--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life is hard and astonishingly…" description: "\"Life is hard and astonishingly complicated… No one great reform will make it easy. Most of us who work -- or want to work -- will always have trouble o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/sinclair-lewis-1945_calm_life-is-hard-and-astonishingly-complicat_3114656.png" --- # Life is hard and astonishingly complicated… No one great… ![“Life is hard and astonishingly complicated… No one great reform will make it easy. Most of us who work -- or want to work -- will always have trouble or discontent. So we must learn to be calm, and train all our faculties, and make others happy.” quote by Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/sinclair-lewis-1945_calm_life-is-hard-and-astonishingly-complicat_3114656.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/sinclair-lewis-1945_calm_life-is-hard-and-astonishingly-complicat_3114656.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/sinclair-lewis-1945_calm_life-is-hard-and-astonishingly-complicat_3114656.png) > “Life is hard and astonishingly complicated… No one great reform will make it easy. Most of us who work -- or want to work -- will always have trouble or discontent. So we must learn to be calm, and train all our faculties, and make others happy.” [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life’s complexity resists simple reforms; calmness and skillful effort bring personal and collective happiness. **In simple terms:** Life is messy; stay calm and work skillfully. Key Takeaway Cultivate calm, develop skills, help others. Themes complexity reform calmness skill development altruism Mood thoughtful hopeful Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - workplace - family life - community service - personal growth Key Concepts psychology social responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What practices keep you calm amid chaos? - How can you turn personal calm into societal benefit? A Different Perspective Calmness alone won’t solve systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Calm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/) [Complicated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complicated/) [Discontent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discontent/) [Discontent Learn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discontent-learn-5448696/) [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Faculty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faculty/) [Great Reform](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-reform-1168694/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-hard/) [Life is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-is/) [Life is hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-is-hard/) [Make others happy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-others-happy/) [Reform](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reform/) [Train](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train/) [Trouble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trouble/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Work Trouble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-trouble-3255379/) ## Related quotes > [It would be a great reform in politics if perception could be made to spread as easily and as rapidly as foolishness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/it-would-be-a-great-reform-in-politics-if-perception-could-be-made-to/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [...well, if women's work was never done, why trouble about how much of it wasn't being accomplished at any given moment?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/well-if-women-s-work-was-never-done-why-trouble-about-how-much-of-it/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [Each work seems to give me the most trouble at the time I'm working on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/each-work-seems-to-give-me-the-most-trouble-at-the-time-i-m-working/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [There is a great reform required in the education and habits of females.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-cornell/there-is-a-great-reform-required-in-the-education-and-habits-of/) [Ezra Cornell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-cornell/) > [Just because life is hard, and always ends in a bad way, doesn't mean that all stories have to, even if that's what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/just-because-life-is-hard-and-always-ends-in-a-bad-way-doesn-t-mean/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [Over the years reality sets in, I realized life is hard work and less play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-coleman/over-the-years-reality-sets-in-i-realized-life-is-hard-work-and-less/) [Damian Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-coleman/) > [“Lord, sometimes life is hard. But thank You for being there and showing us what to do. —Marilyn Turk”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guideposts/lord-sometimes-life-is-hard-but-thank-you-for-being-there-and-showing/) [Guideposts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guideposts/) > [Life is hard enough without being worried about the smallest interaction with a public servant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-childers/life-is-hard-enough-without-being-worried-about-the-smallest/) [Tyler Childers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-childers/) > [Life is hard but not impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/life-is-hard-but-not-impossible/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [“Life is hard, but I can do hard things”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolescent-rehabilitation/life-is-hard-but-i-can-do-hard-things/) [Adolescent Rehabilitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolescent-rehabilitation/) > [Life is hard, Love is heart breaking, people are mean hurtful and will back stab you in the back but no matter how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney/life-is-hard-love-is-heart-breaking-people-are-mean-hurtful-and-will/) [Sydney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney/) > [Life is hard, but it's even harder when you're stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wayne/life-is-hard-but-it-s-even-harder-when-you-re-stupid/) [John Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wayne/) > [Life is hard enough, so when you can get any joy out of it, whether it's something you do on a day-to-day basis, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-graynor/life-is-hard-enough-so-when-you-can-get-any-joy-out-of-it-whether-it/) [Ari Graynor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-graynor/) > [Life is hard. There's parking fines, PPI, the Kardashians - it's a marvel any of us manage to get out of bed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-lycett/life-is-hard-there-s-parking-fines-ppi-the-kardashians-it-s-a-marvel/) [Joe Lycett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-lycett/) > [“Life is hard. Life hurts. So what? You tough it out. You get through and then you'll feel good again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-grafton/life-is-hard-life-hurts-so-what-you-tough-it-out-you-get-through-and/) [Sue Grafton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-grafton/) ## More by Sinclair Lewis > [“She found beauty in the children.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/she-found-beauty-in-the-children/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [What is Love? Listen! It is the rainbow that stands out, in all its glorious many-colored hues, illuminating and making glad again the dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/what-is-love-listen-it-is-the-rainbow-that-stands-out-in-all-its/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [When you think that most of us are doomed by divine grace to roast in hell, to say nothing of mortgages and hail and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/when-you-think-that-most-of-us-are-doomed-by-divine-grace-to-roast-in/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [He loved the people just as much as he feared and detested persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/he-loved-the-people-just-as-much-as-he-feared-and-detested-persons/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“He had expected that traditionally Republican Vermont would give him too drearily easy a task in preaching Trowbridge. What he found was a dismaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/he-had-expected-that-traditionally-republican-vermont-would-give-him/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Day on day he waited. So much of a revolution for so many people is nothing but waiting. That is one reason why tourists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/day-on-day-he-waited-so-much-of-a-revolution-for-so-many-people-is/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“She continued it to Hugh, 'Darling, do you know what mother and you are going to find beyond the blue horizon rim?' 'What?' flatly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/she-continued-it-to-hugh-darling-do-you-know-what-mother-and-you-are/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [Is it possible that nobody has ever known that there never has been a completely civilized man, and won't be for another thousand years?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/is-it-possible-that-nobody-has-ever-known-that-there-never-has-been-a/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“I think perhaps we want a more conscientious life. We're tired of drudging and sleeping and dying. We're tired of always deferring hope to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/i-think-perhaps-we-want-a-more-conscientious-life-we-re-tired-of/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [It might be the doing of Satan, in whom Aaron anxiously believed with all of his being except, perhaps, his mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/it-might-be-the-doing-of-satan-in-whom-aaron-anxiously-believed-with/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“The author says one character's definition of a classic is any book he'd heard of before he was thirty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/the-author-says-one-character-s-definition-of-a-classic-is-any-book/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Like all males, he hated to confess ignorance by asking directions,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/like-all-males-he-hated-to-confess-ignorance-by-asking-directions/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [Winter is not a season, it's an occupation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/winter-is-not-a-season-it-s-an-occupation/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Author sees the "congested idealism" of the generally discontent as reservoir that will support centralized power even while disagreeing with many specific provisions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/author-sees-the-congested-idealism-of-the-generally-discontent-as/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“The poor we have always with us, and the purpose of the Lord in providing the poor is to enable us of the better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/the-poor-we-have-always-with-us-and-the-purpose-of-the-lord-in/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) [Explore all 196 Sinclair Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) ## More Calm quotes > [Grandma, please. It’s okay. Dad’s doing a great job. I give him kudos for at least being calm and rational, and not losing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/grandma-please-it-s-okay-dad-s-doing-a-great-job-i-give-him-kudos-for/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“After the storm, reigns the calm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simdi-onuora/after-the-storm-reigns-the-calm/) [Simdi Onuora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simdi-onuora/) > [So mightiest powers buy deepest calms are fed, And sleep, how oft, in things that gentlest be!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-procter/so-mightiest-powers-buy-deepest-calms-are-fed-and-sleep-how-oft-in/) [Bryan Procter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-procter/) > [KEEP CALM and HAVE A SUGAR CUBE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/keep-calm-and-have-a-sugar-cube/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [To practice Aikido fully you must calm the spirit and go back to the origin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morihei-ueshiba/to-practice-aikido-fully-you-must-calm-the-spirit-and-go-back-to-the/) [Morihei Ueshiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morihei-ueshiba/) > [You imagine that I look back on my life's work with calm satisfaction. But from nearby it looks quite different. There is not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/you-imagine-that-i-look-back-on-my-life-s-work-with-calm-satisfaction/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Don't get divorced after your first argument! I have a lot of friends that have one fight and that's it, they get divorced. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ripa/don-t-get-divorced-after-your-first-argument-i-have-a-lot-of-friends/) [Kelly Ripa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ripa/) > [The goal of the operation is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages, only then will Israel be calm for the next 40 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ben-ari/the-goal-of-the-operation-is-to-send-gaza-back-to-the-middle-ages/) [Michael Ben-Ari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ben-ari/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [When I was a child I truly loved: Unthinking love as calm and deep As the North Sea. But I have lived, And now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/when-i-was-a-child-i-truly-loved-unthinking-love-as-calm-and-deep-as/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [~Keep Calm and Swagger On~](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-nothing/keep-calm-and-swagger-on/) [Im Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/im-nothing/) > [Ride your horse calm, forward and then make him straight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-zettl/ride-your-horse-calm-forward-and-then-make-him-straight/) [Walter Zettl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-zettl/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Religious work is one of the best ways to keep from facing your reality if you are Christian, if you are using it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-miller/religious-work-is-one-of-the-best-ways-to-keep-from-facing-your/) [Keith Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-miller/) [Browse all 3,074 Calm quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Life is hard and astonishingly complicated… No one great reform will make it easy. Most of us who work -- or want to work -- will always have trouble or discontent. 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