being-can-bear-face-to/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [If this glorious birth to death hassle is the only hassle we are ever to have ..if our grand exhilarating fight of life is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/if-this-glorious-birth-to-death-hassle-is-the-only-hassle-we-are-ever/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [“It's gonna burn me just that way, finally telling about all this, about the hospital, and her, and the guys- and about McMurphy. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/it-s-gonna-burn-me-just-that-way-finally-telling-about-all-this-about/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [When Shakespeare was writing, he wasn't writing for stuff to lie on the page; it was supposed to get up and move around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/when-shakespeare-was-writing-he-wasn-t-writing-for-stuff-to-lie-on/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [“And then some guy wandering as lost as you would all of a sudden be right before your eyes, his face bigger and clearer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/and-then-some-guy-wandering-as-lost-as-you-would-all-of-a-sudden-be/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) [Explore all 295 Ken Kesey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) ## More Rest quotes > [I don't drink much anymore, but when I traveled with Frank Sinatra, God rest his soul, I used to drink like I could do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-rickles/i-don-t-drink-much-anymore-but-when-i-traveled-with-frank-sinatra-god/) [Don Rickles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-rickles/) > [“We have become human doings more than human beings, and the verb “rest,” as Jesus uses it, is largely foreign to us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/we-have-become-human-doings-more-than-human-beings-and-the-verb-rest/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [Eric Clapton's scales - when he comes off a high note and it's time for a refrain or a little bit of a rest,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-rea/eric-clapton-s-scales-when-he-comes-off-a-high-note-and-it-s-time-for/) [Chris Rea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-rea/) > [“What if I believed that God Himself was the One who decreed I would be a quiet person? What if I believed that God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-rajnus/what-if-i-believed-that-god-himself-was-the-one-who-decreed-i-would/) [Julie Rajnus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-rajnus/) > [I have heard that if you pull a bent breath through the second hole of a harmonica tuned to the key of Georgia while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-wakefield/i-have-heard-that-if-you-pull-a-bent-breath-through-the-second-hole/) [Buddy Wakefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-wakefield/) > [Smokers, like so many of us, are mavericks when they're healthy but parasites when they're not. They trash their bodies and then expect the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norah-vincent/smokers-like-so-many-of-us-are-mavericks-when-they-re-healthy-but/) [Norah Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norah-vincent/) > [I decided to start my channel because my followers on Instagram told me that they wanted to learn how I did the looks I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manny-mua/i-decided-to-start-my-channel-because-my-followers-on-instagram-told/) [Manny MUA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manny-mua/) > [You couldn't get me to go travel around and sit in a hotel room again. I have no interest in doing that. So everybody's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-everly/you-couldn-t-get-me-to-go-travel-around-and-sit-in-a-hotel-room-again/) [Phil Everly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-everly/) > [Only two to three per cent of an audience is interested in words and pays attention to lyrics; most of the rest of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/only-two-to-three-per-cent-of-an-audience-is-interested-in-words-and/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [And the rest is rust and stardust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/and-the-rest-is-rust-and-stardust/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [I focus on all the body's movements where you activate your core while you're working out the rest of your body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hill/i-focus-on-all-the-body-s-movements-where-you-activate-your-core/) [Taylor Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hill/) > [The same law takes place in a system, consisting of many bodies, as in one single body, with regard to their persevering in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/the-same-law-takes-place-in-a-system-consisting-of-many-bodies-as-in/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [Rest, nature, books, music...such is my idea of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/rest-nature-books-music-such-is-my-idea-of-happiness/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [When you rest deeply in the Unknown without trying to escape, your experience becomes very vast. 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"Rest is important," he insisted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/obert-skye/you-get-some-rest-we-ll-talk-later-i-d-rather-not-i-said-nicely-rest/) [Obert Skye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/obert-skye/) [Browse all 3,896 Rest quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rest/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Take what you can use and let the rest go by.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ken Kesey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/take-what-you-can-use-and-let-the-rest-go-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Rest" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/take-what-you-can-use-and-let-the-rest-go-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/ken-kesey-1034_rest_take-what-you-can-use-and-let-the-rest-g_1333559.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/ken-kesey-1034_rest_take-what-you-can-use-and-let-the-rest-g_1333559.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/ken-kesey-1034_rest_take-what-you-can-use-and-let-the-rest-g_1333559.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Take what you can use and let the rest go by.” — Ken Kesey", "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": "Ken Kesey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Take what you can use and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/take-what-you-can-use-and-let-the-rest-go-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/take-what-you-can-use-and-let-the-rest-go-by/#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 } } ] } ```