--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Best not to look back. Best to believe…" description: "\"Best not to look back. Best to believe there will be happily ever afters all the way around - and so there may be; who is to say there will not be such..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbd/stephen-king-13_believe_best-not-to-look-back-best-to-believe-th_264094.jpg" --- # Best not to look back. Best to believe there will be… ![“Best not to look back. Best to believe there will be happily ever afters all the way around - and so there may be; who is to say there will not be such endings? Not all boats which sail away into darkness never find the sun again, or the hand of another child; if life teaches anything at all, it…” quote by Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbd/stephen-king-13_believe_best-not-to-look-back-best-to-believe-th_264094.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbd/stephen-king-13_believe_best-not-to-look-back-best-to-believe-th_264094.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbd/stephen-king-13_believe_best-not-to-look-back-best-to-believe-th_264094.jpg) > “Best not to look back. Best to believe there will be happily ever afters all the way around - and so there may be; who is to say there will not be such endings? Not all boats which sail away into darkness never find the sun again, or the hand of another child; if life teaches anything at all, it teachers that there are so many happy endings that the man who believes there is no God needs his rationality called into serious question.” [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A cautionary reflection on optimism versus doubt, suggesting that belief in happy endings is both hopeful and potentially irrational. **In simple terms:** Hopeful optimism can clash with rational skepticism. Key Takeaway Balance hope with realistic expectations. Themes optimism skepticism faith hope Mood contemplative hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - life decisions - relationship expectations - spiritual questioning Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - Do you question your own hopeful assumptions? - When should skepticism guide you? A Different Perspective Over‑optimism may ignore real risks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Boat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boat/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Endings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endings/) [Endings Boats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endings-boats-2596318/) [Endings Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endings-man-1035741/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Happily Afters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happily-afters-310561/) [Happy ending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy-ending/) [Happy endings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy-endings/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life teaches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-teaches/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Rationality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rationality/) [Sail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sail/) [Serious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serious/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) [Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach/) [Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher/) [There is no god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/there-is-no-god/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [“if life teaches anything at all, it teaches that there are so many happy endings that the man who believes there is no God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/if-life-teaches-anything-at-all-it-teaches-that-there-are-so-many/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“In matters of the heart and endings, a man's character is defined not by the act of parting ways with a woman but by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-apetsi/in-matters-of-the-heart-and-endings-a-man-s-character-is-defined-not/) [Emmanuel Apetsi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-apetsi/) > [“Not all boats which sail into darkness never find the sun again, or the hand of another child; if life teaches anything at all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/not-all-boats-which-sail-into-darkness-never-find-the-sun-again-or/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“You can't get mad at a real ending. 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I don't get happily-ever afters. Those are just for fairytales and porn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-zolendz/stop-lea-i-don-t-get-happily-ever-afters-those-are-just-for/) [christine zolendz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-zolendz/) > [“I'm not a sucker for happily ever afters, but if these two characters don't get theirs I might climb inside this e-reader and lock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/i-m-not-a-sucker-for-happily-ever-afters-but-if-these-two-characters/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) > [“He is not a prince, and you are not a princess, and real life is not a fairytale. Happily-ever-afters are not handed out on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-eaton/he-is-not-a-prince-and-you-are-not-a-princess-and-real-life-is-not-a/) [Jillian Eaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jillian-eaton/) > [“To Jay, for proving that love at first sight and happily-ever-afters are things that happen in real life, too.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-t-geissinger/to-jay-for-proving-that-love-at-first-sight-and-happily-ever-afters/) [J.T. Geissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-t-geissinger/) > [“ Happily-ever-afters don't come in happily-every-days . They are found at the end of challenges-ever-met, promises-ever-kept, and tears-ever-wept.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/happily-ever-afters-don-t-come-in-happily-every-days-they-are-found/) [Richelle E. 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I'm going to send you up where the air is rare and the view is much more than fair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/climb-aboard-jonesy-i-m-going-to-send-you-up-where-the-air-is-rare/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) [Explore all 3,589 Stephen King quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## More Believe quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. 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