--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: even when nothing is happening, nothing…" description: "\"even when nothing is happening, nothing stands still. ... I am not a rock, but a river; people deceive themselves by seeing me as a rock. Or is it I wh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/085/nina-berberova-25943_deceive_even-when-nothing-is-happening-nothing-s_2899752.jpg" --- # even when nothing is happening, nothing stands still… ![“even when nothing is happening, nothing stands still. ... I am not a rock, but a river; people deceive themselves by seeing me as a rock. Or is it I who deceive them and pretend that I am a rock when I am a river?” quote by Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/085/nina-berberova-25943_deceive_even-when-nothing-is-happening-nothing-s_2899752.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/085/nina-berberova-25943_deceive_even-when-nothing-is-happening-nothing-s_2899752.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/085/nina-berberova-25943_deceive_even-when-nothing-is-happening-nothing-s_2899752.jpg) > “even when nothing is happening, nothing stands still. ... I am not a rock, but a river; people deceive themselves by seeing me as a rock. Or is it I who deceive them and pretend that I am a rock when I am a river?” [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stagnation is an illusion; even stillness is change, like a river pretending to be a rock. **In simple terms:** Nothing ever truly stays the same. Key Takeaway Embrace constant, subtle change. Themes change perception identity Mood contemplative philosophical Type literary reflective When to use this quote - personal growth - creative work - mindfulness Key Concepts illusion fluidity self-deception Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize subtle shifts in your life? - What does “rock” symbolize for you? A Different Perspective Denial of change can hinder self-awareness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deceive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceive/) [Deceiving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceiving/) [Happenings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happenings/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Deceive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-deceive-1302470/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rock/) [Rock Deceive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rock-deceive-4117416/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/) [Seeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing/) [Seeing Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing-rock-1287990/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) ## Related quotes > [If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you; Be honest and sincere anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramandeep-singh/if-you-are-honest-and-sincere-people-may-deceive-you-be-honest-and/) [Ramandeep Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramandeep-singh/) > [“I fear that in this thing many rich people deceive themselves. They go on accumulating the means but never using them; making bricks, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/i-fear-that-in-this-thing-many-rich-people-deceive-themselves-they-go/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [I think people deceive themselves about themselves, particularly as they get older.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-think-people-deceive-themselves-about-themselves-particularly-as/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [When we look at a rock what we are seeing is not the rock, but the effect of the rock upon us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/when-we-look-at-a-rock-what-we-are-seeing-is-not-the-rock-but-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Many of us Latin players arrive here in this country and we don't know much about how the legal system works here, and we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aroldis-chapman/many-of-us-latin-players-arrive-here-in-this-country-and-we-don-t/) [Aroldis Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aroldis-chapman/) > [Be careful of those who pat you on your back. Because those are the same people that are cutting side deals with the enemy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jsv/be-careful-of-those-who-pat-you-on-your-back-because-those-are-the/) [JSV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jsv/) > [“People, in general, tend to project onto others their own state of mind. Well-meaning people inevitably assume other people are well meaning. People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-salter/people-in-general-tend-to-project-onto-others-their-own-state-of-mind/) [Anna Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-salter/) > [We often shed tears that deceive ourselves after deceiving others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/we-often-shed-tears-that-deceive-ourselves-after-deceiving-others/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Trust the story ... the storyteller may dissemble and deceive, the story can't: the story can only ever be itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-robertson/trust-the-story-the-storyteller-may-dissemble-and-deceive-the-story/) [James Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-robertson/) > [Those who try to achieve success without hard work ultimately deceive themselves-or worse-deceive others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/those-who-try-to-achieve-success-without-hard-work-ultimately-deceive/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [No, it's not that they're bad. It's that they're obliged to pretend they're good. They've been brought up to deceive and be cunning, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/no-it-s-not-that-they-re-bad-it-s-that-they-re-obliged-to-pretend/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demosthenes/nothing-is-so-easy-as-to-deceive-oneself-for-what-we-wish-we-readily/) [Demosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demosthenes/) > [“Looks sure can be deceiving: not every ‘ugly’ person is a ‘bad’ person (or is guilty of whatever it is that they are accused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/looks-sure-can-be-deceiving-not-every-ugly-person-is-a-bad-person-or/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“She knows she's deceiving herself about that, but she prefers to deceive herself. She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More by Nina Berberova > [Moscow, Rome, London, Paris stay in place. Leningrad and New York float, spreading all their sails, cutting space with their prows, and can disappear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/moscow-rome-london-paris-stay-in-place-leningrad-and-new-york-float/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [Pearls ... have a way of dying when separated from their owner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/pearls-have-a-way-of-dying-when-separated-from-their-owner/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [I had learnt to seek intensity rather than happiness, not joys and prosperity but more of life, a concentrated sense of life, a strengthened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/i-had-learnt-to-seek-intensity-rather-than-happiness-not-joys-and/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [my choices were partly conditioned by the two great laws - of biology and sociology - for I do not conceive of myself outside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/my-choices-were-partly-conditioned-by-the-two-great-laws-of-biology/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [It looks now as if everything has been profitable to me. And if the payment has sometimes been excessive, it was afer all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/it-looks-now-as-if-everything-has-been-profitable-to-me-and-if-the/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [Paris is not a city, it is the image, the symbol of France, its today and yesterday, the reflection of its history, its geography…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/paris-is-not-a-city-it-is-the-image-the-symbol-of-france-its-today/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [For many years I used the pronoun 'we.' Now, as in my youth, I go to sleep and wake up alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/for-many-years-i-used-the-pronoun-we-now-as-in-my-youth-i-go-to-sleep/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [The idea came to me that I was, am, and will be, but perhaps will not become. This did not scare me. There was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/the-idea-came-to-me-that-i-was-am-and-will-be-but-perhaps-will-not/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [I had learnt to seek intensity — more of life, a concentrated sense of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/i-had-learnt-to-seek-intensity-more-of-life-a-concentrated-sense-of/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [“So we stood on the corner by the stationery shop and were deeply insincere with each other. --The Tattered Cloak”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/so-we-stood-on-the-corner-by-the-stationery-shop-and-were-deeply/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [ \[On New York:\] ... a city rose before me. It was narrow and tall like a gothic temple, surrounded by water, and ... it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/on-new-york-a-city-rose-before-me-it-was-narrow-and-tall-like-a/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [I wanted to write; I sought all possible paths of personal liberation, but I could never sacrifice a living instant of life for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/i-wanted-to-write-i-sought-all-possible-paths-of-personal-liberation/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [I think that an anthill is better than a nest ... that in the anthill among a hundred thousand or a million you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/i-think-that-an-anthill-is-better-than-a-nest-that-in-the-anthill/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [ \[On Paris:\] It exists, constant, eternal, surrounding us who live in it, and it is in us. We love it or hate it, but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/on-paris-it-exists-constant-eternal-surrounding-us-who-live-in-it-and/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) > [Doesn't the theory of relativity concern literature too? In our world there is no longer any room for the privileged observer, as there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-berberova/doesn-t-the-theory-of-relativity-concern-literature-too-in-our-world/) [Nina Berberova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) [Explore all 19 Nina Berberova quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-berberova/) ## More Deceive quotes > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“She knows she's deceiving herself about that, but she prefers to deceive herself. She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“To recklessly excuse a failure is to believe that I’ve effectively erased it from the story of my life, when I’ve actually imprinted it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-recklessly-excuse-a-failure-is-to-believe-that-i-ve-effectively/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [A woman one loves rarely suffices for all our needs, so we deceive her with another whom we do not love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-woman-one-loves-rarely-suffices-for-all-our-needs-so-we-deceive-her/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Looks sure can be deceiving: not every ‘ugly’ person is a ‘bad’ person (or is guilty of whatever it is that they are accused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/looks-sure-can-be-deceiving-not-every-ugly-person-is-a-bad-person-or/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“When people say they do not care what others thing of them, for the most part they deceive themselves”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/when-people-say-they-do-not-care-what-others-thing-of-them-for-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demosthenes/nothing-is-so-easy-as-to-deceive-oneself-for-what-we-wish-we-readily/) [Demosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demosthenes/) > [No, it's not that they're bad. It's that they're obliged to pretend they're good. They've been brought up to deceive and be cunning, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/no-it-s-not-that-they-re-bad-it-s-that-they-re-obliged-to-pretend/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [“In my opinion, a lie is a physical act, verbal statement, or omission, deliberately designed to deceive another of the truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-craig/in-my-opinion-a-lie-is-a-physical-act-verbal-statement-or-omission/) [David Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-craig/) > [“When you slice the truth too thin, you deceive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-wilks/when-you-slice-the-truth-too-thin-you-deceive/) [Eileen Wilks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-wilks/) > [Those who try to achieve success without hard work ultimately deceive themselves-or worse-deceive others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/those-who-try-to-achieve-success-without-hard-work-ultimately-deceive/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [Even when they are trying to deceive the voters, the Democrats are incompetent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-hilton/even-when-they-are-trying-to-deceive-the-voters-the-democrats-are/) [Steve Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-hilton/) > [Trust the story ... the storyteller may dissemble and deceive, the story can't: the story can only ever be itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-robertson/trust-the-story-the-storyteller-may-dissemble-and-deceive-the-story/) [James Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-robertson/) > [Oh, what a tangled web we weave...when first we practice to deceive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/oh-what-a-tangled-web-we-weave-when-first-we-practice-to-deceive/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We often shed tears that deceive ourselves after deceiving others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/we-often-shed-tears-that-deceive-ourselves-after-deceiving-others/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) [Browse all 340 Deceive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "even when nothing is happening, nothing stands still. ... 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