--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Walking was not fast enough so we ran…" description: "\"“Walking was not fast enough so we ran. Running was not fast enough, so we galloped. Galloping was not fast enough, so we sailed. Sailing was not fast ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/margaret-atwood-40_fast_walking-was-not-fast-enough-so-we-ran-ru_2769572.jpg" --- # Walking was not fast enough so we ran. Running was not… ![“Walking was not fast enough so we ran. Running was not fast enough, so we galloped. Galloping was not fast enough, so we sailed. Sailing was not fast enough, so we rolled merrily along on long metal tracks. Long metal tracks were not fast enough, so we drove. Driving was not fast enough, so we…” quote by Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/margaret-atwood-40_fast_walking-was-not-fast-enough-so-we-ran-ru_2769572.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/margaret-atwood-40_fast_walking-was-not-fast-enough-so-we-ran-ru_2769572.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/margaret-atwood-40_fast_walking-was-not-fast-enough-so-we-ran-ru_2769572.jpg) > ““Walking was not fast enough so we ran. Running was not fast enough, so we galloped. Galloping was not fast enough, so we sailed. Sailing was not fast enough, so we rolled merrily along on long metal tracks. Long metal tracks were not fast enough, so we drove. Driving was not fast enough, so we flew. Flying isn't fast enough, not fast enough for us. We want to get there faster. Get where? Wherever we are not. But a human soul can go only as fast as a man can walk, they used to say. In that case, where are all the souls? Left behind. They wander here and there, slowly, dim lights flickering in the marshes at night, looking for us. But they're not nearly fast enough, not for us, we're way ahead of them, they'll never catch up. That's why we can go so fast: our souls don't weigh us down.”” [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human ambition drives relentless pursuit of speed, yet our souls remain bound to our physical limits, leaving many behind. **In simple terms:** We chase speed, but our souls stay slow. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of speed and value slower journeys. Themes ambition technology spirituality progress loneliness Mood reflective melancholic thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - urban commuting - space travel - personal growth - environmental impact Key Concepts transcendence human nature modernity Questions to Reflect On - How does rapid progress affect our inner lives? - What can we learn from slower, reflective practices? A Different Perspective Speed can cause neglect of deeper connections and ethical considerations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fast/) [Fast Souls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fast-souls-3231581/) [Human soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-soul/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Left behind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-behind/) [Left Wander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-wander-3231582/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Souls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/souls/) [Speed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speed/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Walking fast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walking-fast/) [Wander Slowly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wander-slowly-832202/) [Want Faster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-faster-1119119/) ## Related quotes > [We want to get there faster. Get where? Wherever we are not. But a human soul can only go as fast as a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/we-want-to-get-there-faster-get-where-wherever-we-are-not-but-a-human/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Walking was not fast enough, so we ran. Running was not fast enough, so we galloped. Galloping was not fast enough, so we sailed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/walking-was-not-fast-enough-so-we-ran-running-was-not-fast-enough-so-2/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [My thoughts begin to wander and I slowly dream of how he will find me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-bognar/my-thoughts-begin-to-wander-and-i-slowly-dream-of-how-he-will-find-me/) [Jenna Bognar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-bognar/) > [“We never quite learned to part, -We wander slowly side by side. Outside it’s starting to get dark, I’m silent, - you’re preoccupied. We’ll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-ahmatova/we-never-quite-learned-to-part-we-wander-slowly-side-by-side-outside/) [Anna Ahmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-ahmatova/) > [I agree that an actor's shelf life is so less, so they want it to move faster. 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That’s how she liked to walk. So what if she had nowhere to go? So what if no one on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-pascal/as-the-crow-flies-that-s-how-she-liked-to-walk-so-what-if-she-had/) [Francine Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-pascal/) ## More by Margaret Atwood > [“I'm fine," said Pilar, "for the moment. And the moment is the only time we can be fine in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-m-fine-said-pilar-for-the-moment-and-the-moment-is-the-only-time-we/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [And yet it disturbs me to learn I have hurt someone unintentionally. I want all my hurts to be intentional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/and-yet-it-disturbs-me-to-learn-i-have-hurt-someone-unintentionally-i/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Mary: Some call this "Eve's curse," but I think that is stupid because the real curse of Eve was having to put up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/mary-some-call-this-eve-s-curse-but-i-think-that-is-stupid-because/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“The birds were singing around me, but I reflected that the very birds were strangers to me, for I did not even know their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-birds-were-singing-around-me-but-i-reflected-that-the-very-birds/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Strange how we decorate pain. These ribbons, for instance, and the small hard teardrops of blood. Who are they for? Do we think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/strange-how-we-decorate-pain-these-ribbons-for-instance-and-the-small/) [margaret atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I wanted to forget the past, but it refused to forget me; it waited for sleep, then cornered me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-wanted-to-forget-the-past-but-it-refused-to-forget-me-it-waited-for/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Back at home they drew the curtains and read, with disapproval, with relish, with avidity and glee - even the ones who'd never thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/back-at-home-they-drew-the-curtains-and-read-with-disapproval-with/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“It's my fault. I am forgetting too much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-my-fault-i-am-forgetting-too-much/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [All fiction is about people, unless it's about rabbits pretending to be people. It's all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-fiction-is-about-people-unless-it-s-about-rabbits-pretending-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Simon walks back to the house alone. The night is clear and warm, with a moon, almost full, enclosed in a nimbus of mist;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/simon-walks-back-to-the-house-alone-the-night-is-clear-and-warm-with/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“There is indeed something delightful about being able to combine obedience and disobedience in the same act.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/there-is-indeed-something-delightful-about-being-able-to-combine/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Every time the women appear, Snowman is astonished all over again. They're every known colour from the deepest black to whitest white, they're various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/every-time-the-women-appear-snowman-is-astonished-all-over-again-they/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/once-you-publish-a-book-it-is-out-of-your-control-you-cannot-dictate/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“The more difficult it was to love the particular man beside us, the more we believed in Love, abstract and total. We were waiting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-more-difficult-it-was-to-love-the-particular-man-beside-us-the/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“She knows she's deceiving herself about that, but she prefers to deceive herself. She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) [Explore all 2,072 Margaret Atwood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## More Fast quotes > [By eating many fruits and vegetables in place of fast food and junk food, people could avoid obesity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-h-murdock/by-eating-many-fruits-and-vegetables-in-place-of-fast-food-and-junk/) [David H. Murdock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-h-murdock/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [The faster you go, the shorter you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-faster-you-go-the-shorter-you-are/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [If you have everything under control, you're not moving fast enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-andretti/if-you-have-everything-under-control-you-re-not-moving-fast-enough/) [Mario Andretti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-andretti/) > [Skiing fast feels like complete freedom to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kt-tunstall/skiing-fast-feels-like-complete-freedom-to-me/) [KT Tunstall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kt-tunstall/) > [Life is going to hit you some line drives, and sometimes you'll have to think fast. 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I have a naturally fast system. But I love to eat, and I am not skinny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-bellucci/i-have-a-lot-of-adrenaline-i-have-a-naturally-fast-system-but-i-love/) [Monica Bellucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-bellucci/) > [Art is fast, but with art you're tied down. That's too negative. What I mean is, you have a business and a place that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-arcangel/art-is-fast-but-with-art-you-re-tied-down-that-s-too-negative-what-i/) [Cory Arcangel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-arcangel/) > [I'm too fast. I'm too smart. 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Everything is happening so fast, it feels like there's another studio, another session on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diplo/new-york-is-so-serious-about-the-creation-of-work-everything-is/) [Diplo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diplo/) [Browse all 1,991 Fast quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fast/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Walking was not fast enough so we ran. Running was not fast enough, so we galloped. Galloping was not fast enough, so we sailed. Sailing was not fast enough, so we rolled merrily along on long metal tracks. Long metal tracks were not fast enough, so we drove. Driving was not fast enough, so we flew. Flying isn't fast enough, not fast enough for us. We want to get there faster. Get where? Wherever we are not. But a human soul can go only as fast as a man can walk, they used to say. In that case, where are all the souls? Left behind. They wander here and there, slowly, dim lights flickering in the marshes at night, looking for us. But they're not nearly fast enough, not for us, we're way ahead of them, they'll never catch up. 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