--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They had a longing to move up and out, to…" description: "\"“They had a longing to move up and out, to be something bigger than they were born to.”\" — Kim Severson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/kim-severson-50977_bigger_they-had-a-longing-to-move-up-and-out-to_822173.jpg" --- # They had a longing to move up and out, to be something… ![“They had a longing to move up and out, to be something bigger than they were born to.” quote by Kim Severson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/kim-severson-50977_bigger_they-had-a-longing-to-move-up-and-out-to_822173.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/kim-severson-50977_bigger_they-had-a-longing-to-move-up-and-out-to_822173.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/kim-severson-50977_bigger_they-had-a-longing-to-move-up-and-out-to_822173.jpg) > ““They had a longing to move up and out, to be something bigger than they were born to.”” [Kim Severson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-severson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People desire upward mobility, yearning for lives larger than their origins. **In simple terms:** Aspirations drive people to seek bigger lives. Key Takeaway Pursue growth beyond your beginnings. Themes ambition migration social mobility hope Mood determined hopeful reflective Type sociological motivational When to use this quote - career advancement - education - relocation - community leadership Key Concepts socio‑economic advancement personal development cultural identity Questions to Reflect On - What obstacles hinder your progress? - How can communities support upward mobility? A Different Perspective Systemic barriers can limit upward movement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) ## Related quotes > [Your future is bigger than where you were born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-ashimolowo/your-future-is-bigger-than-where-you-were-born/) [Matthew Ashimolowo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-ashimolowo/) > [“Life is a collection of memories and feelings. Mawkish sentimentally urges us to engage in artistic overtures, we yearn to share with other people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/life-is-a-collection-of-memories-and-feelings-mawkish-sentimentally/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [You don't know why, but you know you have to go home. It's an eternal longing. It's Marvell's drop of dew wanting to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-don-t-know-why-but-you-know-you-have-to-go-home-it-s-an-eternal/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“I walk with a dual longing for life and for death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-lee-houghton/i-walk-with-a-dual-longing-for-life-and-for-death/) Melissa Lee-Houghton > [“…The truth: dreaming is lonely the further away the closer to this one time No one has held me for so long Days stitch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angkarn-chanthathip/the-truth-dreaming-is-lonely-the-further-away-the-closer-to-this-one/) Angkarn Chanthathip > [The orgasm has replaced the Cross as the focus of longing and the image of fulfillment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/the-orgasm-has-replaced-the-cross-as-the-focus-of-longing-and-the/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [“How sad, he thought, that desire found new objects but did not abate, that when it came to longing there was no end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/how-sad-he-thought-that-desire-found-new-objects-but-did-not-abate/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [If we really face our sadness, we find it speaks with the voice of our deepest longing. And if we face it a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kingsley/if-we-really-face-our-sadness-we-find-it-speaks-with-the-voice-of-our/) Peter Kingsley > [To show a longing for anything that one cannot have, for instance, is not a clever position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/to-show-a-longing-for-anything-that-one-cannot-have-for-instance-is/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [I can negate everything of that part of me that lives on vague nostalgias, except this desire for unity, this longing to solve, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-can-negate-everything-of-that-part-of-me-that-lives-on-vague/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Longing is like a seed that wrestles in the ground](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/longing-is-like-a-seed-that-wrestles-in-the-ground/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [It (taking photographs) is all about longingwithout longing-no pictures at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anders-petersen/it-taking-photographs-is-all-about-longingwithout-longing-no-pictures/) [Anders Petersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anders-petersen/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) ## More by Kim Severson > [“There just comes a point where you realize it is time to show up for your parents, no matter what has passed between you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-severson/there-just-comes-a-point-where-you-realize-it-is-time-to-show-up-for/) [Kim Severson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-severson/) > [Although prison officials have long battled illegal cellphones, smartphones have changed the game. With Internet access, a prisoner can call up phone directories, maps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-severson/although-prison-officials-have-long-battled-illegal-cellphones/) [Kim Severson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-severson/) > [You can cook when you're hungry or cook to make a living or to feel creative or even just as a distraction, but cooking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-severson/you-can-cook-when-you-re-hungry-or-cook-to-make-a-living-or-to-feel/) [Kim Severson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-severson/) > [“You can find God, make as much money as God or be as good-looking as God, and you'll still need to figure out a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-severson/you-can-find-god-make-as-much-money-as-god-or-be-as-good-looking-as/) [Kim Severson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-severson/) > [“I'll admit that the idea of being adored for nothing but my face and my body has had an occasional appeal, in the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-severson/i-ll-admit-that-the-idea-of-being-adored-for-nothing-but-my-face-and/) [Kim Severson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-severson/) > [You think to yourself, “If one drink feels really good and two feels really, really good, a hundred ought to feel fantastic.” As sane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-severson/you-think-to-yourself-if-one-drink-feels-really-good-and-two-feels/) [Kim Severson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-severson/) [Explore all 7 Kim Severson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-severson/) ## More Bigger quotes > [The bigger the canvas, the better I do. 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You could use flimsy materials if you wanted to,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/i-just-think-structure-can-make-a-book-feel-so-much-bigger-it-s-the/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [I've always thought that the most extraordinary special effect you could do is to buy a child at the moment of its birth, sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/i-ve-always-thought-that-the-most-extraordinary-special-effect-you/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [Max—you have a bigger mission than finding the flock's parents. Focus on helping the whole world, not just your friends. 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Love is what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-willis/never-be-too-busy-for-the-people-you-love-never-allow-pursuits-or/) [Dave Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-willis/) > [If you consider yourself a part of the culture, then finances can't allow you to be bigger than the actual art form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-jackson/if-you-consider-yourself-a-part-of-the-culture-then-finances-can-t/) [Curtis Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-jackson/) > [If we get better our customers will demand we get bigger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-truett-cathy/if-we-get-better-our-customers-will-demand-we-get-bigger/) [S. Truett Cathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-truett-cathy/) > [ Their \[the U.S.’s\] defense budget in absolute figures is almost 25 times bigger than Russia’s. 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And they are being encouraged - sometimes even incentivized, as we recently learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-jain/athletes-at-all-ages-are-bigger-and-stronger-than-ever-before-and/) [Naveen Jain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-jain/) Browse all 3,614 Bigger quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They had a longing to move up and out, to be something bigger than they were born to.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kim Severson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-severson/they-had-a-longing-to-move-up-and-out-to-be-something-bigger-than/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bigger" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-severson/they-had-a-longing-to-move-up-and-out-to-be-something-bigger-than/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/kim-severson-50977_bigger_they-had-a-longing-to-move-up-and-out-to_822173.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/kim-severson-50977_bigger_they-had-a-longing-to-move-up-and-out-to_822173.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/kim-severson-50977_bigger_they-had-a-longing-to-move-up-and-out-to_822173.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They had a longing to move up and out, to be something bigger than they were born to.” — Kim Severson", "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": "Kim Severson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-severson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“They had a longing to move...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-severson/they-had-a-longing-to-move-up-and-out-to-be-something-bigger-than/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-severson/they-had-a-longing-to-move-up-and-out-to-be-something-bigger-than/#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 } } ] } ```