--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We can't just stop. We're not…" description: "\"We can't just stop. We're not rocks-progress, migration, motion is... modernity. It's ANIMATE, it's what living things do. We desire. Even if all we de..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/tony-kushner-2204_desire_we-can-t-just-stop-we-re-not-rocks-progr_3110704.jpg" --- # We can't just stop. We're not rocks-progress, migration… ![“We can't just stop. We're not rocks-progress, migration, motion is... modernity. It's ANIMATE, it's what living things do. We desire. Even if all we desire is stillness, it's still desire for.” quote by Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/tony-kushner-2204_desire_we-can-t-just-stop-we-re-not-rocks-progr_3110704.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/tony-kushner-2204_desire_we-can-t-just-stop-we-re-not-rocks-progr_3110704.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/tony-kushner-2204_desire_we-can-t-just-stop-we-re-not-rocks-progr_3110704.jpg) > “We can't just stop. We're not rocks-progress, migration, motion is... modernity. It's ANIMATE, it's what living things do. We desire. Even if all we desire is stillness, it's still desire for.” [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Change is constant; motion defines modern life, even desire for stillness is still desire. **In simple terms:** Life is always moving; even wanting stillness is a desire. Key Takeaway Accept change, channel desire product. Themes change motion desire modernity stillness progress Mood thoughtful inspirational philosophical Type existential motivational When to use this quote - career planning - creative projects - personal goals - societal trends Key Concepts philosophy existentialism dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance desire for stability with the need for progress? - What drives your desire for motion? A Different Perspective Desire for stillness may conflict with inevitable change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Living things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-things/) [Migration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/migration/) [Modernity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modernity/) [Modernity Animate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modernity-animate-5431774/) [Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motion/) [Motion Modernity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motion-modernity-5431773/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Progress Migration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress-migration-5431775/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/) [Rocks Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks-progress-5431776/) [Stillness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stillness/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) ## Related quotes > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [Electronic aids, particularly domestic computers, will helpthe inner migration, the opting out of reality. Reality is no longer going to be the stuff out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/electronic-aids-particularly-domestic-computers-will-helpthe-inner/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [The aim is to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal migration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theresa-may/the-aim-is-to-create-here-in-britain-a-really-hostile-environment-for/) [Theresa May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theresa-may/) > [We are in the middle of a tough, ideological conflict that is being waged across the entire continent. On the one side are those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-schulz/we-are-in-the-middle-of-a-tough-ideological-conflict-that-is-being/) [Martin Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-schulz/) > [Migration powers economic growth, reduces inequalities, and connects diverse societies. Yet it is also a source of political tensions and human tragedies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-guterres/migration-powers-economic-growth-reduces-inequalities-and-connects/) [Antonio Guterres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-guterres/) > [I am not against migration. It is simply pragmatic to restrict migration, while at the same time encouraging integration and fighting discrimination. I support…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayaan-hirsi-ali/i-am-not-against-migration-it-is-simply-pragmatic-to-restrict/) [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayaan-hirsi-ali/) > [The first Black Migration to this country was forced migration. It was the Middle Passage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barr/the-first-black-migration-to-this-country-was-forced-migration-it-was/) [William Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barr/) > [“South of Larissa the landscape began to change. Jude watched an irrigation machine like a giant stick insect creeping over a field, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-alkazraji/south-of-larissa-the-landscape-began-to-change-jude-watched-an/) [Paul Alkazraji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-alkazraji/) > [“You must regard this deviation from your plan as part of the adventure that you sought when you decided to embark on it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-yamey/you-must-regard-this-deviation-from-your-plan-as-part-of-the/) [Adam Yamey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-yamey/) > [Migration is a feature of globalisation. You can’t stop it; so every time a political party says it is going to be tough on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hodge/migration-is-a-feature-of-globalisation-you-can-t-stop-it-so-every/) [Margaret Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hodge/) > [If our goal is to slow migration, then the best way to do so is to work for a more equitable global system. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aviva-chomsky/if-our-goal-is-to-slow-migration-then-the-best-way-to-do-so-is-to/) [Aviva Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aviva-chomsky/) > [I believe that many lives around us now can reflect this strange pattern of migration and movement. The question is: are we aware of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-dawes/i-believe-that-many-lives-around-us-now-can-reflect-this-strange/) [Kwame Dawes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-dawes/) > [One cat just leads to another. The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/one-cat-just-leads-to-another-the-place-is-so-damned-big-it-doesn-t/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [We need to fight to prove to people that it is possible to form an E.U. migration policy that is in line with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-orban/we-need-to-fight-to-prove-to-people-that-it-is-possible-to-form-an-e/) [Viktor Orban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-orban/) > [I think those who say that you can't tango if you are not Argentine are mistaken. Tango was an immigrant music... so it does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-gavito/i-think-those-who-say-that-you-can-t-tango-if-you-are-not-argentine/) [Carlos Gavito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-gavito/) ## More by Tony Kushner > [My whole life has conspired to bring me to this place, and I can’t despise my whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/my-whole-life-has-conspired-to-bring-me-to-this-place-and-i-can-t/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [The big influence on me was Robert Altman, who, especially in 'Nashville,' transformed my sense of dramatic structure and showed how you could handle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/the-big-influence-on-me-was-robert-altman-who-especially-in-nashville/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [“Fabulous. If you possess it, you don’t need to ask what it is. When you attempt to delineate it, you move away from it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/fabulous-if-you-possess-it-you-don-t-need-to-ask-what-it-is-when-you/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [People are more easily manipulated when they don't have information. If you ensure that kids grow up without basic reading skills, math skills, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/people-are-more-easily-manipulated-when-they-don-t-have-information/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [The white cracker who wrote the National Anthem knew what he was doing. 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I actually think that people are never stuck, there’s no such thing as writers block, I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/i-never-really-feel-that-i-m-stuck-i-actually-think-that-people-are/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [The act of thinking and interpreting is so central to Judaism that it makes more sense that we've become people like Woody Allen -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/the-act-of-thinking-and-interpreting-is-so-central-to-judaism-that-it/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [Respect the delicate ecology of your delusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/respect-the-delicate-ecology-of-your-delusions/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [The general consensus among historians, among the ones who can handle the fact that 'Lincoln' is, in fact, historical fiction, is that we demonstrate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/the-general-consensus-among-historians-among-the-ones-who-can-handle/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [“I've lived through such terrible times and there are people who live through much worse. But you see them living anyway. When they're more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/i-ve-lived-through-such-terrible-times-and-there-are-people-who-live/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [When really writing I'm not a good friend. Because writing disorganizes the social self, you become atomized. It scrambles you, sometimes to the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/when-really-writing-i-m-not-a-good-friend-because-writing/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [My back went out and I gained 40 pounds while sweating over 'Perestroika.' It was incredibly hard, the hardest thing I had to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/my-back-went-out-and-i-gained-40-pounds-while-sweating-over/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [Film is like tech starts on the first day of filming and it never stops. 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He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We can't just stop. We're not rocks-progress, migration, motion is... modernity. It's ANIMATE, it's what living things do. We desire. 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