--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Beard's secret is always to be slightly…" description: "\"Beard's secret is always to be slightly on the edge but to pull back from disaster at the last minute.\" — Mary Beard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54b/mary-beard-3016_always_beard-s-secret-is-always-to-be-slightly_759516.png" --- # Beard's secret is always to be slightly on the edge but to… ![“Beard's secret is always to be slightly on the edge but to pull back from disaster at the last minute.” quote by Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54b/mary-beard-3016_always_beard-s-secret-is-always-to-be-slightly_759516.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54b/mary-beard-3016_always_beard-s-secret-is-always-to-be-slightly_759516.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54b/mary-beard-3016_always_beard-s-secret-is-always-to-be-slightly_759516.png) > “Beard's secret is always to be slightly on the edge but to pull back from disaster at the last minute.” [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Maintain a daring edge but retreat before catastrophe strikes, balancing boldness with caution. **In simple terms:** Be bold but avoid disaster. Key Takeaway Take calculated risks, step back when needed. Themes caution boldness strategy Mood analytical pragmatic Type advisory philosophical When to use this quote - public speaking - entrepreneurship - creative projects - crisis response Key Concepts risk management self‑control Questions to Reflect On - When should you push forward versus retreat? - How do you gauge the tipping point? A Different Perspective Too much caution can stifle innovation; timing is critical. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Always](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always/) [Back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/back/) [Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beard/) [Beard Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beard-secret-5892596/) [Disaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disaster/) [Edge Pull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edge-pull-5892599/) [Last minute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/last-minute/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Secret Slightly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret-slightly-5892598/) [Slightly Edge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slightly-edge-5892597/) ## Related quotes > [It's a sport about risk and reward. It's a sport about becoming a legend. You look at guys that have stepped up on last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyron-woodley/it-s-a-sport-about-risk-and-reward-it-s-a-sport-about-becoming-a/) [Tyron Woodley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyron-woodley/) > [“Aye, a man’d be a fool to lose his head twice over the same thing,” Thomas mused, still looking more than half stubborn. “Of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-a-lafferty/aye-a-man-d-be-a-fool-to-lose-his-head-twice-over-the-same-thing/) [R.A. Lafferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-a-lafferty/) > [I'm so busy and there's so much going on, that the gym or a workout can't be a last minute thought, like, 'I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-sweeney/i-m-so-busy-and-there-s-so-much-going-on-that-the-gym-or-a-workout/) [Alison Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-sweeney/) > [“Dr. Urbino caught the parrot around the neck with a triumphant sigh: ça y est. But he released him immediately because the ladder slipped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/dr-urbino-caught-the-parrot-around-the-neck-with-a-triumphant-sigh-a/) [Gabriel García Márquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“At the last minute, she bobbed left so that he stabbed the wall she'd hit, trapping the blade in the Sheetrock. As he went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/at-the-last-minute-she-bobbed-left-so-that-he-stabbed-the-wall-she-d/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [I always try to do the most important or urgent tasks first, I avoid waiting till the last minute to finish things, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeet-banerjee/i-always-try-to-do-the-most-important-or-urgent-tasks-first-i-avoid/) [Jeet Banerjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeet-banerjee/) > [The more you remember, the more you are able to experience, the more you know, so to speak. And the more you know, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/the-more-you-remember-the-more-you-are-able-to-experience-the-more/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [Pilot season tends to be grueling, because you can be thrown all of these auditions at once - last-minute, always - and you're going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-dickens/pilot-season-tends-to-be-grueling-because-you-can-be-thrown-all-of/) [Kim Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-dickens/) > [“(Group~ OFFER) Does American offer assistance for group travel planning? Planning travel ((800))\*301((46@29)) for a large group can be a complex undertaking, but American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/air/group-offer-does-american-offer-assistance-for-group-travel-planning/) [air](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/air/) > [“To kill for murder is a punishment incomparably worse than the crime itself. Murder by legal sentence is immeasurably more terrible than murder by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/to-kill-for-murder-is-a-punishment-incomparably-worse-than-the-crime/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [The hardest thing to get is true emotion. I always believe you need to earn that with the audience. You can't just tell them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/the-hardest-thing-to-get-is-true-emotion-i-always-believe-you-need-to/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [Dictators always look good until the last minutes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-garrigue-masaryk/dictators-always-look-good-until-the-last-minutes/) [Tomas Garrigue Masaryk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-garrigue-masaryk/) > [The Mayans have predicted the world is supposed to end on December 21. If the world doesn't end on December 21, you can bet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/the-mayans-have-predicted-the-world-is-supposed-to-end-on-december-21/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Basically, Pizza Hut just backed out on the ad agency at the last minute. They got fired and we got fired. It was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-ween/basically-pizza-hut-just-backed-out-on-the-ad-agency-at-the-last/) [Gene Ween](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-ween/) > [“If a cat falls out of a high-rise building or a tall tree, it has another trick available: forming a “parachute” by spreading all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bradshaw/if-a-cat-falls-out-of-a-high-rise-building-or-a-tall-tree-it-has/) [John Bradshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bradshaw/) ## More by Mary Beard > [I receive something we might euphemistically call an 'inappropriately hostile' response - that is to say, more than fair criticism or even fair anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-receive-something-we-might-euphemistically-call-an-inappropriately/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [We have never escaped a certain male cultural desire for women's silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/we-have-never-escaped-a-certain-male-cultural-desire-for-women-s/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“defend women’s right to be wrong, at least occasionally.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/defend-women-s-right-to-be-wrong-at-least-occasionally/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [You don't overturn x-thousand years of patriarchy in a generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/you-don-t-overturn-x-thousand-years-of-patriarchy-in-a-generation/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“we have no template for what a powerful woman looks like, except that she looks rather like a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/we-have-no-template-for-what-a-powerful-woman-looks-like-except-that/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“(In the Afghan parliament, apparently, they disconnect the mics when they don’t want to hear the women speak).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/in-the-afghan-parliament-apparently-they-disconnect-the-mics-when/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [I've chosen to be this way because that's how I feel comfortable with myself. That's how I am. It's about joining up the dots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-ve-chosen-to-be-this-way-because-that-s-how-i-feel-comfortable-with/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [People who exploit others come to spend an enormous amount of energy wondering about and justifying that exploitation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/people-who-exploit-others-come-to-spend-an-enormous-amount-of-energy/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [Wherever possible, I try to see things from the other side of the dividing line and to read civilisation 'against the grain.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/wherever-possible-i-try-to-see-things-from-the-other-side-of-the/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [I remember plastering the kitchen with Black Power pictures of Angela Davis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-remember-plastering-the-kitchen-with-black-power-pictures-of-angela/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“thinking about power as an attribute or even a verb (‘to power’), not as a possession.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/thinking-about-power-as-an-attribute-or-even-a-verb-to-power-not-as-a/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [If women are not perceived to be fully within the structures of power, surely it is power that we need to redefine rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/if-women-are-not-perceived-to-be-fully-within-the-structures-of-power/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [When it comes to silencing women, Western culture has had thousands of years of practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/when-it-comes-to-silencing-women-western-culture-has-had-thousands-of/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [I think that what will help women get into positions of power - well, day nurseries, equal pay, family-friendly working hours. And I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-think-that-what-will-help-women-get-into-positions-of-power-well/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“One of its (civilisations) most powerful weapons has always been 'barbarity': 'we' know that 'we' are civilised by contrasting ourselves with those we deem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/one-of-its-civilisations-most-powerful-weapons-has-always-been/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) [Explore all 137 Mary Beard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) ## More Always quotes > [I think performing has pretty much always been a part of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isa-briones/i-think-performing-has-pretty-much-always-been-a-part-of-me/) [Isa Briones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isa-briones/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [It's always great to see old friends, especially those I have not been able to see in 15 months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-regal/it-s-always-great-to-see-old-friends-especially-those-i-have-not-been/) [William Regal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-regal/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [I have really good lateral movement. I've always had quick lateral movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-rivers/i-have-really-good-lateral-movement-i-ve-always-had-quick-lateral/) [Austin Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-rivers/) > [There is something magical about being able to feel somebody. And that is something that has always moved me with music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-brink/there-is-something-magical-about-being-able-to-feel-somebody-and-that/) [Maria Brink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-brink/) > [Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. 'It' has been on Earth for millions of years. He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [It's not writing in the traditional sense, but I've always said that the writing process continues on the set and even into the editing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-weide/it-s-not-writing-in-the-traditional-sense-but-i-ve-always-said-that/) [Robert B. Weide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-weide/) > [I always watch my matches back 100 times afterwards because that's how I improve. This is something I've always done, even in NXT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-rose/i-always-watch-my-matches-back-100-times-afterwards-because-that-s/) [Mandy Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-rose/) > [I've always been of the idea that is doesn't really matter where you are geographically - with 'Lonerism,' we made half the album in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-parker/i-ve-always-been-of-the-idea-that-is-doesn-t-really-matter-where-you/) [Kevin Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-parker/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [I always say if you put someone from a small town into a big city for ten years, then when they go back, they'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-colter/i-always-say-if-you-put-someone-from-a-small-town-into-a-big-city-for/) [Mike Colter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-colter/) > [Bayern is always a team that can win the Champions League title in Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lothar-matthaus/bayern-is-always-a-team-that-can-win-the-champions-league-title-in/) [Lothar Matthaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lothar-matthaus/) [Browse all 36,048 Always quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Beard's secret is always to be slightly on the edge but to pull back from disaster at the last minute.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Beard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/beard-s-secret-is-always-to-be-slightly-on-the-edge-but-to-pull-back/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Always" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/beard-s-secret-is-always-to-be-slightly-on-the-edge-but-to-pull-back/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54b/mary-beard-3016_always_beard-s-secret-is-always-to-be-slightly_759516.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54b/mary-beard-3016_always_beard-s-secret-is-always-to-be-slightly_759516.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54b/mary-beard-3016_always_beard-s-secret-is-always-to-be-slightly_759516.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Beard's secret is always to be slightly on the edge but to pull back from disaster at the last minute.” — Mary Beard", "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": "Mary Beard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Beard's secret is always to be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/beard-s-secret-is-always-to-be-slightly-on-the-edge-but-to-pull-back/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/beard-s-secret-is-always-to-be-slightly-on-the-edge-but-to-pull-back/#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 } } ] } ```