--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Margaret expected her friends to “be…" description: "\"“Margaret expected her friends to “be capable of seeking something.” She cared little what that something was, only that her friends “should not be sat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/megan-marshall-19595_friendship_margaret-expected-her-friends-to-be-capa_2207169.jpg" --- # Margaret expected her friends to “be capable of seeking… ![“Margaret expected her friends to “be capable of seeking something.” She cared little what that something was, only that her friends “should not be satisfied with the common routine of life,—that they should aspire to something higher, better, holier, than they had now attained.” quote by Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/megan-marshall-19595_friendship_margaret-expected-her-friends-to-be-capa_2207169.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/megan-marshall-19595_friendship_margaret-expected-her-friends-to-be-capa_2207169.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/megan-marshall-19595_friendship_margaret-expected-her-friends-to-be-capa_2207169.jpg) > ““Margaret expected her friends to “be capable of seeking something.” She cared little what that something was, only that her friends “should not be satisfied with the common routine of life,—that they should aspire to something higher, better, holier, than they had now attained.”” [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True friends should strive for growth beyond ordinary life, seeking higher purpose rather than settling. **In simple terms:** Friends should aim higher. Key Takeaway Encourage aspirational friendships. Themes friendship growth purpose Mood inspirational reflective Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - career planning - spiritual retreats - creative collaborations Key Concepts self‑actualization philosophy motivation Practical Applications - Community projects Questions to Reflect On - What does “higher” mean to you? - How can you support friends’ growth without pressure? A Different Perspective Not everyone values higher aspirations; some prefer comfort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) ## Related quotes > [My life hasn't been what I expected it to be, but I'm here and I have friends and family! I have a roof over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/my-life-hasn-t-been-what-i-expected-it-to-be-but-i-m-here-and-i-have/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [“She smiled and feigned enthusiasm, although she cared little for the game. Sometimes that's what you did for the people you loved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-klassen/she-smiled-and-feigned-enthusiasm-although-she-cared-little-for-the/) [Julie Klassen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-klassen/) > [The citizen ... preserved the resolute bearing of one who was not to be frowned down or daunted, and who cared very little for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-citizen-preserved-the-resolute-bearing-of-one-who-was-not-to-be/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“What kind of life would that be, to build up so much love for a person who cared so little for you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-white/what-kind-of-life-would-that-be-to-build-up-so-much-love-for-a-person/) [Lily White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-white/) > [Most of the movies that I've made that I really felt good about and cared about made very little money anyway, so I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-norton/most-of-the-movies-that-i-ve-made-that-i-really-felt-good-about-and/) [Edward Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-norton/) > [“He cared little for commonly experienced emotions, for everyday associations of ideas, now that the closing of his mind had grown more pronounced, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joris-karl-huysmans/he-cared-little-for-commonly-experienced-emotions-for-everyday/) [Joris-Karl Huysmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joris-karl-huysmans/) > [“He turned to appease the fierce longings of his heart before which everything else was idle and alien. He cared little that he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/he-turned-to-appease-the-fierce-longings-of-his-heart-before-which/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Shakespeare cared little for the State, the source of all our judgments, apart from its shows and splendours, its turmoils and battles, its flamings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/shakespeare-cared-little-for-the-state-the-source-of-all-our/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I have cared so much and so little about the cars I've owned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-coren-mitchell/i-have-cared-so-much-and-so-little-about-the-cars-i-ve-owned/) [Victoria Coren Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-coren-mitchell/) > [Listen, I've done a lot of TV shows, people honestly don't care about me. Sometimes that's annoying because I wished that people cared a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-crosby/listen-i-ve-done-a-lot-of-tv-shows-people-honestly-don-t-care-about/) [Charlotte Crosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-crosby/) > [Every one is weary, the poore in seeking, the rich in keeping, the good in learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/every-one-is-weary-the-poore-in-seeking-the-rich-in-keeping-the-good/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [I would call myself a Gnostic. Which means, I'm interested in pursuing and understanding the spiritual nature of things. A Gnostic is somebody seeking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-crumb/i-would-call-myself-a-gnostic-which-means-i-m-interested-in-pursuing/) [Robert Crumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-crumb/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [It's a great story for us whenever an entrepreneur makes a crazy amount of money and we get to tell the world about it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lacy/it-s-a-great-story-for-us-whenever-an-entrepreneur-makes-a-crazy/) [Sarah Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lacy/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) ## More by Megan Marshall > [“At thirty-six, Margaret believed her “mind and character” were already “too much formed” through “a liberal communion with the woful struggling crowd of fellow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/at-thirty-six-margaret-believed-her-mind-and-character-were-already/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“The expansion of their dyad to include the “young people” gave both Margaret and Waldo hope of more: “of being often & often shined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/the-expansion-of-their-dyad-to-include-the-young-people-gave-both/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“A man’s idea of God corresponds to his ideal of himself. The nobler he is, the more exalted his God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/a-man-s-idea-of-god-corresponds-to-his-ideal-of-himself-the-nobler-he/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“Yet “Platonic affection” can only seem “sublimated and idealized to the more experienced.” It was a painful message for Margaret, an unmarried woman with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/yet-platonic-affection-can-only-seem-sublimated-and-idealized-to-the/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“And there was a fourth, “highest grade” of marriage, which included the best features of the others, “home sympathies” and “intellectual communion,” but added…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/and-there-was-a-fourth-highest-grade-of-marriage-which-included-the/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“It was in Horace Greeley that Margaret recognized a “go-ahead, fearless adroitness” that was simply “American.” Waldo’s deprecatory assessment that Greeley was “no scholar,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/it-was-in-horace-greeley-that-margaret-recognized-a-go-ahead-fearless/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“It was not just her unusual intellect and outsized personality that made Margaret seem to Waldo more manly than feminine, but also her anomalous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/it-was-not-just-her-unusual-intellect-and-outsized-personality-that/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“She had made the observation several years before to a startled Waldo Emerson that “women are Slaves.” Married women in particular—and that meant most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/she-had-made-the-observation-several-years-before-to-a-startled-waldo/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“Why do women love bad men? Margaret had asked the question herself, and answered it, in Woman in the Nineteenth Century. The belief that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/why-do-women-love-bad-men-margaret-had-asked-the-question-herself-and/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“long as man “has the physical power, as well as the conventional” to treat a woman “like a play-thing or a slave,” she’d written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/long-as-man-has-the-physical-power-as-well-as-the-conventional-to/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“But she worried about how the older students, who were required to leave the school at age twelve, would find work. Many of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/but-she-worried-about-how-the-older-students-who-were-required-to/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“Elizabeth Bishop wrote love poems, and poems about lovemaking, and one of the best poems ever written in English about the loss of love,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/elizabeth-bishop-wrote-love-poems-and-poems-about-lovemaking-and-one/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“am caught in such a net of ties here.” Again she almost revealed her secret: “if ever you know of my life here, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/am-caught-in-such-a-net-of-ties-here-again-she-almost-revealed-her/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“Woman, self-centred, would never be absorbed by any relation.” The “excessive devotion” that results when women live “so entirely for men,” when a woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/woman-self-centred-would-never-be-absorbed-by-any-relation-the/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [“from a very early age . . . that I was not born to the common womanly lot. I knew I should never find a being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/from-a-very-early-age-that-i-was-not-born-to-the-common-womanly-lot-i/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) [Explore all 32 Megan Marshall quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) ## More Friendship quotes > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-never-believed-in-trying-to-do-anything-whatever-i-set-out-to-do-i/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“ever day Maureen is Selfish To her friend and Family One she get mad at her friend and family and She need to Grad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-andeson/ever-day-maureen-is-selfish-to-her-friend-and-family-one-she-get-mad/) Maureen Andeson > [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. I'd love to get the thrill of speaking actors making my work even funnier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-howard/i-m-trying-to-write-a-film-with-my-friend-i-d-love-to-get-the-thrill/) [Russell Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-howard/) > [I gave my archive to Emory University because there's a really dear friend who teaches there, Rudolph Byrd, and he's the editor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-gave-my-archive-to-emory-university-because-there-s-a-really-dear/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Friends are like stars you can't always see them, but you know they're there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknwon/friends-are-like-stars-you-can-t-always-see-them-but-you-know-they-re/) Unknwon > [I've been writing songs since I was 10 years old and always had a penchant for rhyming. I started listening to hip hop through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hoodie-allen/i-ve-been-writing-songs-since-i-was-10-years-old-and-always-had-a/) [Hoodie Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hoodie-allen/) > [If you love some one for who they are not for there body or how many friend so when you say I love you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknow/if-you-love-some-one-for-who-they-are-not-for-there-body-or-how-many/) Unknow > [“But my best friend from college was silent for a long time. She, of all of my friends, had seen the parade of sad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-groff/but-my-best-friend-from-college-was-silent-for-a-long-time-she-of-all/) [Lauren Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-groff/) > [You smile upon your friend to-day, To-day his ills are over; You hearken to the lover's say, And happy is the lover. 'Tis late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-smile-upon-your-friend-to-day-to-day-his-ills-are-over-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“way. A true friend isn't the one that agrees with everything you say or do. A true friend is someone that has your back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shameek-speight/way-a-true-friend-isn-t-the-one-that-agrees-with-everything-you-say/) [Shameek Speight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shameek-speight/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Kings don’t move mountains as a favor to a friend,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-whalen-turner/kings-don-t-move-mountains-as-a-favor-to-a-friend/) [Megan Whalen Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-whalen-turner/) > [I have friends and family that identify as LGBTQ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mace/i-have-friends-and-family-that-identify-as-lgbtq/) [Nancy Mace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mace/) > [“The real purpose of friendship was to discover and exploit weakness in others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-thompson/the-real-purpose-of-friendship-was-to-discover-and-exploit-weakness/) [Brian Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-thompson/) [Browse all 45,469 Friendship quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Margaret expected her friends to “be capable of seeking something.” She cared little what that something was, only that her friends “should not be satisfied with the common routine of life,—that they should aspire to something higher, better, holier, than they had now attained.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Megan Marshall" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/margaret-expected-her-friends-to-be-capable-of-seeking-something-she/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Friendship" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/margaret-expected-her-friends-to-be-capable-of-seeking-something-she/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/megan-marshall-19595_friendship_margaret-expected-her-friends-to-be-capa_2207169.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/megan-marshall-19595_friendship_margaret-expected-her-friends-to-be-capa_2207169.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4d/megan-marshall-19595_friendship_margaret-expected-her-friends-to-be-capa_2207169.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Margaret expected her friends to “be capable of seeking something.” She cared little what that something…” — Megan Marshall", "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": "Megan Marshall", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Margaret expected her friends to “be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/margaret-expected-her-friends-to-be-capable-of-seeking-something-she/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/margaret-expected-her-friends-to-be-capable-of-seeking-something-she/#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 } } ] } ```