--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What if I can't turn my head? I can look…" description: "\"“What if I can't turn my head? I can look in any direction by turning my wheelchair, and I choose to look back. Rodman to the contrary notwithstanding,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc8/wallace-stegner-1352_forward_what-if-i-can-t-turn-my-head-i-can-look_347089.png" --- # What if I can't turn my head? I can look in any direction… ![“What if I can't turn my head? I can look in any direction by turning my wheelchair, and I choose to look back. Rodman to the contrary notwithstanding, that is the only direction we can learn from.” quote by Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc8/wallace-stegner-1352_forward_what-if-i-can-t-turn-my-head-i-can-look_347089.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc8/wallace-stegner-1352_forward_what-if-i-can-t-turn-my-head-i-can-look_347089.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc8/wallace-stegner-1352_forward_what-if-i-can-t-turn-my-head-i-can-look_347089.png) > ““What if I can't turn my head? I can look in any direction by turning my wheelchair, and I choose to look back. Rodman to the contrary notwithstanding, that is the only direction we can learn from.”” [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. The quote uses a wheelchair metaphor to emphasize that we must sometimes look back to learn, despite obstacles. **In simple terms:** Look back to learn despite challenges. Key Takeaway Embrace past lessons. Themes growth perspective disability Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal development - rehabilitation - education - leadership Key Concepts metaphor learning orientation Questions to Reflect On - What past experience can guide your future? - How do you turn obstacles into learning opportunities? A Different Perspective Focusing only on the past can hinder forward motion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Looking back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looking-back/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) ## Related quotes > [I can't save them by myself, oh but God forbid that I just turn my head and walk on by. Don't let me be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darryl-worley/i-can-t-save-them-by-myself-oh-but-god-forbid-that-i-just-turn-my/) [Darryl Worley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darryl-worley/) > [“But loving let's you look, and look, and look again. You notice the back of a hand, the turn of a head, the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-condie/but-loving-let-s-you-look-and-look-and-look-again-you-notice-the-back/) [Ally Condie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-condie/) > [You don't want to stand too close to a robot arm; it can turn your head to mush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-wilson/you-don-t-want-to-stand-too-close-to-a-robot-arm-it-can-turn-your/) [Daniel H. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-wilson/) > [Tips to reduce weight: First turn your head to the right, then turn it to the left. Repeat this every time you are offered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/tips-to-reduce-weight-first-turn-your-head-to-the-right-then-turn-it/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I turn my head, I can't shake the look you gave and I'm good as dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parachute/i-turn-my-head-i-can-t-shake-the-look-you-gave-and-i-m-good-as-dead/) [Parachute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parachute/) > [I am what I am if u don't like me. turn your head and walk away simple as that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-thomas-webb/i-am-what-i-am-if-u-don-t-like-me-turn-your-head-and-walk-away-simple/) [Emily Thomas-webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-thomas-webb/) > [You don't like my words, don't listen. You don't like my appearance, don't look. You don't like my actions, turn your head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proudlesbian/you-don-t-like-my-words-don-t-listen-you-don-t-like-my-appearance-don/) ProudLesbian > [Shyness is when you turn your head away from something you want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/shyness-is-when-you-turn-your-head-away-from-something-you-want/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [The man may be the head of the house, but the woman is the neck and she can turn the head anyway she wants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-man-may-be-the-head-of-the-house-but-the-woman-is-the-neck-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I turn my head, and you may go where you want. I turn it again, you will stay till you rot. I have no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-turn-my-head-and-you-may-go-where-you-want-i-turn-it-again-you-will/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [The men may be the head of the house, but the women are the neck and they can turn the head any way they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-men-may-be-the-head-of-the-house-but-the-women-are-the-neck-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You only look at far places while I am right here, you know if you'd only turn your head just a little, you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dream-of-doll/you-only-look-at-far-places-while-i-am-right-here-you-know-if-you-d/) Dream Of Doll > [See the man on the TV with a phony smile. Bring you up, bring you down, he can turn your head around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/see-the-man-on-the-tv-with-a-phony-smile-bring-you-up-bring-you-down/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [Tips for WEIGHT LOSS - turn your head to LEFT, RIGHT, again LEFT, RIGHT… whenever you are offered for eating, do this EXERCISE regularly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/tips-for-weight-loss-turn-your-head-to-left-right-again-left-right/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you don't like my words, don't listen. If you don't like my appearance, don't look. If you don't like my actions, turn your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-don-t-like-my-words-don-t-listen-if-you-don-t-like-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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 . . . . His fictional house should be haunted by ideas, not inhabited by them; they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/the-creative-writer-is-compulsively-concrete-his-fictional-house/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Hard writing makes easy reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/hard-writing-makes-easy-reading/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [You married me...but you didn't marry what you could make out of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/you-married-me-but-you-didn-t-marry-what-you-could-make-out-of-me/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Wisdom. . .is knowing what you have to accept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/wisdom-is-knowing-what-you-have-to-accept/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“His mouth is full of ecology, his mind is full of fumes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/his-mouth-is-full-of-ecology-his-mind-is-full-of-fumes/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [I gave my heart to the mountains the minute I stood beside this river with its spray in my face and watched it thunder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-gave-my-heart-to-the-mountains-the-minute-i-stood-beside-this-river/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Poetry ought to be a by-product of living, and you can't have a by-product unless you've got a product first .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/poetry-ought-to-be-a-by-product-of-living-and-you-can-t-have-a-by/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/something-will-have-gone-out-of-us-as-a-people-if-we-ever-let-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Some people, I am told, have memories like computers, nothing to do but punch the button and wait for the print-out. 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 Forward quotes > [Television, radio, social media. The 24/7 news cycle plows forward mercilessly on our desks, in our cars and in our pockets. Thousands and thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-prince/television-radio-social-media-the-24-7-news-cycle-plows-forward/) [Joseph Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-prince/) > [The further forward we go, the further back we have to explore in order to go forward again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-gardiner/the-further-forward-we-go-the-further-back-we-have-to-explore-in/) [Stephen Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-gardiner/) > [“You have a right to be sad, and a duty to move on. Only wins who wipes the tears, gather strength and move forward.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusto-branco/you-have-a-right-to-be-sad-and-a-duty-to-move-on-only-wins-who-wipes/) [Augusto Branco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusto-branco/) > [Don't let anything holds you back, not even your loved ones. YOU must keep moving forward, NOT backwards!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia/don-t-let-anything-holds-you-back-not-even-your-loved-ones-you-must/) [Mia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia/) > [If my wisdom could get support from officials, I think society would move forward 20 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chen-guangbiao/if-my-wisdom-could-get-support-from-officials-i-think-society-would/) [Chen Guangbiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chen-guangbiao/) > [When you hang the 'bipartisan' tag on something, the perception is that differences have been worked out, and there's a broad agreement that that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-mcconnell/when-you-hang-the-bipartisan-tag-on-something-the-perception-is-that/) [Mitch McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-mcconnell/) > [I'm a fan of supersymmetry, largely because it seems to be the only route by which gravity can be brought into the scheme. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-higgs/i-m-a-fan-of-supersymmetry-largely-because-it-seems-to-be-the-only/) [Peter Higgs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-higgs/) > [I would love 'Aankhen 2' to happen. I would have Govinda and I play these two brothers and having kids who can take it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chunky-pandey/i-would-love-aankhen-2-to-happen-i-would-have-govinda-and-i-play/) [Chunky Pandey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chunky-pandey/) > [I really tried to put my best foot forward all these years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhinav-bindra/i-really-tried-to-put-my-best-foot-forward-all-these-years/) [Abhinav Bindra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhinav-bindra/) > [As long as your curiosity is greater than your fear, you will move forward!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/as-long-as-your-curiosity-is-greater-than-your-fear-you-will-move/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [In today's day and age, one looks forward to experimenting and it pays off at times and at times it doesn't. 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And if folks have come forward, whether it is judge Roy Moore or whether it is anyone else,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-rosendale/you-are-innocent-until-proven-guilty-and-if-folks-have-come-forward/) [Matt Rosendale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-rosendale/) Browse all 3,019 Forward quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What if I can't turn my head? I can look in any direction by turning my wheelchair, and I choose to look back. 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