--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If only gravity were working, the path…" description: "\"If only gravity were working, the path would be symmetrical, it is the wind resistance that produces the tragic curve.\" — Norman Mailer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/norman-mailer-839_curves_if-only-gravity-were-working-the-path-wo_1716510.png" --- # If only gravity were working, the path would be… ![“If only gravity were working, the path would be symmetrical, it is the wind resistance that produces the tragic curve.” quote by Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/norman-mailer-839_curves_if-only-gravity-were-working-the-path-wo_1716510.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/norman-mailer-839_curves_if-only-gravity-were-working-the-path-wo_1716510.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b50/norman-mailer-839_curves_if-only-gravity-were-working-the-path-wo_1716510.png) > “If only gravity were working, the path would be symmetrical, it is the wind resistance that produces the tragic curve.” [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Gravity would make a path straight, but wind resistance creates a tragic, asymmetrical curve, symbolizing external forces that distort ideal trajectories. **In simple terms:** Wind bends a straight path into a tragic curve. Key Takeaway Account for external forces. Themes physics metaphor life adversity Mood thoughtful serious Type literary metaphorical When to use this quote - career planning - relationship dynamics - project management Key Concepts Resistance trajectory destiny Questions to Reflect On - How do external pressures alter your goals? - Can you adapt to a curved path? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gravity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gravity/) [Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/path/) [Resistance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resistance/) [Tragic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragic/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/) ## Related quotes > [Art employs method for the symmetrical formation of beauty, as science employs it for the logical exposition of truth; but the mechanical process is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/art-employs-method-for-the-symmetrical-formation-of-beauty-as-science/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [If you can make yourself symmetrical, you're sending out a sign that you've got good genes, you've got a good upbringing and therefore you'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-du-sautoy/if-you-can-make-yourself-symmetrical-you-re-sending-out-a-sign-that/) [Marcus du Sautoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-du-sautoy/) > [Movies and life become a little more symmetrical when you start asking for and looking for connections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-lucas/movies-and-life-become-a-little-more-symmetrical-when-you-start/) [Josh Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-lucas/) > [Symmetrical equations are good in their place, but ' vector ' is a useless survival, or offshoot from quaternions, and has never been of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/symmetrical-equations-are-good-in-their-place-but-vector-is-a-useless/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Perfect is very boring, and if you happen to have a different look, that's a celebration of human nature, I think. 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This beauteous angel, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-tecumseh-vernon/with-education-symmetrical-and-true-we-will-take-the-dead-mass-buried/) William Tecumseh Vernon > [Actors do have good and bad sides. It's because the passage down the birth canal distorts the face. People born by caesarean section are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-griffiths/actors-do-have-good-and-bad-sides-it-s-because-the-passage-down-the/) [Richard Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-griffiths/) > [All mental discipline and symmetrical growth are from activity of the mind under the yoke of the will or personal power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hopkins/all-mental-discipline-and-symmetrical-growth-are-from-activity-of-the/) [Mark Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hopkins/) ## More by Norman Mailer > [Conservatives are people who look at a tree and feel instinctively that it is more beautiful than anything they can name. But when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/conservatives-are-people-who-look-at-a-tree-and-feel-instinctively/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [There's a subterranean impetus towards pornography so powerful that half the business world is juiced by the sort of half sex that one finds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/there-s-a-subterranean-impetus-towards-pornography-so-powerful-that/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [So the blind will lead the blind, and the deaf shout warnings to one another until their voices are lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/so-the-blind-will-lead-the-blind-and-the-deaf-shout-warnings-to-one/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Writing for a newspaper is like running a revolutionary war. 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To cut people up and get paid for it-that's happiness, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/i-was-thinking-that-surgeons-had-to-be-the-happiest-people-on-earth/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Movies are more likely than literature to reach deep feelings in people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/movies-are-more-likely-than-literature-to-reach-deep-feelings-in/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) [Explore all 355 Norman Mailer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) ## More Curves quotes > [(knitting while on a motorcycle) "For several years she knitted in secret (my father would not approve; she was to concentrate on motorcycling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-zimmermann/knitting-while-on-a-motorcycle-for-several-years-she-knitted-in/) [Elizabeth Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-zimmermann/) > [Well, you can certainly teach free-throwing. 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You,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/people-might-not-agree-with-me-but-i-think-a-woman-should-have-a/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [You could sometimes see her twelfth year in her cheeks, or her ninth sparkling from her eyes; and even her fifth would flit over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/you-could-sometimes-see-her-twelfth-year-in-her-cheeks-or-her-ninth/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [I work with a lot of music programs and there's a steep learning curve to a lot of them. You can really find yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe/i-work-with-a-lot-of-music-programs-and-there-s-a-steep-learning/) [Joe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe/) > [The Bell curve is a fact of life. The blacks on average score 85 per cent on IQ and it is accurate, nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/the-bell-curve-is-a-fact-of-life-the-blacks-on-average-score-85-per/) [Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/) > [Look at me and tell me if I dont have Brazil in every curve of my body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-miranda/look-at-me-and-tell-me-if-i-dont-have-brazil-in-every-curve-of-my-body/) [Carmen Miranda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-miranda/) > [Real Women Have Curves. 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