--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If there's more that you can do, then do…" description: "\"If there's more that you can do, then do it. If there's not more that you can do, then be content with what you're doing. But if there is despair, the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c02/stefan-molyneux-1819_despair_if-there-s-more-that-you-can-do-then-do_23693.jpg" --- # If there's more that you can do, then do it. If there's… ![“If there's more that you can do, then do it. If there's not more that you can do, then be content with what you're doing. But if there is despair, the despair can only be that you can do more. Because when you're doing as much as you can do, you will not feel despair. Because despair is the gap…” quote by Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c02/stefan-molyneux-1819_despair_if-there-s-more-that-you-can-do-then-do_23693.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c02/stefan-molyneux-1819_despair_if-there-s-more-that-you-can-do-then-do_23693.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c02/stefan-molyneux-1819_despair_if-there-s-more-that-you-can-do-then-do_23693.jpg) > “If there's more that you can do, then do it. If there's not more that you can do, then be content with what you're doing. But if there is despair, the despair can only be that you can do more. Because when you're doing as much as you can do, you will not feel despair. Because despair is the gap between what you could be doing and what you are doing.” [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Despair arises from the perceived gap between one's potential actions and actual effort; closing that gap eliminates the feeling. **In simple terms:** Despair is a gap between potential and effort. Key Takeaway Align effort with capacity to avoid despair. Themes Motivation Self‑efficacy Mindset Productivity Resilience Mood Determined Reflective Type Motivational Philosophical When to use this quote - Feeling stuck in a project - Facing a moral dilemma - Experiencing burnout - Evaluating personal goals Key Concepts Perceived capability Action‑outcome gap Emotional regulation Practical Applications - Set realistic, incremental goals - Use the principle to combat procrastination Questions to Reflect On - What actions can you take now to reduce the gap between your aspirations and your current work? - How does recognizing your limits change your experience of despair? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ## Related quotes > [I don't feel despair because I am able to make the films I want to make, and that gives me hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-payne/i-don-t-feel-despair-because-i-am-able-to-make-the-films-i-want-to/) [Alexander Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-payne/) > [“The air in my home is heavy with my mom's unhappiness. 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It slips into this nucleus of life beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonin-artaud/these-terrifying-forms-which-advance-on-me-i-feel-that-the-despair/) [Antonin Artaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonin-artaud/) > [I treated despair in terms of hierarchy: if there was a more important pain in the world, it meant my own was negated. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-grealy/i-treated-despair-in-terms-of-hierarchy-if-there-was-a-more-important/) [Lucy Grealy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-grealy/) > [Every once in a while I feel despair over the fate of the planet. If you've been following climate science, you know what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-krugman/every-once-in-a-while-i-feel-despair-over-the-fate-of-the-planet-if/) [Paul Krugman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-krugman/) > [Doubt is thought's despair; despair is personality's doubt. . . . 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It's not about who is experiencing it; it's about building a bridge of empathy across…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/okieriete-onaodowan/despair-is-despair-sorrow-is-sorrow-death-is-death-it-s-not-about-who/) [Okieriete Onaodowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/okieriete-onaodowan/) > [The opposite of hope is despair, and when we despair, it is because we feel there are no choices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-g-bennis/the-opposite-of-hope-is-despair-and-when-we-despair-it-is-because-we/) [Warren G. Bennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-g-bennis/) > [“Despair, or folly?’ said Gandalf. ‘It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/despair-or-folly-said-gandalf-it-is-not-despair-for-despair-is-only/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [ It's one thing to be discouraged. It's another thing to have despair. Despair is when you think there's just no end to this \[suffering\].… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/it-s-one-thing-to-be-discouraged-it-s-another-thing-to-have-despair/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [“they no longer had any hope, but they had despair. Despair is a last weapon that sometimes brings victory; Virgil said so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/they-no-longer-had-any-hope-but-they-had-despair-despair-is-a-last/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“I wonder if it is possible to escape the clinches of despair; or would despair become the hunter and reclaim me as its prisoner.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-b-brewer/i-wonder-if-it-is-possible-to-escape-the-clinches-of-despair-or-would/) [Nancy B. Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-b-brewer/) ## More by Stefan Molyneux > [We have won the time lottery of the last 4 billion years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/we-have-won-the-time-lottery-of-the-last-4-billion-years/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [“I don’t fundamentally understand why people give a shit about what other people put up their noses or what other people put in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/i-don-t-fundamentally-understand-why-people-give-a-shit-about-what/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [Democracy is the suggestion box for slaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/democracy-is-the-suggestion-box-for-slaves/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [“Evil is a confession of inadequacy”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/evil-is-a-confession-of-inadequacy/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [“Knowledge is responsibility, which is why people resist knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/knowledge-is-responsibility-which-is-why-people-resist-knowledge/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [In the same way Marxism robs workers of ambition, Feminism robs men and women of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/in-the-same-way-marxism-robs-workers-of-ambition-feminism-robs-men/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [“The tombstone over the grave of the conscience always reads: "Human Nature".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/the-tombstone-over-the-grave-of-the-conscience-always-reads-human/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [Freedom for the government is enslavement for the people. 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It is win/lose between philosophy and delusion, and most people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/most-people-if-philosophy-touches-them-they-shatter-they-atomize-they/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [“- Government - Free Shit for Idiots”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/government-free-shit-for-idiots/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [“Civilization is the general agreement to refrain from resorting to violence if negotiations fail.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/civilization-is-the-general-agreement-to-refrain-from-resorting-to/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [Love is an involuntary reaction to virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/love-is-an-involuntary-reaction-to-virtue/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [“To be yourself is in many ways, is to be inconvenient to others. Only placaters and appeasers get along with other people all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/to-be-yourself-is-in-many-ways-is-to-be-inconvenient-to-others-only/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [“Sanity is not about confrontation. It's about filtering. Having a stable and happy life is about saying "no" to crazy people, not about inviting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/sanity-is-not-about-confrontation-it-s-about-filtering-having-a/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [We are supposed to call poison medicine and we wonder why we're always sick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/we-are-supposed-to-call-poison-medicine-and-we-wonder-why-we-re/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) [Explore all 206 Stefan Molyneux quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) ## More Despair quotes > [“As ofttimes as it rains on my little spot of earth, you'd think I'd grow accustomed to the gloom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/as-ofttimes-as-it-rains-on-my-little-spot-of-earth-you-d-think-i-d/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“She searched her mind for a single day when it had felt good to be alive. There must have been one, surely?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-abbott/she-searched-her-mind-for-a-single-day-when-it-had-felt-good-to-be/) [Rachel Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-abbott/) > [“Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/men-circle-like-bees-around-honey-buzzing-to-communicate-their-sexual/) [Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [Your spirit is the part of you that seeks meaning and purpose. It's the part drawn to hope, that will not give in to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/your-spirit-is-the-part-of-you-that-seeks-meaning-and-purpose-it-s/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [My God, whose son, as on this night, took on Him the form of man, and for man vouchsafed to suffer and bleed, controls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-god-whose-son-as-on-this-night-took-on-him-the-form-of-man-and-for/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The skin and shell of things Though fair are not Thy wish nor prayer but got My meer despair of wings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-vaughan/the-skin-and-shell-of-things-though-fair-are-not-thy-wish-nor-prayer/) [Henry Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-vaughan/) > [“A fine setting for a fit of despair,” it occurred to him, “if I were only standing here by accident instead of design.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/a-fine-setting-for-a-fit-of-despair-it-occurred-to-him-if-i-were-only/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Enough for this bow & arrow. 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