---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've been looking only at what's to be…"
description: "\"“I've been looking only at what's to be done next and forgetting why we're doing it.”\" — Ursula K. Le Guin"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c89/ursula-k-le-guin-138_forgetting_i-ve-been-looking-only-at-what-s-to-be-d_2320310.jpg"
---

#  I've been looking only at what's to be done next and…

![“I've been looking only at what's to be done next and forgetting why we're doing it.” quote by Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c89/ursula-k-le-guin-138_forgetting_i-ve-been-looking-only-at-what-s-to-be-d_2320310.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c89/ursula-k-le-guin-138_forgetting_i-ve-been-looking-only-at-what-s-to-be-d_2320310.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c89/ursula-k-le-guin-138_forgetting_i-ve-been-looking-only-at-what-s-to-be-d_2320310.jpg)

> ““I've been looking only at what's to be done next and forgetting why we're doing 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.

Focusing on immediate tasks can cause loss of purpose and motivation.

**In simple terms:** Missing purpose when only planning next steps.

Key Takeaway

Remember the why behind each action.

Themes

purpose focus motivation

Mood

reflective thoughtful

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- project planning
- team meetings
- personal goal setting

Key Concepts

existentialism goal alignment

Questions to Reflect On

- What core purpose drives your work?
- How can you reconnect tasks actions with meaning?

A Different Perspective

Neglecting purpose can lead to burnout and misdirection.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Forgetting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgetting/)

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> [I can tell by the way you've been looking at you girlfriend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-bieber/i-can-tell-by-the-way-you-ve-been-looking-at-you-girlfriend/)

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> [I've been looking for an un-registered dietitian, but they're impossible to find.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-carell/i-ve-been-looking-for-an-un-registered-dietitian-but-they-re/)

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> [I think I've found out who I am and what we've been looking for. We don't have to search for my identity anymore. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patsy-cline/i-think-i-ve-found-out-who-i-am-and-what-we-ve-been-looking-for-we/)

[Patsy Cline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patsy-cline/)

> [“You’ve been looking for someone else while losing yourself along the way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-newman/you-ve-been-looking-for-someone-else-while-losing-yourself-along-the/)

[Liz Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-newman/)

> [“We examine each day before us with barely a glance and say, no, this isn't the one I've been looking for.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hennen/we-examine-each-day-before-us-with-barely-a-glance-and-say-no-this/)

Tom Hennen

> [I'd love to find some people to teach advanced meditation to. I've been looking for many years. There are a few around. Once in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-d-love-to-find-some-people-to-teach-advanced-meditation-to-i-ve/)

[Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

> [I've been looking for you a long time, I just didn't know it. But now I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/i-ve-been-looking-for-you-a-long-time-i-just-didn-t-know-it-but-now-i/)

[James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/)

> [Have you seen my childhood? I'm searching for the world that I came from cause I've been looking around in the lost and found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/have-you-seen-my-childhood-i-m-searching-for-the-world-that-i-came/)

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> [I'm okay, I finally found the person I've been looking for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/styx/i-m-okay-i-finally-found-the-person-i-ve-been-looking-for/)

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[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## 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/)

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[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/)

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[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/)

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> [“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/)

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[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/)

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> [I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-focus-on-this-one-thing-forgetting-the-past-and-looking-forward-to/)

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> [Im afraid of being forgotten. Because, it seems everyone I get close to, ends up forgetting me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arcine-arciniegas/im-afraid-of-being-forgotten-because-it-seems-everyone-i-get-close-to/)

[Arcine Arciniegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arcine-arciniegas/)

> [“Keeping histories is as much about knowing what needs forgetting as what ought to be remembered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-bobet/keeping-histories-is-as-much-about-knowing-what-needs-forgetting-as/)

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Carolyn Ives Gilman

> [“Who was it said, ‘We forget because we must’? He was right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/who-was-it-said-we-forget-because-we-must-he-was-right/)

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[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

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