--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: At almost every step in life we meet with…" description: "\"At almost every step in life we meet with young men from whom we anticipate wonderful things, but of whom, after careful inquiry, we never hear another..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44d/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_anticipate_at-almost-every-step-in-life-we-meet-wit_829790.jpg" --- # At almost every step in life we meet with young men from… ![“At almost every step in life we meet with young men from whom we anticipate wonderful things, but of whom, after careful inquiry, we never hear another word. Life certain chintzes, calicoes, and ginghams, they show finely on their first newness, but cannot stand the sun and rain, and assume a very…” quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44d/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_anticipate_at-almost-every-step-in-life-we-meet-wit_829790.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44d/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_anticipate_at-almost-every-step-in-life-we-meet-wit_829790.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44d/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_anticipate_at-almost-every-step-in-life-we-meet-wit_829790.jpg) > “At almost every step in life we meet with young men from whom we anticipate wonderful things, but of whom, after careful inquiry, we never hear another word. Life certain chintzes, calicoes, and ginghams, they show finely on their first newness, but cannot stand the sun and rain, and assume a very sober aspect after washing day.” [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often appear promising at first but fade when faced with real challenges and scrutiny. **In simple terms:** First impressions can be misleading. Key Takeaway Beware of superficial judgments. Themes expectations disillusionment appearance vs reality Mood reflective melancholic Type advice observational When to use this quote - career mentorship - friendship - romantic relationships - team projects Key Concepts human nature resilience authenticity Questions to Reflect On - What signs indicate lasting substance? - How do you test true character? A Different Perspective Not all initial enthusiasm endures under pressure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inquiry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inquiry/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rain/) [Sober](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sober/) [Steps in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steps-in-life/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) [Sun and rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun-and-rain/) [Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful/) [Wonderful things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful-things/) [Young men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-men/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [“The day has already begun to lessen. It has shrunk considerably, but yet will still allow a goodly space of time if one rises,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca/the-day-has-already-begun-to-lessen-it-has-shrunk-considerably-but/) [Seneca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca/) > [“To defeat Fortune, men must anticipate such evils before they arise, and take prudent steps to avoid them. When the waters have already risen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/to-defeat-fortune-men-must-anticipate-such-evils-before-they-arise/) [Niccolò Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [“In the offseason, you should be working, reading, developing, growing, evolving, and becoming your best self. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/in-the-offseason-you-should-be-working-reading-developing-growing/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [I've tried, at every step in life, to find a lesson. And accepting criticism with the same grace that you do the applause is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-marino/i-ve-tried-at-every-step-in-life-to-find-a-lesson-and-accepting/) [Dan Marino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-marino/) > [DEAR LORD, help me to keep going. each steps in life gets harder but help me not to stop. i know the view is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercy-pheona/dear-lord-help-me-to-keep-going-each-steps-in-life-gets-harder-but/) [Mercy Pheona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercy-pheona/) > [“My father told me, ‘my son, don’t ever undermine the power of patience; it brings a lot of hidden things to realities and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/my-father-told-me-my-son-don-t-ever-undermine-the-power-of-patience/) [Ernest Agyemang Yeboah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/) > [“Lust of life digs out hidden qualities and subdued yearnings from the silence of our inner self. If we give way to the desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/lust-of-life-digs-out-hidden-qualities-and-subdued-yearnings-from-the/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [The most important steps in LIFE are not the steps but rather the direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/the-most-important-steps-in-life-are-not-the-steps-but-rather-the/) Unkown > [Learn how to sturdy yourself in the early stage of life difficulties, be head strong because they are just sheets of blocks to your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crosby-kwaw/learn-how-to-sturdy-yourself-in-the-early-stage-of-life-difficulties/) [Crosby Kwaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crosby-kwaw/) > [Each step in life has been another step in an area that was a challenge, that is highly satisfying and that gives you a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graeme-samuel/each-step-in-life-has-been-another-step-in-an-area-that-was-a/) Graeme Samuel > [God puts you through things - steps in life - and you get over them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrien-broner/god-puts-you-through-things-steps-in-life-and-you-get-over-them/) [Adrien Broner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrien-broner/) > [It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/it-is-not-enough-to-stare-up-the-steps-we-must-step-up-the-stairs/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [Sometimes people struggles to take their next steps in life when all they have to do is take that one step in Christ! Cast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-j-cowell/sometimes-people-struggles-to-take-their-next-steps-in-life-when-all/) [Larry J Cowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-j-cowell/) > [I like to find characters. Here's the bottom line: I can't play someone if I can't figure out what he cares about. Everybody cares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-fichtner/i-like-to-find-characters-here-s-the-bottom-line-i-can-t-play-someone/) [William Fichtner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-fichtner/) > [The heart breaks are lessons and steps in life. Lesson is never completely seal your trust. And your just a step closer to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-heart-breaks-are-lessons-and-steps-in-life-lesson-is-never/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Nathaniel Hawthorne > [“there was something of the women molded into the great, stalwart frame of Hollingsworth; nor was he ashamed of it; as men often are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-was-something-of-the-women-molded-into-the-great-stalwart-frame/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The trees reflected in the river - they are unconscious of a spiritual world so near to them. So are we.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-trees-reflected-in-the-river-they-are-unconscious-of-a-spiritual/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The dismaying thing about the classic totalitarian mind is that any given gear, though mutilated, will have at its circumference unbroken sequences of teeth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-dismaying-thing-about-the-classic-totalitarian-mind-is-that-any/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“My heart was a habitation large enough for many guests, but lonely and chill, and without a household fire, I longed to kindle one!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/my-heart-was-a-habitation-large-enough-for-many-guests-but-lonely-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Wherever there is a heart and an intellect, the diseases of the physical frame are tinged with the peculiarities of these.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/wherever-there-is-a-heart-and-an-intellect-the-diseases-of-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-founders-of-a-new-colony-whatever-utopia-of-human-virtue-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Generosity is the flower of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/generosity-is-the-flower-of-justice/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“he seemed to be in quest for mental food, not heart sustenance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/he-seemed-to-be-in-quest-for-mental-food-not-heart-sustenance/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Unfathomable to mere mortals is the lore of fiends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/unfathomable-to-mere-mortals-is-the-lore-of-fiends/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Possibly, he was in a state of second growth and recovery, and was constantly assimilating nutriment for his spirit and intellect from sights, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/possibly-he-was-in-a-state-of-second-growth-and-recovery-and-was/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“What wonder, then, should we be frightened by the aspect of a monster, which, after all,—though we can point to every feature of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-wonder-then-should-we-be-frightened-by-the-aspect-of-a-monster/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [What we call real estate - the solid ground to build a house on - is the broad foundation on which nearly all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-we-call-real-estate-the-solid-ground-to-build-a-house-on-is-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The bookworm of great libraries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-bookworm-of-great-libraries/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [There are many things in this world that a child must not ask about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-are-many-things-in-this-world-that-a-child-must-not-ask-about/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) [Explore all 526 Nathaniel Hawthorne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) ## More Anticipate quotes > [If, as I anticipate, a wide array of personal, portable information/communication devices becomes increasingly important and widespread for information-intensive users, it will be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/if-as-i-anticipate-a-wide-array-of-personal-portable-information/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [Assuming normal winter weather, we currently anticipate the coal markets to remain difficult through 2015; while we always strive to operate a full capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-craft/assuming-normal-winter-weather-we-currently-anticipate-the-coal/) [Joe Craft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-craft/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I like to do everything you can possibly do before you go into rehearsal, because once we are in rehearsal or on the stage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-prince/i-like-to-do-everything-you-can-possibly-do-before-you-go-into/) [Harold Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-prince/) > [The problem with merely writing so that you can be understood is that the wrong people, in advancing their agendas, are only too ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-a-dembski/the-problem-with-merely-writing-so-that-you-can-be-understood-is-that/) [William A. 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