--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'd rather live precariously in my own…" description: "\"I'd rather live precariously in my own office than comfortably in somebody else's.\" — Peter Mayle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/peter-mayle-13285_inspirational_i-d-rather-live-precariously-in-my-own-o_3147479.jpg" --- # I'd rather live precariously in my own office than… ![“I'd rather live precariously in my own office than comfortably in somebody else's.” quote by Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/peter-mayle-13285_inspirational_i-d-rather-live-precariously-in-my-own-o_3147479.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/peter-mayle-13285_inspirational_i-d-rather-live-precariously-in-my-own-o_3147479.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/peter-mayle-13285_inspirational_i-d-rather-live-precariously-in-my-own-o_3147479.jpg) > “I'd rather live precariously in my own office than comfortably in somebody else's.” [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He prefers the risk and autonomy of his own work over the safety of others' comforts. **In simple terms:** Choose independence over comfort. Key Takeaway Embrace risk for personal fulfillment. Themes independence risk autonomy Mood thoughtful encouraging Type career philosophical When to use this quote - entrepreneurship - creative projects - career moves Key Concepts self‑determination career choice comfort zone Questions to Reflect On - What risks are worth taking for freedom? - How do you balance security and autonomy? A Different Perspective Risk can lead to instability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Office](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/office/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Look how men live, always precariously balanced between good and bad fortune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/look-how-men-live-always-precariously-balanced-between-good-and-bad/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [Public education rests precariously on the skill and virtue of the people at the bottom of the institutional pyramid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-kidder/public-education-rests-precariously-on-the-skill-and-virtue-of-the/) [Tracy Kidder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-kidder/) > [“I wasn’t wrecked, not by a long shot. But I’d come precariously close to standing on the edge of that cliff and thinking to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/i-wasn-t-wrecked-not-by-a-long-shot-but-i-d-come-precariously-close/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [I have my own office, and I'm there during the evenings and weekends. But during the week, I'm sitting in the middle of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dries-van-noten/i-have-my-own-office-and-i-m-there-during-the-evenings-and-weekends/) [Dries van Noten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dries-van-noten/) > [Well, just that there would be somebody in the office and the voters - it was more or less an understanding in the entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/well-just-that-there-would-be-somebody-in-the-office-and-the-voters/) [Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/) > [In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/in-proportion-as-our-inward-life-fails-we-go-more-constantly-and/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is opposed to every instinct in my body. But as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-nixon/i-have-never-been-a-quitter-to-leave-office-before-my-term-is/) [Richard M. Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-nixon/) > [My office in New York is overflowing with all kinds of cookbooks, and in New Orleans we have a huge culinary library. So yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emeril-lagasse/my-office-in-new-york-is-overflowing-with-all-kinds-of-cookbooks-and/) [Emeril Lagasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emeril-lagasse/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [We do not know which irresponsible Israeli prime minister will take office and decide to use nuclear weapons in the struggle against neighboring Arab…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordechai-vanunu/we-do-not-know-which-irresponsible-israeli-prime-minister-will-take/) [Mordechai Vanunu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordechai-vanunu/) > [I had always assumed that the right way to do it was to these engineers, put them in offices by themselves with doors that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schmidt/i-had-always-assumed-that-the-right-way-to-do-it-was-to-these/) [Eric Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schmidt/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [I write about presidents. That means I write about guys - so far. I'm interested in the people closest to them, the people they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-write-about-presidents-that-means-i-write-about-guys-so-far-i-m/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) ## More by Peter Mayle > [Very little happens in my books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/very-little-happens-in-my-books/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [I have a very set routine. I work six days a week, but only half days. I work from 9 in the morning till…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/i-have-a-very-set-routine-i-work-six-days-a-week-but-only-half-days-i/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [“Beh oui. Better sticky than burned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/beh-oui-better-sticky-than-burned/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [I am a great believer in people taking control of their own lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/i-am-a-great-believer-in-people-taking-control-of-their-own-lives/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [Nowadays, if you have a journey, albeit a simple one, you consider yourself lucky if nothing happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/nowadays-if-you-have-a-journey-albeit-a-simple-one-you-consider/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [No matter what their background, the southern French are fascinated by food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/no-matter-what-their-background-the-southern-french-are-fascinated-by/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [The day when a Frenchman switches from the formality of vous to the familiarity of tu is a day to be taken seriously. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/the-day-when-a-frenchman-switches-from-the-formality-of-vous-to-the/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [“Next to the defeated politician, the writer is the most vocal and inventive griper on earth. He sees hardship and unfairness wherever he looks.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/next-to-the-defeated-politician-the-writer-is-the-most-vocal-and/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [“We had been here often before as tourists, desperate for our annual ration of two or three weeks of true heat and sharp light.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/we-had-been-here-often-before-as-tourists-desperate-for-our-annual/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [Day after day we looked for rain, and day after day we saw nothing but the sun. Lavender that we had planted in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/day-after-day-we-looked-for-rain-and-day-after-day-we-saw-nothing-but/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [“Only snobs kiss once, I was told, or those unfortunates who suffer from congenital froideur. I then saw what I assumed to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/only-snobs-kiss-once-i-was-told-or-those-unfortunates-who-suffer-from/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [“He then expounded a remarkable theory, which had occurred to him while he was playing the clarinet during one of the power cuts that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/he-then-expounded-a-remarkable-theory-which-had-occurred-to-him-while/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [“The effect of the weather on the inhabitants of Provence is immediate and obvious. They expect every day to be sunny, and their disposition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/the-effect-of-the-weather-on-the-inhabitants-of-provence-is-immediate/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [Sundays in France have a different atmosphere to other days, with fewer phone calls, no postman, no delivery men and no one banging on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/sundays-in-france-have-a-different-atmosphere-to-other-days-with/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) > [It's very nice to meet the people who read my books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/it-s-very-nice-to-meet-the-people-who-read-my-books/) [Peter Mayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) [Explore all 50 Peter Mayle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/) ## More Inspirational quotes > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We talk to God--that is prayer; God talks to us--that is inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-emilie-cady/we-talk-to-god-that-is-prayer-god-talks-to-us-that-is-inspiration/) [H. Emilie Cady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-emilie-cady/) > [You cant be controlling in improv.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-walsh/you-cant-be-controlling-in-improv/) [Matt Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-walsh/) > [The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-man-who-can-master-his-time-can-master-nearly-anything/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Just understand that the good that you want is already here. All you have to do is get in harmony with it. And you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/just-understand-that-the-good-that-you-want-is-already-here-all-you/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/if-you-want-to-build-a-ship-don-t-drum-up-the-men-to-gather-wood/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-clark/obviously-if-you-don-t-love-life-you-can-t-enjoy-an-oyster/) [Eleanor Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-clark/) > [It's not the method, it's the mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-gilbert/it-s-not-the-method-it-s-the-mindset/) [Andy Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-gilbert/) > [It's a hard thing to describe. It's just this sense that you got something to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lehrer/it-s-a-hard-thing-to-describe-it-s-just-this-sense-that-you-got/) [Jonah Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lehrer/) > [Too much familiarity breeds contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/too-much-familiarity-breeds-contempt/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [We never really perceive what color is physically!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-albers/we-never-really-perceive-what-color-is-physically/) [Josef Albers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-albers/) > [Politics is not an issue whether you like or dislike , but every citizen must involve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khem-veasna/politics-is-not-an-issue-whether-you-like-or-dislike-but-every/) [Khem Veasna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khem-veasna/) > [God reveals Himself through surprises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/god-reveals-himself-through-surprises/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) [Browse all 114,561 Inspirational quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'd rather live precariously in my own office than comfortably in somebody else's.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Mayle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/i-d-rather-live-precariously-in-my-own-office-than-comfortably-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Inspirational" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/i-d-rather-live-precariously-in-my-own-office-than-comfortably-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/peter-mayle-13285_inspirational_i-d-rather-live-precariously-in-my-own-o_3147479.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/peter-mayle-13285_inspirational_i-d-rather-live-precariously-in-my-own-o_3147479.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/peter-mayle-13285_inspirational_i-d-rather-live-precariously-in-my-own-o_3147479.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'd rather live precariously in my own office than comfortably in somebody else's.” — Peter Mayle", "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": "Peter Mayle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mayle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'd rather live precariously in my...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/i-d-rather-live-precariously-in-my-own-office-than-comfortably-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mayle/i-d-rather-live-precariously-in-my-own-office-than-comfortably-in/#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 } } ] } ```