--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: and anyway it’s just the same old story…" description: "\"“and anyway it’s just the same old story -- a few people just trying, one way or another, to survive. Mostly, I want to be kind. And nobody, of course,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c43/mary-oliver-570_kindness_and-anyway-it-s-just-the-same-old-story_2722140.jpg" --- # and anyway it’s just the same old story -- a few people… ![“and anyway it’s just the same old story -- a few people just trying, one way or another, to survive. Mostly, I want to be kind. And nobody, of course, is kind, or mean, for a simple reason. And nobody gets out of it, having to swim through the fires to stay in this world.” quote by Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c43/mary-oliver-570_kindness_and-anyway-it-s-just-the-same-old-story_2722140.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c43/mary-oliver-570_kindness_and-anyway-it-s-just-the-same-old-story_2722140.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c43/mary-oliver-570_kindness_and-anyway-it-s-just-the-same-old-story_2722140.jpg) > ““and anyway it’s just the same old story -- a few people just trying, one way or another, to survive. Mostly, I want to be kind. And nobody, of course, is kind, or mean, for a simple reason. And nobody gets out of it, having to swim through the fires to stay in this world.”” [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is a struggle for survival, yet kindness is rare; we must navigate hardships while striving to be kind. **In simple terms:** Survival is hard; kindness is harder. Key Takeaway Practice kindness despite adversity. Themes kindness survival humanity Mood somber hopeful Type poetic reflective When to use this quote - daily life - relationships - workplace - social activism Key Concepts ethical choice existential struggle Questions to Reflect On - How can you stay kind in a harsh world? - What limits kindness in survival contexts? A Different Perspective Kindness may be exploited; not all are receptive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) [Meanness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meanness/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [“You don’t want to hear the story of my life, and anyway I don’t want to tell it, I want to listen to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/you-don-t-want-to-hear-the-story-of-my-life-and-anyway-i-don-t-want/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“Dogfish I wanted The past to go away, I wanted To leave it, like another country; I wanted My life to close, and open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/dogfish-i-wanted-the-past-to-go-away-i-wanted-to-leave-it-like/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“You really are one of a kind. I mean, it's not every day my girlfriend offers to kill me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bree-despain/you-really-are-one-of-a-kind-i-mean-it-s-not-every-day-my-girlfriend/) [Bree Despain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bree-despain/) > [I know I must conceal my sentiments: I must smother hope; I must remember that he cannot care much for me. For when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-know-i-must-conceal-my-sentiments-i-must-smother-hope-i-must/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [What do you mean, I ain't kind? I'm just not your kind. What do you mean, I couldn't be president of the U.S.A.? Tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megadeth/what-do-you-mean-i-ain-t-kind-i-m-just-not-your-kind-what-do-you-mean/) [Megadeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megadeth/) > [There is also a kind of mean-spiritedness with LA comics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cross/there-is-also-a-kind-of-mean-spiritedness-with-la-comics/) [David Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cross/) > [Be kind to mean people. They'll need it the most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/be-kind-to-mean-people-they-ll-need-it-the-most/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Also, your operating system? You should be nicer to her. You love her, right? But you're just kind of mean to her. You should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-yu/also-your-operating-system-you-should-be-nicer-to-her-you-love-her/) [Charles Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-yu/) > [I just feel like kids learn by example, and if you want to teach your kid to be kind, you can't be mean at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaria-baldwin/i-just-feel-like-kids-learn-by-example-and-if-you-want-to-teach-your/) [Hilaria Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaria-baldwin/) > [We don't want to survive. We want to be healed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/we-don-t-want-to-survive-we-want-to-be-healed/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [I really dislike people that get everything from their parents and their parents try to buy their love. 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Darhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-darhower/) > [“I don't want to survive, Will, I want to live!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-allison-moulton/i-don-t-want-to-survive-will-i-want-to-live/) [Courtney Allison Moulton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-allison-moulton/) > [“I don't want to survive, I want to live.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-northup/i-don-t-want-to-survive-i-want-to-live/) [Solomon Northup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-northup/) > [“I think to myself: I don't want to survive this one I want to burn up in the wreckage”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-think-to-myself-i-don-t-want-to-survive-this-one-i-want-to-burn-up/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) ## More by Mary Oliver > [Belief isn't always easy. But this much I have learned--- if not enough else--- to live with my eyes open.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/belief-isn-t-always-easy-but-this-much-i-have-learned-if-not-enough/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [In this universe we are given two gifts: the ability to love and the ability to question. Which are, at the same time, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/in-this-universe-we-are-given-two-gifts-the-ability-to-love-and-the/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Poetry is one of the original arts, and it began, as did all the fine arts, within the original wilderness of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/poetry-is-one-of-the-original-arts-and-it-began-as-did-all-the-fine/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [The dream of my life is to lie down by a slow river and stare at the light in the trees - to learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/the-dream-of-my-life-is-to-lie-down-by-a-slow-river-and-stare-at-the/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/tell-me-what-is-it-you-plan-to-do-with-your-one-wild-and-precious-life/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“All important ideas must include the trees, the mountains, and the rivers. • To understand many things you must reach out of your own condition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/all-important-ideas-must-include-the-trees-the-mountains-and-the/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“Sometimes I think, were I just a little rougher made, I would go altogether to the woods—to my work entirely, and solitude, a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/sometimes-i-think-were-i-just-a-little-rougher-made-i-would-go/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“First Snow The snow began here this morning and all day continued, its white rhetoric everywhere calling us back to why, how, whence such beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/first-snow-the-snow-began-here-this-morning-and-all-day-continued-its/) [mary oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“What can I say that I have not said before? So I’ll say it again. The leaf has a song in it. Stone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/what-can-i-say-that-i-have-not-said-before-so-i-ll-say-it-again-the/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [The sea is the most beautiful face in our universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/the-sea-is-the-most-beautiful-face-in-our-universe/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [There is nothing better than work. Work is also play; children know that. Children play earnestly as if it were work. But people grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/there-is-nothing-better-than-work-work-is-also-play-children-know/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“What will you do with your one precious, wild life?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/what-will-you-do-with-your-one-precious-wild-life/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force-for-poems-are-not-words-after-all/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“I stood like Adam in his lonely garden On that first morning, shaken out of sleep, Rubbing his eyes, listening, parting the leaves, Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/i-stood-like-adam-in-his-lonely-garden-on-that-first-morning-shaken/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [We all have a hungry heart, and one of the things we hunger for is happiness. So as much as I possibly could, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/we-all-have-a-hungry-heart-and-one-of-the-things-we-hunger-for-is/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) [Explore all 470 Mary Oliver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) ## More Kindness quotes > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Each of our acts makes a statement as to our purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-buscaglia/each-of-our-acts-makes-a-statement-as-to-our-purpose/) [Leo Buscaglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-buscaglia/) > [“I fight with love and kindness as my weapons and compassion as my defense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debasish-mridha/i-fight-with-love-and-kindness-as-my-weapons-and-compassion-as-my/) [Debasish Mridha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debasish-mridha/) > [Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-observed-the-strangeness-of-her-foster-father-s-eyes-they-were/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [Kindness unlocks doors that were thought to be closed forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/kindness-unlocks-doors-that-were-thought-to-be-closed-forever/) Unkown > [“You are very kind and very intelligent and those elements are not always found together. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-are-very-kind-and-very-intelligent-and-those-elements-are-not/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Grace is the wonderful spirit that imbues every fiber of our being when we practice the fruits of the spirit: kindness, patience, understanding, forgiveness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-cayce/grace-is-the-wonderful-spirit-that-imbues-every-fiber-of-our-being/) [Edgar Cayce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-cayce/) > [Praise will come to those whose kindness leaves you without debt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-finn/praise-will-come-to-those-whose-kindness-leaves-you-without-debt/) [Neil Finn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-finn/) > [“A little bit of kindness goes a long way with women.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-unsworth/a-little-bit-of-kindness-goes-a-long-way-with-women/) [Barry Unsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-unsworth/) > [The smartest people are the ones who can bring a little bit of heaven to earth by using there kindness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isiahnunn/the-smartest-people-are-the-ones-who-can-bring-a-little-bit-of-heaven/) IsiahNunn > [If you take all the food aid, America is by far the most generous country. If you take the direct aid, we're very generous.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-you-take-all-the-food-aid-america-is-by-far-the-most-generous/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [“No one has any right to tell you that the way you perceive yourself is wrong. Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [“la ilaha ilallah muhammadun rasulullah, alaihi salatullah wa alihi wal ahibba "shine your mercy like the sun, and be gracious as the earth let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-al-habib/la-ilaha-ilallah-muhammadun-rasulullah-alaihi-salatullah-wa-alihi-wal/) Talib al Habib > [“A man full of warm, speculative benevolence may wish his society otherwise constituted than he finds it; but a good patriot, and a true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-man-full-of-warm-speculative-benevolence-may-wish-his-society/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [(I)f we are going to be kind, let it be out of simple generosity, not because we fear guilt or retribution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-f-we-are-going-to-be-kind-let-it-be-out-of-simple-generosity-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 6,600 Kindness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“and anyway it’s just the same old story -- a few people just trying, one way or another, to survive. 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