--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are always surprises. Life may be…" description: "\"There are always surprises. Life may be inveterately grim and the surprises disproportionately unpleasant, but it would be hardly worth living if there..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdc/t-c-boyle-8108_exception_there-are-always-surprises-life-may-be-i_293763.jpg" --- # There are always surprises. Life may be inveterately grim… ![“There are always surprises. Life may be inveterately grim and the surprises disproportionately unpleasant, but it would be hardly worth living if there were no exceptions, no sunny days, no acts of random kindness.” quote by T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdc/t-c-boyle-8108_exception_there-are-always-surprises-life-may-be-i_293763.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdc/t-c-boyle-8108_exception_there-are-always-surprises-life-may-be-i_293763.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdc/t-c-boyle-8108_exception_there-are-always-surprises-life-may-be-i_293763.jpg) > “There are always surprises. Life may be inveterately grim and the surprises disproportionately unpleasant, but it would be hardly worth living if there were no exceptions, no sunny days, no acts of random kindness.” [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is often bleak, but occasional pleasant surprises—sunny days or random kindness—give it meaning and make it worth living. **In simple terms:** Surprises bring hope to a grim life. Key Takeaway Appreciate and seek out unexpected kindness. Themes hope resilience unexpected joy Mood hopeful contemplative Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - daily routines - mental health - community interactions Key Concepts Existential meaning psychology of surprise Questions to Reflect On - What small kindness have you experienced recently? - How can you create more sunny moments? A Different Perspective Not all surprises are positive; they can be rare. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Random kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/random-kindness/) [Sunny day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunny-day/) [Surprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surprise/) [Surprises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surprises/) [Worth living](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worth-living/) ## Related quotes > [It's probably even the case that if you stoked up some Buddhist monks with tons of testosterone, they'd become wildly competitive as to who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-sapolsky/it-s-probably-even-the-case-that-if-you-stoked-up-some-buddhist-monks/) [Robert M. Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-sapolsky/) > [We live in a world that has very sharp edges. It can be very bitter and if you come across a little bit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-schofield/we-live-in-a-world-that-has-very-sharp-edges-it-can-be-very-bitter/) [Phillip Schofield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-schofield/) > [Have you had a kindness shown? Pass it on; 'Twas not given for thee alone, Pass it on; Let it travel down the years,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-burton/have-you-had-a-kindness-shown-pass-it-on-twas-not-given-for-thee/) Henry Burton > [Do your little bit of good where you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/do-your-little-bit-of-good-where-you-are/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/to-laugh-often-and-love-much-to-win-the-respect-of-intelligent-2/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-freeman/how-do-we-change-the-world-one-random-act-of-kindness-at-a-time/) [Morgan Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-freeman/) > [Some people may feel Lonely even when he/she is surrounded people that this person knows, its because no one there truly knows this person.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-people-may-feel-lonely-even-when-he-she-is-surrounded-people/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You cannot do a kindness too soon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/you-cannot-do-a-kindness-too-soon/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He who sows courtesy reaps friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-basil/he-who-sows-courtesy-reaps-friendship/) [Saint Basil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-basil/) > [The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-earhart/the-greatest-work-that-kindness-does-to-others-is-that-it-makes-them/) [Amelia Earhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-earhart/) > [Too often we underestimate the power of a touch...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-buscaglia/too-often-we-underestimate-the-power-of-a-touch/) [Leo Buscaglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-buscaglia/) > [He who plants kindness gathers love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-basil/he-who-plants-kindness-gathers-love/) [Saint Basil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-basil/) > [What surprises me in life are not the marriages that fail, but the marriages that succeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-hayworth/what-surprises-me-in-life-are-not-the-marriages-that-fail-but-the/) [Rita Hayworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-hayworth/) > [We can't even imagine what surprises life can give us...!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yashowardhan/we-can-t-even-imagine-what-surprises-life-can-give-us/) [Yashowardhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yashowardhan/) > [Into all our lives, in many simple, familiar, homely ways, God infuses this element of joy from the surprises of life, which unexpectedly brighten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-longfellow/into-all-our-lives-in-many-simple-familiar-homely-ways-god-infuses/) Samuel Longfellow ## More by T.C. Boyle > [Everything we do is escapism, because we'll all be dead and everything we do is completely meaningless. Why brush your teeth? Why not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/everything-we-do-is-escapism-because-we-ll-all-be-dead-and-everything/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [ The hardest thing in a novel is time. You've got \[a line like\] "two weeks later, he woke up with a headache," and you've… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/the-hardest-thing-in-a-novel-is-time-you-ve-got-a-line-like-two-weeks/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [Writing is a channeling of an individual experience; so is reading. That's what's so exciting about this art form - it's interactive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/writing-is-a-channeling-of-an-individual-experience-so-is-reading/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [I'm pretty hardcore. I stick exactly to what I'm doing. So I write a novel in one period, and then I'll write stories in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/i-m-pretty-hardcore-i-stick-exactly-to-what-i-m-doing-so-i-write-a/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [Work saved me. Literature saved me. It sounds corny but it's absolutely true. I was going in the wrong direction, but after the 9,000th…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/work-saved-me-literature-saved-me-it-sounds-corny-but-it-s-absolutely/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [“Besides, to like something, to really like it and come out and say so, is taking a terrible risk. I mean, what if I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/besides-to-like-something-to-really-like-it-and-come-out-and-say-so/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [“I am concerned with social and environmental issues. What rational person is not? But advocacy and art do not mix. Art is a seduction.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/i-am-concerned-with-social-and-environmental-issues-what-rational/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [Pleasure, I remind myself, is inseparable from its lawfully wedded mate, pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/pleasure-i-remind-myself-is-inseparable-from-its-lawfully-wedded-mate/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [A glad zest and hopefulness might be inspired even in the most jaded and ennui-cursed, were there in our homes such simple, truthful natures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/a-glad-zest-and-hopefulness-might-be-inspired-even-in-the-most-jaded/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [What I'm doing is exploring things. This is why I'm a fiction writer rather than an essayist or a politician or whatever. I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/what-i-m-doing-is-exploring-things-this-is-why-i-m-a-fiction-writer/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [“Who was she in high school? Little Miss Nobody. She could have embroidered it on her sweaters, tattooed it across her forehead. And in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/who-was-she-in-high-school-little-miss-nobody-she-could-have/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [The professorial dictum has always been to write what you know, but I say write what you don't know and find something out. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/the-professorial-dictum-has-always-been-to-write-what-you-know-but-i/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [A richly detailed, poignant, and utterly fascinating look into another culture and how it is cross-pollinated by our own. It brings to mind the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/a-richly-detailed-poignant-and-utterly-fascinating-look-into-another/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [I always listen to music while I'm working and I always read aloud to my wife. I love to read aloud to an audience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/i-always-listen-to-music-while-i-m-working-and-i-always-read-aloud-to/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [I have an idea and a first line -- and that suggests the rest of it. I have little concept of what I’m going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/i-have-an-idea-and-a-first-line-and-that-suggests-the-rest-of-it-i/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) [Explore all 83 T.C. 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Even when I'm doing the whole no-carb thing occasionally, I make an exception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-berkus/i-really-can-t-live-without-my-in-n-out-burgers-honestly-i-can-t-even/) [Nate Berkus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-berkus/) > [Alright, all right," I said. "What if I tell you a story, instead?" Highlanders loved stories, and Jamie was no exception. "Oh, aye, "…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/alright-all-right-i-said-what-if-i-tell-you-a-story-instead/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [But Margaret went less abroad, among machinery and men; saw less of power in its public effect, and, as it happened, she was thrown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gaskell/but-margaret-went-less-abroad-among-machinery-and-men-saw-less-of/) [Elizabeth Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gaskell/) > [My Chinese zodiac is a dog. But I'm an exception because of how much I love cats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-wu/my-chinese-zodiac-is-a-dog-but-i-m-an-exception-because-of-how-much-i/) [Jason Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-wu/) > [ I don't know if I know anyone, with the exception of the early inventors of rock music \[who wasn't influenced by something\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-don-t-know-if-i-know-anyone-with-the-exception-of-the-early/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [Child actors going on to become adult actors never really works, apart from a few. Jodie Foster was the exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lester/child-actors-going-on-to-become-adult-actors-never-really-works-apart/) Mark Lester > [I have no admiration for culture. I have no reserve knowledge, no provisional knowledge. 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