--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For most of her life she just expected…" description: "\"“For most of her life she just expected things would work out, that people would be kind. Now she recognized her good fortune for what it was. She'd be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/stewart-o-nan-16780_aging_for-most-of-her-life-she-just-expected-t_1630064.jpg" --- # For most of her life she just expected things would work… ![“For most of her life she just expected things would work out, that people would be kind. Now she recognized her good fortune for what it was. She'd been lucky in so much, it had left her woefully unprepared for old age.” quote by Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/stewart-o-nan-16780_aging_for-most-of-her-life-she-just-expected-t_1630064.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/stewart-o-nan-16780_aging_for-most-of-her-life-she-just-expected-t_1630064.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/stewart-o-nan-16780_aging_for-most-of-her-life-she-just-expected-t_1630064.jpg) > ““For most of her life she just expected things would work out, that people would be kind. Now she recognized her good fortune for what it was. She'd been lucky in so much, it had left her woefully unprepared for old age.”” [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A life of unexamined optimism can leave one unprepared for later challenges, despite past luck. **In simple terms:** Unexamined optimism can cause unpreparedness for future hardships. Key Takeaway Balance optimism with realistic preparation. Themes optimism luck agingness aging preparation Mood reflective cautious Type advisory philosophical When to use this quote - retirement planning - health care decisions - financial budgeting Key Concepts life expectancy resilience self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - How can you maintain hope while planning for future uncertainties? - What practical steps can you take now to prepare for aging? A Different Perspective Optimism may blind individuals to necessary precautions, leading to vulnerability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Expected Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expected-things-474761/) [Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortune/) [Fortune Lucky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortune-lucky-474759/) [Good fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-fortune/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luck/) [Old age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-age/) [Preparation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preparation/) [Unprepared Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unprepared-old-474760/) ## Related quotes > [Some things go better than you expected, other things go worse, so I'm... I think the only sensible thing is just to wait and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/some-things-go-better-than-you-expected-other-things-go-worse-so-i-m/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [Nothing that you plan is going to work out. Everything is going to be totally different than the way you expected. And things will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/nothing-that-you-plan-is-going-to-work-out-everything-is-going-to-be/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Life means missing expected things and facing unexpected things. When you are right no one remembers but when you are wrong no one forgets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-means-missing-expected-things-and-facing-unexpected-things-when/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Most expected things are always achieved from less expected ways”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lovely-goyal/most-expected-things-are-always-achieved-from-less-expected-ways/) [Lovely Goyal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lovely-goyal/) > [I just expected things to be different.. I wonder why things didn't turn out the way I thought it would..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jazzy/i-just-expected-things-to-be-different-i-wonder-why-things-didn-t/) [Jazzy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jazzy/) > [After 40 (old age for most of man's history), one should strive to be more or less packed and ready to go were the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/after-40-old-age-for-most-of-man-s-history-one-should-strive-to-be/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Good fortune is a god among men, and more than a god.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/good-fortune-is-a-god-among-men-and-more-than-a-god/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [Henceforth I ask not good fortune. I myself am good fortune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/henceforth-i-ask-not-good-fortune-i-myself-am-good-fortune/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [“I hope you appreciate the magnitude of your impending good fortune.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-sure-thing/i-hope-you-appreciate-the-magnitude-of-your-impending-good-fortune/) [The Sure Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-sure-thing/) > [I've been lucky. I don't for a minute take for granted the good fortune I have had. You don't like to get ideas above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-curran/i-ve-been-lucky-i-don-t-for-a-minute-take-for-granted-the-good/) [Tony Curran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-curran/) > [From disaster good fortune comes, and in good fortune lurks disaster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/from-disaster-good-fortune-comes-and-in-good-fortune-lurks-disaster/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Letters crossing in the post, unfamiliar tunes heard three times in one day, the way that blows of fate descend upon the same bowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/letters-crossing-in-the-post-unfamiliar-tunes-heard-three-times-in/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [The pleasures and the cares of the luckiest ambition, even of limitless power, are nothing next to the intimate happiness that tenderness and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-pleasures-and-the-cares-of-the-luckiest-ambition-even-of/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [You have a little bit of talent, a certain amount of good fortune and a lot of hard work in pursuit of whatever truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-sutherland/you-have-a-little-bit-of-talent-a-certain-amount-of-good-fortune-and/) [Donald Sutherland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-sutherland/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. Believe in good fortune, divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-murphy/whatever-your-conscious-mind-assumes-and-believes-to-be-true-your/) [Joseph Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-murphy/) ## More by Stewart O'Nan > [The happiest she'd ever been was with him, and the saddest. Was that the true test of love?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/the-happiest-she-d-ever-been-was-with-him-and-the-saddest-was-that/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [It is not brilliance or facility that is necessary, but the determination to bear and even enjoy the dull process of wading into one's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/it-is-not-brilliance-or-facility-that-is-necessary-but-the/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [You couldn't relive your life, skipping the awful parts, without losing what made it worthwhile. You had to accept it as a whole--like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/you-couldn-t-relive-your-life-skipping-the-awful-parts-without-losing/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [I always squirm when I read what's called 'creative nonfiction,' and the writer is lobbing gobs of emotion and language at the world, hoping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/i-always-squirm-when-i-read-what-s-called-creative-nonfiction-and-the/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [Local teenagers killed in a car crash is a suburban legend, a stock plot line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/local-teenagers-killed-in-a-car-crash-is-a-suburban-legend-a-stock/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [“He could no longer be that Ed Larsen, but, through a lack of imagination or just sheer exhaustion, he couldn't come up with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/he-could-no-longer-be-that-ed-larsen-but-through-a-lack-of/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [“They should." "Should be like a wood bee," she said. It was a private joke, a mocking appreciation of the slipperiness of even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/they-should-should-be-like-a-wood-bee-she-said-it-was-a-private-joke/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [I've always been a big reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/i-ve-always-been-a-big-reader/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [I'm not sure the risks I take are any different from what other writers take, since we all serve at the pleasure of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/i-m-not-sure-the-risks-i-take-are-any-different-from-what-other/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [“Come then, come with us, out into the night. Come now, America the lovesick, America the timid, the blessed, the educated, come stalk the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/come-then-come-with-us-out-into-the-night-come-now-america-the/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [“Often, as she leafed through the sticky, plastic-coated pages, spotting herself with a frizzy perm or wearing a loud, printed blouse, she was struck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/often-as-she-leafed-through-the-sticky-plastic-coated-pages-spotting/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [As a fiction writer, my favorite tools are my imagination and the peculiar opportunities offered by different points of view.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/as-a-fiction-writer-my-favorite-tools-are-my-imagination-and-the/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [You can't run from your roots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/you-can-t-run-from-your-roots/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [The two hardest things about writing are starting and not stopping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/the-two-hardest-things-about-writing-are-starting-and-not-stopping/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [I like the idea of being a working writer, not of saying that it's going to take me 30 years to write my magnum opus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/i-like-the-idea-of-being-a-working-writer-not-of-saying-that-it-s/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) [Explore all 39 Stewart O'Nan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) ## More Aging quotes > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-vilsack/in-the-past-40-years-the-united-states-lost-more-than-a-million/) [Tom Vilsack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-vilsack/) > [We'll never be as young as we are tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-ll-never-be-as-young-as-we-are-tonight/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayer-of-an-anonymous-abbess-lord-thou-knowest-better-than-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The more I produce, the less I am certain. On the road along which the artist walks, night falls ever more densely. Finally, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-more-i-produce-the-less-i-am-certain-on-the-road-along-which-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [So often do you see collegians enter life with high resolve and lofty purpose and then watch them shrink and shrink to sordid, selfish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/so-often-do-you-see-collegians-enter-life-with-high-resolve-and-lofty/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [All the dangers in our world are like a blessed wake up call. They tell us to live life NOW... not tomorrow, not when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/all-the-dangers-in-our-world-are-like-a-blessed-wake-up-call-they/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [“You could see the signs of female aging as diseased, especially if you had a vested interest in making women too see them your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/you-could-see-the-signs-of-female-aging-as-diseased-especially-if-you/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“It takes maturity to be able to laugh like a child again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moffat-machingura/it-takes-maturity-to-be-able-to-laugh-like-a-child-again/) [Moffat Machingura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moffat-machingura/) > [Seek ye counsel of the aged for their eyes have looked on the faces of the years and their ears have hardened to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/seek-ye-counsel-of-the-aged-for-their-eyes-have-looked-on-the-faces/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Growing old-it's not nice, but it's interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/growing-old-it-s-not-nice-but-it-s-interesting/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [Anything is possible in the life of a man if he lives long enough. Even maturity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howell-raines/anything-is-possible-in-the-life-of-a-man-if-he-lives-long-enough/) [Howell Raines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howell-raines/) > [I just want to be Patty McCormack. I want to spend every year aging the way she has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-varney/i-just-want-to-be-patty-mccormack-i-want-to-spend-every-year-aging/) [Janet Varney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-varney/) > [Maturity is reached the day we don't need to be lied to about anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-yerby/maturity-is-reached-the-day-we-don-t-need-to-be-lied-to-about-anything/) [Frank Yerby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-yerby/) [Browse all 2,792 Aging quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For most of her life she just expected things would work out, that people would be kind. 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