--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The single observation I would offer for…" description: "\"The single observation I would offer for your consideration is that some things are beyond your control. You can lose your health to illness or acciden..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/neil-armstrong-5298_accidents_the-single-observation-i-would-offer-for_2791146.jpg" --- # The single observation I would offer for your… ![“The single observation I would offer for your consideration is that some things are beyond your control. You can lose your health to illness or accident. You can lose your wealth to all manner of unpredictable sources. What are not easily stolen from you without your cooperation are your…” quote by Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/neil-armstrong-5298_accidents_the-single-observation-i-would-offer-for_2791146.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/neil-armstrong-5298_accidents_the-single-observation-i-would-offer-for_2791146.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/neil-armstrong-5298_accidents_the-single-observation-i-would-offer-for_2791146.jpg) > “The single observation I would offer for your consideration is that some things are beyond your control. You can lose your health to illness or accident. You can lose your wealth to all manner of unpredictable sources. What are not easily stolen from you without your cooperation are your principles and your values. They are your most important possessions and, if carefully selected and nurtured, will well serve you and your fellow man.” [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Some aspects of life are uncontrollable, like health or wealth, but personal principles and values remain secure unless you betray them. **In simple terms:** Control what you can, protect your values. Key Takeaway Guard your principles. Themes control values resilience uncertainty Mood cautious determined Type ethical motivational When to use this quote - financial planning - health crises - ethical dilemmas - leadership decisions Key Concepts autonomy ethics self‑reliance Questions to Reflect On - What values are non‑negotiable for you? - How do you protect them under stress? A Different Perspective Values can be compromised by external pressure if not actively maintained. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accidents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents/) [Consideration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consideration/) [Cooperation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cooperation/) [Fellow man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fellow-man/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Observation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observation/) [Possession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possession/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Unpredictable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unpredictable/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) ## Related quotes > [“The clock of life is wound but once, And no man has the power To tell just when the hands will stop At late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-clock-of-life-is-wound-but-once-and-no-man-has-the-power-to-tell/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you lose your wealth, you have lost nothing; if you lose your health, you have lost something; but if you lose your character,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/if-you-lose-your-wealth-you-have-lost-nothing-if-you-lose-your-health/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [I become one of those people who walks alone in the dark at night while others sleep or watch Mary Tyler Moore reruns or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-become-one-of-those-people-who-walks-alone-in-the-dark-at-night/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Any society that values wealth above freedom will lose its freedom, and will ultimately lose its wealth as well](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/any-society-that-values-wealth-above-freedom-will-lose-its-freedom/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [At times it seems we require more grace to lose our wealth than to lose our life!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watchman-nee/at-times-it-seems-we-require-more-grace-to-lose-our-wealth-than-to/) [Watchman Nee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watchman-nee/) > [“If we lose all of our wealth and are only left with love then, indeed, we shall never be poor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-richards/if-we-lose-all-of-our-wealth-and-are-only-left-with-love-then-indeed/) [Stephen Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-richards/) > [Our greatest gain is to lose the wealth that is of such brief duration and, by comparison with eternal things, of such little worth;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/our-greatest-gain-is-to-lose-the-wealth-that-is-of-such-brief/) [Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [Even if we lose the wealth of thousands, and our life is sacrificed, we should keep smiling and be cheerful keeping our faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/even-if-we-lose-the-wealth-of-thousands-and-our-life-is-sacrificed-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Have your own doctor, who answers to you. If you don't, when the time comes that you get mixed up with hospitals, they'll treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-louise-delany/have-your-own-doctor-who-answers-to-you-if-you-don-t-when-the-time/) [Sarah Louise Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-louise-delany/) > [Only by restoring the broken connections can we be healed. Connection is health. And what our society does its best to disguise from us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/only-by-restoring-the-broken-connections-can-we-be-healed-connection/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [We lose our health to make money; then lose that money to restore our health. While worrying about future, we forget to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-lose-our-health-to-make-money-then-lose-that-money-to-restore-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/it-is-better-to-lose-health-like-a-spendthrift-than-to-waste-it-like/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [You spend your TIME to make a DIME. You lose your HEALTH to make your WEALTH, but at the end it is FUNNY because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-spend-your-time-to-make-a-dime-you-lose-your-health-to-make-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Once you do lose a job, there are not a lot of social supports for you. You lose health insurance because we have this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/once-you-do-lose-a-job-there-are-not-a-lot-of-social-supports-for-you/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [We want to say nobody should lose their health care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-scalise/we-want-to-say-nobody-should-lose-their-health-care/) [Steve Scalise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-scalise/) ## More by Neil Armstrong > [There are people I'll always love to listen to, and I'm always ending up discovering new songs by them, which is crazy. Like Stevie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/there-are-people-i-ll-always-love-to-listen-to-and-i-m-always-ending/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [I have been in relatively high-risk businesses all of my adult life. Few of the others, however, had the possibility of direct gains in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-have-been-in-relatively-high-risk-businesses-all-of-my-adult-life/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [Damn I really did it. I blew the first words on the moon, didn't I?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/damn-i-really-did-it-i-blew-the-first-words-on-the-moon-didn-t-i/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [Fear is not an unknown emotion to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/fear-is-not-an-unknown-emotion-to-us/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [I fully expected that, by the end of the century, we would have achieved substantially more than we actually did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-fully-expected-that-by-the-end-of-the-century-we-would-have/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [As a boy, because I was born and raised in Ohio, about 60 miles north of Dayton, the legends of the Wrights have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/as-a-boy-because-i-was-born-and-raised-in-ohio-about-60-miles-north/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [The single thing which makes any man happiest is the realization that he has worked up to the limits of his ability, his capacity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/the-single-thing-which-makes-any-man-happiest-is-the-realization-that/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks, but for the ledger of our daily work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-guess-we-all-like-to-be-recognized-not-for-one-piece-of-fireworks/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [Science has not yet mastered prophecy. We predict too much for the next year and yet far too little for the next 10.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/science-has-not-yet-mastered-prophecy-we-predict-too-much-for-the/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [Lindsay Lohan isn't a DJ, but because of her celebrity power she can do a gig somewhere, put her name on a flyer, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/lindsay-lohan-isn-t-a-dj-but-because-of-her-celebrity-power-she-can/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [The exciting part for me, as a pilot, was the landing on the moon. That was the time that we had achieved the national…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/the-exciting-part-for-me-as-a-pilot-was-the-landing-on-the-moon-that/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/houston-tranquillity-base-here-the-eagle-has-landed/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-didn-t-feel-like-a-giant-i-felt-very-very-small/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [I tell you, we're going to be busy for a minute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-tell-you-we-re-going-to-be-busy-for-a-minute/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [Opportunities will be available to you that you cannot imagine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/opportunities-will-be-available-to-you-that-you-cannot-imagine/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) [Explore all 101 Neil Armstrong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) ## More Accidents quotes > [Almost all accidents take place because of human distraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-thrun/almost-all-accidents-take-place-because-of-human-distraction/) [Sebastian Thrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-thrun/) > [It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. It was the Lord speaking to us all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-rivers/it-was-no-accident-no-coincidence-that-the-seasons-came-round-and/) [Francine Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-rivers/) > [No, I think most astronauts recognize that the space shuttle program is very high-risk, and are prepared for accidents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-ride/no-i-think-most-astronauts-recognize-that-the-space-shuttle-program/) [Sally Ride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-ride/) > [In presenting a mathematical argument the great thing is to give the educated reader the chance to catch on at once to the momentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/in-presenting-a-mathematical-argument-the-great-thing-is-to-give-the/) [John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/) > [The only way to have a funeral is to invite everyone who ever knew the person and just wait for the accident to happen-somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/the-only-way-to-have-a-funeral-is-to-invite-everyone-who-ever-knew/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [Good films are not made by accident, nor is good photography. You can have good things happen, on occasion, by accident that can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-willis/good-films-are-not-made-by-accident-nor-is-good-photography-you-can/) [Gordon Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-willis/) > [By education I am an Englishman, by views an internationalist, by culture a Muslim and a Hindu only by accident of birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru/by-education-i-am-an-englishman-by-views-an-internationalist-by/) [Jawaharlal Nehru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jawaharlal-nehru/) > [I made out with a homeless guy by accident. I had no idea -- he was really tan, he had no shoes on. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-schumer/i-made-out-with-a-homeless-guy-by-accident-i-had-no-idea-he-was/) [Amy Schumer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-schumer/) > [Naturally I feel no shame in writing these things because of the time which separates the moment when they are written--when only I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-ernaux/naturally-i-feel-no-shame-in-writing-these-things-because-of-the-time/) [Annie Ernaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-ernaux/) > [In a city where you walk around, it's impossible to plan your day and your life as accidents will happen, you'll overhear things, bump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-schwartzman/in-a-city-where-you-walk-around-it-s-impossible-to-plan-your-day-and/) [Jason Schwartzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-schwartzman/) > [I don't think it's by accident that I was first attracted to translating two French women poets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-hacker/i-don-t-think-it-s-by-accident-that-i-was-first-attracted-to/) [Marilyn Hacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-hacker/) > [Despite my mentors advice that I would never go to heaven fishing with a weighted nymph and a float, I took it up. (As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/despite-my-mentors-advice-that-i-would-never-go-to-heaven-fishing/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [Dont stand outside in a lightning shower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padraig/dont-stand-outside-in-a-lightning-shower/) [Padraig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padraig/) > [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [My musical career was an accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sade-adu/my-musical-career-was-an-accident/) [Sade Adu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sade-adu/) [Browse all 1,971 Accidents quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The single observation I would offer for your consideration is that some things are beyond your control. 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