--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fulfillment, Shevek thought, is a…" description: "\"“Fulfillment, Shevek thought, is a function of time. The search for pleasure is circular, repetitive, atemporal, The variety seeking of the spectator, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a3/ursula-k-le-guin-138_human-strength_fulfillment-shevek-thought-is-a-function_1976335.jpg" --- # Fulfillment, Shevek thought, is a function of time. The… ![“Fulfillment, Shevek thought, is a function of time. The search for pleasure is circular, repetitive, atemporal, The variety seeking of the spectator, the thrill hunter, the sexually promiscuous, always ends in the same place. It has an end. It comes to the end and has to start over. It is not a…” quote by Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a3/ursula-k-le-guin-138_human-strength_fulfillment-shevek-thought-is-a-function_1976335.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a3/ursula-k-le-guin-138_human-strength_fulfillment-shevek-thought-is-a-function_1976335.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a3/ursula-k-le-guin-138_human-strength_fulfillment-shevek-thought-is-a-function_1976335.jpg) > ““Fulfillment, Shevek thought, is a function of time. The search for pleasure is circular, repetitive, atemporal, The variety seeking of the spectator, the thrill hunter, the sexually promiscuous, always ends in the same place. It has an end. It comes to the end and has to start over. It is not a journey and return, but a closed cycle, a locked room, a cell. Outside the locked room is the landscape of time, in which the spirit may, with luck and courage, construct the fragile, makeshift, improbable roads and cities of fidelity: a landscape inhabitable by human beings. It is not until an act occurs within the landscape of the past and the future that it is a human act. Loyalty, which asserts the continuity of past and future, binding time into a whole, is the root of human strength; there is no good to be done without it.”” [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fulfillment comes from building lasting, loyal connections across time, not from fleeting pleasures. **In simple terms:** True fulfillment requires loyalty and purposeful action over time. Key Takeaway Cultivate loyalty and purposeful deeds. Themes loyalty purpose time human strength Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - building relationships - long‑term projects - community building - personal growth Key Concepts continuity human agency temporal perspective Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn fleeting desires into lasting commitments? - What does loyalty look like in your daily life? A Different Perspective Pleasure‑seeking can be addictive and distract from lasting meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fulfillment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fulfillment/) [Human strength](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-strength/) [Loyalty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loyalty/) [Past and future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-and-future/) [Past And The Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-and-the-future/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“It is not until an act occurs within the landscape of the past and future that it is a human act. Loyalty, which asserts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/it-is-not-until-an-act-occurs-within-the-landscape-of-the-past-and/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [The future is foretold from the past and the future is only possible because of the past. 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Contiguity results, crystallization by means of solidification. There also exists, however, a spiritual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novalis/the-normal-present-connects-the-past-and-the-future-through/) [Novalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novalis/) > [ I think these things \[firearms\] were invented by Satan himself, for they can't be defended against with (ordinary) weapons and fists. All human strength… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/i-think-these-things-firearms-were-invented-by-satan-himself-for-they/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [Everybody wants to make more movies. You see any movie, and it's just a feat of human strength and perseverance. It is a brutally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-chandrasekhar/everybody-wants-to-make-more-movies-you-see-any-movie-and-it-s-just-a/) [Jay Chandrasekhar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-chandrasekhar/) > [The weak can never forgive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-weak-can-never-forgive/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [If you feel you can't forgive, ask God to penetrate your unforgiveness with His love. 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Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [Depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/depth-and-strength-of-a-human-character-are-defined-by-its-moral/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [To bear all kinds of tortures without a murmur of resentment is not possible for a human being without the strength that comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/to-bear-all-kinds-of-tortures-without-a-murmur-of-resentment-is-not/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/you-have-to-love-you-have-to-feel-it-is-the-reason-you-are-here-on/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) > [People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/people-reveal-themselves-completely-only-when-they-are-thrown-out-of/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) ## More by Ursula K. Le Guin > [“...I wore his blood for clothing, on my legs and thighs and hands: a dry, stiff, brown garment with no warmth in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-wore-his-blood-for-clothing-on-my-legs-and-thighs-and-hands-a-dry/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Translation is entirely mysterious. Increasingly I have felt that the art of writing is itself translating, or more like translating than it is like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/translation-is-entirely-mysterious-increasingly-i-have-felt-that-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Aeneas' mother is a star?" "No; a goddess." I said cautiously, "Venus is the power that we invoke in spring, in the garden, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/aeneas-mother-is-a-star-no-a-goddess-i-said-cautiously-venus-is-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Meaning - this is perhaps the common note, the bane I am seeking. What is the Meaning of this book, this event in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/meaning-this-is-perhaps-the-common-note-the-bane-i-am-seeking-what-is/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [For fantasy is true, of course. It isn't factual, but it is true. Children know that. Adults know it too, and that is precisely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/for-fantasy-is-true-of-course-it-isn-t-factual-but-it-is-true/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“. . . chronosophy does involve ethics. Because our sense of time involves our ability to separate cause and effect, means and end. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/chronosophy-does-involve-ethics-because-our-sense-of-time-involves/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“If both you and your plane are on time, the airport is merely a diffuse, short, miserable prelude to the intense, long, miserable plane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/if-both-you-and-your-plane-are-on-time-the-airport-is-merely-a/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“The author is not impartial. Dystopia is not tragedy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-author-is-not-impartial-dystopia-is-not-tragedy/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Between thought and spoken word is a gap where intention can enter, the symbol be twisted aside, and the lie come to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/between-thought-and-spoken-word-is-a-gap-where-intention-can-enter/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [I have no control over my writing. I have lots of good intentions, but no control. There's a story that wants to be told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-have-no-control-over-my-writing-i-have-lots-of-good-intentions-but/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“I did a lot today. That is, I did something. The only thing I have ever done. I pressed a button. It took the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-did-a-lot-today-that-is-i-did-something-the-only-thing-i-have-ever/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [To me the female principle is, or at least historically has been, basically anarchic. It values order without constraint, rule by custom not by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/to-me-the-female-principle-is-or-at-least-historically-has-been/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Hector had no virtue?” “Of course he did. He won all his battles, till the last one.” “We all do,” Aeneas remarked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/hector-had-no-virtue-of-course-he-did-he-won-all-his-battles-till-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“I was willing to believe him that most modern writing was trash, on the evidence that so much old writing was trash; but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-was-willing-to-believe-him-that-most-modern-writing-was-trash-on/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Can women operate as women in a male institution without becoming imitation men?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/can-women-operate-as-women-in-a-male-institution-without-becoming/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) [Explore all 1,114 Ursula K. Le Guin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) ## More Fulfillment quotes > [It's still possible to savor the remarkable foods that millennia of human ingenuity have teased from milk. A sip of milk itself or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-mcgee/it-s-still-possible-to-savor-the-remarkable-foods-that-millennia-of/) Harold McGee > [“Failing to meet your true destiny is a tragic act of free will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/failing-to-meet-your-true-destiny-is-a-tragic-act-of-free-will/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [If you devote yourself entirely to a pursuit, there is no way you cannot find beauty and fulfillment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-gillies/if-you-devote-yourself-entirely-to-a-pursuit-there-is-no-way-you/) [Daniel Gillies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-gillies/) > [“If you aren't happy for what you already have then what makes you think you will be happy with more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maddy-malhotra/if-you-aren-t-happy-for-what-you-already-have-then-what-makes-you/) [Maddy Malhotra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maddy-malhotra/) > [God's dream still remains unfulfilled. It was not fulfilled 2,000 years ago, or in the home of any religious leader or any American home,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-myung-moon/god-s-dream-still-remains-unfulfilled-it-was-not-fulfilled-2-000/) [Sun Myung Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-myung-moon/) > [If you want to find greater happiness and fulfillment in your life, you must begin to understand and live in harmony with the law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-canfield/if-you-want-to-find-greater-happiness-and-fulfillment-in-your-life/) [Jack Canfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-canfield/) > [Never be tired of a dream, if not fulfilled. Fear of failure should not deter you from your path of self belief. Your belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anil-sinha/never-be-tired-of-a-dream-if-not-fulfilled-fear-of-failure-should-not/) [Anil Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anil-sinha/) > [“Curiosity improved the cat”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-nankivell/curiosity-improved-the-cat/) Brandon Nankivell > [So that's what destiny is: simply the fulfillment of the potentialites of the energies in your own system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/so-that-s-what-destiny-is-simply-the-fulfillment-of-the-potentialites/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [If a person measures his spiritual fulfillment in terms of cosmic visions, surpassing peace of mind, or ecstasy, then he is not likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/if-a-person-measures-his-spiritual-fulfillment-in-terms-of-cosmic/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [What we are only now beginning to fully realize is that in seeking material pleasure too constantly, the capacity for enjoyment or fulfillment decreases…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-campbell/what-we-are-only-now-beginning-to-fully-realize-is-that-in-seeking/) [Alex Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-campbell/) > [Those who are more willing to take risks and capitalize on opportunities, experience the highest index of life satisfaction and fulfillment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senora-roy/those-who-are-more-willing-to-take-risks-and-capitalize-on/) [Senora Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senora-roy/) > [It is not necessary to have an extravagant food budget in order to serve things with variety and tastefully cooked. It is not necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-schaeffer/it-is-not-necessary-to-have-an-extravagant-food-budget-in-order-to/) [Edith Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-schaeffer/) > [The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/the-more-intensely-we-feel-about-an-idea-or-a-goal-the-more-assuredly/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [There is nothing more appalling than the wholesale way in which unthinking people plead to the Almighty the richest and most spiritual of His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-drummond/there-is-nothing-more-appalling-than-the-wholesale-way-in-which/) [William Henry Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-henry-drummond/) [Browse all 1,361 Fulfillment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fulfillment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Fulfillment, Shevek thought, is a function of time. 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