--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Though we could always explain that our…" description: "\"“Though we could always explain that our life was not as glamorous as it might seem in the telling, we did come to realize that we'd made some radical ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/955/megan-rich-30318_american-life_though-we-could-always-explain-that-our_1643927.jpg" --- # Though we could always explain that our life was not as… ![“Though we could always explain that our life was not as glamorous as it might seem in the telling, we did come to realize that we'd made some radical decisions. We also came to realize, however, that the life that was laid before us in that not-so-distant past – becoming an industrial engineer…” quote by Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/955/megan-rich-30318_american-life_though-we-could-always-explain-that-our_1643927.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/955/megan-rich-30318_american-life_though-we-could-always-explain-that-our_1643927.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/955/megan-rich-30318_american-life_though-we-could-always-explain-that-our_1643927.jpg) > ““Though we could always explain that our life was not as glamorous as it might seem in the telling, we did come to realize that we'd made some radical decisions. We also came to realize, however, that the life that was laid before us in that not-so-distant past – becoming an industrial engineer, for example, working fifty hours a week for a car company's profit, getting an abysmal two weeks of vacation a year, never really feeling like your work had any meaning – was its own radical path. In Europe, life was different. Ambition was secondary to leisure; long, conversation-filled meals, the norm. The parks were full of people strolling, not running; cafes with people talking, not doing work on their own solitary computers.”” [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote contrasts a demanding industrial career with a leisurely European lifestyle, highlighting how societal expectations shape our sense of purpose and happiness. **In simple terms:** Work life can feel meaningless; leisure offers fulfillment. Key Takeaway Seek balance between work and leisure. Themes career culture meaning leisure Mood thoughtful nostalgic Type reflective philosophical When to use this quote - career change - traveling - career burnout - reassessing values Key Concepts sociology work-life balance Questions to Reflect On - What does a meaningful life look like for you? - How can you integrate leisure into a busy schedule? A Different Perspective Changing cultures may be idealized; practical constraints exist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [American life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-life/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [I do not believe in populism. I am not a supporter of radical decisions. Practice has shown that usually these are harmful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valentina-matviyenko/i-do-not-believe-in-populism-i-am-not-a-supporter-of-radical/) [Valentina Matviyenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valentina-matviyenko/) > [I want to play football out on the pitch. I am not different to anyone else and the ambition never changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-cahill/i-want-to-play-football-out-on-the-pitch-i-am-not-different-to-anyone/) [Gary Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-cahill/) > [Having the ambition of becoming Olympic champion is a whole different ambition from wanting to be the greatest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daley-thompson/having-the-ambition-of-becoming-olympic-champion-is-a-whole-different/) [Daley Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daley-thompson/) > [In Europe life is histrionic and dramatized, and in America, except when it is trying to be European, it is direct and sincere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-dean-howells/in-europe-life-is-histrionic-and-dramatized-and-in-america-except/) [William Dean Howells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-dean-howells/) > [If you ask me where do I belong, it would be somewhere in the Irish Sea almost - born in Hong Kong, Chinese mother,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rocha/if-you-ask-me-where-do-i-belong-it-would-be-somewhere-in-the-irish/) [John Rocha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rocha/) > [“The Middle East is the only place in the world where three continents come together. It is a crossroads that links Asia, Africa, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-goldstein/the-middle-east-is-the-only-place-in-the-world-where-three-continents/) [Phyllis Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-goldstein/) > [Australia was a very different world and culture from the one I left in Europe. Life was much more spread out. People drove everywhere.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andreja-pejic/australia-was-a-very-different-world-and-culture-from-the-one-i-left/) [Andreja Pejic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andreja-pejic/) > [I'd feel more of the pressures of daily life, obsessed about finding a job or love. Maybe I've taken these things for granted. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nomi-ruiz/i-d-feel-more-of-the-pressures-of-daily-life-obsessed-about-finding-a/) [Nomi Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nomi-ruiz/) > [Your life is made up of little moments, little efforts, little changes, big smiles, and all your hopes and dreams. Don't think any problem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/your-life-is-made-up-of-little-moments-little-efforts-little-changes/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [Sometimes I sit and look at life from a different angle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/sometimes-i-sit-and-look-at-life-from-a-different-angle/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [I have always felt that I have observed life in a different way to others... Music has always been one creative outlet for me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-lennon/i-have-always-felt-that-i-have-observed-life-in-a-different-way-to/) [Julian Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-lennon/) > [I grew up in a normal family. I have sweet parents, who are still married... But my life is so different from how I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwen-stefani/i-grew-up-in-a-normal-family-i-have-sweet-parents-who-are-still/) [Gwen Stefani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwen-stefani/) > [“How would your life be different if...You could control the outcome of your day, your week, your year? Let today be the day...You embrace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/how-would-your-life-be-different-if-you-could-control-the-outcome-of/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) > [Not to lose yourself on the path of life, you are given to look and explore life from different perspectives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chandrababu-vs/not-to-lose-yourself-on-the-path-of-life-you-are-given-to-look-and/) [Chandrababu VS](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chandrababu-vs/) > [If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome: if you make different choices from your peers, your life will then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-ma/if-you-have-a-different-mindset-you-will-have-a-different-outcome-if/) [Jack Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-ma/) ## More by Megan Rich > [“Patrick would flip The Beatles on mornings after a fight, when we’d bake bread, kneading our troubles into something we could eat. We’d take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/patrick-would-flip-the-beatles-on-mornings-after-a-fight-when-we-d/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“The deeper I went into the valley, the greater the rewards. First, it was a clump of birches, the bottoms wrapped in thick fog,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/the-deeper-i-went-into-the-valley-the-greater-the-rewards-first-it/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“The afternoon sunk into the tall grass growing on the roadside. The distant dome turned from coral to burnt umber, a final flash of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/the-afternoon-sunk-into-the-tall-grass-growing-on-the-roadside-the/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“It came as a surprise to us, as I suspect it does to many, that marriage changed us. We’d felt as though we’d always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/it-came-as-a-surprise-to-us-as-i-suspect-it-does-to-many-that/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“I once had a drinking contest with an artist on his yacht... It amused him as I took shot after shot, and I realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/i-once-had-a-drinking-contest-with-an-artist-on-his-yacht-it-amused/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“Artists have a habit of becoming what they practice on the canvas. Who knows when it began? When he discovered that the sky, filtered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/artists-have-a-habit-of-becoming-what-they-practice-on-the-canvas-who/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“We arrived in Ulm just after the honeymoon, the moving there only prolonging it. Having slept that glorious jet-lag sleep right into evening on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/we-arrived-in-ulm-just-after-the-honeymoon-the-moving-there-only/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“And then there was his love affair with my best friend, perhaps the only woman he’d ever seen drink several glasses of bai-jiu and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/and-then-there-was-his-love-affair-with-my-best-friend-perhaps-the/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“My favorite times were spent in his backyard where he and his roommates had “let nature take its course,” the weeds towering above our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/my-favorite-times-were-spent-in-his-backyard-where-he-and-his/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“They then interviewed us, asking about our love of Qingdao, how we met, why we came. Having learned quickly what they wanted to hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/they-then-interviewed-us-asking-about-our-love-of-qingdao-how-we-met/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“Besides all of this, Patrick and I living together for the first time meant it was the beginning of a life together, that nitty-gritty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/besides-all-of-this-patrick-and-i-living-together-for-the-first-time/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“In his lifetime, that small fishing village had turned into the seventh largest port in the world, an eight-million-strong city; women had gotten the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/in-his-lifetime-that-small-fishing-village-had-turned-into-the/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“After scouring the local newspaper with Oliver, a worried colleague, Patrick noticed an ad for a one-bedroom in Maehringen, a small village outside town.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/after-scouring-the-local-newspaper-with-oliver-a-worried-colleague/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“A funny thing about living abroad is that what might separate us expats back home brought us closer together in China. We'd listen to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/a-funny-thing-about-living-abroad-is-that-what-might-separate-us/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [“The faces of the people were wrinkled with change. Sudden change to which the skin can't possibly conform, faster than the aging of man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/the-faces-of-the-people-were-wrinkled-with-change-sudden-change-to/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) [Explore all 17 Megan Rich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) ## More Ambition quotes > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/) [Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-s-worth-is-no-greater-than-the-worth-of-his-ambitions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [“I was ambitious and desperate to direct my first film, so I capitulated and blew it. Never again. Never fucking again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-was-ambitious-and-desperate-to-direct-my-first-film-so-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [I was always attracted most to joining City, and I am pleased to be at such a good club with such a big ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edin-dzeko/i-was-always-attracted-most-to-joining-city-and-i-am-pleased-to-be-at/) [Edin Dzeko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edin-dzeko/) > [Work towards your goal and dont watch the post size,its either they hate,or like you.there is no room for both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-buabeng/work-towards-your-goal-and-dont-watch-the-post-size-its-either-they/) [Isaac Buabeng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-buabeng/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I almost never have a plan for myself... I'm not ambitious in that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-plimpton/i-almost-never-have-a-plan-for-myself-i-m-not-ambitious-in-that-way/) [Martha Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-plimpton/) > [I play for high stakes and given an audience - there is no act too daring or too noble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-play-for-high-stakes-and-given-an-audience-there-is-no-act-too/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [There's nothing worse than a leader who lacks ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-leader-who-lacks-ambition/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If i can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition i have is nothing but talk..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoro/if-i-can-t-even-protect-my-captain-s-dream-then-whatever-ambition-i/) [Zoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoro/) > [It may seem unattainable but if you put actions, your heart and your mind into it, you will prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-mond/it-may-seem-unattainable-but-if-you-put-actions-your-heart-and-your/) [London Mond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-mond/) > [Obligation is what's leading us to toward successful, and what keeps us moving towards the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wazim-shaw/obligation-is-what-s-leading-us-to-toward-successful-and-what-keeps/) [Wazim Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wazim-shaw/) [Browse all 4,601 Ambition quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Though we could always explain that our life was not as glamorous as it might seem in the telling, we did come to realize that we'd made some radical decisions. 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