--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We drift down time, clutching at straws…" description: "\"We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a brick to a drowning man?\" — Tom Stoppard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d54/tom-stoppard-437_bricks_we-drift-down-time-clutching-at-straws-b_2231036.jpg" --- # We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a… ![“We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a brick to a drowning man?” quote by Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d54/tom-stoppard-437_bricks_we-drift-down-time-clutching-at-straws-b_2231036.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d54/tom-stoppard-437_bricks_we-drift-down-time-clutching-at-straws-b_2231036.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d54/tom-stoppard-437_bricks_we-drift-down-time-clutching-at-straws-b_2231036.jpg) > “We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a brick to a drowning man?” [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We cling to futile hopes while drowning, yet a brick—an inadequate tool—cannot rescue us. **In simple terms:** Clinging to useless hopes is futile. Key Takeaway Seek realistic solutions over desperate hopes. Themes hope survival inefficacy Mood reflective critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - emergencies - personal crises - resource allocation - mental health Key Concepts human desperation problem solving resource adequacy Questions to Reflect On - What realistic tools can you use in crisis? - When is hope itself valuable? A Different Perspective Hope can be essential even if not immediately effective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Put your sweet hand in mine, and we'll dance in space and drift through time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-your-sweet-hand-in-mine-and-we-ll-dance-in-space-and-drift/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“That is the germ of my great discovery. But you are wrong to say that we cannot move about in Time. For instance, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/that-is-the-germ-of-my-great-discovery-but-you-are-wrong-to-say-that/) [H.G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-2/) > [A drowning man will clutch at a straw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-more/a-drowning-man-will-clutch-at-a-straw/) [Thomas More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-more/) > [Religion is as helpful as throwing a drowning man both ends of a rope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/religion-is-as-helpful-as-throwing-a-drowning-man-both-ends-of-a-rope/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You must cry out if you want help. It is no use whatsoever to suffer in silence. Who will succour the drowning man if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamala-markandaya/you-must-cry-out-if-you-want-help-it-is-no-use-whatsoever-to-suffer/) [Kamala Markandaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamala-markandaya/) > [A gun is like breath to a drowning man--it has to be drawn in haste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-m-cain/a-gun-is-like-breath-to-a-drowning-man-it-has-to-be-drawn-in-haste/) [James M. Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-m-cain/) > [I can't tell if a straw ever saved a drowning man, but I know that a mere glance is enough to make dspair pause.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-can-t-tell-if-a-straw-ever-saved-a-drowning-man-but-i-know-that-a/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [He kissed me desperately, like a drowning man and I was his oxygen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-hocking/he-kissed-me-desperately-like-a-drowning-man-and-i-was-his-oxygen/) [Amanda Hocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-hocking/) > [I never had a lot of drive, but because I had family responsibilities, I had a lot of tenacity - the tenacity of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-van-dyke/i-never-had-a-lot-of-drive-but-because-i-had-family-responsibilities/) [Dick Van Dyke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-van-dyke/) > [“If I have unjustly wrested a plank from a drowning man, I must restore it to him though I drown myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-i-have-unjustly-wrested-a-plank-from-a-drowning-man-i-must-restore/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Sometimes I'd see my father, walking past my building on his way to another nowhere. I could have given him a key, offered a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-flynn/sometimes-i-d-see-my-father-walking-past-my-building-on-his-way-to/) [Nick Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-flynn/) > [“Never put your have out to a drowning man. I saw that on an HV special once. If you do, they grab onto you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-kauffman/never-put-your-have-out-to-a-drowning-man-i-saw-that-on-an-hv-special/) May Kauffman > [It's only water," she said. "Tell that to a drowning man," Giddon said.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/it-s-only-water-she-said-tell-that-to-a-drowning-man-giddon-said/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [“There is a major difference between a scuba diver and a drowning man. One is in control of his experiences, the other is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laren-grey-umphlett/there-is-a-major-difference-between-a-scuba-diver-and-a-drowning-man/) [Laren Grey Umphlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laren-grey-umphlett/) > [“Shame isn't a quiet grey cloud, shame is a drowning man who claws his way on top of you, scratching and tearing your skin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsty-eagar/shame-isn-t-a-quiet-grey-cloud-shame-is-a-drowning-man-who-claws-his/) [Kirsty Eagar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsty-eagar/) ## More by Tom Stoppard > [If I wanted to change the world, the last thing I would do is write a play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-i-wanted-to-change-the-world-the-last-thing-i-would-do-is-write-a/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [If you want to change something by Tuesday, theater is no good. Journalism is what does that. But, if you want to just alter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-you-want-to-change-something-by-tuesday-theater-is-no-good/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-all-these-years-i-definitely-associate-having-a-pen-in-my-hand/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [The universe is deterministic all right, just like Newton said, I mean it's trying to be, but the only thing going wrong is people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/the-universe-is-deterministic-all-right-just-like-newton-said-i-mean/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [For me, human rights simply endorse a view of life and a set of moral values that are perfectly clear to an eight-year-old child.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/for-me-human-rights-simply-endorse-a-view-of-life-and-a-set-of-moral/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [“What is an artist? For every thousand people there's nine hundred doing the work, ninety doing well, nine doing good, and one lucky bastard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/what-is-an-artist-for-every-thousand-people-there-s-nine-hundred/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Dying is not romantic, and death is not a game which will soon be over... Death is not anything... death is not... It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/dying-is-not-romantic-and-death-is-not-a-game-which-will-soon-be-over/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I'm not interested in clothes; I just like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-m-not-interested-in-clothes-i-just-like-them/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [For 10 years of my life, 3 times a day, I thanked the Lord for what I was about to receive and thanked him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/for-10-years-of-my-life-3-times-a-day-i-thanked-the-lord-for-what-i/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [You should not translate for more than two hours at a time. After that, you lose your edge, the language becomes clumsy, rigid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/you-should-not-translate-for-more-than-two-hours-at-a-time-after-that/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [No matter how imperfect things are, if you've got a free press everything is correctable, and without it everything is concealable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/no-matter-how-imperfect-things-are-if-you-ve-got-a-free-press/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [We must be born with an intuition of mortality. Before we know the word for it. Before we know that there are words. Out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-must-be-born-with-an-intuition-of-mortality-before-we-know-the/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/eternity-s-a-terrible-thought-i-mean-where-s-it-all-going-to-end/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [There is truth and falsehood in a comma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/there-is-truth-and-falsehood-in-a-comma/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) [Explore all 559 Tom Stoppard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## More Bricks quotes > [ Leave a cavity behind the \[wall\] facings, and on the inside build walls two feet thick, made of red dimension stone or burnt brick… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/leave-a-cavity-behind-the-wall-facings-and-on-the-inside-build-walls/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [That city is well fortified which has a wall of men instead of brick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-city-is-well-fortified-which-has-a-wall-of-men-instead-of-brick/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [LEGO is universal. So many people enjoy it, from all different walks of life, all different ages, all different cultures. When I was in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-sawaya/lego-is-universal-so-many-people-enjoy-it-from-all-different-walks-of/) [Nathan Sawaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-sawaya/) > [Even if you tried to extinguish your personality, what is left in the story will reflect it, perhaps by its negation. Our lives provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/even-if-you-tried-to-extinguish-your-personality-what-is-left-in-the/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [I am the enfant terrible of literature and science. If I cannot, and I know I cannot, get the literary and scientific bigwigs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/i-am-the-enfant-terrible-of-literature-and-science-if-i-cannot-and-i/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [The Brick House was one of the toughest joints I ever played in ... Guys would drink and fight one another like circle saws.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-armstrong/the-brick-house-was-one-of-the-toughest-joints-i-ever-played-in-guys/) [Louis Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-armstrong/) > [I am always really buzzed after each performance, and at around one in the morning, Ill hit a brick wall and need to sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hattie-morahan/i-am-always-really-buzzed-after-each-performance-and-at-around-one-in/) [Hattie Morahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hattie-morahan/) > [“Savannah gray bricks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-kay-andrews/savannah-gray-bricks/) [Mary Kay Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-kay-andrews/) > [I still have the desire to do the job of acting. It's just a matter of whether I'll be allowed to do the job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-coleman/i-still-have-the-desire-to-do-the-job-of-acting-it-s-just-a-matter-of/) [Gary Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-coleman/) > [Rebuilding a network is a slow, brick-by-brick process. It's not just creating a hit show - it's building shows to back up that hit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-moonves/rebuilding-a-network-is-a-slow-brick-by-brick-process-it-s-not-just/) [Leslie Moonves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-moonves/) > [Build your life brick upon brick, Live a life of truth, And you will look back on a life of truth. Live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ming-dao-deng/build-your-life-brick-upon-brick-live-a-life-of-truth-and-you-will/) [Ming-Dao Deng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ming-dao-deng/) > [You have those walls up all around you...Come a day you gonna want to tear them down brick by brick and gonna find that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/you-have-those-walls-up-all-around-you-come-a-day-you-gonna-want-to/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [“As an employee, you’re not supposed to say the bricks come from modern day Iran or modern day Turkey. No, they come from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-a-hill-jr/as-an-employee-you-re-not-supposed-to-say-the-bricks-come-from-modern/) David A. Hill Jr > [“Two bricks, parallel and horizontal, equals an equal sign. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/two-bricks-parallel-and-horizontal-equals-an-equal-sign/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“Didn’t every new thing you did become a part of you, one of your bricks?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/didn-t-every-new-thing-you-did-become-a-part-of-you-one-of-your-bricks/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) Browse all 587 Bricks quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a brick to a drowning man?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Stoppard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-drift-down-time-clutching-at-straws-but-what-good-s-a-brick-to-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bricks" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-drift-down-time-clutching-at-straws-but-what-good-s-a-brick-to-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d54/tom-stoppard-437_bricks_we-drift-down-time-clutching-at-straws-b_2231036.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d54/tom-stoppard-437_bricks_we-drift-down-time-clutching-at-straws-b_2231036.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d54/tom-stoppard-437_bricks_we-drift-down-time-clutching-at-straws-b_2231036.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a brick to a drowning man?” — Tom Stoppard", "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 Stoppard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We drift down time, clutching at...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-drift-down-time-clutching-at-straws-but-what-good-s-a-brick-to-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-drift-down-time-clutching-at-straws-but-what-good-s-a-brick-to-a/#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 } } ] } ```