--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We often think that tragedies happen…" description: "\"We often think that tragedies happen because of great earthquakes in people's lives. I think they sometimes occur because of small things that become o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44b/robert-cormier-6436_earthquakes_we-often-think-that-tragedies-happen-bec_1742938.png" --- # We often think that tragedies happen because of great… ![“We often think that tragedies happen because of great earthquakes in people's lives. I think they sometimes occur because of small things that become obsessive to a particular person.” quote by Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44b/robert-cormier-6436_earthquakes_we-often-think-that-tragedies-happen-bec_1742938.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44b/robert-cormier-6436_earthquakes_we-often-think-that-tragedies-happen-bec_1742938.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/44b/robert-cormier-6436_earthquakes_we-often-think-that-tragedies-happen-bec_1742938.png) > “We often think that tragedies happen because of great earthquakes in people's lives. I think they sometimes occur because of small things that become obsessive to a particular person.” [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Minor obsessions can trigger personal catastrophes more often than dramatic events. **In simple terms:** Small fixations can cause big problems. Key Takeaway Watch for unhealthy habits. Themes psychology tragedy obsession Mood reflective cautious Type advice psychological When to use this quote - relationships - workplace - mental health - creative projects Key Concepts cognitive bias self‑sabotage Questions to Reflect On - What small habit might be harming you? - How can you break obsessive cycles? A Different Perspective Not all tragedies are caused by external shocks; internal patterns matter. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Small things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-things/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Tragedies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedies/) [Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy/) ## Related quotes > [I think when tragedies happen a lot of people go to therapy, psychiatrists, whatever, because they need to have someone to talk to. There's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-morgan/i-think-when-tragedies-happen-a-lot-of-people-go-to-therapy/) [Lorrie Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-morgan/) > [Great warriors, like great earthquakes, are principally remembered for the mischief they have done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/great-warriors-like-great-earthquakes-are-principally-remembered-for/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [“The earthquakes in people's heads, half the city's population was cracked, a rabble of doom-merchants, psychos, ghouls. They could smell a funeral a mile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-thomson/the-earthquakes-in-people-s-heads-half-the-city-s-population-was/) [Rupert Thomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-thomson/) > [It seems like only the real good stuff comes to mind. I don't think of all the tragedies...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregg-allman/it-seems-like-only-the-real-good-stuff-comes-to-mind-i-don-t-think-of/) [Gregg Allman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregg-allman/) > [I think all tragedies are best told with some humor. You have to relieve the darkness to let the reader get through it. Also,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-think-all-tragedies-are-best-told-with-some-humor-you-have-to/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Tragedies do happen. We can discover the reason, blame others, imagine how different our lives would be had they not occurred. But none of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/tragedies-do-happen-we-can-discover-the-reason-blame-others-imagine/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [There are tragedies that happen all the time in America, but there are certain types of tragedies that kind of pull us together and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-wilmore/there-are-tragedies-that-happen-all-the-time-in-america-but-there-are/) [Larry Wilmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-wilmore/) > [Tragedies happen, accidents happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-hanson-young/tragedies-happen-accidents-happen/) Sarah Hanson-Young > [Yeah, like, when I look back on my life, I just remember back what happened in '74, or something. It seems like only the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregg-allman/yeah-like-when-i-look-back-on-my-life-i-just-remember-back-what/) [Gregg Allman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregg-allman/) > [“Muddiness is not merely a disturber of prose, it is also a destroyer of life, of hope: death on the highway caused by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white-2/muddiness-is-not-merely-a-disturber-of-prose-it-is-also-a-destroyer/) [E.B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white-2/) > [You've got all these parents who are projecting their pathologies of fear onto their kids and those kids are understandably messed up. Tragedies happen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-almond/you-ve-got-all-these-parents-who-are-projecting-their-pathologies-of/) [Steve Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-almond/) > [The Way It Is There’s a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change. People wonder about what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-stafford/the-way-it-is-there-s-a-thread-you-follow-it-goes-among-things-that/) [William Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-stafford/) > [In Life Everyone Is Face With Tragedies,It's How We Respond That Defines Us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mzati-zapita/in-life-everyone-is-face-with-tragedies-it-s-how-we-respond-that/) [Mzati Zapita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mzati-zapita/) > [The greatest tragedies were written by the Greeks and Shakespeare...neither knew chocolate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-boynton/the-greatest-tragedies-were-written-by-the-greeks-and-shakespeare/) [Sandra Boynton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-boynton/) > [“Life flows swiftly by and sometimes through tragedies, but it keeps flowing on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-henderson/life-flows-swiftly-by-and-sometimes-through-tragedies-but-it-keeps/) [Dee Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-henderson/) ## More by Robert Cormier > [“Eric Poole began with cats. Or, to be more exact, kittens.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/eric-poole-began-with-cats-or-to-be-more-exact-kittens/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [...pain reaches a certain point and does not get worse but remains in all its intensity and you can survive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/pain-reaches-a-certain-point-and-does-not-get-worse-but-remains-in/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [It came to me that hell would not be fire and smoke after all but arctic, everything white and frigid. Hell would be not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/it-came-to-me-that-hell-would-not-be-fire-and-smoke-after-all-but/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [I don't like to think in terms of writing ten or twelve pages a day. Usually I'm writing a scene, and it's always with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/i-don-t-like-to-think-in-terms-of-writing-ten-or-twelve-pages-a-day/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [“Mr. Sinclair once asked the class to make a list of the ten most beautiful words in the English language, and the only word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/mr-sinclair-once-asked-the-class-to-make-a-list-of-the-ten-most/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [The earliest influence on me was the movies of the thirties when I was growing up. Those were stories. If you look at them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/the-earliest-influence-on-me-was-the-movies-of-the-thirties-when-i/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [“He was afraid that his body would come loose, all his bones spilling out like a building collapsing, like a picket fence clattering apart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/he-was-afraid-that-his-body-would-come-loose-all-his-bones-spilling/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [I have always had a sense that we are all pretty much alone in life, particularly in adolescence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/i-have-always-had-a-sense-that-we-are-all-pretty-much-alone-in-life/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [I don't mean to be insolent. I'm truthful. I tell the truth and the truth sometimes hurts. For instance, you have bad breath, Lieutenant.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/i-don-t-mean-to-be-insolent-i-m-truthful-i-tell-the-truth-and-the/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/the-beautiful-part-of-writing-is-that-you-don-t-have-to-get-it-right/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [That's what Archie did - built a house nobody could anticipate a need for, except himself, a house that was invisible to everyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/that-s-what-archie-did-built-a-house-nobody-could-anticipate-a-need/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [“They tell you to do your own thing but they don't mean it. They don't want you to do your thing, not unless it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/they-tell-you-to-do-your-own-thing-but-they-don-t-mean-it-they-don-t/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [I've had aunts and uncles who not only haven't read my books but could hardly believe that I was a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/i-ve-had-aunts-and-uncles-who-not-only-haven-t-read-my-books-but/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [You bring up your children to be self-reliant and independent and they double-cross you and become self-reliant and independent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/you-bring-up-your-children-to-be-self-reliant-and-independent-and/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [“We just might make a quarterback out of you yet, you skinny little son of a bitch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/we-just-might-make-a-quarterback-out-of-you-yet-you-skinny-little-son/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) [Explore all 99 Robert Cormier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) ## More Earthquakes quotes > [As I write, Johnny Rotten's first moments in "Anarchy in the U.K." - a rolling earthquake of a laugh, a buried shout, then hoary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greil-marcus/as-i-write-johnny-rotten-s-first-moments-in-anarchy-in-the-u-k-a/) [Greil Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greil-marcus/) > [I do not use airplanes. They strike me as unsporting. You can have an automobile accident-and survive. You can be on a sinking ship-and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/i-do-not-use-airplanes-they-strike-me-as-unsporting-you-can-have-an/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [There is something on earth greater than arbitrary or despotic power. The lightning has its power, and the whirlwind has its power, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-webster/there-is-something-on-earth-greater-than-arbitrary-or-despotic-power/) [Daniel Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-webster/) > [Maybe we should have gone with him," he said, a few minutes after his friend was lost to sight. "Three of us would make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flanagan/maybe-we-should-have-gone-with-him-he-said-a-few-minutes-after-his/) [John Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flanagan/) > [One day, I went to a soba restaurant outside town, and while I was waiting for the zarusoba I opened an old graph magazine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/one-day-i-went-to-a-soba-restaurant-outside-town-and-while-i-was/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [God's interventions are miracles: events that cannot happen by merely natural agents but only by a supernatural agent. They no more interfere with our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/god-s-interventions-are-miracles-events-that-cannot-happen-by-merely/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [Sometimes I wish eastern Congo could suffer an earthquake or a tsunami, so that it might finally get the attention it needs. The barbaric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/sometimes-i-wish-eastern-congo-could-suffer-an-earthquake-or-a/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [Disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, floods, oil spills and radioactive fallout cause massive death of people, pigs, bats and birds. These disasters also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-stamets/disasters-such-as-earthquakes-tsunamis-volcanoes-floods-oil-spills/) [Paul Stamets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-stamets/) > [No. He says when you're dealing with any kids of supernatural beings, Gods and Devils and angels, you tend to think about them like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/no-he-says-when-you-re-dealing-with-any-kids-of-supernatural-beings/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [The current situation of the earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear plants is in a way the most severe crisis in the 65 years since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naoto-kan/the-current-situation-of-the-earthquake-tsunami-and-the-nuclear/) [Naoto Kan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naoto-kan/) > [It's a bit scary to see my book come true: the recent (if minor) LA earthquakes, Hurricane Sandy, the Boston bomber, and so on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edan-lepucki/it-s-a-bit-scary-to-see-my-book-come-true-the-recent-if-minor-la/) [Edan Lepucki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edan-lepucki/) > [I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-bachmann/i-don-t-know-how-much-god-has-to-do-to-get-the-attention-of-the/) [Michele Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-bachmann/) > [The line between inner and outer landscapes is breaking down. Earthquakes can result from seismic upheavals within the human mind. The whole random universe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/the-line-between-inner-and-outer-landscapes-is-breaking-down/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [This heart been through tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-heart-been-through-tornadoes-earthquakes-and-hurricanes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's like simulating earthquakes: we can over and over study a bubble, crash, bubble, crash. Then we can see mathematically if there's some regular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-camerer/it-s-like-simulating-earthquakes-we-can-over-and-over-study-a-bubble/) [Colin Camerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-camerer/) Browse all 375 Earthquakes quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We often think that tragedies happen because of great earthquakes in people's lives. 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