--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I felt that our survival was owed to our…" description: "\"“I felt that our survival was owed to our slightness, that we danced through ruinous currents as dry leaves do, and were not capsized because the ruin ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/marilynne-robinson-602_dry-leaves_i-felt-that-our-survival-was-owed-to-our_867080.jpg" --- # I felt that our survival was owed to our slightness, that… ![“I felt that our survival was owed to our slightness, that we danced through ruinous currents as dry leaves do, and were not capsized because the ruin we rode upon was meant for greater things.” quote by Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/marilynne-robinson-602_dry-leaves_i-felt-that-our-survival-was-owed-to-our_867080.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/marilynne-robinson-602_dry-leaves_i-felt-that-our-survival-was-owed-to-our_867080.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/marilynne-robinson-602_dry-leaves_i-felt-that-our-survival-was-owed-to-our_867080.jpg) > ““I felt that our survival was owed to our slightness, that we danced through ruinous currents as dry leaves do, and were not capsized because the ruin we rode upon was meant for greater things.”” [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our fragile nature allows us to navigate danger, and the challenges we face are often stepping stones to larger purposes. **In simple terms:** Being small helps us survive and grow. Key Takeaway Embrace humility and resilience. Themes humility resilience purpose survival Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crisis - career setbacks - environmental challenges - social upheaval Key Concepts existentialism philosophy growth mindset Questions to Reflect On - How does humility shape your response to adversity? - What larger purpose might current challenges serve? A Different Perspective Overcoming may lead to paralysis if not balanced with confidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dry leaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dry-leaves/) [Greater things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater-things/) ## Related quotes > [As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky. So up to the house-top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-clarke-moore/as-dry-leaves-that-before-the-wild-hurricane-fly-when-they-meet-with/) [Clement Clarke Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-clarke-moore/) > [Dry leaves upon the wall, Which flap like rustling wings and seek escape, A single frosted cluster on the grape Still hangs--and that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-chauncey-woolsey/dry-leaves-upon-the-wall-which-flap-like-rustling-wings-and-seek/) [Sarah Chauncey Woolsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-chauncey-woolsey/) > [If you are bitter you are like a dry leaf that you can squash and you can blow away by the wind. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vusi-mahlasela/if-you-are-bitter-you-are-like-a-dry-leaf-that-you-can-squash-and-you/) [Vusi Mahlasela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vusi-mahlasela/) > [“We were in the autumnlands. Dim as it was, the forest glowed. The golden leaves flashing by blazed like sparks caught in the updraft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-rogerson/we-were-in-the-autumnlands-dim-as-it-was-the-forest-glowed-the-golden/) [Margaret Rogerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-rogerson/) > [Several times in my life I've gone through long periods without sex or any other kind of physical contact. The hunger it produces is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/several-times-in-my-life-i-ve-gone-through-long-periods-without-sex/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [Whoever has no house now, will never have one. Whoever is alone will stay alone, will sit, read, write long letters through the evening,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/whoever-has-no-house-now-will-never-have-one-whoever-is-alone-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [He types his labored column - weary drudge! Senile fudge and solemn: spare, editor, to condemn these dry leaves of his autumn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/he-types-his-labored-column-weary-drudge-senile-fudge-and-solemn/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [“At the very end of the street the bitumen gave way to reddish-orange dirt. And then it stopped altogether. Proud gumtrees blocked the road,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-ratswander/at-the-very-end-of-the-street-the-bitumen-gave-way-to-reddish-orange/) Duane Ratswander > [“This druid feeling I get in the woods’s so thrilling it makes me want to crap, so I dug a hole with a flat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/this-druid-feeling-i-get-in-the-woods-s-so-thrilling-it-makes-me-want/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“Madrid. It was that time, the story of Don Zana 'The Marionette,' he with the hair of cream-colored string, he with the large and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-s-nchez-ferlosio/madrid-it-was-that-time-the-story-of-don-zana-the-marionette-he-with/) Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio > [And we'd sit in the dry leaves that whispered a little with the slow respiration of our waiting and with the slow breathing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/and-we-d-sit-in-the-dry-leaves-that-whispered-a-little-with-the-slow/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [I was born to find goblins in their caves / And chase moonlight / To see shadows and seek hidden rivers / To hear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-kavanaugh/i-was-born-to-find-goblins-in-their-caves-and-chase-moonlight-to-see/) [James Kavanaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-kavanaugh/) > [“You go and sit near a waterfall. You listen to it, but do you interpret what the waterfall says? It says nothing... still it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/you-go-and-sit-near-a-waterfall-you-listen-to-it-but-do-you-interpret/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [We live in an age of prejudice, dissimulation and paradox, wherein, like dry leaves caught in a whirlpool, some of us are tossed helpless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-blavatsky/we-live-in-an-age-of-prejudice-dissimulation-and-paradox-wherein-like/) [H. P. Blavatsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-blavatsky/) > [Chilled-looking people walking along the riverside, the snow beginning, faintly, to pile up on the roofs of cars, the bare trees shaking their heads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banana-yoshimoto/chilled-looking-people-walking-along-the-riverside-the-snow-beginning/) [Banana Yoshimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banana-yoshimoto/) ## More by Marilynne Robinson > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“I think sometimes there might be an advantage in making people aware how worn and stale these old transgressions are. It might take some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-think-sometimes-there-might-be-an-advantage-in-making-people-aware/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [There are two occasions when the sacred beauty of Creation becomes dazzlingly apparent, and they occur together. One is when we feel our mortal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/there-are-two-occasions-when-the-sacred-beauty-of-creation-becomes/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [My Calvinism persuades me that we are open to God, in the sense that we are not delimited, not organisms with fixed attributes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/my-calvinism-persuades-me-that-we-are-open-to-god-in-the-sense-that/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“You can know a thing to death and be for all purposes completely ignorant of it. A man can know his father, or his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/you-can-know-a-thing-to-death-and-be-for-all-purposes-completely/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [I listen to Bach a great deal. In general I like to listen to hymns and liturgical music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-listen-to-bach-a-great-deal-in-general-i-like-to-listen-to-hymns/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Every writer I know, when asked how to become a writer, responds with one word:Read.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/every-writer-i-know-when-asked-how-to-become-a-writer-responds-with/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Faith for her was habit and family loyalty, a reverence for the Bible which was also literary, admiration for her mother and father. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/faith-for-her-was-habit-and-family-loyalty-a-reverence-for-the-bible/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Prayer is a discipline in truthfulness, in honesty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/prayer-is-a-discipline-in-truthfulness-in-honesty/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.’ There are pleasures to be found where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/the-full-soul-loatheth-an-honeycomb-but-to-the-hungry-soul-every/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [I sometimes am discouraged by what seems to be a sort of conventional disparagement of humankind. I think often people feel that they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-sometimes-am-discouraged-by-what-seems-to-be-a-sort-of-conventional/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Now that I look back, it seems to me that in all that deep darkness a miracle was preparing. So I am right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/now-that-i-look-back-it-seems-to-me-that-in-all-that-deep-darkness-a/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“My grandfather once told her if you couldn't read with cold feet, there wouldn't be a literate soul in the state of Maine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/my-grandfather-once-told-her-if-you-couldn-t-read-with-cold-feet/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Cranky old Leviticus gave us—gave Christ—not only “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” but also the rather forgotten “Thou shalt love the stranger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/cranky-old-leviticus-gave-us-gave-christ-not-only-thou-shalt-love-thy/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Explore all 450 Marilynne Robinson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) ## More Dry leaves quotes > [As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky. So up to the house-top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-clarke-moore/as-dry-leaves-that-before-the-wild-hurricane-fly-when-they-meet-with/) [Clement Clarke Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-clarke-moore/) > [We live in an age of prejudice, dissimulation and paradox, wherein, like dry leaves caught in a whirlpool, some of us are tossed helpless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-blavatsky/we-live-in-an-age-of-prejudice-dissimulation-and-paradox-wherein-like/) [H. P. Blavatsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-blavatsky/) > [“You go and sit near a waterfall. You listen to it, but do you interpret what the waterfall says? It says nothing... still it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/you-go-and-sit-near-a-waterfall-you-listen-to-it-but-do-you-interpret/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [I was born to find goblins in their caves / And chase moonlight / To see shadows and seek hidden rivers / To hear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-kavanaugh/i-was-born-to-find-goblins-in-their-caves-and-chase-moonlight-to-see/) [James Kavanaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-kavanaugh/) > [And we'd sit in the dry leaves that whispered a little with the slow respiration of our waiting and with the slow breathing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/and-we-d-sit-in-the-dry-leaves-that-whispered-a-little-with-the-slow/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“Madrid. It was that time, the story of Don Zana 'The Marionette,' he with the hair of cream-colored string, he with the large and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-s-nchez-ferlosio/madrid-it-was-that-time-the-story-of-don-zana-the-marionette-he-with/) Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio > [“This druid feeling I get in the woods’s so thrilling it makes me want to crap, so I dug a hole with a flat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/this-druid-feeling-i-get-in-the-woods-s-so-thrilling-it-makes-me-want/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“At the very end of the street the bitumen gave way to reddish-orange dirt. And then it stopped altogether. Proud gumtrees blocked the road,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-ratswander/at-the-very-end-of-the-street-the-bitumen-gave-way-to-reddish-orange/) Duane Ratswander > [He types his labored column - weary drudge! Senile fudge and solemn: spare, editor, to condemn these dry leaves of his autumn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/he-types-his-labored-column-weary-drudge-senile-fudge-and-solemn/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [Whoever has no house now, will never have one. Whoever is alone will stay alone, will sit, read, write long letters through the evening,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/whoever-has-no-house-now-will-never-have-one-whoever-is-alone-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Several times in my life I've gone through long periods without sex or any other kind of physical contact. The hunger it produces is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/several-times-in-my-life-i-ve-gone-through-long-periods-without-sex/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [“We were in the autumnlands. Dim as it was, the forest glowed. The golden leaves flashing by blazed like sparks caught in the updraft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-rogerson/we-were-in-the-autumnlands-dim-as-it-was-the-forest-glowed-the-golden/) [Margaret Rogerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-rogerson/) > [If you are bitter you are like a dry leaf that you can squash and you can blow away by the wind. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vusi-mahlasela/if-you-are-bitter-you-are-like-a-dry-leaf-that-you-can-squash-and-you/) [Vusi Mahlasela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vusi-mahlasela/) > [Dry leaves upon the wall, Which flap like rustling wings and seek escape, A single frosted cluster on the grape Still hangs--and that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-chauncey-woolsey/dry-leaves-upon-the-wall-which-flap-like-rustling-wings-and-seek/) [Sarah Chauncey Woolsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-chauncey-woolsey/) > [Chilled-looking people walking along the riverside, the snow beginning, faintly, to pile up on the roofs of cars, the bare trees shaking their heads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banana-yoshimoto/chilled-looking-people-walking-along-the-riverside-the-snow-beginning/) [Banana Yoshimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banana-yoshimoto/) [Browse all 33 Dry leaves quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dry-leaves/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I felt that our survival was owed to our slightness, that we danced through ruinous currents as dry leaves do, and were not capsized because the ruin we rode upon was meant for greater things.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marilynne Robinson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-felt-that-our-survival-was-owed-to-our-slightness-that-we-danced/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dry leaves" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-felt-that-our-survival-was-owed-to-our-slightness-that-we-danced/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/marilynne-robinson-602_dry-leaves_i-felt-that-our-survival-was-owed-to-our_867080.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/marilynne-robinson-602_dry-leaves_i-felt-that-our-survival-was-owed-to-our_867080.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/087/marilynne-robinson-602_dry-leaves_i-felt-that-our-survival-was-owed-to-our_867080.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I felt that our survival was owed to our slightness, that we danced through ruinous currents as dry leaves…” — Marilynne Robinson", "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": "Marilynne Robinson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I felt that our survival was...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-felt-that-our-survival-was-owed-to-our-slightness-that-we-danced/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-felt-that-our-survival-was-owed-to-our-slightness-that-we-danced/#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 } } ] } ```