--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ... haste can do nothing with these…" description: "\"“... haste can do nothing with these hills. I knew when I had looked for a long time that I had hardly begun to see.”\" — Nan Shepherd" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/681/nan-shepherd-44767_haste_haste-can-do-nothing-with-these-hills-i_1325581.jpg" --- # ... haste can do nothing with these hills. I knew when I… ![“... haste can do nothing with these hills. I knew when I had looked for a long time that I had hardly begun to see.” quote by Nan Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/681/nan-shepherd-44767_haste_haste-can-do-nothing-with-these-hills-i_1325581.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/681/nan-shepherd-44767_haste_haste-can-do-nothing-with-these-hills-i_1325581.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/681/nan-shepherd-44767_haste_haste-can-do-nothing-with-these-hills-i_1325581.jpg) > ““... haste can do nothing with these hills. I knew when I had looked for a long time that I had hardly begun to see.”” [Nan Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-shepherd/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Shepherd reflects that hurried effort cannot grasp the depth of the hills; true understanding comes slowly over time. **In simple terms:** Rushing prevents deep insight; patience reveals more. Key Takeaway Take time to observe before judging. Themes patience observation nature humility Mood contemplative reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - hiking - studying landscapes - creative writing Key Concepts epistemology mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - What does patience reveal that haste hides? - How can you practice slower observation? A Different Perspective Rushing can lead to superficial conclusions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Haste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/haste/) [Haste Hills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/haste-hills-4431257/) [Hills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hills/) [Hills Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hills-knew-4431258/) [Knew Looked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knew-looked-2991322/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/see/) [Sight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sight/) [Speed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speed/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Hardly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-hardly-3852573/) ## Related quotes > [I have reached the end of my time, and have hardly come to the beginning of my task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/i-have-reached-the-end-of-my-time-and-have-hardly-come-to-the/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [Experience teaches us only one thing at a time - and hardly that, in my case.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/experience-teaches-us-only-one-thing-at-a-time-and-hardly-that-in-my/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Between us and the writers, it was comedy hour the whole time. We could hardly get through it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-rice/between-us-and-the-writers-it-was-comedy-hour-the-whole-time-we-could/) [Buddy Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-rice/) > [“Maybe I am everything I knew that I would never be. I looked back at Jay and smiled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-hood/maybe-i-am-everything-i-knew-that-i-would-never-be-i-looked-back-at/) [Holly Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-hood/) > [“I knew I had looked into the eyes of a lost soul, Austin, the man's outward form remained, but all hell was within it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-machen/i-knew-i-had-looked-into-the-eyes-of-a-lost-soul-austin-the-man-s/) [Arthur Machen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-machen/) > [“She knew what she looked like - someone at the edge of catastrophe, someone already flinching from a blow that had not yet been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-humphreys/she-knew-what-she-looked-like-someone-at-the-edge-of-catastrophe/) [Josephine Humphreys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-humphreys/) > [“I was pretty sure I knew what I looked like: a cartoon hamster in the headlights.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-keaton/i-was-pretty-sure-i-knew-what-i-looked-like-a-cartoon-hamster-in-the/) [Kelly Keaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-keaton/) > [“I wish I knew what I looked like in other peoples eyes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rukhsar-din/i-wish-i-knew-what-i-looked-like-in-other-peoples-eyes/) [Rukhsar Din](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rukhsar-din/) > [Publish in haste and repent at leisure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/publish-in-haste-and-repent-at-leisure/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Make haste therefore, sweet love, whilst it is prime, For none can call again the passed time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/make-haste-therefore-sweet-love-whilst-it-is-prime-for-none-can-call/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [Celebrity is never more admired than by the negligent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/celebrity-is-never-more-admired-than-by-the-negligent/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Men love in haste, but they detest at leisure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/men-love-in-haste-but-they-detest-at-leisure/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [Love's mind of judgment rarely hath a taste: Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/love-s-mind-of-judgment-rarely-hath-a-taste-wings-and-no-eyes-figure/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Haste in every business brings failures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herodotus/haste-in-every-business-brings-failures/) [Herodotus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herodotus/) > [In lightness the root is lost. In haste the ruler is lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/in-lightness-the-root-is-lost-in-haste-the-ruler-is-lost/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) ## More by Nan Shepherd > [“But at the end of February, out of a cold black north a dozen meandering snowflakes fell. They drifted about the air like thrums…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-shepherd/but-at-the-end-of-february-out-of-a-cold-black-north-a-dozen/) [Nan Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-shepherd/) > [“To Martha it seemed that she stood outside life. The world went by her, colourless shapes on a flat pale background. Nothing had solidity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-shepherd/to-martha-it-seemed-that-she-stood-outside-life-the-world-went-by-her/) [Nan Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-shepherd/) > [“So simply to look on anything, such as a mountain, with the love that penetrates to its essence, is to widen the domain of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-shepherd/so-simply-to-look-on-anything-such-as-a-mountain-with-the-love-that/) [Nan Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-shepherd/) > [“Am I such a slave as that? Dependent on a man to complete me! I thought I couldn't be anything without him- I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-shepherd/am-i-such-a-slave-as-that-dependent-on-a-man-to-complete-me-i-thought/) [Nan Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-shepherd/) > [“Imagination is haunted by the swiftness of the creatures that live on the mountain - eagle and peregrine falcon, red deer and mountain hare.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-shepherd/imagination-is-haunted-by-the-swiftness-of-the-creatures-that-live-on/) [Nan Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-shepherd/) > [“It’s a grand thing, to get leave to live”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-shepherd/it-s-a-grand-thing-to-get-leave-to-live/) [Nan Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-shepherd/) > [“The Cairngorm water is all clear. Flowing from granite, with no peat to darken it, it has never the golden amber, the ‘horse-back brown’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-shepherd/the-cairngorm-water-is-all-clear-flowing-from-granite-with-no-peat-to/) [Nan Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-shepherd/) > [“One cannot know the rivers till one has seen them at their sources; but this journey to sources is not to be undertaken lightly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-shepherd/one-cannot-know-the-rivers-till-one-has-seen-them-at-their-sources/) [Nan Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-shepherd/) [Explore all 9 Nan Shepherd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-shepherd/) ## More Haste quotes > [In lightness the root is lost. In haste the ruler is lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/in-lightness-the-root-is-lost-in-haste-the-ruler-is-lost/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Haste in every business brings failures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herodotus/haste-in-every-business-brings-failures/) [Herodotus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herodotus/) > [Love's mind of judgment rarely hath a taste: Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/love-s-mind-of-judgment-rarely-hath-a-taste-wings-and-no-eyes-figure/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Men love in haste, but they detest at leisure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/men-love-in-haste-but-they-detest-at-leisure/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [Celebrity is never more admired than by the negligent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/celebrity-is-never-more-admired-than-by-the-negligent/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Make haste therefore, sweet love, whilst it is prime, For none can call again the passed time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/make-haste-therefore-sweet-love-whilst-it-is-prime-for-none-can-call/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [Publish in haste and repent at leisure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/publish-in-haste-and-repent-at-leisure/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [My dad died when I was young; my mom remarried with more haste than sense to a fellow... he wasn't evil or anything, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/my-dad-died-when-i-was-young-my-mom-remarried-with-more-haste-than/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Never betray His principles for any reason whatsoever, and take great care not to spoil God's affairs by too much haste in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-de-paul/never-betray-his-principles-for-any-reason-whatsoever-and-take-great/) [Vincent de Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-de-paul/) > [Fish slowly and thoroughly. Haste never paid dividends. Never wory about the fellow ahead of you. If you start racing to get ahaead of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bergman/fish-slowly-and-thoroughly-haste-never-paid-dividends-never-wory/) [Ray Bergman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bergman/) > [Face troubles from their birth, for 'tis too late to cure When long delay has given the evil strength. Haste then; postpone not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/face-troubles-from-their-birth-for-tis-too-late-to-cure-when-long/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [I suddenly dreamt that I picked up the revolver and aimed it straight at my heart my heart, and not my head; and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/i-suddenly-dreamt-that-i-picked-up-the-revolver-and-aimed-it-straight/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [Lo! while we are gazing, in swifter haste Stream down the snows, till the air is white, As, myriads by myriads madly chased, They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/lo-while-we-are-gazing-in-swifter-haste-stream-down-the-snows-till/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wesley/though-i-am-always-in-haste-i-am-never-in-a-hurry/) [John Wesley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wesley/) > [Whatever is produced in haste goes hastily to waste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saadi/whatever-is-produced-in-haste-goes-hastily-to-waste/) [Saadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saadi/) [Browse all 346 Haste quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/haste/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“... haste can do nothing with these hills. 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