--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was somewhere, if you knew where to…" description: "\"“There was somewhere, if you knew where to find it, some place where money could be made like drawing water from a well, some Big Rock Candy Mountain w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/wallace-stegner-1352_adventure_there-was-somewhere-if-you-knew-where-to_2967084.png" --- # There was somewhere, if you knew where to find it, some… ![“There was somewhere, if you knew where to find it, some place where money could be made like drawing water from a well, some Big Rock Candy Mountain where life was effortless and rich and unrestricted and full of adventure and action, where something could be had for nothing.” quote by Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/wallace-stegner-1352_adventure_there-was-somewhere-if-you-knew-where-to_2967084.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/wallace-stegner-1352_adventure_there-was-somewhere-if-you-knew-where-to_2967084.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/wallace-stegner-1352_adventure_there-was-somewhere-if-you-knew-where-to_2967084.png) > ““There was somewhere, if you knew where to find it, some place where money could be made like drawing water from a well, some Big Rock Candy Mountain where life was effortless and rich and unrestricted and full of adventure and action, where something could be had for nothing.”” [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He imagines a mythical place where wealth is effortless, like drawing water from a well, representing an idealized, unrestricted life. **In simple terms:** He dreams of an easy, abundant life. Key Takeaway Recognize the myth of effortless success. Themes dreams idealism materialism Mood hopeful reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career aspirations - financial planning - creative pursuits Key Concepts mythical utopia wealth effortlessness Questions to Reflect On - What does “effortless wealth” mean to you? - How can you balance ambition with realism? A Different Perspective Such fantasies can lead to complacency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adventure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adventure/) [Delusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delusion/) [Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) ## Related quotes > [“I thought Candy Mountain was a real place”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-martin/i-thought-candy-mountain-was-a-real-place/) Sarah Martin > [Dont chase love/affection/attention if it isnt given freely by any person it isnt worth having the some things in life should be effortless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dont-chase-love-affection-attention-if-it-isnt-given-freely-by-any/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Good things take time and effort. Nothing good in life is effortless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/good-things-take-time-and-effort-nothing-good-in-life-is-effortless/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My father worked for Bell Labs. Hence, I knew very much about the place. I knew it because also he was involved with telephony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-ritchie/my-father-worked-for-bell-labs-hence-i-knew-very-much-about-the-place/) [Dennis Ritchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-ritchie/) > [I mourn my old life here. We barely scraped by, but I knew where I fit in, I knew what my place was in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/i-mourn-my-old-life-here-we-barely-scraped-by-but-i-knew-where-i-fit/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“I walked down past the Lycée Henri Quatre and the ancient church of St.-Étienne-du-Mont and the windswept Place du Panthéon and cut in for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-walked-down-past-the-lyc-e-henri-quatre-and-the-ancient-church-of/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I fell so hard for the theater. I knew it was a place where you can sort out your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-grey/i-fell-so-hard-for-the-theater-i-knew-it-was-a-place-where-you-can/) [Joel Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-grey/) > [Everyone knew what this place was, and no one told me. No one but you. 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We can choose rest over labour, entertainment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/if-the-idea-of-having-to-change-ourselves-makes-us-uncomfortable-we/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [Getting rid of a delusion makes us wiser than getting hold of a truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-borne/getting-rid-of-a-delusion-makes-us-wiser-than-getting-hold-of-a-truth/) [Ludwig Borne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-borne/) ## More by Wallace Stegner > [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [No life goes past so swiftly as an eventless one, no clock spins like a clock whose days are all alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/no-life-goes-past-so-swiftly-as-an-eventless-one-no-clock-spins-like/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“within yourself, you became a grave for her as you were a grave for Chet, and you carried your dead unquietly within you. —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/within-yourself-you-became-a-grave-for-her-as-you-were-a-grave-for/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Towns are like people. Old ones often have character, the new ones are interchangeable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/towns-are-like-people-old-ones-often-have-character-the-new-ones-are/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [By his very profession, a serious fiction writer is a vendor of the sensuous particulars of life, a perceiver and handler of things. His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/by-his-very-profession-a-serious-fiction-writer-is-a-vendor-of-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“The creative writer is compulsively concrete . . . . 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Mine is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/some-people-i-am-told-have-memories-like-computers-nothing-to-do-but/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [ “\[Y\]ou were too alert to the figurative possibilities of words not to see the phrase \[angle of repose\] as descriptive of human as well… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/y-ou-were-too-alert-to-the-figurative-possibilities-of-words-not-to/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) [Explore all 251 Wallace Stegner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## More Adventure quotes > [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. 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I've also done some gravity tests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-replicate-what-the-body-s-going/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [What a thrill. You know you've entered new territory when you realise that your outfit cost more than your film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-yu/what-a-thrill-you-know-you-ve-entered-new-territory-when-you-realise/) Jessica Yu > [“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-supertramp-chris-mccandless/so-many-people-live-within-unhappy-circumstances-and-yet-will-not/) Alexander Supertramp Chris McCandless > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [“Exactly. I think the original tantric Buddhists took notice of was some very wise old people who never studied in their youth, but took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-niemczura/exactly-i-think-the-original-tantric-buddhists-took-notice-of-was/) [Joe Niemczura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-niemczura/) > [As an adventurer...I try to protect against the downside. I make sure I have covered as many eventualities as I can. In the end,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/as-an-adventurer-i-try-to-protect-against-the-downside-i-make-sure-i/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [“Love can give you such happiness, then can break the very heart it filled, leaving a hole that can never be fixed or protected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mcleod/love-can-give-you-such-happiness-then-can-break-the-very-heart-it/) Kevin McLeod > [“It always gave Wolf a peculiar thrill thus to tighten his grip upon his stick, thus to wrap himself more closely in his faded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cowper-powys/it-always-gave-wolf-a-peculiar-thrill-thus-to-tighten-his-grip-upon/) [John Cowper Powys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cowper-powys/) > [“It all had to be squeezed and squeezed again, to provide a thrill, to provide enjoyment. 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