--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Read widely of others experiences in…" description: "\"“Read widely of others experiences in thought and action- stretch to others even though it hurts to and strains and would be more comfortable to snuggl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb3/sylvia-plath-149_hard-way_read-widely-of-others-experiences-in-tho_1042499.jpg" --- # Read widely of others experiences in thought and action… ![“Read widely of others experiences in thought and action- stretch to others even though it hurts to and strains and would be more comfortable to snuggle back in the comforting cotton-wool of blissful ignorance! Hurl yourself at goals above your head and bear the lacerations that come when you slip…” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb3/sylvia-plath-149_hard-way_read-widely-of-others-experiences-in-tho_1042499.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb3/sylvia-plath-149_hard-way_read-widely-of-others-experiences-in-tho_1042499.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb3/sylvia-plath-149_hard-way_read-widely-of-others-experiences-in-tho_1042499.jpg) > ““Read widely of others experiences in thought and action- stretch to others even though it hurts to and strains and would be more comfortable to snuggle back in the comforting cotton-wool of blissful ignorance! Hurl yourself at goals above your head and bear the lacerations that come when you slip and make a fool of yourself. Try always, as long as you have breath in your body, to take the hard way, the Spartan way- and work, work, work to build yourself into a rich, continually evolving entity!”” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Embrace discomfort, learn from others, and pursue challenging goals despite pain, fostering continual self‑growth. **In simple terms:** Seek hard paths, learn from others, grow constantly. Key Takeaway Choose difficulty, keep learning, evolve. Themes self‑development resilience learning growth Mood determined reflective motivational Type philosophical inspirational personal development When to use this quote - career advancement - personal challenges - creative projects - physical training - academic study Key Concepts existentialism psychology self‑actualization Questions to Reflect On - What discomfort could you face today? - How does learning from others shape your path? A Different Perspective Hard work can lead to burnout if not balanced with rest. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Action Stretch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action-stretch-2445011/) [Build Yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/build-yourself/) [Hard way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-way/) [Stretch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stretch/) [Stretch Hurts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stretch-hurts-2445010/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Thought Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-action-522303/) ## Related quotes > [Hurl yourself at goals above your head and bear the lacerations that come when you slip and make a fool of yourself. Try always,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/hurl-yourself-at-goals-above-your-head-and-bear-the-lacerations-that/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Hurl yourself at goals above your head and bear the lacerations that come when you slip and make a fool of yourself. Try always,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/hurl-yourself-at-goals-above-your-head-and-bear-the-lacerations-that-2/) [sylvia plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Speech is conveniently located midway between thought and action, where it often substitutes for both](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-andrew-holmes/speech-is-conveniently-located-midway-between-thought-and-action/) [John Andrew Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-andrew-holmes/) > [“Words are important; actions are vital, but don’t just show your thoughts through your words or actions! Let your unique works speak your thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/words-are-important-actions-are-vital-but-don-t-just-show-your/) [Ernest Agyemang Yeboah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/) > [I have absolutely no problem being thought of as an action chick because, quite frankly, very few women have ever done that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-anne-moss/i-have-absolutely-no-problem-being-thought-of-as-an-action-chick/) [Carrie-Anne Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-anne-moss/) > [How can we learn self-knowledge? Never by taking thought but rather by action. Try to do your duty and you'll soon discover what you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/how-can-we-learn-self-knowledge-never-by-taking-thought-but-rather-by/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Every time a person allows an act of ignorance to happen (one word, thought or action), they delay our progress towards building a beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/every-time-a-person-allows-an-act-of-ignorance-to-happen-one-word/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [“A thought is nothing but a thought. Only action can bring a thought into reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/a-thought-is-nothing-but-a-thought-only-action-can-bring-a-thought/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [I prefer thought to action, an idea to a transaction, contemplation to activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/i-prefer-thought-to-action-an-idea-to-a-transaction-contemplation-to/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Unless there be correct thought, there cannot be any action, and when there is correct thought, right action will follow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/unless-there-be-correct-thought-there-cannot-be-any-action-and-when/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [There is in each of us a stream of tendency, whether you choose to call it philosophy or not, which gives coherence and direction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-in-each-of-us-a-stream-of-tendency-whether-you-choose-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills... Yet many of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/some-believe-there-is-nothing-one-man-or-one-woman-can-do-against-the/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [For me, it's interesting because I never thought of myself as an action man, but apparently I can do it, so that's good to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-campbell-bower/for-me-it-s-interesting-because-i-never-thought-of-myself-as-an/) [Jamie Campbell Bower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-campbell-bower/) > [I never thought I would get to have my own action figure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-stevenson/i-never-thought-i-would-get-to-have-my-own-action-figure/) [Ray Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-stevenson/) > [Thought and action must never part company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/thought-and-action-must-never-part-company/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. But it is hard and I have so much, so very much to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-life-but-it-is-hard-and-i-have-so-much-so-very-much-to-learn/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [... These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. ... --Lady Lazarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/these-are-my-hands-my-knees-i-may-be-skin-and-bone-nevertheless-i-am/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I couldn't stand the idea of a woman having to have a single pure life and a man being able to have a double…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-couldn-t-stand-the-idea-of-a-woman-having-to-have-a-single-pure/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I saw the gooseflesh on my skin. I did not know what made it. I was not cold. Had a ghost passed over? No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-to-live-my-life-and-it-is-the-only-one-i-ll-ever-have/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The city had faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman. Ordinarily, I would have been nervous about my dress and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-city-had-faded-my-tan-though-i-looked-yellow-as-a-chinaman/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Joy:show joy & enjoy: then others will be joyful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/joy-show-joy-enjoy-then-others-will-be-joyful/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [A million years of evolution, Eric said bitterly, and what are we? Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. Overhead the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/flute-notes-from-a-reedy-pond-now-coldness-comes-sifting-down-layer/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The most saddening thing is to admit that I am not in love. I can only love (if that means self denial - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-most-saddening-thing-is-to-admit-that-i-am-not-in-love-i-can-only/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Explore all 1,098 Sylvia Plath quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## More Hard way quotes > [“You've always been a know-it-all. Well, you're about to find out how much you don't know." "Believe me," I muttered, "I'm the first one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/you-ve-always-been-a-know-it-all-well-you-re-about-to-find-out-how/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [“History reveals that times of suffering for the church have also been times of looking upward. Tribulation has always sobered God’s people and encouraged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-w-tozer/history-reveals-that-times-of-suffering-for-the-church-have-also-been/) [A.W. Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-w-tozer/) > [We often learn the hard way that our world is ruled by external factors. We don't always get what is rightfully ours, even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-holiday/we-often-learn-the-hard-way-that-our-world-is-ruled-by-external/) [Ryan Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-holiday/) > [Do it the hard way! Think ahead of your job. Then nothing in the world can keep the job ahead from reaching out for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlow-curtice/do-it-the-hard-way-think-ahead-of-your-job-then-nothing-in-the-world/) [Harlow Curtice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlow-curtice/) > [“Let’s order too much of something just to see where our limits are. Let’s take a chance precisely because it might fail. Let’s take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-monteiro/let-s-order-too-much-of-something-just-to-see-where-our-limits-are/) [Mike Monteiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-monteiro/) > [There are no shortcuts, and you can't wing your way through real hard work. I learned the hard way by not taking auditions seriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-hoffman/there-are-no-shortcuts-and-you-can-t-wing-your-way-through-real-hard/) [Rick Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-hoffman/) > [It's the NHL playoffs, I'm 20 years old, I'm finding it out the hard way that playoffs aren't easy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carey-price/it-s-the-nhl-playoffs-i-m-20-years-old-i-m-finding-it-out-the-hard/) [Carey Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carey-price/) > [“We can do this the easy way or the hard way… but have no doubt it will be my way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-bromberg/we-can-do-this-the-easy-way-or-the-hard-way-but-have-no-doubt-it-will/) [K. Bromberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-bromberg/) > [Nothing in this world is a gift. Whatever must be learned must be learned the hard way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/nothing-in-this-world-is-a-gift-whatever-must-be-learned-must-be/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [“I drifted on life’s waves — from love to hate, from hate to a love learned the hard way.” — Angelika Regossi, My Thousand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelika-regossi/i-drifted-on-life-s-waves-from-love-to-hate-from-hate-to-a-love/) [Angelika Regossi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelika-regossi/) > [Until Scrubs, I didnt have a business manager. I learned everything on my own - and I learned the hard way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-faison/until-scrubs-i-didnt-have-a-business-manager-i-learned-everything-on/) [Donald Faison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-faison/) > [“What you read at Columbia is Plato's Republic and Homer's Iliad. What you learn at Columbia is that reading isn't education. Education is figuring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-rall/what-you-read-at-columbia-is-plato-s-republic-and-homer-s-iliad-what/) [Ted Rall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-rall/) > [I have in the past tended to overestimate the amount of change I can affect in the short run and then not fully appreciate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-west/i-have-in-the-past-tended-to-overestimate-the-amount-of-change-i-can/) [Harry West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-west/) > [I learned the hard way that I cannot always count on others to respect my feelings, even if I respect theirs. Being a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-learned-the-hard-way-that-i-cannot-always-count-on-others-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't believe in censorship, but I do believe that an artist has to take some moral responsibility for what he or she is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-petty/i-don-t-believe-in-censorship-but-i-do-believe-that-an-artist-has-to/) [Tom Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-petty/) [Browse all 456 Hard way quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-way/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Read widely of others experiences in thought and action- stretch to others even though it hurts to and strains and would be more comfortable to snuggle back in the comforting cotton-wool of blissful ignorance! Hurl yourself at goals above your head and bear the lacerations that come when you slip and make a fool of yourself. 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