--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One thing I learned in this world? Things…" description: "\"“One thing I learned in this world? Things don't last. People say they do. They don't. Your friends, they die. The wars go on and on and on, then they ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/415/pete-hamill-11832_life-quotes_one-thing-i-learned-in-this-world-things_1318700.jpg" --- # One thing I learned in this world? Things don't last… ![“One thing I learned in this world? Things don't last. People say they do. They don't. Your friends, they die. The wars go on and on and on, then they end. People say they will love each other for the rest of their lives, and they don't.” quote by Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/415/pete-hamill-11832_life-quotes_one-thing-i-learned-in-this-world-things_1318700.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/415/pete-hamill-11832_life-quotes_one-thing-i-learned-in-this-world-things_1318700.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/415/pete-hamill-11832_life-quotes_one-thing-i-learned-in-this-world-things_1318700.jpg) > ““One thing I learned in this world? Things don't last. People say they do. They don't. Your friends, they die. The wars go on and on and on, then they end. People say they will love each other for the rest of their lives, and they don't.”” [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is impermanent; relationships and events fade despite promises of permanence. **In simple terms:** Nothing lasts forever. Key Takeaway Accept impermanence, cherish moments. Themes impermanence loss relationships Mood melancholic reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - grief - war - friendship - love - life transitions Key Concepts existentialism mortality Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope with loss? - What can you do to appreciate the present? 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When wars end, farmers return to their fields; children…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-bacon/the-challenge-of-ending-displacement-is-inseparable-from-the/) [Kenneth Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-bacon/) > [Diplomacy in general does not resolve conflicts. Wars end not due to peace processes, but due to one side giving up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pipes/diplomacy-in-general-does-not-resolve-conflicts-wars-end-not-due-to/) [Daniel Pipes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pipes/) > [It was true what Jim said, this wasn’t the end but the beginning. But the wars would end one day and Jim would come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-o-neill/it-was-true-what-jim-said-this-wasn-t-the-end-but-the-beginning-but/) [Jamie O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-o-neill/) > [It is a damned sight easier to start wars than to end them. This truth has been stated for as long and as often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/it-is-a-damned-sight-easier-to-start-wars-than-to-end-them-this-truth/) [Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/) ## More by Pete Hamill > [“The great novel of twentieth-century New York might be the Daily News.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/the-great-novel-of-twentieth-century-new-york-might-be-the-daily-news/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [Don't tell me about the world. Not today. It's springtime and they're knocking baseball around fields where the grass is damp and green in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/don-t-tell-me-about-the-world-not-today-it-s-springtime-and-they-re/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [“A half-century later, Mark Twain would say that the gold rush drastically changed the American character, ending the tradition of patient apprenticeships, the gradual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/a-half-century-later-mark-twain-would-say-that-the-gold-rush/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [“He looked at her for a long moment, as if remembering unfinished conversations, and then went back to place some damp, slow-burning turf on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/he-looked-at-her-for-a-long-moment-as-if-remembering-unfinished/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [More than anything, it's a game of innocence. 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They sit before you at a press conference like five unfolding switchblades; their faces set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/there-is-something-elegantly-sinister-about-the-rolling-stones-they/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [The library is a place where most of the things I came to value as an adult had their beginnings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/the-library-is-a-place-where-most-of-the-things-i-came-to-value-as-an/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [Frank Sinatra was the voice of the 20th-century American city.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/frank-sinatra-was-the-voice-of-the-20th-century-american-city/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [This is truly marvelous work full of mystery, nostalgia, joy, The Color of Whimsy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/this-is-truly-marvelous-work-full-of-mystery-nostalgia-joy-the-color/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [“In Mexico, I first encountered the attitude that was missing from the optimistic sense of living in the United States: a tragic sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/in-mexico-i-first-encountered-the-attitude-that-was-missing-from-the/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [“The world was a grand confusion. Finally, when I was drunk, and my mind couldn’t do what I wanted it to do, I went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/the-world-was-a-grand-confusion-finally-when-i-was-drunk-and-my-mind/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [There is a growing feeling that perhaps Texas is really another country, a place where the skies, the disasters, the diamonds, the politicians, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/there-is-a-growing-feeling-that-perhaps-texas-is-really-another/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [They all laughed. I drew their pictures and they asked for copies and I handed them out as if they were my tickets to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/they-all-laughed-i-drew-their-pictures-and-they-asked-for-copies-and/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) [Explore all 57 Pete Hamill quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) ## More Life quotes quotes > [IT'S FUNNY HOW WHEN I'M LOUD PEOPLE TELL ME TO BE QUIET.BUT WHEN I'M QUIET,PEOPLE ASK ME WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME. STORY OF MY…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thegr81/it-s-funny-how-when-i-m-loud-people-tell-me-to-be-quiet-but-when-i-m/) [Thegr81](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thegr81/) > [“Enjoy small moments as they come. At the end, That's what makes life worthwhile...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadun-lokuliyanage/enjoy-small-moments-as-they-come-at-the-end-that-s-what-makes-life/) [Nadun Lokuliyanage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadun-lokuliyanage/) > [“Your mind has the intellect to lift the world, your heart has the wisdom to better the world, and your soul has the genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/your-mind-has-the-intellect-to-lift-the-world-your-heart-has-the/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“Your soul is your paintbrush, your world is your canvass, your life is your masterpiece.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/your-soul-is-your-paintbrush-your-world-is-your-canvass-your-life-is/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“It is not so much about fighting against the ego; it is more about harmonizing with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-sara/it-is-not-so-much-about-fighting-against-the-ego-it-is-more-about/) [Grace Sara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-sara/) > [Just because it went unsaid, does not mean it went unnoticed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-wilson/just-because-it-went-unsaid-does-not-mean-it-went-unnoticed/) [Andre Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-wilson/) > [“Today if anything is trying to hold you back, give no attention to it. 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