--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reading these stories, it's tempting to…" description: "\"“Reading these stories, it's tempting to think that the arts to be learned are those of tracking, hunting, navigating, skills of survival and escape. E..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c2/rebecca-solnit-569_art_reading-these-stories-it-s-tempting-to-t_417712.jpg" --- # Reading these stories, it's tempting to think that the… ![“Reading these stories, it's tempting to think that the arts to be learned are those of tracking, hunting, navigating, skills of survival and escape. Even in the everyday world of the present, an anxiety to survive manifests itself in cars and clothes for far more rugged occasions than those at…” quote by Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c2/rebecca-solnit-569_art_reading-these-stories-it-s-tempting-to-t_417712.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c2/rebecca-solnit-569_art_reading-these-stories-it-s-tempting-to-t_417712.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c2/rebecca-solnit-569_art_reading-these-stories-it-s-tempting-to-t_417712.jpg) > ““Reading these stories, it's tempting to think that the arts to be learned are those of tracking, hunting, navigating, skills of survival and escape. Even in the everyday world of the present, an anxiety to survive manifests itself in cars and clothes for far more rugged occasions than those at hand, as though to express some sense of the toughness of things and of readiness to face them. But the real difficulties, the real arts of survival, seem to lie in more subtle realms. There, what's called for is a kind of resilience of the psyche, a readiness to deal with what comes next. These captives lay out in a stark and dramatic way what goes on in every life: the transitions whereby you cease to be who you were. Seldom is it as dramatic, but nevertheless, something of this journey between the near and the far goes on in every life. Sometimes an old photograph, an old friend, an old letter will remind you that you are not who you once were, for the person who dwelt among them, valued this, chose that, wrote thus, no longer exists. Without noticing it you have traversed a great distance; the strange has become familiar and the familiar if not strange at least awkward or uncomfortable, an outgrown garment. And some people travel far more than others. There are those who receive as birthright an adequate or at least unquestioned sense of self and those who set out to reinvent themselves, for survival or for satisfaction, and travel far. Some people inherit values and practices as a house they inhabit; some of us have to burn down that house, find our own ground, build from scratch, even as a psychological metamorphosis.”” [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True survival is less about physical skills and more about psychological resilience and the ability to reinvent oneself as life changes. **In simple terms:** Survival needs mental flexibility and self‑reinvention. Key Takeaway Cultivate inner resilience and embrace change. Themes identity resilience reinvention psychology growth Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career change - personal crisis - relationship shifts - grief processing - creative renewal Key Concepts self‑concept psychological metamorphosis life transitions Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when you have become a different person? - What practices help you rebuild your sense of self? A Different Perspective Physical survival skills alone cannot address deep personal change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Arts Survival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arts-survival-3710760/) [Old friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-friend/) [Old Photo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-photo/) [Psychological Metamorphosis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychological-metamorphosis-2243386/) [Reinvent Survival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reinvent-survival-3710762/) [Resilience Psyche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resilience-psyche-3710761/) [Sense of self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-of-self/) [Survive Manifests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survive-manifests-3710763/) ## Related quotes > [There are those who receive as birthright an adequate or at least unquestioned sense of self and those who set out to reinvent themselves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/there-are-those-who-receive-as-birthright-an-adequate-or-at-least/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [How do you know when to let go, how do you know, youll never know Is it good to be strong, is it okay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/she-s-gone/how-do-you-know-when-to-let-go-how-do-you-know-youll-never-know-is-it/) [She's\_gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/she-s-gone/) > [“What you write down sometimes leaves you forever, like old photographs left in the bright sun, fading to nothing but white. 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Some of the books were antiques for that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-berenger/i-had-already-done-a-lot-of-research-for-rough-riders-keeping/) [Tom Berenger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-berenger/) > [When I first started to take photographs in Czechoslovakia, I met this old gentleman, this old photographer, who told me a few practical things.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-koudelka/when-i-first-started-to-take-photographs-in-czechoslovakia-i-met-this/) [Josef Koudelka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-koudelka/) > [“Old photographers never die, they just f- stop”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/old-photographers-never-die-they-just-f-stop/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Rebecca Solnit > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [Joy doesn't betray but sustains activism. 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It’s for all of us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/marriage-equality-is-a-threat-to-inequality-it-s-a-boon-to-everyone/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“Mountaineering is always spoken of as though summiting is conquest, but as you get higher, the world gets bigger, and you feel smaller in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/mountaineering-is-always-spoken-of-as-though-summiting-is-conquest/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“A procession is a participants' journey, while a parade is a performance with an audience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/a-procession-is-a-participants-journey-while-a-parade-is-a/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Explore all 469 Rebecca Solnit quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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Even in the everyday world of the present, an anxiety to survive manifests itself in cars and clothes for far more rugged occasions than those at hand, as though to express some sense of the toughness of things and of readiness to face them. But the real difficulties, the real arts of survival, seem to lie in more subtle realms. There, what's called for is a kind of resilience of the psyche, a readiness to deal with what comes next. These captives lay out in a stark and dramatic way what goes on in every life: the transitions whereby you cease to be who you were. Seldom is it as dramatic, but nevertheless, something of this journey between the near and the far goes on in every life. Sometimes an old photograph, an old friend, an old letter will remind you that you are not who you once were, for the person who dwelt among them, valued this, chose that, wrote thus, no longer exists. Without noticing it you have traversed a great distance; the strange has become familiar and the familiar if not strange at least awkward or uncomfortable, an outgrown garment. And some people travel far more than others. There are those who receive as birthright an adequate or at least unquestioned sense of self and those who set out to reinvent themselves, for survival or for satisfaction, and travel far. 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