--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When much is taken, something is returned." description: "\"When much is taken, something is returned.\" — Terry Pratchett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/437/terry-pratchett-19_taken_when-much-is-taken-something-is-returned_1783656.jpg" --- # When much is taken, something is returned. ![“When much is taken, something is returned.” quote by Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/437/terry-pratchett-19_taken_when-much-is-taken-something-is-returned_1783656.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/437/terry-pratchett-19_taken_when-much-is-taken-something-is-returned_1783656.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/437/terry-pratchett-19_taken_when-much-is-taken-something-is-returned_1783656.jpg) > “When much is taken, something is returned.” [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When something is taken away, something else is given in return, often balancing loss. **In simple terms:** Loss brings new gain. Key Takeaway Embrace exchange of loss and gain. Themes balance loss exchange Mood contemplative hopeful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - grief processing - career transition - resource allocation Key Concepts ethics economics Questions to Reflect On - What have you gained after a loss? - Can you see hidden benefits in setbacks? A Different Perspective Not all losses are compensated equally; some are irreversible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Returned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/returned/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Taken Returned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken-returned-1884466/) ## Related quotes > [I have a really good band, and just returned from a short tour in California. It hasn't always gone that well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-taylor/i-have-a-really-good-band-and-just-returned-from-a-short-tour-in/) [Mick Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-taylor/) > [My form is more on the lines of a Chinese porcelain-jar juggler. They learn it as a child. They learn, learn, learn, learn -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moschen/my-form-is-more-on-the-lines-of-a-chinese-porcelain-jar-juggler-they/) [Michael Moschen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moschen/) > [The Spanish troops returned and we could yet discover the grass beaten down in the direction which they went.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zebulon-pike/the-spanish-troops-returned-and-we-could-yet-discover-the-grass/) [Zebulon Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zebulon-pike/) > [The shaved head with which I returned to university in my second year was meant to give me a new air of mystery and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivo-graham/the-shaved-head-with-which-i-returned-to-university-in-my-second-year/) [Ivo Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivo-graham/) > [I, made in England, felt excluded, miffed, resistant to the idea of even visiting India, a position of increasing absurdity as, one by one,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/i-made-in-england-felt-excluded-miffed-resistant-to-the-idea-of-even/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [I was brought up largely by my grandfather because my father only returned from a prisoner-of-war camp in 1947 and worked in the nearest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-was-brought-up-largely-by-my-grandfather-because-my-father-only/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Why is it our business whether Sarah Palin returned to her job as governor three days after her son was born, or three months?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-estrich/why-is-it-our-business-whether-sarah-palin-returned-to-her-job-as/) [Susan Estrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-estrich/) > [I was born in Mexico because my father was teaching at a school in Mexico City. I was born during the third year he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupita-nyong-o/i-was-born-in-mexico-because-my-father-was-teaching-at-a-school-in/) [Lupita Nyong'o](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupita-nyong-o/) > [“As often as I have been amongst men, I have returned less a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucius-annaeus-seneca/as-often-as-i-have-been-amongst-men-i-have-returned-less-a-man/) [Lucius Annaeus Seneca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucius-annaeus-seneca/) > [“ten when we first arrived there and twelve when we returned to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chasity-bowlin/ten-when-we-first-arrived-there-and-twelve-when-we-returned-to/) [Chasity Bowlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chasity-bowlin/) > [The next time? Oh, my dear Eliza, you're not going to carry on with this, are you? The Faceless Ones had their chance. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-landy/the-next-time-oh-my-dear-eliza-you-re-not-going-to-carry-on-with-this/) [Derek Landy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-landy/) > [“You may come back as soon as your senses have returned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-atwater-rhodes/you-may-come-back-as-soon-as-your-senses-have-returned/) [Amelia Atwater-Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-atwater-rhodes/) > [People, your Government has returned to you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/people-your-government-has-returned-to-you/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [A run has never returned me exactly the same. I go, I grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-armstrong/a-run-has-never-returned-me-exactly-the-same-i-go-i-grow/) [Kristin Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-armstrong/) > [“My sweet nemesis , how glad I am that you returned”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/my-sweet-nemesis-how-glad-i-am-that-you-returned/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) ## More by Terry Pratchett > [“This one’s mental.’ ‘Eccentric.’ ‘What’s the difference?’ ‘A bag of cash.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/this-one-s-mental-eccentric-what-s-the-difference-a-bag-of-cash/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“But I did not return until half past four this morning and I distinctly remember stubbing my toe on the stairs. I am as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/but-i-did-not-return-until-half-past-four-this-morning-and-i/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Someone broke from the scrum and, punching and kicking, staggered towards the Klatchian goal. "Isn't that man your butler?" said Ahmed. "Yes." "One of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/someone-broke-from-the-scrum-and-punching-and-kicking-staggered/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [It's an interesting fact that fewer than 17 % of Real cats end their lives with the same name they started with. Much family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/it-s-an-interesting-fact-that-fewer-than-17-of-real-cats-end-their/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [You can't trust folk songs. They always sneak up on you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-can-t-trust-folk-songs-they-always-sneak-up-on-you/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Either dragons should exist completely or fail to exist at all, he felt. A dragon only half-existing was worse than the extremes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/either-dragons-should-exist-completely-or-fail-to-exist-at-all-he/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Magrat wondered what it was like, spending your whole life doing something you didn’t want to do. Like being dead, she considered, only worse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/magrat-wondered-what-it-was-like-spending-your-whole-life-doing/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [A hardback's harder at Christmas time because that's a good hardback buying time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/a-hardback-s-harder-at-christmas-time-because-that-s-a-good-hardback/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“There were more old people. The world was full of them,' said the wizard. 'Yes, I know. And now it's full of young people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-were-more-old-people-the-world-was-full-of-them-said-the-wizard/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Hobson was big and heavyset, but not exactly fat; he was probably what you’d get if you shaved a bear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/hobson-was-big-and-heavyset-but-not-exactly-fat-he-was-probably-what/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“There is a night that never comes to an end… The clock of the world turns under its own shadow. Midnight is a moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-is-a-night-that-never-comes-to-an-end-the-clock-of-the-world/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“You'd like Freedom, Truth, and Justice, wouldn't you, Comrade Sergeant?' said Reg encouragingly. 'I'd like a hard-boiled egg,' said Vimes, shaking the match out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-d-like-freedom-truth-and-justice-wouldn-t-you-comrade-sergeant/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“You are not apprehensive, are you? I can't detect no trace of fear none whatsoever Roomy cranium all possible videos of all possible outcomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-are-not-apprehensive-are-you-i-can-t-detect-no-trace-of-fear-none/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Imagination, not intelligence, made us human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/imagination-not-intelligence-made-us-human/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Explore all 3,328 Terry Pratchett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## More Returned quotes > [I have a really good band, and just returned from a short tour in California. It hasn't always gone that well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-taylor/i-have-a-really-good-band-and-just-returned-from-a-short-tour-in/) [Mick Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-taylor/) > [A run has never returned me exactly the same. I go, I grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-armstrong/a-run-has-never-returned-me-exactly-the-same-i-go-i-grow/) [Kristin Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-armstrong/) > [People, your Government has returned to you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/people-your-government-has-returned-to-you/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [“You may come back as soon as your senses have returned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-atwater-rhodes/you-may-come-back-as-soon-as-your-senses-have-returned/) [Amelia Atwater-Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-atwater-rhodes/) > [The next time? Oh, my dear Eliza, you're not going to carry on with this, are you? The Faceless Ones had their chance. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-landy/the-next-time-oh-my-dear-eliza-you-re-not-going-to-carry-on-with-this/) [Derek Landy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-landy/) > [“ten when we first arrived there and twelve when we returned to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chasity-bowlin/ten-when-we-first-arrived-there-and-twelve-when-we-returned-to/) [Chasity Bowlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chasity-bowlin/) > [“As often as I have been amongst men, I have returned less a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucius-annaeus-seneca/as-often-as-i-have-been-amongst-men-i-have-returned-less-a-man/) [Lucius Annaeus Seneca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucius-annaeus-seneca/) > [I was born in Mexico because my father was teaching at a school in Mexico City. I was born during the third year he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupita-nyong-o/i-was-born-in-mexico-because-my-father-was-teaching-at-a-school-in/) [Lupita Nyong'o](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupita-nyong-o/) > [Why is it our business whether Sarah Palin returned to her job as governor three days after her son was born, or three months?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-estrich/why-is-it-our-business-whether-sarah-palin-returned-to-her-job-as/) [Susan Estrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-estrich/) > [I was brought up largely by my grandfather because my father only returned from a prisoner-of-war camp in 1947 and worked in the nearest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-was-brought-up-largely-by-my-grandfather-because-my-father-only/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [I, made in England, felt excluded, miffed, resistant to the idea of even visiting India, a position of increasing absurdity as, one by one,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/i-made-in-england-felt-excluded-miffed-resistant-to-the-idea-of-even/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [The shaved head with which I returned to university in my second year was meant to give me a new air of mystery and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivo-graham/the-shaved-head-with-which-i-returned-to-university-in-my-second-year/) [Ivo Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivo-graham/) > [The Spanish troops returned and we could yet discover the grass beaten down in the direction which they went.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zebulon-pike/the-spanish-troops-returned-and-we-could-yet-discover-the-grass/) [Zebulon Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zebulon-pike/) > [My form is more on the lines of a Chinese porcelain-jar juggler. They learn it as a child. They learn, learn, learn, learn -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moschen/my-form-is-more-on-the-lines-of-a-chinese-porcelain-jar-juggler-they/) [Michael Moschen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moschen/) > [“My sweet nemesis , how glad I am that you returned”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/my-sweet-nemesis-how-glad-i-am-that-you-returned/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) [Browse all 112 Returned quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/returned/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When much is taken, something is returned.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Terry Pratchett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/when-much-is-taken-something-is-returned/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Returned" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/when-much-is-taken-something-is-returned/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/437/terry-pratchett-19_taken_when-much-is-taken-something-is-returned_1783656.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/437/terry-pratchett-19_taken_when-much-is-taken-something-is-returned_1783656.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/437/terry-pratchett-19_taken_when-much-is-taken-something-is-returned_1783656.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When much is taken, something is returned.” — Terry Pratchett", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Terry Pratchett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When much is taken, something is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/when-much-is-taken-something-is-returned/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/when-much-is-taken-something-is-returned/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```