--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A rowboat, without oars. An outboard…" description: "\"“A rowboat, without oars. An outboard motor. As you can sit there for years, forever, with that outboard motor, pulling again, and yet again, that rope..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3c/renata-adler-9400_heart-attack_a-rowboat-without-oars-an-outboard-motor_1481257.jpg" --- # A rowboat, without oars. An outboard motor. As you can sit… ![“A rowboat, without oars. An outboard motor. As you can sit there for years, forever, with that outboard motor, pulling again, and yet again, that rope, or cord, or wire, or whatever it is, and winding yet again, and each time, every single time, the motor, though it may give a cough or two, will…” quote by Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3c/renata-adler-9400_heart-attack_a-rowboat-without-oars-an-outboard-motor_1481257.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3c/renata-adler-9400_heart-attack_a-rowboat-without-oars-an-outboard-motor_1481257.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3c/renata-adler-9400_heart-attack_a-rowboat-without-oars-an-outboard-motor_1481257.jpg) > ““A rowboat, without oars. An outboard motor. As you can sit there for years, forever, with that outboard motor, pulling again, and yet again, that rope, or cord, or wire, or whatever it is, and winding yet again, and each time, every single time, the motor, though it may give a cough or two, will fail to start, though if it starts, and when it starts, you are, at whatever speed you choose, within the engine's limits and the hazards of the course, well on your way, until it starts you are no nearer where you were going on the fifteenth try than on the first; the enterprise may last forever, and never yet quite begin. The fact seems to be, however, that unless some apparently unrelated event should intervene -- a bullet, a heart attack, a cry from shore that dinner's ready, or company has come, or junior's run away -- the engine will eventually start. In the meantime, though, while you have been intensely busy, it is difficult to account for how the time is spent.”” [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She describes endless effort without progress, likening it to a faulty motor that eventually starts after many attempts **In simple terms:** Persistent effort may feel futile but eventually yields results Key Takeaway Persevere despite repeated setbacks Themes perseverance effort patience Mood reflective determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - project management - learning new skills - long‑term goals - creative work Key Concepts existentialism human condition Questions to Reflect On - What keeps you motivated during long failures? - When is it wise to abandon a futile effort? A Different Perspective Success may be delayed, not guaranteed ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [River](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“What kind of a man would turn his daughter into an outboard motor?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/what-kind-of-a-man-would-turn-his-daughter-into-an-outboard-motor/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Oh, that woman, got a mouth like an outboard motor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/oh-that-woman-got-a-mouth-like-an-outboard-motor/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [“If you want to sail your pretty little rowboat down the Nile and take in the scenery, then I'm not going to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-h-cosway/if-you-want-to-sail-your-pretty-little-rowboat-down-the-nile-and-take/) [L.H. Cosway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-h-cosway/) > [We move through time like a man in a rowboat, looking back even as we move forward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-landay/we-move-through-time-like-a-man-in-a-rowboat-looking-back-even-as-we/) [William Landay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-landay/) > [For me, the music is always like the small rowboat I get into at the very beginning of my process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/for-me-the-music-is-always-like-the-small-rowboat-i-get-into-at-the/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [“I looked at the images hanging on the walls, wanting to find those things in her pictures. My favorite was directly across from me:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leesa-freeman/i-looked-at-the-images-hanging-on-the-walls-wanting-to-find-those/) Leesa Freeman > [And it occurs to me that if I were aboard a rowboat floating in the middle of all the beer I've drunk in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-purdy/and-it-occurs-to-me-that-if-i-were-aboard-a-rowboat-floating-in-the/) [Al Purdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-purdy/) > [The sea is endless when you are in a rowboat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolfo-bioy-casares/the-sea-is-endless-when-you-are-in-a-rowboat/) [Adolfo Bioy Casares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolfo-bioy-casares/) > [“There’s a pretty good old rowboat. I’ll take you out for a row after supper.” “No, I will,” said Jesse. “Let me . I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-babbitt/there-s-a-pretty-good-old-rowboat-i-ll-take-you-out-for-a-row-after-2/) [Natalie Babbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-babbitt/) > [Ladies have come up with all these expressions to reassure men. "Oh, honey, it's not the size of the ship, it's the motion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-foxworthy/ladies-have-come-up-with-all-these-expressions-to-reassure-men-oh/) [Jeff Foxworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-foxworthy/) > [“He uncovered the boat, his hands working the knots like he'd been doing it his whole life. Under the tarp was an old steel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/he-uncovered-the-boat-his-hands-working-the-knots-like-he-d-been/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [I'm homesick everywhere I go, but England has a negative effect on my spirit to a profound degree. That trip from Heathrow into London…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kozelek/i-m-homesick-everywhere-i-go-but-england-has-a-negative-effect-on-my/) [Mark Kozelek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kozelek/) > [“If you can't put magnolia on a wall then there are always a million other colors you can use, if you can't pay your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/if-you-can-t-put-magnolia-on-a-wall-then-there-are-always-a-million/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) > [My gramps died 4 years ago from a heart attack .. I came in late at the hospital because I was buying dope.. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yankit/my-gramps-died-4-years-ago-from-a-heart-attack-i-came-in-late-at-the/) [Yankit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yankit/) > [“Eddie saw great things and near misses. Albert Einstein as a child, not quite struck by a run-away milk-wagon as he crossed a street.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/eddie-saw-great-things-and-near-misses-albert-einstein-as-a-child-not/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## More by Renata Adler > [A favorite strategy was the paragraph-terminating: Right? Followed immediately by Wrong. This linear invitation to a mugging was considered a strategy of wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/a-favorite-strategy-was-the-paragraph-terminating-right-followed/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [There are so many different types of writers. It's just sheer coincidence that they're all called writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/there-are-so-many-different-types-of-writers-it-s-just-sheer/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [“I think that when you are truly stuck, when you have stood still in the same spot for too long, you throw a grenade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/i-think-that-when-you-are-truly-stuck-when-you-have-stood-still-in/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [“The dishes that were meant to be hot were never quite as warm as those that were meant to be chilled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/the-dishes-that-were-meant-to-be-hot-were-never-quite-as-warm-as/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [There are times when every act, no matter how private and unconscious, becomes political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/there-are-times-when-every-act-no-matter-how-private-and-unconscious/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [My grandmother refused to concede that any member of the family died of natural causes. An uncle's cancer in middle age occurred because all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/my-grandmother-refused-to-concede-that-any-member-of-the-family-died/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [“he writer has a grudge against society, which he documents with accounts of unsatisfying sex, unrealized ambition, unmitigated lo neliness, and a sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/he-writer-has-a-grudge-against-society-which-he-documents-with/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [Things have changed very much, several times, since I grew up, and, like everyone in New York except the intellectuals, I have led several…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/things-have-changed-very-much-several-times-since-i-grew-up-and-like/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [“Every love story,every commercial trade, every secret, every matter in which trust is involved, is a gentle transaction of hostages. Everything is, to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/every-love-story-every-commercial-trade-every-secret-every-matter-in/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [My capacity for having a good time exists. It surfaces, however, on odd occasions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/my-capacity-for-having-a-good-time-exists-it-surfaces-however-on-odd/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [Fear . . . is forward. No one is afraid of yesterday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/fear-is-forward-no-one-is-afraid-of-yesterday/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [“I've had our paper's gossip column since last month. It is egalitarian. I look for people who are quite obscure, and report who is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/i-ve-had-our-paper-s-gossip-column-since-last-month-it-is-egalitarian/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [It is always self-defeating to pretend to a generation younger than your own; it simply erases your own experience in history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/it-is-always-self-defeating-to-pretend-to-a-generation-younger-than/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [Nice criticism is good when it tells you something. A lot of negative "criticism" isn't criticism at all: it's just nasty, "writerly" cliché and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/nice-criticism-is-good-when-it-tells-you-something-a-lot-of-negative/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [I think maybe writers come from different planets. I mean, not in any sense as extravagant as Baryshnikov. But there are some writers who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/i-think-maybe-writers-come-from-different-planets-i-mean-not-in-any/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) [Explore all 73 Renata Adler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) ## More Heart attack quotes > [“Eddie saw great things and near misses. Albert Einstein as a child, not quite struck by a run-away milk-wagon as he crossed a street.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/eddie-saw-great-things-and-near-misses-albert-einstein-as-a-child-not/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [My gramps died 4 years ago from a heart attack .. I came in late at the hospital because I was buying dope.. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yankit/my-gramps-died-4-years-ago-from-a-heart-attack-i-came-in-late-at-the/) [Yankit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yankit/) > [“If you can't put magnolia on a wall then there are always a million other colors you can use, if you can't pay your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/if-you-can-t-put-magnolia-on-a-wall-then-there-are-always-a-million/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) > [I'm homesick everywhere I go, but England has a negative effect on my spirit to a profound degree. That trip from Heathrow into London…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kozelek/i-m-homesick-everywhere-i-go-but-england-has-a-negative-effect-on-my/) [Mark Kozelek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kozelek/) > [“Sweaty, man-on-man sex that was going to fucking give me a heart attack.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cox/sweaty-man-on-man-sex-that-was-going-to-fucking-give-me-a-heart-attack/) [James Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cox/) > [That heart attack moment, when u know ur about to be in some deep shiit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syoung/that-heart-attack-moment-when-u-know-ur-about-to-be-in-some-deep-shiit/) Syoung > [“Bloomsbury lost Fry, in 1934, and Lytton Strachey before him, in January 1932, to early deaths. The loss of Strachey was compounded by Carrington’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goldman/bloomsbury-lost-fry-in-1934-and-lytton-strachey-before-him-in-january/) [Jane Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goldman/) > [“Louise Hawkley, of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago, calculates that loneliness raises blood pressure to the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-johnson/louise-hawkley-of-the-center-for-cognitive-and-social-neuroscience-at/) [Sue Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-johnson/) > [Well, after I had the heart attack, it was a very simple choice. What the doctor told me I did and I did it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ditka/well-after-i-had-the-heart-attack-it-was-a-very-simple-choice-what/) [Mike Ditka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ditka/) > [Demi Lovato!!! Love her new single Heart Attack!!!:)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel/demi-lovato-love-her-new-single-heart-attack/) [Rachel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel/) > [By the 1970s, pornography had caught up with The Block, where performers were totally in the nude. I wasn't going to do that, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaze-starr/by-the-1970s-pornography-had-caught-up-with-the-block-where/) Blaze Starr > [People who think there's no good way to die have obviously never heard the phrase 'Drug-fuelled-sex-heart-attack'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frankie-boyle/people-who-think-there-s-no-good-way-to-die-have-obviously-never/) [Frankie Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frankie-boyle/) > [I never knew love would feel like a heart attack.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trey-songz/i-never-knew-love-would-feel-like-a-heart-attack/) [Trey Songz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trey-songz/) > [“And you don't even know my family. We're like rabies, we fester, make you go crazy, and most of the time, my mother is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/inda-herwood/and-you-don-t-even-know-my-family-we-re-like-rabies-we-fester-make/) Inda Herwood > [“How could a man with so much heart die from a heart attack?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-bauer/how-could-a-man-with-so-much-heart-die-from-a-heart-attack/) [Joan Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-bauer/) Browse all 453 Heart attack quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A rowboat, without oars. An outboard motor. As you can sit there for years, forever, with that outboard motor, pulling again, and yet again, that rope, or cord, or wire, or whatever it is, and winding yet again, and each time, every single time, the motor, though it may give a cough or two, will fail to start, though if it starts, and when it starts, you are, at whatever speed you choose, within the engine's limits and the hazards of the course, well on your way, until it starts you are no nearer where you were going on the fifteenth try than on the first; the enterprise may last forever, and never yet quite begin. The fact seems to be, however, that unless some apparently unrelated event should intervene -- a bullet, a heart attack, a cry from shore that dinner's ready, or company has come, or junior's run away -- the engine will eventually start. 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