--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: - What do you expect? Think we were sent…" description: "\"“- What do you expect? Think we were sent into the world to have a soft time and what is it? Float on flowery beds of ease? Think Man was just made to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a20/sinclair-lewis-1945_boredom_what-do-you-expect-think-we-were-sent-in_558491.png" --- # - What do you expect? Think we were sent into the world to… ![“- What do you expect? Think we were sent into the world to have a soft time and what is it? Float on flowery beds of ease? Think Man was just made to be happy? - Why not? Though I've never discovered anybody that knew what the deuce Man really was made for! - Well, we know not just in the Bible…” quote by Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a20/sinclair-lewis-1945_boredom_what-do-you-expect-think-we-were-sent-in_558491.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a20/sinclair-lewis-1945_boredom_what-do-you-expect-think-we-were-sent-in_558491.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a20/sinclair-lewis-1945_boredom_what-do-you-expect-think-we-were-sent-in_558491.png) > ““- What do you expect? Think we were sent into the world to have a soft time and what is it? Float on flowery beds of ease? Think Man was just made to be happy? - Why not? Though I've never discovered anybody that knew what the deuce Man really was made for! - Well, we know not just in the Bible alone, but it stands to reason a man who doesn't buckle down and do his duty, even if it does bore him sometimes, is nothing but a... well, he's simply a weakling. Mollycoddle, in fact! And what do you advocate? Come down to cases! If a man is bored by his wife, do you seriously mean he has a right to chuck her and take a sneak, or even kill himself? - Good Lord, I don't know what 'rights' a man has! And I don't know the solution of boredom. If I did, I'd be the one philosopher that had the cure for living. But I do know that about ten times as many people find their lives dull, and unnecessarily dull, as ever admit it; and I do believe that if we busted out and admitted it sometimes, instead of being nice and patient and loyal for sixty years, and then nice and patient and dead for the rest of eternity, why, maybe, possibly, we might make life more fun.”” [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. The speaker argues that life’s purpose requires effort and responsibility, not idle comfort, and that boredom stems from avoiding duty. **In simple terms:** Life needs effort, not just ease. Key Takeaway Embrace responsibility, avoid complacency. Themes purpose responsibility existential boredom effort Mood reflective serious motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career - marriage - personal growth - creative projects Key Concepts existentialism work ethic human nature Questions to Reflect On - What duties are you neglecting? - How can purposeful work alleviate boredom? A Different Perspective Boredom can also be a sign of deeper dissatisfaction, not just laziness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) [Fun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fun/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Loyalty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loyalty/) [Meaning of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaning-of-life/) [Middle class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-class/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [Good Lord, I don't know what 'rights' a man has! And I don't know the solution of boredom. If I did, I'd be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/good-lord-i-don-t-know-what-rights-a-man-has-and-i-don-t-know-the/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“But I do know that about ten times as many people find their lives dull, and unnecessarily dull, as ever admit it; and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/but-i-do-know-that-about-ten-times-as-many-people-find-their-lives/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Will our lives be dull or packed with adventure?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-hattemer/will-our-lives-be-dull-or-packed-with-adventure/) [Kate Hattemer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-hattemer/) > [There's no such thing as a life that is not normal, or, there's no such thing as a life that is not abnormal. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-life-that-is-not-normal-or-there-s-no-such/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [...some people might think our lives dull and uneventful, but it does not seem so to us. ...it is not travel and adventure that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-people-might-think-our-lives-dull-and-uneventful-but-it-does-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ladies, The next time you decide to try to reason with a MAN, BANG your HEAD against a BRICK WALL until the desire goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hussein-nishah/ladies-the-next-time-you-decide-to-try-to-reason-with-a-man-bang-your/) [Hussein Nishah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hussein-nishah/) > [There cannot any one moral rule be proposed whereof a man may not justly demand a reason. Every man has a property in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-locke/there-cannot-any-one-moral-rule-be-proposed-whereof-a-man-may-not/) [John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-locke/) > [There is no reason why the same man should like the same books at eighteen and forty-eight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/there-is-no-reason-why-the-same-man-should-like-the-same-books-at/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [It is only by the exercise of reason that man can discover God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/it-is-only-by-the-exercise-of-reason-that-man-can-discover-god/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [There is a reason why the other man thinks and acts as he does. Ferret out that reason — and you have the key…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/there-is-a-reason-why-the-other-man-thinks-and-acts-as-he-does-ferret/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/when-i-am-getting-ready-to-reason-with-a-man-i-spend-one-third-of-my/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“The reason why one man is great and another man is living in mediocrity is simply because one understood the value of time while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-reason-why-one-man-is-great-and-another-man-is-living-in/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [Reason is man's faculty for grasping the world by thought, in contradiction to intelligence, which is man's ability to manipulate the world with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/reason-is-man-s-faculty-for-grasping-the-world-by-thought-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [Reason in man is rather like God in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/reason-in-man-is-rather-like-god-in-the-world/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/it-is-useless-to-attempt-to-reason-a-man-out-of-a-thing-he-was-never/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) ## 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 Boredom quotes > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [I'm bored of being bored because being bored is very boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachithra/i-m-bored-of-being-bored-because-being-bored-is-very-boring/) [Sachithra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachithra/) > [When people look in the mirror, sometimes they see are their shells in the mirror, nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-look-in-the-mirror-sometimes-they-see-are-their-shells-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think anyone wants to do the same thing over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bachmann/i-don-t-think-anyone-wants-to-do-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again/) [Eric Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bachmann/) > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The most total opposite of pleasure is not pain but boredom, for we are willing to risk pain to make a boring life interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/the-most-total-opposite-of-pleasure-is-not-pain-but-boredom-for-we/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [We shop out of boredom, for release, for excitement, for a sense of achievement, for a sense of control over our unruly existences. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gunn/we-shop-out-of-boredom-for-release-for-excitement-for-a-sense-of/) [Tim Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gunn/) > [That human life must be some kind of mistake is sufficiently proved by the simple observation that man is a compound of needs which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/that-human-life-must-be-some-kind-of-mistake-is-sufficiently-proved/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [The worst sin, the ultimate sin for me, in anything, is to be bored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/the-worst-sin-the-ultimate-sin-for-me-in-anything-is-to-be-bored/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/exploitation-and-manipulation-produce-boredom-and-triviality-they/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Listen deeply. Meditate on that which is arising. Even if it's boredom or difficulty or maybe a feeling of being stuck, that in itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-yee/listen-deeply-meditate-on-that-which-is-arising-even-if-it-s-boredom/) [Rodney Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-yee/) [Browse all 1,505 Boredom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“- What do you expect? Think we were sent into the world to have a soft time and what is it? Float on flowery beds of ease? Think Man was just made to be happy? - Why not? 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