---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you should go skating On the thin ice…"
description: "\"If you should go skating On the thin ice of modern life Dragging behind you the silent reproach Of a million tear-stained eyes Don't be surprised when ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/pink-floyd-10921_life_if-you-should-go-skating-on-the-thin-ice_2822026.jpg"
---

#  If you should go skating On the thin ice of modern life…

![“If you should go skating On the thin ice of modern life Dragging behind you the silent reproach Of a million tear-stained eyes Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice Appears under your feet. You slip out of your depth and out of your mind With your fear flowing out behind you As you claw the…” quote by Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/pink-floyd-10921_life_if-you-should-go-skating-on-the-thin-ice_2822026.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/pink-floyd-10921_life_if-you-should-go-skating-on-the-thin-ice_2822026.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/pink-floyd-10921_life_if-you-should-go-skating-on-the-thin-ice_2822026.jpg)

> “If you should go skating On the thin ice of modern life Dragging behind you the silent reproach Of a million tear-stained eyes Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice Appears under your feet. You slip out of your depth and out of your mind With your fear flowing out behind you As you claw the thin ice.”

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Life’s fragility is like thin ice that can crack under pressure.

**In simple terms:** Life is fragile like thin ice.

Key Takeaway

Respect limits, avoid overextension.

Themes

vulnerability risk mental health

Mood

melancholic reflective

Type

musical poetic

When to use this quote

- stress management
- self‑care
- relationship boundaries

Key Concepts

psychology metaphor balance

Questions to Reflect On

- What pressures are you skating on?
- How do you recognize early warning signs?

A Different Perspective

Ignoring signs leads to breakdown.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Modern life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern-life/) [Olympics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/olympics/) [Skating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skating/)

## Related quotes

> [ Tallulah \[Bankhead\] is always skating on thin ice. Everyone wants to be there when it breaks. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mrs-patrick-campbell/tallulah-bankhead-is-always-skating-on-thin-ice-everyone-wants-to-be/)

[Mrs. Patrick Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mrs-patrick-campbell/)

> [It seems like yesterday I was up there watching my first NHL game, and I was skating on the ice this time. It brings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-crosby/it-seems-like-yesterday-i-was-up-there-watching-my-first-nhl-game-and/)

[Sidney Crosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-crosby/)

> [If you're skating on thin ice, you might as well dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-shreve/if-you-re-skating-on-thin-ice-you-might-as-well-dance/)

[Anita Shreve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-shreve/)

> [It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-p-jones/it-s-a-strange-world-of-language-in-which-skating-on-thin-ice-can-get/)

[Franklin P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-p-jones/)

> [When ice appears out of doors, and boys seize it up while it is solid, at first they experience new pleasures. But in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/when-ice-appears-out-of-doors-and-boys-seize-it-up-while-it-is-solid/)

[Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/)

> [I always wake up at the crack of ice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-e-lewis/i-always-wake-up-at-the-crack-of-ice/)

[Joe E. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-e-lewis/)

> [“On a world where a common table implement is a little device with which you crack the ice that has formed on your drink…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/on-a-world-where-a-common-table-implement-is-a-little-device-with/)

[Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/)

> [Without strength and courage it's really hard to perform at the highest levels of international figure skating, because you're alone on the ice and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-hamilton/without-strength-and-courage-it-s-really-hard-to-perform-at-the/)

[Scott Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-hamilton/)

> [In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-skating-over-thin-ice-our-safety-is-in-our-speed/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Roller-skating and ice-skating are two different things - I found that out the hard way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-bridges/roller-skating-and-ice-skating-are-two-different-things-i-found-that/)

[Todd Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-bridges/)

> [Human ingenuity has given centuries to the goal of ensuring that the human body might move around at an even 68 degrees all year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/human-ingenuity-has-given-centuries-to-the-goal-of-ensuring-that-the/)

[Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/)

> [The people who are always hankering loudest for some golden yesteryear usually drive new cars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-baker/the-people-who-are-always-hankering-loudest-for-some-golden/)

[Russell Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-baker/)

> [The three horrors of modern life - talk without meaning, desire without love, work without satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/the-three-horrors-of-modern-life-talk-without-meaning-desire-without/)

[Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/)

> [“Heidegger connects the linchpin of the Kantian Paradigm—A5 Active Knower, that is, the idea that the subject organizes experience—to what he considers to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-braver/heidegger-connects-the-linchpin-of-the-kantian-paradigm-a5-active/)

[Lee Braver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-braver/)

> [Success doesn't have a downside for me. I'm busy, but I've always been busy whatever job I've had. My very first job working in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-derbyshire/success-doesn-t-have-a-downside-for-me-i-m-busy-but-i-ve-always-been/)

Victoria Derbyshire

## More by Pink Floyd

> [“I am you and what I see is me”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/i-am-you-and-what-i-see-is-me/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse Out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look but it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/when-i-was-a-child-i-caught-a-fleeting-glimpse-out-of-the-corner-of/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [“Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath a clear blue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/did-you-ever-wonder-why-we-had-to-run-for-shelter-when-the-promise-of/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [A cloud of eiderdown Draws around me Softening a sound. Sleepy time, and I lie, With my love by my side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/a-cloud-of-eiderdown-draws-around-me-softening-a-sound-sleepy-time/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [Was it love? Or was it the idea of being in love?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/was-it-love-or-was-it-the-idea-of-being-in-love/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [How I wish you were here... We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, Year after year. Running over the same old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/how-i-wish-you-were-here-we-re-just-two-lost-souls-swimming-in-a-fish/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [How I wish, how I wish you were here... We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, Year after year… Running over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/how-i-wish-how-i-wish-you-were-here-we-re-just-two-lost-souls/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell, Blue skys from pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/so-so-you-think-you-can-tell-heaven-from-hell-blue-skys-from-pain/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [There's someone in my head but it's not me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/there-s-someone-in-my-head-but-it-s-not-me/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [Now wakes the hour Now sleeps the swan Behold the dream The dream is gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/now-wakes-the-hour-now-sleeps-the-swan-behold-the-dream-the-dream-is/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [“Come on you target for faraway laughter. Come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/come-on-you-target-for-faraway-laughter-come-on-you-stranger-you/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [“Arnold Layne, Don't do it again!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/arnold-layne-don-t-do-it-again/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [“If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/if-you-don-t-eat-your-meat-you-can-t-have-any-pudding-how-can-you/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [Stay out of the road, if you want to grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/stay-out-of-the-road-if-you-want-to-grow-old/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

> [“Why does anyone do anything?" "I don't know, I was really drunk at the time!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/why-does-anyone-do-anything-i-don-t-know-i-was-really-drunk-at-the/)

[Pink Floyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

[Explore all 61 Pink Floyd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/)

## More Life quotes

> [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/)

[Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/)

> [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/)

[Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/)

> [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/)

> [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/)

[Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/)

> [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/)

[Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/)

> [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/)

[Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/)

> [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/)

[Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/)

> [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/)

Deanna L. Lawlis

> [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/)

[Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/)

> [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/)

[Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/)

> [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/)

[Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/)

> [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/)

[Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/)

> [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/)

[Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/)

> [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/)

[Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/)

[Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "If you should go skating On the thin ice of modern life Dragging behind you the silent reproach Of a million tear-stained eyes Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice Appears under your feet. You slip out of your depth and out of your mind With your fear flowing out behind you As you claw the thin ice.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Pink Floyd"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/if-you-should-go-skating-on-the-thin-ice-of-modern-life-dragging/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Life"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/if-you-should-go-skating-on-the-thin-ice-of-modern-life-dragging/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/pink-floyd-10921_life_if-you-should-go-skating-on-the-thin-ice_2822026.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/pink-floyd-10921_life_if-you-should-go-skating-on-the-thin-ice_2822026.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/pink-floyd-10921_life_if-you-should-go-skating-on-the-thin-ice_2822026.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“If you should go skating On the thin ice of modern life Dragging behind you the silent reproach Of a million…” — Pink Floyd",
                "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": "Pink Floyd",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink-floyd/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "If you should go skating On...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/if-you-should-go-skating-on-the-thin-ice-of-modern-life-dragging/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink-floyd/if-you-should-go-skating-on-the-thin-ice-of-modern-life-dragging/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
