--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The one certainly for anyone in the path…" description: "\"The one certainly for anyone in the path of an avalanche is this: standing still is not an option.\" — Norman Davies" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eaa/norman-davies-9199_avalanche_the-one-certainly-for-anyone-in-the-path_52848.jpg" --- # The one certainly for anyone in the path of an avalanche… ![“The one certainly for anyone in the path of an avalanche is this: standing still is not an option.” quote by Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eaa/norman-davies-9199_avalanche_the-one-certainly-for-anyone-in-the-path_52848.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eaa/norman-davies-9199_avalanche_the-one-certainly-for-anyone-in-the-path_52848.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eaa/norman-davies-9199_avalanche_the-one-certainly-for-anyone-in-the-path_52848.jpg) > “The one certainly for anyone in the path of an avalanche is this: standing still is not an option.” [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. In crisis, in is equivalent to death; action is essential for survival. **In simple terms:** Action over inaction. Key Takeaway Inaction invites disaster. Themes risk survival agency decisionmaking resilience Mood urgent determined Type advice motivational When to use this quote - facing a natural disaster - career crossroads - relationship conflict - health emergency Key Concepts avalanche metaphor critical moments personal responsibility Practical Applications - emergency response planning - personal development coaching Questions to Reflect On - What does 'standing still' look like in your life? - How can you turn inertia into purposeful movement? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Avalanche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avalanche/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/path/) ## Related quotes > [Historical change is like an avalanche. The starting point is a snow-covered mountainside that looks solid. All changes take place under the surface and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/historical-change-is-like-an-avalanche-the-starting-point-is-a-snow/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [“If this was the price of benefits, it was too high. He wanted his friend back, because that was a man worth taking an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-p-wayne/if-this-was-the-price-of-benefits-it-was-too-high-he-wanted-his/) S.P. Wayne > [I wanna survive an avalanche. I wanna be one of those people a dog finds buried under a ton of snow, almost dying of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tre-cool/i-wanna-survive-an-avalanche-i-wanna-be-one-of-those-people-a-dog/) [Tre Cool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tre-cool/) > [It's not like I'm training every day by doing an avalanche suplex off the top turnbuckle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shayna-baszler/it-s-not-like-i-m-training-every-day-by-doing-an-avalanche-suplex-off/) [Shayna Baszler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shayna-baszler/) > [“The avalanche was down, the hillside swept bare behind it; the last echoes died on the white slopes; the new mount glittered and lay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/the-avalanche-was-down-the-hillside-swept-bare-behind-it-the-last/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [The men have piled up in my past, have fallen trenchantly through my life, like an avalanche that doesn't mean to kill but is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/the-men-have-piled-up-in-my-past-have-fallen-trenchantly-through-my/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [So a voice in the mountain is enough to let loose an avalanche. A word too much may be followed by a caving in.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/so-a-voice-in-the-mountain-is-enough-to-let-loose-an-avalanche-a-word/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“The Unknown Travelers Lugged to the gray arbor, I have climbed this snow-stone on my face, My stick, but what, snapped the avalanche The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/the-unknown-travelers-lugged-to-the-gray-arbor-i-have-climbed-this/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [“This was the sort of man who reached his destination with the implacable force of an avalanche and cared just as little about obstacles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joana-starnes/this-was-the-sort-of-man-who-reached-his-destination-with-the/) Joana Starnes > [Things shouldn't hinge on so very little. Sneeze and you're highway carnage. Remove one tiny stone and you're an avalanche statistic. But I guess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-toews/things-shouldn-t-hinge-on-so-very-little-sneeze-and-you-re-highway/) [Miriam Toews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-toews/) > [“You don't understand. My brain consists of large, snowy mountains, and you just caused an avalanche.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rodriguez/you-don-t-understand-my-brain-consists-of-large-snowy-mountains-and/) David Rodriguez > [In all my wild mountaineering, I have enjoyed only one avalanche ride; and the start was so sudden, and the end came so soon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/in-all-my-wild-mountaineering-i-have-enjoyed-only-one-avalanche-ride/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Our little pebble of poor performance helps to start, or to sustain, an avalanche.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/our-little-pebble-of-poor-performance-helps-to-start-or-to-sustain-an/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [“ Ride! ' went the call, and the individuals of the troop became a single lurching, streaming mass of horseflesh pounding toward the trees.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-u-pacat/ride-went-the-call-and-the-individuals-of-the-troop-became-a-single/) [S.U. Pacat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-u-pacat/) > [No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-snowflake-in-an-avalanche-ever-feels-responsible/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Norman Davies > [All states and nations, however great, bloom for a season and are replaced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/all-states-and-nations-however-great-bloom-for-a-season-and-are/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [The Law and Justice government does not want a bunch of foreign historians to decide what goes on in 'their' museum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/the-law-and-justice-government-does-not-want-a-bunch-of-foreign/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [For people familiar with Eastern Europe, Marci Shore's 'The Taste of Ashes' is, in spite of its subject matter, delicious. A professor at Yale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/for-people-familiar-with-eastern-europe-marci-shore-s-the-taste-of/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [Young people have to learn in a cocoon filled with false optimism. Unlike their parents and grandparents, they grow up with very little sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/young-people-have-to-learn-in-a-cocoon-filled-with-false-optimism/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [Any historian worth their salt should be aware of wars, conflicts, catastrophes. They happen. This is part of the panorama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/any-historian-worth-their-salt-should-be-aware-of-wars-conflicts/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [It was in the 20th century that national sovereignty really ruled the roost, and the E.U. was formed to cure that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/it-was-in-the-20th-century-that-national-sovereignty-really-ruled-the/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [“Although the rival cereals of rye, barley,oats, buckwheat and millet have continued to exist in Europe, the triumphal march of king wheat was uncontestable”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/although-the-rival-cereals-of-rye-barley-oats-buckwheat-and-millet/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [The Russian myths of the Second World War are still intact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/the-russian-myths-of-the-second-world-war-are-still-intact/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [ \[The Poles\] will die for their country; but few will work for it. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/the-poles-will-die-for-their-country-but-few-will-work-for-it/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [One might have thought that 70 years was time enough to work out what really happened in 1939. It isn't the case. Misunderstandings and misinformation abound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/one-might-have-thought-that-70-years-was-time-enough-to-work-out-what/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [Our mental maps are distorted by who are the 'winners' of history and who are the powers of today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/our-mental-maps-are-distorted-by-who-are-the-winners-of-history-and/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [Historical change is like an avalanche. The starting point is a snow-covered mountainside that looks solid. All changes take place under the surface and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/historical-change-is-like-an-avalanche-the-starting-point-is-a-snow/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [I can just remember the blitz of Manchester, or perhaps my father's tales about the blitz of Manchester. I can remember the blackout, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/i-can-just-remember-the-blitz-of-manchester-or-perhaps-my-father-s/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [One of the few things that can be said for certain about Europe's prehistoric peoples is that they all came from somewhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/one-of-the-few-things-that-can-be-said-for-certain-about-europe-s/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [Capacity of human societies both to absorb and to discard cultures is much underestimated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/capacity-of-human-societies-both-to-absorb-and-to-discard-cultures-is/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) [Explore all 72 Norman Davies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) ## More Avalanche quotes > [“If this was the price of benefits, it was too high. He wanted his friend back, because that was a man worth taking an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-p-wayne/if-this-was-the-price-of-benefits-it-was-too-high-he-wanted-his/) S.P. Wayne > [“ Ride! ' went the call, and the individuals of the troop became a single lurching, streaming mass of horseflesh pounding toward the trees.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-u-pacat/ride-went-the-call-and-the-individuals-of-the-troop-became-a-single/) [S.U. Pacat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-u-pacat/) > [Our little pebble of poor performance helps to start, or to sustain, an avalanche.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/our-little-pebble-of-poor-performance-helps-to-start-or-to-sustain-an/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [In all my wild mountaineering, I have enjoyed only one avalanche ride; and the start was so sudden, and the end came so soon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/in-all-my-wild-mountaineering-i-have-enjoyed-only-one-avalanche-ride/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [“You don't understand. My brain consists of large, snowy mountains, and you just caused an avalanche.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rodriguez/you-don-t-understand-my-brain-consists-of-large-snowy-mountains-and/) David Rodriguez > [Things shouldn't hinge on so very little. Sneeze and you're highway carnage. Remove one tiny stone and you're an avalanche statistic. But I guess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-toews/things-shouldn-t-hinge-on-so-very-little-sneeze-and-you-re-highway/) [Miriam Toews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-toews/) > [Historical change is like an avalanche. The starting point is a snow-covered mountainside that looks solid. All changes take place under the surface and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/historical-change-is-like-an-avalanche-the-starting-point-is-a-snow/) [Norman Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/) > [“This was the sort of man who reached his destination with the implacable force of an avalanche and cared just as little about obstacles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joana-starnes/this-was-the-sort-of-man-who-reached-his-destination-with-the/) Joana Starnes > [“The Unknown Travelers Lugged to the gray arbor, I have climbed this snow-stone on my face, My stick, but what, snapped the avalanche The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/the-unknown-travelers-lugged-to-the-gray-arbor-i-have-climbed-this/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [So a voice in the mountain is enough to let loose an avalanche. A word too much may be followed by a caving in.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/so-a-voice-in-the-mountain-is-enough-to-let-loose-an-avalanche-a-word/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [The men have piled up in my past, have fallen trenchantly through my life, like an avalanche that doesn't mean to kill but is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/the-men-have-piled-up-in-my-past-have-fallen-trenchantly-through-my/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [“The avalanche was down, the hillside swept bare behind it; the last echoes died on the white slopes; the new mount glittered and lay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/the-avalanche-was-down-the-hillside-swept-bare-behind-it-the-last/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [It's not like I'm training every day by doing an avalanche suplex off the top turnbuckle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shayna-baszler/it-s-not-like-i-m-training-every-day-by-doing-an-avalanche-suplex-off/) [Shayna Baszler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shayna-baszler/) > [I wanna survive an avalanche. I wanna be one of those people a dog finds buried under a ton of snow, almost dying of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tre-cool/i-wanna-survive-an-avalanche-i-wanna-be-one-of-those-people-a-dog/) [Tre Cool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tre-cool/) > [No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-snowflake-in-an-avalanche-ever-feels-responsible/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 52 Avalanche quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avalanche/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The one certainly for anyone in the path of an avalanche is this: standing still is not an option.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Norman Davies" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/the-one-certainly-for-anyone-in-the-path-of-an-avalanche-is-this/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Avalanche" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/the-one-certainly-for-anyone-in-the-path-of-an-avalanche-is-this/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eaa/norman-davies-9199_avalanche_the-one-certainly-for-anyone-in-the-path_52848.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eaa/norman-davies-9199_avalanche_the-one-certainly-for-anyone-in-the-path_52848.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eaa/norman-davies-9199_avalanche_the-one-certainly-for-anyone-in-the-path_52848.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The one certainly for anyone in the path of an avalanche is this: standing still is not an option.” — Norman Davies", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Norman Davies", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-davies/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The one certainly for anyone in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/the-one-certainly-for-anyone-in-the-path-of-an-avalanche-is-this/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-davies/the-one-certainly-for-anyone-in-the-path-of-an-avalanche-is-this/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```