--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What we can do, we must do: we must use…" description: "\"What we can do, we must do: we must use what we are given, and we must use it the best we can, however much or little help we have for the task. What y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6b/robin-mckinley-1591_darling_what-we-can-do-we-must-do-we-must-use-wh_2452427.jpg" --- # What we can do, we must do: we must use what we are given… ![“What we can do, we must do: we must use what we are given, and we must use it the best we can, however much or little help we have for the task. What you have been given is a hard thing--a very hard thing... But my darling, what if there were no one who could do the difficult things?” quote by Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6b/robin-mckinley-1591_darling_what-we-can-do-we-must-do-we-must-use-wh_2452427.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6b/robin-mckinley-1591_darling_what-we-can-do-we-must-do-we-must-use-wh_2452427.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6b/robin-mckinley-1591_darling_what-we-can-do-we-must-do-we-must-use-wh_2452427.jpg) > “What we can do, we must do: we must use what we are given, and we must use it the best we can, however much or little help we have for the task. What you have been given is a hard thing--a very hard thing... But my darling, what if there were no one who could do the difficult things?” [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We must act with our given abilities, using all resources, even when help is scarce, to tackle difficult tasks. **In simple terms:** Do your best with what you have. Key Takeaway Act responsibly with limited means. Themes responsibility resourcefulness determination Mood inspirational serious Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - project management - volunteer work - personal challenges - resource‑limited environments Key Concepts ethics self‑efficacy teamwork Questions to Reflect On - How can you maximize impact with minimal help? - What tasks truly require collective effort? A Different Perspective Idealism may overlook practical constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Difficult things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult-things/) [Hard things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-things/) ## Related quotes > [I think the work in front of us is the first work task given our forbearers, which is to care for the garden. 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Every once in a while a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/always-every-now-and-then-i-had-given-her-a-hard-time-just-to-keep/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [When you put your all in and people say 'he has given up,' that is hard to take.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-trump/when-you-put-your-all-in-and-people-say-he-has-given-up-that-is-hard/) [Judd Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-trump/) > [Gratitude, being thankful for the things we've been given, even when it's hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/gratitude-being-thankful-for-the-things-we-ve-been-given-even-when-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“She had given him up. That was the hard condition of his being and of all commerce between them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/she-had-given-him-up-that-was-the-hard-condition-of-his-being-and-of/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [Because the path of the righteous man was never supposed to be easy,' I whispered. 'Those who are chosen by the Lord are given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-adornetto/because-the-path-of-the-righteous-man-was-never-supposed-to-be-easy-i/) [Alexandra Adornetto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-adornetto/) > [Mercies and blessings come in different forms-sometimes as hard things. Yet the Lord said, 'Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-d-parkin/mercies-and-blessings-come-in-different-forms-sometimes-as-hard/) [Bonnie D. Parkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-d-parkin/) > [The hunger and thirst for knowledge, the keen delight in the chase, the good humored willingness to admit that the scent was false, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-william-maitland/the-hunger-and-thirst-for-knowledge-the-keen-delight-in-the-chase-the/) Frederic William Maitland > [Want a piggy back ride? Yes sir!! He crouches to give me a little help and I jump on his back. And he starts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade/want-a-piggy-back-ride-yes-sir-he-crouches-to-give-me-a-little-help/) [Jade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade/) > [“All kids need is a little help, a little hope and someone who believes in them”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magic-johnson/all-kids-need-is-a-little-help-a-little-hope-and-someone-who-believes/) [Magic Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magic-johnson/) > [“Rory: Amy. I'm gonna need a little help here. Amy: Just stop it! Rory: Just think it through, this will work. This will kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-moffat/rory-amy-i-m-gonna-need-a-little-help-here-amy-just-stop-it-rory-just/) [Steven Moffat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-moffat/) > [“Death was a constant fact of life. The reaper struck with fire and drowning; typhus, malaria, yellow fever, and a host of other diseases;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-weisberg/death-was-a-constant-fact-of-life-the-reaper-struck-with-fire-and/) Barbara Weisberg > [“And so sometimes when you feel strange, when a pang tugs at your heart or it seems like the moment has already happened- or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/and-so-sometimes-when-you-feel-strange-when-a-pang-tugs-at-your-heart/) [Kim Stanley Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley-robinson/) > [For young people in the U.K. who find themselves without anywhere to live - perhaps they have left the family home after a relationship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-viner/for-young-people-in-the-u-k-who-find-themselves-without-anywhere-to/) [Katharine Viner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-viner/) ## More by Robin McKinley > [It's hard to look too grand when you're led by someone who looks like a pudding with legs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/it-s-hard-to-look-too-grand-when-you-re-led-by-someone-who-looks-like/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“The most serious drawback to the telling-nothing approach is that it made that much more of a mystery of what had happened, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/the-most-serious-drawback-to-the-telling-nothing-approach-is-that-it/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors and shelves like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/the-magic-in-that-country-was-so-thick-and-tenacious-that-it-settled/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“There was something very odd about the carpet this morning… More hedgehogs? Many more hedgehogs? Positively a lake of hedgehogs?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/there-was-something-very-odd-about-the-carpet-this-morning-more/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [He didn't look insane or inhuman. He did look uncooperative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/he-didn-t-look-insane-or-inhuman-he-did-look-uncooperative/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [People forgot; it was in the nature of people to forget, to blur boundaries, to retell stories to come out the way they wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/people-forgot-it-was-in-the-nature-of-people-to-forget-to-blur/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“But he hated to see his people people unhappy--because he was a good king, not because he was a nervous one--”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/but-he-hated-to-see-his-people-people-unhappy-because-he-was-a-good/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [ “\[the sheep\] sidled up beside him and bumped him lovingly with its head. Val looked at it sadly. "I am sorry, you ugly creature,"… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/the-sheep-sidled-up-beside-him-and-bumped-him-lovingly-with-its-head/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [I long for another human face just as I fear it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/i-long-for-another-human-face-just-as-i-fear-it/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“Rosie hated her curly golden hair. When she was old enough to hold minimal conversations, the itsy-bitsy-cutesycoo sort of grown-ups would pull the soft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/rosie-hated-her-curly-golden-hair-when-she-was-old-enough-to-hold/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“There was, too, a reality to her new life that her old life had lacked, and she realized with a shock that she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/there-was-too-a-reality-to-her-new-life-that-her-old-life-had-lacked/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [Oh,' she said, too bone-weary to pretend: 'I would far rather that I love you as I saw yesterday I do than that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/oh-she-said-too-bone-weary-to-pretend-i-would-far-rather-that-i-love/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [But I'm going to try to tell the truth. Except for the parts I'm leaving out, because there's still stuff I'm just not going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/but-i-m-going-to-try-to-tell-the-truth-except-for-the-parts-i-m/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors and shelves like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/the-magic-in-that-country-was-so-thick-and-tenacious-that-it-settled-2/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [Roses are for love. Not silly sweet-hearts' love but the love that makes you and keeps you whole, love that gets you through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/roses-are-for-love-not-silly-sweet-hearts-love-but-the-love-that/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) [Explore all 225 Robin McKinley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) ## More Darling quotes > [Darling, replied Valentine, has not the count just told us that all human wisdom was contained in these two words,- "Wait and hope"?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-dumas/darling-replied-valentine-has-not-the-count-just-told-us-that-all/) [Alexandre Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-dumas/) > ["Natural" is a very dangerous word to use about sexuality ... Our society's notions of normality are completely fake and meta-trendy, since they rely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-bright/natural-is-a-very-dangerous-word-to-use-about-sexuality-our-society-s/) [Susie Bright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-bright/) > [And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/and-the-devil-did-grin-for-his-darling-sin-is-pride-that-apes-humility/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Mom?" I said. She turned. "Can I talk to you about something?" "Of course, darling. Come here." I took a few steps into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/mom-i-said-she-turned-can-i-talk-to-you-about-something-of-course/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Tonight, darling, we are going to right a lot of wrongs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/tonight-darling-we-are-going-to-right-a-lot-of-wrongs/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Oh, darling, I've been so miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/oh-darling-i-ve-been-so-miserable/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [The only siblings I have are half-siblings. My nuclear family would have been an extra-suffocating threesome. Instead, I have an interesting brother and sister,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-smiley/the-only-siblings-i-have-are-half-siblings-my-nuclear-family-would/) [Jane Smiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-smiley/) > [“Life is a great adventure, darling, and problems are nothing more than opportunities to show what you can do. Show them, darling. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerstin-gier/life-is-a-great-adventure-darling-and-problems-are-nothing-more-than/) [Kerstin Gier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerstin-gier/) > [“If you're anything like me, You bite your nails, And laugh when you're nervous. You promise people the world, because that's what they want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/if-you-re-anything-like-me-you-bite-your-nails-and-laugh-when-you-re/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [“Then you’ll do it brilliantly, darling. You’ll get to Pittsburgh yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut-jr/then-you-ll-do-it-brilliantly-darling-you-ll-get-to-pittsburgh-yet/) [Kurt Vonnegut Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut-jr/) > [Oh, darling, you will be good to me, won’t you? Because we’re going to have a strange life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/oh-darling-you-will-be-good-to-me-won-t-you-because-we-re-going-to/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Enough of self, that darling luscious theme, O'er which philosophers in raptures dream; Of which with seeming disregard they write Then prizing most when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-churchill/enough-of-self-that-darling-luscious-theme-o-er-which-philosophers-in/) [Charles Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-churchill/) > [You were joking about the whole please and thank you thing, right?" "Meant every word." A little light danced in his eyes and he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/you-were-joking-about-the-whole-please-and-thank-you-thing-right/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [There have only been two authentic geniuses in the world, Willie Mays and Willie Shakespeare and I think you'd better put Shakespeare first, darling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tallulah-bankhead/there-have-only-been-two-authentic-geniuses-in-the-world-willie-mays/) [Tallulah Bankhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tallulah-bankhead/) > [It's a brutal world out there. If you consider the case of superstar Rajesh Khanna, he was a darling of the masses in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bipasha-basu/it-s-a-brutal-world-out-there-if-you-consider-the-case-of-superstar/) [Bipasha Basu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bipasha-basu/) Browse all 542 Darling quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What we can do, we must do: we must use what we are given, and we must use it the best we can, however much or little help we have for the task. What you have been given is a hard thing--a very hard thing... 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