--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How clever of me. I have found such a…" description: "\"How clever of me. I have found such a pathway into hell that I can never get back out.\" — Orson Scott Card" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/orson-scott-card-134_clever_how-clever-of-me-i-have-found-such-a-pat_2377698.png" --- # How clever of me. I have found such a pathway into hell… ![“How clever of me. I have found such a pathway into hell that I can never get back out.” quote by Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/orson-scott-card-134_clever_how-clever-of-me-i-have-found-such-a-pat_2377698.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/orson-scott-card-134_clever_how-clever-of-me-i-have-found-such-a-pat_2377698.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/905/orson-scott-card-134_clever_how-clever-of-me-i-have-found-such-a-pat_2377698.png) > “How clever of me. I have found such a pathway into hell that I can never get back out.” [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. I discovered a path to hell from cannot escape. **In simple terms:** Found an inescapable hellish path. Key Takeaway Beware choices leading to irreversible damage. Themes choice consequence hell irrevocability self-awareness Mood cautionary introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career decisions - relationship choices - addiction recovery - legal judgments Key Concepts Moral philosophy psychology of regret existential risk Questions to Reflect On - What choices feel inescapable? - How can you reverse harmful paths? A Different Perspective May be metaphorical, not literal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Pathways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pathways/) ## Related quotes > [The pathway to enlightenment is happiness. It doesn't really matter if you're successful, if you're in prison, if you're dying - if you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-pathway-to-enlightenment-is-happiness-it-doesn-t-really-matter-if/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The Imagination is the golden pathway to everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-imagination-is-the-golden-pathway-to-everywhere/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Obedience is the pathway to holiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-bridges/obedience-is-the-pathway-to-holiness/) [Jerry Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-bridges/) > [Our 'pathway' is straight to the ballot box, with no variableness nor shadow of turning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/our-pathway-is-straight-to-the-ballot-box-with-no-variableness-nor/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [All the old traditions tell us that there is more than one path to the great Goal.. . . The shortest and easiest pathway…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-fox/all-the-old-traditions-tell-us-that-there-is-more-than-one-path-to/) [Emmet Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-fox/) > [The pathway to enlightenment is beautiful. There are a lot of wonderful things that happen along the way. Win or lose, you just keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-pathway-to-enlightenment-is-beautiful-there-are-a-lot-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Preparation clears a pathway for success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-kaufman/preparation-clears-a-pathway-for-success/) [Ron Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-kaufman/) > [The pathway to educational excellence lies within each school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-e-deal/the-pathway-to-educational-excellence-lies-within-each-school/) [Terrence E. Deal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-e-deal/) > [You can look at the state of California, which is on a pathway to destruction because they expanded government too much, thinking that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-abbott/you-can-look-at-the-state-of-california-which-is-on-a-pathway-to/) [Greg Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-abbott/) > [Man finds his pathways: at first they were foot-tracks, as those of the beast in the wilderness; now they are swift and invisible: his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/man-finds-his-pathways-at-first-they-were-foot-tracks-as-those-of-the/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Imagination is the road less taken, but it is the pathway of prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-batterson/imagination-is-the-road-less-taken-but-it-is-the-pathway-of-prayer/) [Mark Batterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-batterson/) > [Music is the pathway to the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/music-is-the-pathway-to-the-heart/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Content is not the pathway to great deeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/content-is-not-the-pathway-to-great-deeds/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [Many are obstinate with regard to the pathway once they have set upon it, few with regard to the goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/many-are-obstinate-with-regard-to-the-pathway-once-they-have-set-upon/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Independent documentary isn't beholden to some of the interests that the mainstream media are influenced by. It's a pathway to renegade, independent reporting in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-fox/independent-documentary-isn-t-beholden-to-some-of-the-interests-that/) [Josh Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-fox/) ## More by Orson Scott Card > [“You underestimate yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/you-underestimate-yourself/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“Why did he hesitate? 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The enemy of the plan of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/the-devil-jason-heaved-the-tick-over-his-shoulder-like-a-collier-with/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“What we've done is make the categories of science fiction and fantasy larger, freer, and more inclusive than any other genre of contemporary literature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/what-we-ve-done-is-make-the-categories-of-science-fiction-and-fantasy/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Where ideas are real and reality is shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/where-ideas-are-real-and-reality-is-shadow/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“Ender, for the past few months you have been the battle commander of our fleets. This was the Third Invasion. 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If what we think of as reality is just a pattern that somebody brought Outside, and the universe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/where-did-this-whole-thing-begin-if-what-we-think-of-as-reality-is/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) [Explore all 1,158 Orson Scott Card quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) ## More Clever quotes > [In some circles where very heavy people think they have very heavy brains, words like "charming" and "clever" and "pretty" are all put-downs; all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/in-some-circles-where-very-heavy-people-think-they-have-very-heavy/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“There was once an old but clever donkey, who never liked the sting of any bee, Nor for all the Slung mud, did he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyavrat-thareja/there-was-once-an-old-but-clever-donkey-who-never-liked-the-sting-of/) [Priyavrat Thareja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyavrat-thareja/) > [ There was another reason \[she\] took her books whenever they went away. They were her home when she was somewhere strange. They were familiar… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/there-was-another-reason-she-took-her-books-whenever-they-went-away/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-cactus-thrives-in-the-desert-while-the-fern-thrives-in-the/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Good people are found not changed. Recently I read a headline that said, 'We don't teach people to be nice. We simply hire nice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/good-people-are-found-not-changed-recently-i-read-a-headline-that/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [If she is stupid enough to let you go, you're clever enough not to look back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-she-is-stupid-enough-to-let-you-go-you-re-clever-enough-not-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Need to go to the pharmacy, because I'm so sick!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasha-matthews/need-to-go-to-the-pharmacy-because-i-m-so-sick/) Tasha Matthews > [My valour is certainly going! - it is sneaking off! - I feel it oozing out as it were at the palms of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/my-valour-is-certainly-going-it-is-sneaking-off-i-feel-it-oozing-out/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > ['I Love You' fails to sum up all the memories, smiles, laughs, trials, and tribulations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/i-love-you-fails-to-sum-up-all-the-memories-smiles-laughs-trials-and/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [People may say that what I do is very clever, but it's not really at all. It's not Swift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-bremner/people-may-say-that-what-i-do-is-very-clever-but-it-s-not-really-at/) [Rory Bremner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-bremner/) > [I do remember what I said. The promise. To protect her. If I'd done that ... even if I didn't make it, you wouldn't've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/i-do-remember-what-i-said-the-promise-to-protect-her-if-i-d-done-that/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) > [“Regrets are like mistresses," he informed her. "I ..." Her hand dropped from the handle. "What?" "Good men don't have them." 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