--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Living did not mean one joy piled upon…" description: "\"“Living did not mean one joy piled upon another. It was merely the hope for less pain, hope played like a playing card upon another hope, a wish for ki..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f45/lorrie-moore-870_bark_living-did-not-mean-one-joy-piled-upon-a_1965782.jpg" --- # Living did not mean one joy piled upon another. It was… ![“Living did not mean one joy piled upon another. It was merely the hope for less pain, hope played like a playing card upon another hope, a wish for kindnesses and mercies to emerge like kings and queens in an unexpected change of the game. One could hold the cards oneself or not: they would land…” quote by Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f45/lorrie-moore-870_bark_living-did-not-mean-one-joy-piled-upon-a_1965782.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f45/lorrie-moore-870_bark_living-did-not-mean-one-joy-piled-upon-a_1965782.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f45/lorrie-moore-870_bark_living-did-not-mean-one-joy-piled-upon-a_1965782.jpg) > ““Living did not mean one joy piled upon another. It was merely the hope for less pain, hope played like a playing card upon another hope, a wish for kindnesses and mercies to emerge like kings and queens in an unexpected change of the game. One could hold the cards oneself or not: they would land the same regardless.”” [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is a series of hopes and pains, not a simple accumulation of joy; we seek kindness and mercy amid uncertainty, but outcomes often feel predetermined. **In simple terms:** Life is hope and pain, not just joy; outcomes feel fixed. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty and seek kindness. Themes hope pain uncertainty kindness destiny Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal loss - relationship challenges - health crises - career setbacks Key Concepts existentialism human condition randomness Questions to Reflect On - How do you find kindness in hardship? - Can you influence the “cards” you’re dealt? A Different Perspective Hope may not change outcomes; external factors dominate. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bark/) [Card Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/card-hope-3271968/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Hope Played](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope-played-3271965/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Living](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living/) [Lorrie-moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lorrie-moore-111307/) [Luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luck/) [Mean Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean-joy-3271966/) [Merely Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merely-hope-3271967/) [Playing Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playing-card/) ## Related quotes > [“Living did not mean one joy piled upon another. It was merely the hope for less pain...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/living-did-not-mean-one-joy-piled-upon-another-it-was-merely-the-hope/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“Cold men destroy women,” my mother wrote me years later. “They woo them with something personable that they bring out for show, something annexed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/cold-men-destroy-women-my-mother-wrote-me-years-later-they-woo-them/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“I'll go see her tonight,' I said. I felt I was a person of my word, and by saying something I could make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/i-ll-go-see-her-tonight-i-said-i-felt-i-was-a-person-of-my-word-and/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [I don't care what other critics say, I only hope to be played.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgil-thomson/i-don-t-care-what-other-critics-say-i-only-hope-to-be-played/) [Virgil Thomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgil-thomson/) > [You must never aspire to 'finish' a house, you can merely hope to start it, and from then on it's an evolutionary process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-bayley/you-must-never-aspire-to-finish-a-house-you-can-merely-hope-to-start/) [Stephen Bayley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-bayley/) > [“Do you think people can be rehabilitated and forgiven?" "Sure! Look at Ollie North." "Well, he lost that Senate race. 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On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/usually-i-try-to-be-there-by-six-everything-has-been-taken-off-the/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Anything was better than playing cards, and I was doing something I wanted to do creating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-martin/anything-was-better-than-playing-cards-and-i-was-doing-something-i/) [Mary Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-martin/) > [“His life was now the life of a collector, and that gave it meaning. Evening after evening he would count and arrange his cuttings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-capek/his-life-was-now-the-life-of-a-collector-and-that-gave-it-meaning/) [Karel Čapek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-capek/) > [Attack on playing cards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/attack-on-playing-cards/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [While you're playing cards with a regular guy or having a bite to eat with him, he seems a peaceable, good-humoured and not entirely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/while-you-re-playing-cards-with-a-regular-guy-or-having-a-bite-to-eat/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“Winter was every kid’s favorite season in Kabul, at least those whose fathers could afford to buy a good iron stove. The reason was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/winter-was-every-kid-s-favorite-season-in-kabul-at-least-those-whose/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [“Zed and Sky had stayed behind and were chatting with Will, Sky sitting on Zed's knee as if nothing was going to get them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-stirling/zed-and-sky-had-stayed-behind-and-were-chatting-with-will-sky-sitting/) [Joss Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-stirling/) > [“As members of the Church, there are things you cannot do. For one, you cannot take a Las Vegas-style vacation. I do not know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-grant-bangerter/as-members-of-the-church-there-are-things-you-cannot-do-for-one-you/) [William Grant Bangerter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-grant-bangerter/) ## More by Lorrie Moore > [But I believed in starting over. There was finally, I knew, only rupture and hurt and falling short between all persons, but, Shirley, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/but-i-believed-in-starting-over-there-was-finally-i-knew-only-rupture/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [I'm very interested in what people will do for money. Money: it's timeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/i-m-very-interested-in-what-people-will-do-for-money-money-it-s/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“One of the problems with people in Chicago, she remembered, was that they were never lonely at the same time. Their sadness occurred in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/one-of-the-problems-with-people-in-chicago-she-remembered-was-that/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“If you had forgotten, it would quickly come back to you. Aloneness was like riding a bike. At gunpoint. 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If she had been shy, not one of us would be at Perkins right now.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/amber-was-not-shy-if-she-had-been-shy-not-one-of-us-would-be-at/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [People will do anything, anything, for a really nice laugh,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/people-will-do-anything-anything-for-a-really-nice-laugh/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [“Farmers aren't rich. They have land but no money." Actually, my father didn't even have that much land. 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Here is someone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/life-is-sad-here-is-someone/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [I had never feared insomnia before--like prison, wouldn't it just give you more time to read?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/i-had-never-feared-insomnia-before-like-prison-wouldn-t-it-just-give/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) [Explore all 340 Lorrie Moore quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) ## More Bark quotes > [A tree is a self: it is 'unseen shaping' more than it is leaves or bark, roots or cellulose or fruit ... What this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-swimme/a-tree-is-a-self-it-is-unseen-shaping-more-than-it-is-leaves-or-bark/) [Brian Swimme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-swimme/) > [If the watchdog doesn't bark, how do you know there's a burglar in the basement? And the press is supposed to be a watchdog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/if-the-watchdog-doesn-t-bark-how-do-you-know-there-s-a-burglar-in-the/) [Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/) > [Guests are people who come to your home to see you whine at the table, bark loudly, jump on women wearing pantyhose, and do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-kehret/guests-are-people-who-come-to-your-home-to-see-you-whine-at-the-table/) [Peg Kehret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-kehret/) > [I was haunted always by my other life-my drab room in the Bronx, my square foot of the subway, my fixation upon the day's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-was-haunted-always-by-my-other-life-my-drab-room-in-the-bronx-my/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [We must guard against becoming so engrossed in the specific nature of the roots and bark of the trees of knowledge as to miss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-s-patton/we-must-guard-against-becoming-so-engrossed-in-the-specific-nature-of/) [George S. Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-s-patton/) > [A tortoise is, I suppose, a Jewish pet. It knows its place. Out on the lawn. It doesn't bark. It doesn't tear the Dralon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-lipman/a-tortoise-is-i-suppose-a-jewish-pet-it-knows-its-place-out-on-the/) [Maureen Lipman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-lipman/) > [Our legal system, including the police, is anti-Dalit and anti-poor. The death penalty laws' wrathful majesty, in blood-shot equality, deals the fatal blow on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-r-krishna-iyer/our-legal-system-including-the-police-is-anti-dalit-and-anti-poor-the/) [V. R. Krishna Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-r-krishna-iyer/) > [It is no use painting the foot of the tree white, the strength of the bark cries out from beneath the paint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aime-cesaire/it-is-no-use-painting-the-foot-of-the-tree-white-the-strength-of-the/) [Aime Cesaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aime-cesaire/) > [Dogs, also, bark at what they do not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/dogs-also-bark-at-what-they-do-not-know/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) > [The dogs may bark, but the caravan moves on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-needham/the-dogs-may-bark-but-the-caravan-moves-on/) [Joseph Needham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-needham/) > [Dogs that bark dont bite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/german-proverb/dogs-that-bark-dont-bite/) [German Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/german-proverb/) > [I bark my voice out through a closed throat, pretty much. 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Remember, dogs bark if they don't know the person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-bother-about-people-who-judge-you-without-knowing-you-remember/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you want to talk with the dogs, you must learn to bark, and bark like an old dog because he doesnt bark without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/if-you-want-to-talk-with-the-dogs-you-must-learn-to-bark-and-bark/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) [Browse all 383 Bark quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bark/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Living did not mean one joy piled upon another. It was merely the hope for less pain, hope played like a playing card upon another hope, a wish for kindnesses and mercies to emerge like kings and queens in an unexpected change of the game. 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