--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...like a small stone deflected off a…" description: "\"“...like a small stone deflected off a larger one, my brother had spun off toward the Almighty, though to my mind the events of that morning could just..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/875/mark-slouka-21874_brother_like-a-small-stone-deflected-off-a-large_2962993.png" --- # ...like a small stone deflected off a larger one, my… ![“...like a small stone deflected off a larger one, my brother had spun off toward the Almighty, though to my mind the events of that morning could just as well have cast him the other way.” quote by Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/875/mark-slouka-21874_brother_like-a-small-stone-deflected-off-a-large_2962993.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/875/mark-slouka-21874_brother_like-a-small-stone-deflected-off-a-large_2962993.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/875/mark-slouka-21874_brother_like-a-small-stone-deflected-off-a-large_2962993.png) > ““...like a small stone deflected off a larger one, my brother had spun off toward the Almighty, though to my mind the events of that morning could just as well have cast him the other way.”” [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator likens his brother’s spiritual turn to a stone deflecting, suggesting fate could have led elsewhere. **In simple terms:** Brother’s path likened to a deflected stone. Key Takeaway Recognize life's unpredictable turns. Themes spirituality fate family Mood reflective philosophical Type thoughtful introspective When to use this quote - personal growth - religious experience - family dynamics Key Concepts choice divine influence chance Questions to Reflect On - Do you see destiny or choice? - How does this affect your view of events? A Different Perspective Interpretations of fate vary. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brother/) [Brother Spun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brother-spun-4522465/) [Deflected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deflected-410576/) [Deflected Larger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deflected-larger-4522466/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Larger Brother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/larger-brother-4522467/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Stone Deflected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stone-deflected-4522464/) ## Related quotes > [“I see myself as a fish in a stream; deflected, held in place; but cannot describe the stream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/i-see-myself-as-a-fish-in-a-stream-deflected-held-in-place-but-cannot/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [This Cruel Age has deflected me...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/this-cruel-age-has-deflected-me/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [I never use pull-offs because I don't like the sort of 'meow' sound they make with the string being deflected sideways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-holdsworth/i-never-use-pull-offs-because-i-don-t-like-the-sort-of-meow-sound/) [Allan Holdsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-holdsworth/) > [Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/brothers-and-sisters-i-bid-you-beware-of-giving-your-heart-to-a-dog/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. That's how they tried to cut off all my brothers in the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-ain-t-no-such-thing-as-black-muslims-that-s-how-they-tried-to/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [Sister + brother = a lovely family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sister-brother-a-lovely-family/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Your favorite son and brother, Shade. Like”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-aveyard/your-favorite-son-and-brother-shade-like/) [Victoria Aveyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-aveyard/) > [The only way to make sure that the Hand didn't get to you would have been to kill your brother. I could've done it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/the-only-way-to-make-sure-that-the-hand-didn-t-get-to-you-would-have/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [There's no publicist, no advertisements, and no one's pushing us. If people are buying our records, it's because big brothers and sisters or friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-moody/there-s-no-publicist-no-advertisements-and-no-one-s-pushing-us-if/) [Spencer Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-moody/) > [If I had my brothers I think with just a little bit of the correct marketing, I'd like to be almost exclusively in small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/if-i-had-my-brothers-i-think-with-just-a-little-bit-of-the-correct/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [“Your relationship with your brother will be, in many ways, the most complex and bewildering of all the interpersonal connections you will form. An…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-currie-jr/your-relationship-with-your-brother-will-be-in-many-ways-the-most/) [Ron Currie Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-currie-jr/) > [“Yeah. You treat him like a son or a soldier, instead of like a brother. He wants you to like him and admire him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-hunter/yeah-you-treat-him-like-a-son-or-a-soldier-instead-of-like-a-brother/) [Faith Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-hunter/) > [Luckily, the bullet that hit my chest never got to me. It was stopped by a silver case I got for my brother's wedding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-doohan/luckily-the-bullet-that-hit-my-chest-never-got-to-me-it-was-stopped/) [James Doohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-doohan/) > [Whatever meaning 'Annie's Song' had for me on a personal level, there was also a larger context. It could just as easily have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-denver/whatever-meaning-annie-s-song-had-for-me-on-a-personal-level-there/) [John Denver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-denver/) > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) ## More by Mark Slouka > [“My mother knew a man during the war. Theirs was a love story, and like any good love story, it left blood on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/my-mother-knew-a-man-during-the-war-theirs-was-a-love-story-and-like/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) > [I distrust the perpetually busy; always have. The frenetic ones spinning in tight little circles like poisoned rats. The slower ones, grinding away their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/i-distrust-the-perpetually-busy-always-have-the-frenetic-ones/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) > [“There are times in every life when the past acquires a particular resonance, when we grow sensitive to sounds and voices normally beyond the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/there-are-times-in-every-life-when-the-past-acquires-a-particular/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) > [Most of the time when something goes bad—a marriage, a war, a run of good luck—you don’t know it. 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Even as a young man it seemed to me that everywhere the world conspired against the heart, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/acceptance-was-not-in-my-nature-even-as-a-young-man-it-seemed-to-me/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) > [“Such is the privilege of survival: to be allowed to fashion the means that fit our ends, to cobble together a narrative that reveals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/such-is-the-privilege-of-survival-to-be-allowed-to-fashion-the-means/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) > [“Literature is literature. Its purpose is to challenge and disorient us, to break us down a little bit so that we are forced to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/literature-is-literature-its-purpose-is-to-challenge-and-disorient-us/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) > [“The only thing your life teaches you is how to live your life. And that’s only if you’re very lucky. And you listen very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/the-only-thing-your-life-teaches-you-is-how-to-live-your-life-and/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) > [“And yet, far off, I can hear something whispering that this compulsion to do, to intrude ourselves, to improve on what is--even when wholly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/and-yet-far-off-i-can-hear-something-whispering-that-this-compulsion/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) > [“I lost my father this past year, and the word feels right because I keep looking for him. As if he were misplaced. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/i-lost-my-father-this-past-year-and-the-word-feels-right-because-i/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) > [Life isn't simple. Literature shouldn't be either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/life-isn-t-simple-literature-shouldn-t-be-either/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) > [The 'deep' civic function of the humanities . . . is something understood very well by totalitarian societies, which tend to keep close tabs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/the-deep-civic-function-of-the-humanities-is-something-understood/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) > [Maybe I lacked coping skills. Maybe I was weak. I cared for people for no better reason than they seemed to care for me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/maybe-i-lacked-coping-skills-maybe-i-was-weak-i-cared-for-people-for/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) > [Consider it: Who but God could have dreamed a tale so absurd and so heartless?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/consider-it-who-but-god-could-have-dreamed-a-tale-so-absurd-and-so/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) [Explore all 28 Mark Slouka quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) ## More Brother quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Whatever meaning 'Annie's Song' had for me on a personal level, there was also a larger context. It could just as easily have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-denver/whatever-meaning-annie-s-song-had-for-me-on-a-personal-level-there/) [John Denver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-denver/) > [Luckily, the bullet that hit my chest never got to me. It was stopped by a silver case I got for my brother's wedding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-doohan/luckily-the-bullet-that-hit-my-chest-never-got-to-me-it-was-stopped/) [James Doohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-doohan/) > [“Yeah. You treat him like a son or a soldier, instead of like a brother. He wants you to like him and admire him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-hunter/yeah-you-treat-him-like-a-son-or-a-soldier-instead-of-like-a-brother/) [Faith Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-hunter/) > [“Your relationship with your brother will be, in many ways, the most complex and bewildering of all the interpersonal connections you will form. An…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-currie-jr/your-relationship-with-your-brother-will-be-in-many-ways-the-most/) [Ron Currie Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-currie-jr/) > [If I had my brothers I think with just a little bit of the correct marketing, I'd like to be almost exclusively in small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/if-i-had-my-brothers-i-think-with-just-a-little-bit-of-the-correct/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [There's no publicist, no advertisements, and no one's pushing us. If people are buying our records, it's because big brothers and sisters or friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-moody/there-s-no-publicist-no-advertisements-and-no-one-s-pushing-us-if/) [Spencer Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-moody/) > [The only way to make sure that the Hand didn't get to you would have been to kill your brother. I could've done it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/the-only-way-to-make-sure-that-the-hand-didn-t-get-to-you-would-have/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [“Your favorite son and brother, Shade. Like”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-aveyard/your-favorite-son-and-brother-shade-like/) [Victoria Aveyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-aveyard/) > [Sister + brother = a lovely family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sister-brother-a-lovely-family/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. That's how they tried to cut off all my brothers in the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-ain-t-no-such-thing-as-black-muslims-that-s-how-they-tried-to/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/brothers-and-sisters-i-bid-you-beware-of-giving-your-heart-to-a-dog/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [Like a child exploring the attic of an old house on a rainy day, discovering a trunk full of treasure and then calling all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-h-peterson/like-a-child-exploring-the-attic-of-an-old-house-on-a-rainy-day/) [Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-h-peterson/) > [Stephanie could see the greed seep into the watery eyes of her father’s other brother, a horrible little man called Fergus, as he nodded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-landy/stephanie-could-see-the-greed-seep-into-the-watery-eyes-of-her-father/) [Derek Landy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-landy/) > [I worked in a barbershop. I used to make the waves in the brother's hair, you know? Like, Nat King Cole, Sugar Ray Robinson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clinton/i-worked-in-a-barbershop-i-used-to-make-the-waves-in-the-brother-s/) [George Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clinton/) [Browse all 7,453 Brother quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brother/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“...like a small stone deflected off a larger one, my brother had spun off toward the Almighty, though to my mind the events of that morning could just as well have cast him the other way.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Slouka" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/like-a-small-stone-deflected-off-a-larger-one-my-brother-had-spun-off/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Brother" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/like-a-small-stone-deflected-off-a-larger-one-my-brother-had-spun-off/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/875/mark-slouka-21874_brother_like-a-small-stone-deflected-off-a-large_2962993.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/875/mark-slouka-21874_brother_like-a-small-stone-deflected-off-a-large_2962993.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/875/mark-slouka-21874_brother_like-a-small-stone-deflected-off-a-large_2962993.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“...like a small stone deflected off a larger one, my brother had spun off toward the Almighty, though to my…” — Mark Slouka", "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": "Mark Slouka", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“...like a small stone deflected off...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/like-a-small-stone-deflected-off-a-larger-one-my-brother-had-spun-off/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/like-a-small-stone-deflected-off-a-larger-one-my-brother-had-spun-off/#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 } } ] } ```