--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The old man has always believed in the…" description: "\"“The old man has always believed in the mutability of things; has known that no matter how solid the ground beneath your feet may seem, it can, at any ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/salman-rushdie-153_old-man_the-old-man-has-always-believed-in-the-m_1101928.jpg" --- # The old man has always believed in the mutability of… ![“The old man has always believed in the mutability of things; has known that no matter how solid the ground beneath your feet may seem, it can, at any moment, turn into quicksand and suck you down. Always be prepared.” quote by Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/salman-rushdie-153_old-man_the-old-man-has-always-believed-in-the-m_1101928.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/salman-rushdie-153_old-man_the-old-man-has-always-believed-in-the-m_1101928.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/salman-rushdie-153_old-man_the-old-man-has-always-believed-in-the-m_1101928.jpg) > ““The old man has always believed in the mutability of things; has known that no matter how solid the ground beneath your feet may seem, it can, at any moment, turn into quicksand and suck you down. Always be prepared.”” [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even solid foundations can become unstable; stay vigilant and adaptable to sudden changes. **In simple terms:** Ground can turn to quicksand unexpectedly. Key Takeaway Maintain flexibility and preparedness. Themes change uncertainty resilience Mood cautious thoughtful Type philosophical pragmatic When to use this quote - career planning - financial markets - personal health - environmental crises Key Concepts impermanence risk management Questions to Reflect On - How do you test the stability of your assumptions? - What signs indicate hidden instability? A Different Perspective Overconfidence in stability can lead to downfall. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Old man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-man/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Am I your possession? Am I in demand? Oh, when you turn to me, I'm in the quicksand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/la-roux/am-i-your-possession-am-i-in-demand-oh-when-you-turn-to-me-i-m-in-the/) [La Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/la-roux/) > [Music, love, death. Certainly a triangle of sorts; maybe even an eternal one. "The only people who can see the whole picture," he murmured,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/music-love-death-certainly-a-triangle-of-sorts-maybe-even-an-eternal/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“She was my ground, my favorite sound, my country road, my city street, my sky above, my only love, and the ground beneath my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/she-was-my-ground-my-favorite-sound-my-country-road-my-city-street-my/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Every step you take—everywhere you stand—the ground beneath your feet is tainted by some kind of casualty. It's an inescapable fact. Nothing is untouched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-darhower/every-step-you-take-everywhere-you-stand-the-ground-beneath-your-feet/) [J.M. Darhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-darhower/) > [I think right now in the world we're feeling like there's no solid ground beneath our feet, you know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-lynch/i-think-right-now-in-the-world-we-re-feeling-like-there-s-no-solid/) [Kelly Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-lynch/) > [The ground beneath you is shifting, and either you get sucked in by holding on to old ways, or you take a giant step…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-hammer/the-ground-beneath-you-is-shifting-and-either-you-get-sucked-in-by/) [Bonnie Hammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-hammer/) > [And I'll be gone gone tonight The ground beneath my feet is open wide The way that I been holdin' on too tight With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zayn-malik/and-i-ll-be-gone-gone-tonight-the-ground-beneath-my-feet-is-open-wide/) [Zayn Malik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zayn-malik/) > [“The ship lowered.  But whatever the healthy-seeming Meyer didn’t know or couldn’t see about the Astral collective, it didn’t extend to the details of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-platt/the-ship-lowered-but-whatever-the-healthy-seeming-meyer-didn-t-know/) [Sean Platt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-platt/) > [Wherever you stop, you will stay there. Don't expect the ground beneath you to move forward!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/wherever-you-stop-you-will-stay-there-don-t-expect-the-ground-beneath/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [The truly humble feel the ground beneath their feet every day and do not only become aware of it when held aloft or pushed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-baggini/the-truly-humble-feel-the-ground-beneath-their-feet-every-day-and-do/) [Julian Baggini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-baggini/) > [His quiet certainty made the ground beneath my feet feel solid. Like someday everything might actually be okay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/his-quiet-certainty-made-the-ground-beneath-my-feet-feel-solid-like/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [“There was no damn way we were ever gonna put our people into the ground again. Beneath us was hell. Heaven's above... ...and that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ortega/there-was-no-damn-way-we-were-ever-gonna-put-our-people-into-the/) Joshua Ortega > [“There are times when we have to step into the darkness in faith, confident that God will place solid ground beneath our feet once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/there-are-times-when-we-have-to-step-into-the-darkness-in-faith/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [“...because on some basic, soul-deep level within me, he is the solid ground beneath my feet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-redwine/because-on-some-basic-soul-deep-level-within-me-he-is-the-solid/) [C.J. Redwine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-redwine/) > [“Hillalum wondered what sort of people were forged by living under such conditions; did they escape madness? Did they grow accustomed to this? Would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/hillalum-wondered-what-sort-of-people-were-forged-by-living-under/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) ## More by Salman Rushdie > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [It's a terrible thing that your life turns into a good story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/it-s-a-terrible-thing-that-your-life-turns-into-a-good-story/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I want to write novels. I want to write stories. I want to do the stuff that I became a writer to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-want-to-write-novels-i-want-to-write-stories-i-want-to-do-the-stuff/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [If you want to be a serious writer, then you have to write what there is to write about. If you're going to pull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-you-want-to-be-a-serious-writer-then-you-have-to-write-what-there/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Después de exigir mi marcha, ya no posees jurisdicción en lo concerniente a mi salud.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/despu-s-de-exigir-mi-marcha-ya-no-posees-jurisdicci-n-en-lo/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [If there is a choice between absolute safety and freedom, then freedom must always prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-there-is-a-choice-between-absolute-safety-and-freedom-then-freedom/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm not a prophet, but I always thought it was natural for dictatorships to fall. I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'd wanted to create a storm so that I could become more famous and richer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-d-wanted-to-create-a-storm-so-that-i-could-become-more-famous-and/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/who-what-am-i-my-answer-i-am-the-sum-total-of-everything-that-went/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“...proving once again that there was no escape from recurrence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/proving-once-again-that-there-was-no-escape-from-recurrence/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“information, in a stream-of-consciousness soliloquy that revealed the extent to which he had internalised the adversarial fragmentation of American culture and made it a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/information-in-a-stream-of-consciousness-soliloquy-that-revealed-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [A little bit of one story joins onto an idea from another, and hey presto, . . . not old tales but new ones.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/a-little-bit-of-one-story-joins-onto-an-idea-from-another-and-hey/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm a novelist. Fortunately I don't have to rule the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-a-novelist-fortunately-i-don-t-have-to-rule-the-world/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The First Amendment defends all forms of speech including hate speech, which is why groups like Ku Klux Klan are allowed to utter their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/the-first-amendment-defends-all-forms-of-speech-including-hate-speech/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) [Explore all 1,087 Salman Rushdie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More Old man quotes > [“You’d better keep her tied.” “Why?” A yawn stretched Hunter’s dark face. “Because she’s looking skittish.” “She’s naked.” Sheathing his knife, Hunter flopped on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-anderson/you-d-better-keep-her-tied-why-a-yawn-stretched-hunter-s-dark-face/) [Catherine Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-anderson/) > [The old men of the village of Mahotière say that the Mistress of the Water is a mulatto woman. At midnight she comes out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-roumain/the-old-men-of-the-village-of-mahoti-re-say-that-the-mistress-of-the/) [Jacques Roumain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-roumain/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [Therefore, brethren, pray until God gives us revelation so that "knowing this" in our spirit we may truly confess "that our old man has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watchman-nee/therefore-brethren-pray-until-god-gives-us-revelation-so-that-knowing/) [Watchman Nee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watchman-nee/) > [My old man was ruthless. He terrorised us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hunt/my-old-man-was-ruthless-he-terrorised-us/) [Mark Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hunt/) > [There was an Old Man of Messina, Whose daughter was named Opsibeena; She wore a small wig, and rode out on a pig, To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-lear/there-was-an-old-man-of-messina-whose-daughter-was-named-opsibeena/) [Edward Lear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-lear/) > [“You think people was meaner then than they are now? the deputy said. The old man was looking out at the flooded town. No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-think-people-was-meaner-then-than-they-are-now-the-deputy-said/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“IN the year 1888 Herr von Pasenow was seventy, and there were people who felt an extraordinary and inexplicable repulsion when they saw him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/in-the-year-1888-herr-von-pasenow-was-seventy-and-there-were-people/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [“He wants to dream like a young man with the wisdom of a old man, he wants his home and securities, he wants to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-seger/he-wants-to-dream-like-a-young-man-with-the-wisdom-of-a-old-man-he/) [Bob Seger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-seger/) > [The true love suddenly broken, not only but like the old man who has lost the stick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-true-love-suddenly-broken-not-only-but-like-the-old-man-who-has/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I’m 59 and people call me middle aged. How many 118 year old men do you know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-cryer/i-m-59-and-people-call-me-middle-aged-how-many-118-year-old-men-do/) [Barry Cryer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-cryer/) > [The barman sidled toward them out of a back room. He was a grump-looking old man with a great deal of a long gray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-barman-sidled-toward-them-out-of-a-back-room-he-was-a-grump/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world, old man, but you do have some say in who hurts you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/you-don-t-get-to-choose-if-you-get-hurt-in-this-world-old-man-but-you/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [A tall, thin old man waving a scorecard from the corner of his dugout. That's baseball.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-harwell/a-tall-thin-old-man-waving-a-scorecard-from-the-corner-of-his-dugout/) [Ernie Harwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-harwell/) > [God has given this way of life to Israel: to abstain from everything which is contrary to nature, that is to say, anger, fits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poemen/god-has-given-this-way-of-life-to-israel-to-abstain-from-everything/) [Poemen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poemen/) [Browse all 2,184 Old man quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-man/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The old man has always believed in the mutability of things; has known that no matter how solid the ground beneath your feet may seem, it can, at any moment, turn into quicksand and suck you down. 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