--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The trouble with an alarm clock is that…" description: "\"The trouble with an alarm clock is that what seems sensible when you set it seems absurd when it goes off\" — Rex Stout" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/rex-stout-2846_absurd_the-trouble-with-an-alarm-clock-is-that_2265388.png" --- # The trouble with an alarm clock is that what seems… ![“The trouble with an alarm clock is that what seems sensible when you set it seems absurd when it goes off” quote by Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/rex-stout-2846_absurd_the-trouble-with-an-alarm-clock-is-that_2265388.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/rex-stout-2846_absurd_the-trouble-with-an-alarm-clock-is-that_2265388.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/rex-stout-2846_absurd_the-trouble-with-an-alarm-clock-is-that_2265388.png) > “The trouble with an alarm clock is that what seems sensible when you set it seems absurd when it goes off” [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The alarm that once seemed logical becomes ridiculous when it actually rings, highlighting how plans can feel absurd in practice. **In simple terms:** Plans can feel absurd when they happen. Key Takeaway Expect and adapt to unexpected outcomes. Themes planning expectation reality humor Mood ironic reflective Type observational humorous When to use this quote - morning routines - project deadlines - travel itineraries - event scheduling Key Concepts cognitive dissonance time management Questions to Reflect On - How do you handle tools that become sources of frustration? - What expectations do you set for daily routines? A Different Perspective The quote assumes the alarm is a simple tool, ignoring deeper systemic issues that cause stress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Alarm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alarm/) [Alarm clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alarm-clock/) [Alarm clocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alarm-clocks/) [Alarms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alarms/) [Clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) [Clock Sensible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock-sensible-5228838/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Sensible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensible/) [Set Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/set-absurd-5228840/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Trouble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trouble/) [Trouble Alarm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trouble-alarm-5228839/) ## Related quotes > [“Tip #2: No more alarm clocks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-helen-conroy/tip-2-no-more-alarm-clocks/) [Mary Helen Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-helen-conroy/) > [“Who needs an alarm clock you you have a bladder”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-haque/who-needs-an-alarm-clock-you-you-have-a-bladder/) [T. Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-haque/) > [I don't have an alarm clock. If someone needs to wake me up, then I have my BlackBerry next to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/i-don-t-have-an-alarm-clock-if-someone-needs-to-wake-me-up-then-i/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > [There is no alarm clock like embarrassment,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryrose-wood/there-is-no-alarm-clock-like-embarrassment/) [Maryrose Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryrose-wood/) > [Alarm clocks are like teachers, they wake you up and piss you off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/alarm-clocks-are-like-teachers-they-wake-you-up-and-piss-you-off/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [Don't let your alarm clock, be the only reason you wake up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-lewis/don-t-let-your-alarm-clock-be-the-only-reason-you-wake-up/) [Ray Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-lewis/) > [No Alarm Clock Needed. My Passion Wakes Me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-thomas/no-alarm-clock-needed-my-passion-wakes-me/) [Eric Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-thomas/) > [You don't need an alarm clock when you sleep with 20 models a night, one of those broads'll figure out that they better make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/you-don-t-need-an-alarm-clock-when-you-sleep-with-20-models-a-night/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [That's the purpose of stress. It's a friend. It's an alarm clock, built in to let you know that it's time to do The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-katie/that-s-the-purpose-of-stress-it-s-a-friend-it-s-an-alarm-clock-built/) [Byron Katie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-katie/) > [I often set two alarm clocks because I'm afraid the first one won't actually make me get up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/i-often-set-two-alarm-clocks-because-i-m-afraid-the-first-one-won-t/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [I don't need an alarm clock, for habit is the best alarm there is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-stanton-hitchcock/i-don-t-need-an-alarm-clock-for-habit-is-the-best-alarm-there-is/) [Jane Stanton Hitchcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-stanton-hitchcock/) > [I wake up at about the same time every day. I sleep well and wake without an alarm clock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donatella-versace/i-wake-up-at-about-the-same-time-every-day-i-sleep-well-and-wake/) [Donatella Versace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donatella-versace/) > [Disturbers are never popular - nobody ever really loved an alarm clock in action, no matter how grateful he may have been afterwards for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-l-mcclung/disturbers-are-never-popular-nobody-ever-really-loved-an-alarm-clock/) [Nellie L. McClung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-l-mcclung/) > [Stress is an alarm clock that lets you know you're attached to something not true for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-katie/stress-is-an-alarm-clock-that-lets-you-know-you-re-attached-to/) [Byron Katie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-katie/) > [I collect travel alarm clocks. I was in a flea market in France once, in 1994, and I opened up this beautiful Jaeger-LeCoultre folding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alec-baldwin/i-collect-travel-alarm-clocks-i-was-in-a-flea-market-in-france-once/) [Alec Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alec-baldwin/) ## More by Rex Stout > [A person who does not read cannot think. He may have good mental processes, but he has nothing to think about. You can feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-person-who-does-not-read-cannot-think-he-may-have-good-mental/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [If I'm home with no chore at hand, and a package of books has come, the television set and the chess board and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/if-i-m-home-with-no-chore-at-hand-and-a-package-of-books-has-come-the/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [To say that man is a reasoning animal is a very different thing than to say that most of man's decisions are based on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/to-say-that-man-is-a-reasoning-animal-is-a-very-different-thing-than/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“Frankly, I wish I could make my heart quit doing an extra thump when Wolfe says satisfactory, Archie. It's childish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/frankly-i-wish-i-could-make-my-heart-quit-doing-an-extra-thump-when/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [What good is an obscenity trial except to popularize literature?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/what-good-is-an-obscenity-trial-except-to-popularize-literature/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [In a world that operates largely at random, coincidences are to be expected, but any one of them must always be mistrusted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/in-a-world-that-operates-largely-at-random-coincidences-are-to-be/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“everything from war to picnics depends on the weather, as Wolfe remarked”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/everything-from-war-to-picnics-depends-on-the-weather-as-wolfe/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [The more you put in your brain, the more it will hold -- if you have one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-more-you-put-in-your-brain-the-more-it-will-hold-if-you-have-one/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“When we turned right on Thirty-fifth Street our suffix came along. By the time we rolled to the curb in front of Wolfe's house…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/when-we-turned-right-on-thirty-fifth-street-our-suffix-came-along-by/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [What the tongue has promised, the body must submit to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/what-the-tongue-has-promised-the-body-must-submit-to/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [The Glass Key is better than anything Hemingway ever wrote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-glass-key-is-better-than-anything-hemingway-ever-wrote/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [Genius is fine for the ignition spark, but to get there someone has to see that the radiator doesn't leak and no tire is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/genius-is-fine-for-the-ignition-spark-but-to-get-there-someone-has-to/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [A Dickens character to me is a theatrical projection of a character. Not that it isn't real. It's real, but in that removed sense.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-dickens-character-to-me-is-a-theatrical-projection-of-a-character/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“To pronounce French properly you must have within you a deep antipathy, not to say scorn, for some of the most sacred of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/to-pronounce-french-properly-you-must-have-within-you-a-deep/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [A man may debar nonsense from his library of reason, but not from the arena of his impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-man-may-debar-nonsense-from-his-library-of-reason-but-not-from-the/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) [Explore all 148 Rex Stout quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) ## More Absurd quotes > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-workman-of-today-works-every-day-in-his-life-at-the-same-tasks/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I was once part of a Christmas cabaret. I sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' I tap-danced. I had a ten-gallon hat. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dinklage/i-was-once-part-of-a-christmas-cabaret-i-sang-i-saw-mommy-kissing/) [Peter Dinklage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dinklage/) > [Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 1,644 Absurd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The trouble with an alarm clock is that what seems sensible when you set it seems absurd when it goes off", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rex Stout" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-trouble-with-an-alarm-clock-is-that-what-seems-sensible-when-you/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absurd" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-trouble-with-an-alarm-clock-is-that-what-seems-sensible-when-you/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/rex-stout-2846_absurd_the-trouble-with-an-alarm-clock-is-that_2265388.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/rex-stout-2846_absurd_the-trouble-with-an-alarm-clock-is-that_2265388.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0f/rex-stout-2846_absurd_the-trouble-with-an-alarm-clock-is-that_2265388.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The trouble with an alarm clock is that what seems sensible when you set it seems absurd when it goes off” — Rex Stout", "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": "Rex Stout", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The trouble with an alarm clock...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-trouble-with-an-alarm-clock-is-that-what-seems-sensible-when-you/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-trouble-with-an-alarm-clock-is-that-what-seems-sensible-when-you/#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 } } ] } ```