--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The circumstances with which every thing…" description: "\"The circumstances with which every thing in this world is begirt, give every thing in this world its size and shape;--and by tightening it, or relaxing..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/laurence-sterne-1405_cases_the-circumstances-with-which-every-thing_1250015.jpg" --- # The circumstances with which every thing in this world is… ![“The circumstances with which every thing in this world is begirt, give every thing in this world its size and shape;--and by tightening it, or relaxing it, this way or that, make the thing to be, what it is--great--little--good--bad--indifferent or not indifferent, just as the case happens.” quote by Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/laurence-sterne-1405_cases_the-circumstances-with-which-every-thing_1250015.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/laurence-sterne-1405_cases_the-circumstances-with-which-every-thing_1250015.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/laurence-sterne-1405_cases_the-circumstances-with-which-every-thing_1250015.jpg) > “The circumstances with which every thing in this world is begirt, give every thing in this world its size and shape;--and by tightening it, or relaxing it, this way or that, make the thing to be, what it is--great--little--good--bad--indifferent or not indifferent, just as the case happens.” [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Everything’s size, shape, and nature depend on surrounding conditions; altering those conditions changes its character. **In simple terms:** Context shapes everything’s form and quality. Key Takeaway Adjust context to shape outcomes. Themes context change relativity Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - design - education - urban planning - personal habits Key Concepts philosophy physics systems theory Questions to Reflect On - How does environment affect your behavior? - What can you modify to improve outcomes? A Different Perspective Changing context may have unintended side effects. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life changing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-changing/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I would have liked to run Formula 1 under the right circumstances. That's the one thing I didn't do. I'm the kind of guy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parnelli-jones/i-would-have-liked-to-run-formula-1-under-the-right-circumstances/) Parnelli Jones > [I like my body when I have curves. We all come indifferent shapes and sizes, and this is something to celebrate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-aguilera/i-like-my-body-when-i-have-curves-we-all-come-indifferent-shapes-and/) [Christina Aguilera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-aguilera/) > [Everyone's gonna have their opinion, everyone's gonna have their favorite bands. The best way I can describe it is music is like food, either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-anselmo/everyone-s-gonna-have-their-opinion-everyone-s-gonna-have-their/) [Phil Anselmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-anselmo/) > [“the fear of being indifferent is not the same as indifference itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-landweber/the-fear-of-being-indifferent-is-not-the-same-as-indifference-itself/) Michael Landweber > [So You Want to Know All about her. Who she really is. (Was?) Why she swerved off the high road. Hard left to nowhere,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-hopkins/so-you-want-to-know-all-about-her-who-she-really-is-was-why-she/) [Ellen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-hopkins/) > [There are some people, who place enormous value on their home and feel that it defines them, that a stain on the carpet is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/there-are-some-people-who-place-enormous-value-on-their-home-and-feel/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [As her time in Florence drew to a close she was only at ease amongst those to whom she felt indifferent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-her-time-in-florence-drew-to-a-close-she-was-only-at-ease-amongst/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Insect politics, indifferent universe. Bang your head against the wall, but apathy is worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-henley/insect-politics-indifferent-universe-bang-your-head-against-the-wall/) [Don Henley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-henley/) > [Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses; whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future, predominate over the present, advances us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/whatever-withdraws-us-from-the-power-of-our-senses-whatever-makes-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [To be wise was to be above joy and sorrow, fear and pity, ambition and humiliation. It was to hate nothing and to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/to-be-wise-was-to-be-above-joy-and-sorrow-fear-and-pity-ambition-and/) [Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/) > [I only asked my friends to be friendly and polite, I found them indifferent and censorious; The one I left to silence, the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-smith/i-only-asked-my-friends-to-be-friendly-and-polite-i-found-them/) [Stevie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-smith/) > [Further conceive, I beg, that a stone, while continuing in motion, should be capable of thinking and knowing, that it is endeavoring, as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/further-conceive-i-beg-that-a-stone-while-continuing-in-motion-should/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Was man made stupid to see his own stupidity? Is God by definition indifferent, beyond us all? Is the eternal truth man's fighting soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-eberhart/was-man-made-stupid-to-see-his-own-stupidity-is-god-by-definition/) [Richard Eberhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-eberhart/) > [Wisdom views with an indifferent eye all finite joys, all blessings born to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/wisdom-views-with-an-indifferent-eye-all-finite-joys-all-blessings/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [The corporate state is an immensely powerful machine, ordered, legalistic, rational, yet utterly out of human control, wholly and perfectly indifferent to any human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/the-corporate-state-is-an-immensely-powerful-machine-ordered/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) ## More by Laurence Sterne > [The insolence of base minds in success is boundless; and would scarce admit of a comparison, did not they themselves furnish us with one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-insolence-of-base-minds-in-success-is-boundless-and-would-scarce/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The world is ashamed of being virtuous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-world-is-ashamed-of-being-virtuous/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Digressions incontestably are the sunshine; they are the life, the soul of reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/digressions-incontestably-are-the-sunshine-they-are-the-life-the-soul/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [I was acquainted once with a gallant soldier who assured me that his only measure of courage was this: upon the first fire, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/i-was-acquainted-once-with-a-gallant-soldier-who-assured-me-that-his/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [A man's body and his mind, with the utmost reverence to both I speak it, are exactly like a jerkin and a jerkin's lining;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/a-man-s-body-and-his-mind-with-the-utmost-reverence-to-both-i-speak/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [When the affections so kindly break loose, Joy, is another name for Religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/when-the-affections-so-kindly-break-loose-joy-is-another-name-for/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Sweet pliability of man's spirit, that can at once surrender itself to illusions, which cheat expectation and sorrow of their weary moments! - long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/sweet-pliability-of-man-s-spirit-that-can-at-once-surrender-itself-to/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Philosophy has a fine saying for everything.-For Death it has an entire set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/philosophy-has-a-fine-saying-for-everything-for-death-it-has-an/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Dear sensibility! Source inexhausted of all that's precious in our joys, or costly in our sorrows! Eternal fountain of our feelings! 'tis here I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/dear-sensibility-source-inexhausted-of-all-that-s-precious-in-our/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The best friends in the world may differ sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-best-friends-in-the-world-may-differ-sometimes/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Beauty has so many charms, one knows not how to speak against it; and when it happens that a graceful figure is the habitation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/beauty-has-so-many-charms-one-knows-not-how-to-speak-against-it-and/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The best hearts are ever the bravest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-best-hearts-are-ever-the-bravest/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Hail! the small courtesies of life, for smooth do ye make the road of it, like grace and beauty, which beget inclinations to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/hail-the-small-courtesies-of-life-for-smooth-do-ye-make-the-road-of/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [There are a thousand unnoticed openings, continued my father, which let penetrating eye at once into a man's soul; and I maintain it, added…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/there-are-a-thousand-unnoticed-openings-continued-my-father-which-let/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [“Button-holes! there is something lively in the very idea of 'em - and trust me, when I get amongst 'em - you gentry with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/button-holes-there-is-something-lively-in-the-very-idea-of-em-and/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) [Explore all 244 Laurence Sterne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) ## More Cases quotes > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [I'd always have grease in at least two places, in case the umpires would ask me to wipe one off. I never wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaylord-perry/i-d-always-have-grease-in-at-least-two-places-in-case-the-umpires/) [Gaylord Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaylord-perry/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. However, even if a woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusuf-al-qaradawi/islam-never-differentiates-between-men-and-women-as-regards-political/) [Yusuf al-Qaradawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusuf-al-qaradawi/) > [You gonna take the case?" It's not a case. It's a missing person. Sort of." You're gonna have a devil of a time finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/you-gonna-take-the-case-it-s-not-a-case-it-s-a-missing-person-sort-of/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [I think we've all had enough of Coltrane saxophonists. There's a case of someone ruining a generation of saxophonists, as Louis Armstrong may have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bley/i-think-we-ve-all-had-enough-of-coltrane-saxophonists-there-s-a-case/) [Paul Bley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bley/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The world around us is an increasingly hostile and sinful place. Occasionally that splashes onto us, and perhaps, in the case of a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-world-around-us-is-an-increasingly-hostile-and-sinful-place/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [If you followed the media you'd think that everybody in Africa was starving to death, and that's not the case; so it's important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/if-you-followed-the-media-you-d-think-that-everybody-in-africa-was/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [ \[As in the case of\] alcohol prohibition, illegality has driven organized crime, sent countless people to jail, and killed many thousands. Repression does not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-branson/as-in-the-case-of-alcohol-prohibition-illegality-has-driven-organized/) [Sam Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-branson/) > [He emphasised basic truths: you are not dying yet, you have to live your life until you are. Underpinning them was the belief that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/he-emphasised-basic-truths-you-are-not-dying-yet-you-have-to-live/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [Athletes at all ages are bigger and stronger than ever before. 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/) > [Each Act of Parliament intended to address harassment and discrimination has faced objections on the basis of 'you'll never be able to prove...' and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-field/each-act-of-parliament-intended-to-address-harassment-and/) [Tim Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-field/) > [The Cheney team had, for example, technological supremacy over the National Security Council staff. That is to say, they could read their e-mails. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-wilkerson/the-cheney-team-had-for-example-technological-supremacy-over-the/) [Lawrence Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-wilkerson/) > [If you want good behavior, don't pay on a commission basis. Our judges aren't paid so much a case. We keep them pretty well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/if-you-want-good-behavior-don-t-pay-on-a-commission-basis-our-judges/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) Browse all 6,420 Cases quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The circumstances with which every thing in this world is begirt, give every thing in this world its size and shape;--and by tightening it, or relaxing it, this way or that, make the thing to be, what it is--great--little--good--bad--indifferent or not indifferent, just as the case happens.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Laurence Sterne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-circumstances-with-which-every-thing-in-this-world-is-begirt-give/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cases" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-circumstances-with-which-every-thing-in-this-world-is-begirt-give/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/laurence-sterne-1405_cases_the-circumstances-with-which-every-thing_1250015.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/laurence-sterne-1405_cases_the-circumstances-with-which-every-thing_1250015.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/laurence-sterne-1405_cases_the-circumstances-with-which-every-thing_1250015.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The circumstances with which every thing in this world is begirt, give every thing in this world its size…” — Laurence Sterne", "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": "Laurence Sterne", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The circumstances with which every thing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-circumstances-with-which-every-thing-in-this-world-is-begirt-give/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-circumstances-with-which-every-thing-in-this-world-is-begirt-give/#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 } } ] } ```