--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My grandmother was unsurpassable at…" description: "\"My grandmother was unsurpassable at sitting. She would sit on tombstones, glaciers, small hard benches with ants crawling over them, fragments of publi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db2/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_ants_my-grandmother-was-unsurpassable-at-sitt_1994665.jpg" --- # My grandmother was unsurpassable at sitting. She would sit… ![“My grandmother was unsurpassable at sitting. She would sit on tombstones, glaciers, small hard benches with ants crawling over them, fragments of public monuments, other people's wheelbarrows, and when one returned one could be sure of finding her there, conversing affably with the owner of the…” quote by Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db2/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_ants_my-grandmother-was-unsurpassable-at-sitt_1994665.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db2/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_ants_my-grandmother-was-unsurpassable-at-sitt_1994665.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db2/sylvia-townsend-warner-7063_ants_my-grandmother-was-unsurpassable-at-sitt_1994665.jpg) > “My grandmother was unsurpassable at sitting. She would sit on tombstones, glaciers, small hard benches with ants crawling over them, fragments of public monuments, other people's wheelbarrows, and when one returned one could be sure of finding her there, conversing affably with the owner of the wheelbarrow.” [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote humorously depicts a grandmother’s relentless habit of sitting everywhere, highlighting her presence and quirky persistence. **In simple terms:** Grandmother always finds a place to sit, no matter how odd. Key Takeaway Notice and appreciate quirky habits in loved ones. Themes family humor presence Mood playful nostalgic Type anecdotal observational When to use this quote - daily routines - family gatherings - public spaces - travel - community interactions Key Concepts habitual persistence social observation Questions to Reflect On - What does her constant sitting say about her need for belonging? - How do we recognize subtle signs of affection in everyday actions? A Different Perspective May overlook the deeper emotional connection behind the habit. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ants/) [Benches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/benches/) [Glaciers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glaciers/) [Grandmother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandmother/) [Grandparent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandparent/) [Monument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monument/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Wheelbarrows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wheelbarrows/) ## Related quotes > [Second, the reason to embrace and celebrate these novels as the countercultural event that they are is due largely to the subliminal messages delivered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-granger/second-the-reason-to-embrace-and-celebrate-these-novels-as-the/) John Granger > [“There is an old story about a worker suspected of stealing: every evening, as he leaves the factory, the wheelbarrow he rolls in front…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/there-is-an-old-story-about-a-worker-suspected-of-stealing-every/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [Most of us follow our conscience as we follow a wheelbarrow. We push it in front of us in the direction we want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/most-of-us-follow-our-conscience-as-we-follow-a-wheelbarrow-we-push/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [If you have it, it is for life. It is a disease for which there is no cure. You will go on riding even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-dickens/if-you-have-it-it-is-for-life-it-is-a-disease-for-which-there-is-no/) [Monica Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-dickens/) > [It's a shame publishers send rejection slips. Writers should get something more substantial than a slip that amounts to a pile of confetti. Publishers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/it-s-a-shame-publishers-send-rejection-slips-writers-should-get/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [Discovery can give no right of ownership, for whatever is discovered must have been already here to be discovered. If a man makes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/discovery-can-give-no-right-of-ownership-for-whatever-is-discovered/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [Consider the wheelbarrow. It may lack the grace of an airplane, the speed of an automobile, the initial capacity of a freight car, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/consider-the-wheelbarrow-it-may-lack-the-grace-of-an-airplane-the/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [You know they invented wheelbarrows to teach FAA inspectors to walk on their hind legs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-caidin/you-know-they-invented-wheelbarrows-to-teach-faa-inspectors-to-walk/) [Martin Caidin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-caidin/) > [The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams. So much depends upom a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/the-red-wheelbarrow-by-william-carlos-williams-so-much-depends-upom-a/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I have always hated machinery, and the only machine I ever understood was a wheelbarrow, and that but imperfectly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-always-hated-machinery-and-the-only-machine-i-ever-understood/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Usually, a Range Rover would be beaten away from the lights by a diesel powered wheelbarrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-clarkson/usually-a-range-rover-would-be-beaten-away-from-the-lights-by-a/) [Jeremy Clarkson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-clarkson/) > [They tend to be suspicious, bristly, paranoid-type people with huge egos they push around like some elephantiasis victim with his distended testicles in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/they-tend-to-be-suspicious-bristly-paranoid-type-people-with-huge/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [The Jews are the most miserable people on earth. They are plagued everywhere, and scattered about all countries, having no certain resting place. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/the-jews-are-the-most-miserable-people-on-earth-they-are-plagued/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [I just know once you're over your emotional outbursts, you'll come up with-' I mean if we even had a wheelbarrow, that would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/i-just-know-once-you-re-over-your-emotional-outbursts-you-ll-come-up/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) > [so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/so-much-depends-upon-a-red-wheel-barrow-glazed-with-rain-water-beside/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) ## More by Sylvia Townsend Warner > [One reason why my memory decays is that I have three cats, all so loving and insistent that they play cat's-cradle with every train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/one-reason-why-my-memory-decays-is-that-i-have-three-cats-all-so/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Happiness is an immunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/happiness-is-an-immunity/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [I feel domesticity just slipping off me. It is a choice. Either one can let it go or one can intensify it. The people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/i-feel-domesticity-just-slipping-off-me-it-is-a-choice-either-one-can/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [ \[On an anarchist acquaintance:\] Everything in appearance the most alarmist aunt could wish. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/on-an-anarchist-acquaintance-everything-in-appearance-the-most/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Spring is strictly sentimental, self-regarding; but I burn more careless in the autumn bonfire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/spring-is-strictly-sentimental-self-regarding-but-i-burn-more/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [“It is,” answered Laura with almost violent agreement. “If you are a were-wolf, and very likely you may be, for lots of people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/it-is-answered-laura-with-almost-violent-agreement-if-you-are-a-were/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [I have an idea that conscience impedes quite as many merits as faults, is a sort of alloy, a nickel which may prevent silver…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/i-have-an-idea-that-conscience-impedes-quite-as-many-merits-as-faults/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [There is a period in one's life - perhaps not longer than six months - when one lives in two worlds at once ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/there-is-a-period-in-one-s-life-perhaps-not-longer-than-six-months/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Love is the only real patriation, and without one's dear one sits in a dreary and boring exile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/love-is-the-only-real-patriation-and-without-one-s-dear-one-sits-in-a/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [when the German propaganda tries to be winsome it is like a clown with homicidal mania - ludicrous and terrifying both at once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/when-the-german-propaganda-tries-to-be-winsome-it-is-like-a-clown/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [It is best as one grows older to strip oneself of possessions, to shed oneself downward like a tree, to be almost wholly earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/it-is-best-as-one-grows-older-to-strip-oneself-of-possessions-to-shed/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Elizabeth ... had the prerogative of the rich that she could be generous with large sums and niggardly over small ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/elizabeth-had-the-prerogative-of-the-rich-that-she-could-be-generous/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Inflation is the senility of democracies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/inflation-is-the-senility-of-democracies/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Total grief is like a minefield. No knowing when one will touch the tripwire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/total-grief-is-like-a-minefield-no-knowing-when-one-will-touch-the/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [How dreadful it is that because of our wills we can never love anything without messing it around! We couldn’t even love a tree,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/how-dreadful-it-is-that-because-of-our-wills-we-can-never-love/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) [Explore all 95 Sylvia Townsend Warner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) ## More Ants quotes > [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [Great God of the Ants, thou hast granted victory to thy servants. I appoint thee honorary Colonel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-capek/great-god-of-the-ants-thou-hast-granted-victory-to-thy-servants-i/) [Karel Capek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-capek/) > [Pray look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders, and bees, and you will see them all exerting their nature, and busy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/pray-look-upon-the-plants-and-birds-the-ants-spiders-and-bees-and-you/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [People are like ants: Just a few of them give all the orders. And most of them spend their lives getting squashed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/people-are-like-ants-just-a-few-of-them-give-all-the-orders-and-most/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“Some people are ants by nature; they have to work, even when it’s useless. Few people have a talent for constructive laziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/some-people-are-ants-by-nature-they-have-to-work-even-when-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [There's a good case to be made that having fun is a key evolutionary advantage right next to opposable thumbs in terms of importance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raph-koster/there-s-a-good-case-to-be-made-that-having-fun-is-a-key-evolutionary/) [Raph Koster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raph-koster/) > [“THE FIGHTERS ARE TINY. INSECTS, REALLY. BUT ANTS CAN SLAY AN ELEPHANT, IF THERE ARE ENOUGH OF THEM. ESPECIALLY ANTS ARMED WITH HIGH-YIELD EXPLOSIVES…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amie-kaufman/the-fighters-are-tiny-insects-really-but-ants-can-slay-an-elephant-if/) [Amie Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amie-kaufman/) > [We know of no behavior in ants or any other social insects that can be construed as play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-holldobler/we-know-of-no-behavior-in-ants-or-any-other-social-insects-that-can/) [Bert Holldobler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-holldobler/) > [Oh, ants, my sisters, good old honeydew-seekers! From close up you are sticky and shiny and gristly; and your nymphs have parasitic red mites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/oh-ants-my-sisters-good-old-honeydew-seekers-from-close-up-you-are/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [Albert and I would spend hours and hours looking at them. Cleo had this big magnifying glass on his desk, and we'd find centipedes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/albert-and-i-would-spend-hours-and-hours-looking-at-them-cleo-had/) [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) > [When someone criticizes or disagrees with you, a small ant of hatred and antagonism is born in your heart. If you do not squash…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/when-someone-criticizes-or-disagrees-with-you-a-small-ant-of-hatred/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“Lies are like ants; there's never just one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-ash/lies-are-like-ants-there-s-never-just-one/) Julia Ash > [There's a scientific hypothesis that every person's name is a primary suggestive command that contains the entire script of their life in highly concentrated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-pelevin/there-s-a-scientific-hypothesis-that-every-person-s-name-is-a-primary/) [Victor Pelevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-pelevin/) > [When I was little, I would burn ants with a magnifying glass. But now that I'm older, I'm more of a cat guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/when-i-was-little-i-would-burn-ants-with-a-magnifying-glass-but-now/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [If ants were the size of humans, they would be able to run twice as fast as a Lamborghini.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-ants-were-the-size-of-humans-they-would-be-able-to-run-twice-as/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 499 Ants quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ants/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My grandmother was unsurpassable at sitting. 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