---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I sit still and prepare for the Great…"
description: "\"“I sit still and prepare for the Great Unravelling, but instead find further knots.”\" — Martin Cosgrove"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12b/martin-cosgrove-30399_unravelling_i-sit-still-and-prepare-for-the-great-un_118767.jpg"
---

#  I sit still and prepare for the Great Unravelling, but…

![“I sit still and prepare for the Great Unravelling, but instead find further knots.” quote by Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12b/martin-cosgrove-30399_unravelling_i-sit-still-and-prepare-for-the-great-un_118767.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12b/martin-cosgrove-30399_unravelling_i-sit-still-and-prepare-for-the-great-un_118767.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12b/martin-cosgrove-30399_unravelling_i-sit-still-and-prepare-for-the-great-un_118767.jpg)

> ““I sit still and prepare for the Great Unravelling, but instead find further knots.””

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The speaker attempts to prepare for an anticipated collapse but only discovers more complications, suggesting that anticipation can create further entanglements.

**In simple terms:** Preparation can reveal deeper problems.

Key Takeaway

Anticipation may complicate rather than simplify.

Themes

preparation uncertainty complexity psychology

Mood

anxiety reflection

Type

philosophical personal insight

When to use this quote

- project planning
- personal crisis management
- strategic forecasting

Key Concepts

paradox of foresight cognitive overload

Practical Applications

- embrace iterative learning
- allow flexibility in plans

Questions to Reflect On

- When does preparation become counterproductive?
- How can one balance readiness with simplicity?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Unravelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unravelling/)

## Related quotes

> [Well, as anyone who actually writes knows, if you sit down and are prepared, then the ideas come. There's a lot of different ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/well-as-anyone-who-actually-writes-knows-if-you-sit-down-and-are/)

[Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/)

> [It was as if thousands and thousands of little roots and threads of consciousness in him and her had grown together into a tangled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/it-was-as-if-thousands-and-thousands-of-little-roots-and-threads-of/)

[D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/)

> [“And from the top of the building I look down upon the world and see the crowds of people in the city I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-rose-kraus/and-from-the-top-of-the-building-i-look-down-upon-the-world-and-see/)

Emma Rose Kraus

> [“Regardless of how people divide people by color, social code, and category, the equality of one human being to the next (civilized or otherwise)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-bond/regardless-of-how-people-divide-people-by-color-social-code-and/)

[Tracey Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-bond/)

> [“To recount these histories is like unravelling a thread: one means only to tell one little part, but then another comes in, and another,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-george/to-recount-these-histories-is-like-unravelling-a-thread-one-means/)

[Margaret George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-george/)

> [There can be no summary and dramatic end to a marriage - only a slow and painful unravelling of a tangled skein of threads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallis-simpson/there-can-be-no-summary-and-dramatic-end-to-a-marriage-only-a-slow/)

[Wallis Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallis-simpson/)

> [“The tapestry of my life was a ruin of unravelling threads. The brightest parts were a nonsensical madman's weaving. And now every day was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-hall/the-tapestry-of-my-life-was-a-ruin-of-unravelling-threads-the/)

[Alexis Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-hall/)

> [Man is a mystery. It needs to be unravelled, and if you spend your whole life unravelling it, don't say that you've wasted time.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/man-is-a-mystery-it-needs-to-be-unravelled-and-if-you-spend-your/)

[Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/)

> [“Therefore, judges have to reach beyond the apparently impenetrable sphere of meaning by adopting the strategy of unravelling meaning in the constitutional text. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justice-asok-kumar-ganguly/therefore-judges-have-to-reach-beyond-the-apparently-impenetrable/)

[Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justice-asok-kumar-ganguly/)

> [“Maybe I am a mystery— a secret— that needs unravelling...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-holland/maybe-i-am-a-mystery-a-secret-that-needs-unravelling/)

Sara Holland

> [“Sam: I felt like things were getting away from me. I'd found heaven and grabbed it as tightly as I could, but it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/sam-i-felt-like-things-were-getting-away-from-me-i-d-found-heaven-and/)

[Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/)

> [“She could feel her mind pulling loose like knitting, the neat stitches of her artificial days unravelling to become one mangled thread.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hardinge/she-could-feel-her-mind-pulling-loose-like-knitting-the-neat-stitches/)

[Frances Hardinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hardinge/)

> [“Few value just how fragile a person’s psyche is. All those pieces, both the good and bad, the values, the lessons, the beliefs that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-dotta/few-value-just-how-fragile-a-person-s-psyche-is-all-those-pieces-both/)

Jessica Dotta

> [Science is about unravelling nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-r-narayana-murthy/science-is-about-unravelling-nature/)

[N. R. Narayana Murthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-r-narayana-murthy/)

> [“I at least have so much to do in unravelling certain human lots, and seeing how they were woven and interwoven, that all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/i-at-least-have-so-much-to-do-in-unravelling-certain-human-lots-and/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

## More by Martin Cosgrove

> [“From whence cometh the pounding of desire if not from the depths of loneliness?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/from-whence-cometh-the-pounding-of-desire-if-not-from-the-depths-of/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“Tis silence out of which all things arise and to silence all shall return.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/tis-silence-out-of-which-all-things-arise-and-to-silence-all-shall/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“For the length of time it takes to write a book, you need to believe that you’re the only writer in existence; the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/for-the-length-of-time-it-takes-to-write-a-book-you-need-to-believe/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“I ache for silence - to step back into that stillness which birthed us all. To dissolve into No-thingness and discover what remains.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/i-ache-for-silence-to-step-back-into-that-stillness-which-birthed-us/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“I dip my toe into the ocean of Joy and quickly withdraw it, afraid of the sea creatures of the mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/i-dip-my-toe-into-the-ocean-of-joy-and-quickly-withdraw-it-afraid-of/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“Stillness speaks not with mouth and tongue, but with the essential roar of Eternity itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/stillness-speaks-not-with-mouth-and-tongue-but-with-the-essential/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“The seeming paradoxes of beauty and truth collide and individuality emerges from the debris. We spend our lifetimes dusting it down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/the-seeming-paradoxes-of-beauty-and-truth-collide-and-individuality/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“Send me a message of hope from the core of Beingness. Better make it loud and bright so that it may be noticed by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/send-me-a-message-of-hope-from-the-core-of-beingness-better-make-it/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“I am ripe. Ripe enough to hear your Truth. But shout it for one ear remains deaf.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/i-am-ripe-ripe-enough-to-hear-your-truth-but-shout-it-for-one-ear/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“The Source is plain for all to see, but not with the eyes of the mind, for they are blinded to Truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/the-source-is-plain-for-all-to-see-but-not-with-the-eyes-of-the-mind/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“Lay still the business of the mind. Let its workers put down their tools and turn to face the glory of the midday Sun.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/lay-still-the-business-of-the-mind-let-its-workers-put-down-their/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“In the bustling of the cities, forever surrounded by people and their chatter, we stand alone; an island of humanity. Build your raft, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/in-the-bustling-of-the-cities-forever-surrounded-by-people-and-their/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“Wandering alone in the barrenness of foolishness, I hear the drip-drip of Wisdom and smile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/wandering-alone-in-the-barrenness-of-foolishness-i-hear-the-drip-drip/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“When the right elements combine, anything is possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/when-the-right-elements-combine-anything-is-possible/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

> [“Playfulness: that infantile quality we sneer at whilst busying ourselves with intellect and seriousness. And misery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/playfulness-that-infantile-quality-we-sneer-at-whilst-busying/)

[Martin Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

[Explore all 17 Martin Cosgrove quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/)

## More Unravelling quotes

> [It was as if thousands and thousands of little roots and threads of consciousness in him and her had grown together into a tangled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/it-was-as-if-thousands-and-thousands-of-little-roots-and-threads-of/)

[D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/)

> [Science is about unravelling nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-r-narayana-murthy/science-is-about-unravelling-nature/)

[N. R. Narayana Murthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-r-narayana-murthy/)

> [“Few value just how fragile a person’s psyche is. All those pieces, both the good and bad, the values, the lessons, the beliefs that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-dotta/few-value-just-how-fragile-a-person-s-psyche-is-all-those-pieces-both/)

Jessica Dotta

> [“She could feel her mind pulling loose like knitting, the neat stitches of her artificial days unravelling to become one mangled thread.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hardinge/she-could-feel-her-mind-pulling-loose-like-knitting-the-neat-stitches/)

[Frances Hardinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hardinge/)

> [“Sam: I felt like things were getting away from me. I'd found heaven and grabbed it as tightly as I could, but it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/sam-i-felt-like-things-were-getting-away-from-me-i-d-found-heaven-and/)

[Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/)

> [“Maybe I am a mystery— a secret— that needs unravelling...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-holland/maybe-i-am-a-mystery-a-secret-that-needs-unravelling/)

Sara Holland

> [“Therefore, judges have to reach beyond the apparently impenetrable sphere of meaning by adopting the strategy of unravelling meaning in the constitutional text. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justice-asok-kumar-ganguly/therefore-judges-have-to-reach-beyond-the-apparently-impenetrable/)

[Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justice-asok-kumar-ganguly/)

> [Man is a mystery. It needs to be unravelled, and if you spend your whole life unravelling it, don't say that you've wasted time.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/man-is-a-mystery-it-needs-to-be-unravelled-and-if-you-spend-your/)

[Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/)

> [“The tapestry of my life was a ruin of unravelling threads. The brightest parts were a nonsensical madman's weaving. And now every day was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-hall/the-tapestry-of-my-life-was-a-ruin-of-unravelling-threads-the/)

[Alexis Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-hall/)

> [There can be no summary and dramatic end to a marriage - only a slow and painful unravelling of a tangled skein of threads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallis-simpson/there-can-be-no-summary-and-dramatic-end-to-a-marriage-only-a-slow/)

[Wallis Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallis-simpson/)

> [“To recount these histories is like unravelling a thread: one means only to tell one little part, but then another comes in, and another,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-george/to-recount-these-histories-is-like-unravelling-a-thread-one-means/)

[Margaret George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-george/)

> [“Regardless of how people divide people by color, social code, and category, the equality of one human being to the next (civilized or otherwise)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-bond/regardless-of-how-people-divide-people-by-color-social-code-and/)

[Tracey Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-bond/)

> [“And from the top of the building I look down upon the world and see the crowds of people in the city I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-rose-kraus/and-from-the-top-of-the-building-i-look-down-upon-the-world-and-see/)

Emma Rose Kraus

> [“I at least have so much to do in unravelling certain human lots, and seeing how they were woven and interwoven, that all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/i-at-least-have-so-much-to-do-in-unravelling-certain-human-lots-and/)

[George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/)

[Browse all 15 Unravelling quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unravelling/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“I sit still and prepare for the Great Unravelling, but instead find further knots.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Martin Cosgrove"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/i-sit-still-and-prepare-for-the-great-unravelling-but-instead-find/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Unravelling"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/i-sit-still-and-prepare-for-the-great-unravelling-but-instead-find/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12b/martin-cosgrove-30399_unravelling_i-sit-still-and-prepare-for-the-great-un_118767.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12b/martin-cosgrove-30399_unravelling_i-sit-still-and-prepare-for-the-great-un_118767.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12b/martin-cosgrove-30399_unravelling_i-sit-still-and-prepare-for-the-great-un_118767.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I sit still and prepare for the Great Unravelling, but instead find further knots.” — Martin Cosgrove",
                "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": "Martin Cosgrove",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-cosgrove/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“I sit still and prepare for...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/i-sit-still-and-prepare-for-the-great-unravelling-but-instead-find/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-cosgrove/i-sit-still-and-prepare-for-the-great-unravelling-but-instead-find/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
