--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We could already try to lend a hand, to…" description: "\"“We could already try to lend a hand, to intervene if only by simply moving objects around. This would be better, on the whole, than waiting for the th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8aa/tom-mcdonough-22302_56_we-could-already-try-to-lend-a-hand-to-i_1042981.jpg" --- # We could already try to lend a hand, to intervene if only… ![“We could already try to lend a hand, to intervene if only by simply moving objects around. This would be better, on the whole, than waiting for the thick wall encircling life to brutally make the first move. (As happens during wartime.)” quote by Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8aa/tom-mcdonough-22302_56_we-could-already-try-to-lend-a-hand-to-i_1042981.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8aa/tom-mcdonough-22302_56_we-could-already-try-to-lend-a-hand-to-i_1042981.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8aa/tom-mcdonough-22302_56_we-could-already-try-to-lend-a-hand-to-i_1042981.jpg) > ““We could already try to lend a hand, to intervene if only by simply moving objects around. This would be better, on the whole, than waiting for the thick wall encircling life to brutally make the first move. (As happens during wartime.)”” [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We should act to help, even in small ways, rather than waiting for massive forces to force change. **In simple terms:** Act now instead of waiting for big events. Key Takeaway Take small, proactive steps. Themes help intervention agency wait action Mood determined hopeful Type motivational ethical When to use this quote - personal relationships - community crisis - global conflict - environmental disaster Key Concepts ethical responsibility agency collective action Questions to Reflect On - What small action can you take today? - How do you balance personal effort with larger forces? A Different Perspective Small actions may seem insignificant compared to larger systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [City](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/city/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Situationist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/situationist/) ## Related quotes > [“4. Radicalism of forms. If a new model once created meets with much success on account of its greater efficiency than its predecessor, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/4-radicalism-of-forms-if-a-new-model-once-created-meets-with-much/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“Because of this false idea, they devised an aesthetic belief in making the exterior of an object a reflection of the practical functions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/because-of-this-false-idea-they-devised-an-aesthetic-belief-in-making/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“All that remains of the garden city in our own day are traffic-free enclaves, islands in a sea of traffic where the pedestrian leads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/all-that-remains-of-the-garden-city-in-our-own-day-are-traffic-free/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“Byproduct of the circulation of commodities, human circulation considered as a form of consumption, tourism comes down fundamentally to the freedom to go and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/byproduct-of-the-circulation-of-commodities-human-circulation/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“...the assessment of psychological drift, that is the way in which an undirected pedestrian tends to move about in a particular quarter of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/the-assessment-of-psychological-drift-that-is-the-way-in-which-an/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“Henceforth the crisis of urbanism is all the more concretely a social and political one, even though today no force born of traditional politics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/henceforth-the-crisis-of-urbanism-is-all-the-more-concretely-a-social/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“Unitary urbanism's point of departure is the changeableness of our aspirations and our activities. We know that neither eternal truth nor absolute beauty exist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/unitary-urbanism-s-point-of-departure-is-the-changeableness-of-our/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“8. Conditions of Dialogue The functional is what is practical. The only practical thing is the resolution of our fundamental problem: the realization of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/8-conditions-of-dialogue-the-functional-is-what-is-practical-the-only/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“The alarming lack of ideas that is recognizable in all acts of culture, politics, organization of life, and the rest is explained by this,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/the-alarming-lack-of-ideas-that-is-recognizable-in-all-acts-of/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“There was good in seahorses, in yellow dwarfs of destiny, but they are in no way adapted to the requirements of modern life. Gilles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/there-was-good-in-seahorses-in-yellow-dwarfs-of-destiny-but-they-are/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“They laid up in the shade of a rock shelf until past noon, scratching out a place in the gray lava dust to sleep,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-laid-up-in-the-shade-of-a-rock-shelf-until-past-noon-scratching/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“We are leading as thorough a study of 'alienation's positive pole' as of its negative pole. As a consequence of our diagnosis of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/we-are-leading-as-thorough-a-study-of-alienation-s-positive-pole-as/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“I am suggesting is that the past, as we remember it, has little to do with causal or determining factos that have in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernesto-spinelli/i-am-suggesting-is-that-the-past-as-we-remember-it-has-little-to-do/) [Ernesto Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernesto-spinelli/) > [“We are bored in the city, to still discover mysteries on the signs along the street, latest state of humor and poetry, requires getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/we-are-bored-in-the-city-to-still-discover-mysteries-on-the-signs/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“So many problems we will get to the bottom of later, but whose spatial aspect we must grasp right away. If the space of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/so-many-problems-we-will-get-to-the-bottom-of-later-but-whose-spatial/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) ## More by Tom McDonough > [“So many problems we will get to the bottom of later, but whose spatial aspect we must grasp right away. If the space of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/so-many-problems-we-will-get-to-the-bottom-of-later-but-whose-spatial/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“We are bored in the city, to still discover mysteries on the signs along the street, latest state of humor and poetry, requires getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/we-are-bored-in-the-city-to-still-discover-mysteries-on-the-signs/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“We are leading as thorough a study of 'alienation's positive pole' as of its negative pole. As a consequence of our diagnosis of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/we-are-leading-as-thorough-a-study-of-alienation-s-positive-pole-as/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [ “We must change life,' the poet \[Rimbaud\] had written, and so the Situationists set out to transform everyday life in the modern world through… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/we-must-change-life-the-poet-rimbaud-had-written-and-so-the/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“There was good in seahorses, in yellow dwarfs of destiny, but they are in no way adapted to the requirements of modern life. Gilles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/there-was-good-in-seahorses-in-yellow-dwarfs-of-destiny-but-they-are/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“The alarming lack of ideas that is recognizable in all acts of culture, politics, organization of life, and the rest is explained by this,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/the-alarming-lack-of-ideas-that-is-recognizable-in-all-acts-of/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“8. Conditions of Dialogue The functional is what is practical. The only practical thing is the resolution of our fundamental problem: the realization of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/8-conditions-of-dialogue-the-functional-is-what-is-practical-the-only/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“Unitary urbanism's point of departure is the changeableness of our aspirations and our activities. We know that neither eternal truth nor absolute beauty exist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/unitary-urbanism-s-point-of-departure-is-the-changeableness-of-our/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“We leave to monsieur Le Corbusier his style that suits factories as well as it does hospitals. And the prisons of the future: is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/we-leave-to-monsieur-le-corbusier-his-style-that-suits-factories-as/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“Henceforth the crisis of urbanism is all the more concretely a social and political one, even though today no force born of traditional politics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/henceforth-the-crisis-of-urbanism-is-all-the-more-concretely-a-social/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“Here too, as in the Commune almost a century earlier, the struggle was articulated around the hope that 'the antithesis between the everyday and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/here-too-as-in-the-commune-almost-a-century-earlier-the-struggle-was/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“Everyone wavers between the emotionally still-alive past ad the already dead future. Gilles Ivain (aka Ivan Chtcheglov)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/everyone-wavers-between-the-emotionally-still-alive-past-ad-the/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“...the assessment of psychological drift, that is the way in which an undirected pedestrian tends to move about in a particular quarter of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/the-assessment-of-psychological-drift-that-is-the-way-in-which-an/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“Byproduct of the circulation of commodities, human circulation considered as a form of consumption, tourism comes down fundamentally to the freedom to go and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/byproduct-of-the-circulation-of-commodities-human-circulation/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) > [“All that remains of the garden city in our own day are traffic-free enclaves, islands in a sea of traffic where the pedestrian leads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/all-that-remains-of-the-garden-city-in-our-own-day-are-traffic-free/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) [Explore all 27 Tom McDonough quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) ## More 56 quotes > [“I am suggesting is that the past, as we remember it, has little to do with causal or determining factos that have in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernesto-spinelli/i-am-suggesting-is-that-the-past-as-we-remember-it-has-little-to-do/) [Ernesto Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernesto-spinelli/) > [“They laid up in the shade of a rock shelf until past noon, scratching out a place in the gray lava dust to sleep,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-laid-up-in-the-shade-of-a-rock-shelf-until-past-noon-scratching/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“4. Radicalism of forms. If a new model once created meets with much success on account of its greater efficiency than its predecessor, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/4-radicalism-of-forms-if-a-new-model-once-created-meets-with-much/) [Tom McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/) Browse all 4 56 quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We could already try to lend a hand, to intervene if only by simply moving objects around. This would be better, on the whole, than waiting for the thick wall encircling life to brutally make the first move. (As happens during wartime.)”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom McDonough" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/we-could-already-try-to-lend-a-hand-to-intervene-if-only-by-simply/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "56" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/we-could-already-try-to-lend-a-hand-to-intervene-if-only-by-simply/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8aa/tom-mcdonough-22302_56_we-could-already-try-to-lend-a-hand-to-i_1042981.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8aa/tom-mcdonough-22302_56_we-could-already-try-to-lend-a-hand-to-i_1042981.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8aa/tom-mcdonough-22302_56_we-could-already-try-to-lend-a-hand-to-i_1042981.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We could already try to lend a hand, to intervene if only by simply moving objects around. This would be…” — Tom McDonough", "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": "Tom McDonough", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-mcdonough/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“We could already try to lend...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/we-could-already-try-to-lend-a-hand-to-intervene-if-only-by-simply/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-mcdonough/we-could-already-try-to-lend-a-hand-to-intervene-if-only-by-simply/#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 } } ] } ```