--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A hard choice. Water or books. Hmm. One…" description: "\"“A hard choice. Water or books. Hmm. One could always have wine instead.”\" — Susan Vreeland" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4f/susan-vreeland-15670_books_a-hard-choice-water-or-books-hmm-one-cou_1290468.jpg" --- # A hard choice. Water or books. Hmm. One could always have… ![“A hard choice. Water or books. Hmm. One could always have wine instead.” quote by Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4f/susan-vreeland-15670_books_a-hard-choice-water-or-books-hmm-one-cou_1290468.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4f/susan-vreeland-15670_books_a-hard-choice-water-or-books-hmm-one-cou_1290468.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4f/susan-vreeland-15670_books_a-hard-choice-water-or-books-hmm-one-cou_1290468.jpg) > ““A hard choice. Water or books. Hmm. One could always have wine instead.”” [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Choosing between essential knowledge and simple pleasures highlights the tension between intellectual growth and immediate comfort. **In simple terms:** Choosing knowledge over comfort is hard. Key Takeaway Prioritize learning. Themes learning comfort choices Mood reflective thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - studying - reading - career development - leisure planning Key Concepts philosophy personal growth Questions to Reflect On - What knowledge are you sacrificing for comfort? - How can you balance pleasure with growth? A Different Perspective Choosing comfort can hinder long‑term development. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) ## Related quotes > [The Brahmins say that in their books there are many predictions of times in which it will rain. But press those books as strongly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-brahmins-say-that-in-their-books-there-are-many-predictions-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Hmm what wine is this love thing that your species has, not necessary even on a good day, but like a mob of maniac…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-merrick/hmm-what-wine-is-this-love-thing-that-your-species-has-not-necessary/) [Steve Merrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-merrick/) > [“Exactly. So, what can't you take? 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Coronado: Stories”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-lehane/hell-everyone-s-nice-until-some-kind-of-hard-choice-is-put-in-front/) [Dennis Lehane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-lehane/) > [Sometimes you have to accept how things are. You can make it easy on yourself, or you can make it hard. The choice is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-mallery/sometimes-you-have-to-accept-how-things-are-you-can-make-it-easy-on/) [Susan Mallery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-mallery/) > [Whoever you name as captain, it's a hard choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/inzamam-ul-haq/whoever-you-name-as-captain-it-s-a-hard-choice/) [Inzamam-ul-Haq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/inzamam-ul-haq/) > [I have practically no private life. I'm already used to this and ready for it. Yes, sometimes it is hard, but it is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristiano-ronaldo/i-have-practically-no-private-life-i-m-already-used-to-this-and-ready/) [Cristiano Ronaldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristiano-ronaldo/) > [“It’s a hard choice, but this is why I lead. No one else has the stomach to do the unpleasant things that sometimes need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendare-blake/it-s-a-hard-choice-but-this-is-why-i-lead-no-one-else-has-the-stomach/) [Kendare Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendare-blake/) > [Audiences cry in the theater when people make a hard choice-for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-c-davis/audiences-cry-in-the-theater-when-people-make-a-hard-choice-for-life/) Bill C Davis > [I think this is a very hard choice, but the price - we think the price is worth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-albright/i-think-this-is-a-very-hard-choice-but-the-price-we-think-the-price/) [Madeleine Albright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-albright/) ## More by Susan Vreeland > [“The winsome lilt of Digna humming in the garden. Her knowing, almost teasing look, not quite a smile, when she knew she had the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/the-winsome-lilt-of-digna-humming-in-the-garden-her-knowing-almost/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [“At this stage of life, he'd better just lean into love, because if he fell, he feared he might break a hip.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/at-this-stage-of-life-he-d-better-just-lean-into-love-because-if-he/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [“Bicyclist's Philosophy of Life..."It's a matter of faith. You can keep upright only by moving forward. You have to have your eyes on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/bicyclist-s-philosophy-of-life-it-s-a-matter-of-faith-you-can-keep/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [“How love builds itself unconsciously, he thought, out of the momentous ordinary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/how-love-builds-itself-unconsciously-he-thought-out-of-the-momentous/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [“In the end, it's only the moments that we have.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/in-the-end-it-s-only-the-moments-that-we-have/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [He and I had a bridge that no one else traveled that made us artistic lovers, passionate without a touch of the flesh. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/he-and-i-had-a-bridge-that-no-one-else-traveled-that-made-us-artistic/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [Look long enough, out or in, and you’ll be glad you are who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/look-long-enough-out-or-in-and-you-ll-be-glad-you-are-who-you-are/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [“Now he knew . . . that there was nothing so vital as paying attention, and perfecting the humble offices of love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/now-he-knew-that-there-was-nothing-so-vital-as-paying-attention-and/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [“Overblown responsibility was a part of my preoccupation with myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/overblown-responsibility-was-a-part-of-my-preoccupation-with-myself/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [That a thing made by hand, the work and thought of a single craftsman, can endure much longer than its maker, through centuries in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/that-a-thing-made-by-hand-the-work-and-thought-of-a-single-craftsman/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [“No one but another painter could know the delicacy required to balance the complexities, to keep reality at bay in order to remain in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/no-one-but-another-painter-could-know-the-delicacy-required-to/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [“A woman can't stay hard when all around her is loveliness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/a-woman-can-t-stay-hard-when-all-around-her-is-loveliness/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [“People who would be that close to her, she thought, a matter of a few arms' lengths, looking, looking, and they would never know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/people-who-would-be-that-close-to-her-she-thought-a-matter-of-a-few/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [“I came to see that knowing what love isn't might be just as valuable, though infinitely less satisfying, as knowing what it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/i-came-to-see-that-knowing-what-love-isn-t-might-be-just-as-valuable/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) > [“The only place Aletta and I could be together unseen was just under the rafters in the church tower, a circumstance that propelled us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-vreeland/the-only-place-aletta-and-i-could-be-together-unseen-was-just-under/) [Susan Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) [Explore all 40 Susan Vreeland quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-vreeland/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A hard choice. Water or books. Hmm. 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