--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Making the decision to have a child—it’s…" description: "\"“Making the decision to have a child—it’s momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body.”\" — Wally Lamb" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f5/wally-lamb-1817_decide_making-the-decision-to-have-a-child-it-s_2410323.png" --- # Making the decision to have a child—it’s momentous. It is… ![“Making the decision to have a child—it’s momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body.” quote by Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f5/wally-lamb-1817_decide_making-the-decision-to-have-a-child-it-s_2410323.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f5/wally-lamb-1817_decide_making-the-decision-to-have-a-child-it-s_2410323.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f5/wally-lamb-1817_decide_making-the-decision-to-have-a-child-it-s_2410323.png) > ““Making the decision to have a child—it’s momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body.”” [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Parenthood is a lifelong commitment that extends beyond physical presence, shaping identity and emotional experience. **In simple terms:** Having a child changes you forever. Key Takeaway Embrace the responsibility of love. Themes family commitment identity Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - marriage - child-rearing - personal growth - community involvement Key Concepts parenthood emotional bonds life purpose Questions to Reflect On - How does becoming a parent reshape your sense of self? - What sacrifices are worth making for love? A Different Perspective The decision can be overwhelming and may limit personal freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Decision making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decision-making/) ## Related quotes > [“Making the decision to have a child—it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-scottoline/making-the-decision-to-have-a-child-it-is-momentous-it-is-to-decide/) [Lisa Scottoline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-scottoline/) > [“Making the decision to have a child—it’s wondrous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-rodham-clinton/making-the-decision-to-have-a-child-it-s-wondrous-it-is-to-decide/) [Hillary Rodham Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-rodham-clinton/) > [Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-stone/making-the-decision-to-have-a-child-is-momentous-it-is-to-decide/) [Elizabeth Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-stone/) > [If its love and we decide its forever, no one else could do it better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/summer/if-its-love-and-we-decide-its-forever-no-one-else-could-do-it-better/) [Summer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/summer/) > [To have a child is to forever have your heart go walking around outside your body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/to-have-a-child-is-to-forever-have-your-heart-go-walking-around/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [“My friend told me just before I gave birth, "Now you will know what it is like to have your heart walking around outside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megyn-kelly/my-friend-told-me-just-before-i-gave-birth-now-you-will-know-what-it/) [Megyn Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megyn-kelly/) > [A child is your heart walking around outside your body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-force/a-child-is-your-heart-walking-around-outside-your-body/) [Marie Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-force/) > [Trying to find a heart that's not walking away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/trying-to-find-a-heart-that-s-not-walking-away/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [My son is now fourteen, and from the moment he was born, I understood that forevermore my heart would be walking around outside my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dani-shapiro/my-son-is-now-fourteen-and-from-the-moment-he-was-born-i-understood/) [Dani Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dani-shapiro/) > [I would like to step out of my heart and go walking beneath the enormous sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-would-like-to-step-out-of-my-heart-and-go-walking-beneath-the/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Anyone capable of training the heart is a walking zombie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-d-gonsalves/anyone-capable-of-training-the-heart-is-a-walking-zombie/) [Gloria D. Gonsalves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-d-gonsalves/) > [“I had set off, going straight ahead, to escape a broken heart. I had been walking for three hours, wherever the forest took me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timoth-e-de-fombelle/i-had-set-off-going-straight-ahead-to-escape-a-broken-heart-i-had/) [Timothée de Fombelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timoth-e-de-fombelle/) > [You don't have the right to be left alone with that abortion decision. The child is present...you are not alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-wilson/you-don-t-have-the-right-to-be-left-alone-with-that-abortion-decision/) [Douglas Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-wilson/) > [The decision to have a child is both a private and a public decision, for children are our collective future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ann-hewlett/the-decision-to-have-a-child-is-both-a-private-and-a-public-decision/) [Sylvia Ann Hewlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ann-hewlett/) > [I didn't even choose to be born! It was my parents' decision to have a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vijay-deverakonda/i-didn-t-even-choose-to-be-born-it-was-my-parents-decision-to-have-a/) [Vijay Deverakonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vijay-deverakonda/) ## More by Wally Lamb > [“Sometimes we want something to be true so badly that we convince ourselves that it is true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/sometimes-we-want-something-to-be-true-so-badly-that-we-convince/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [I like to write first-person because I like to become the character I'm writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/i-like-to-write-first-person-because-i-like-to-become-the-character-i/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [But I think this: that whatever prices I've paid, whatever sorrows I shoulder, well, I have blessings, too. Not just my family now, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/but-i-think-this-that-whatever-prices-i-ve-paid-whatever-sorrows-i/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“why would white dudes want to change things when they held all the cards?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/why-would-white-dudes-want-to-change-things-when-they-held-all-the/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“And in taking on the subject of themselves-making themselves vulnerable to the unseen reader-they have exchanged powerlessness for for the power that comes with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/and-in-taking-on-the-subject-of-themselves-making-themselves/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“People had always amazed him, he began. But they amazed him more since the sickness. For as long as the two of them had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/people-had-always-amazed-him-he-began-but-they-amazed-him-more-since/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“So I got my stuff and the girl at the register puts these other things in my bag, too. Little free samples: gum and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/so-i-got-my-stuff-and-the-girl-at-the-register-puts-these-other/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [What if I don’t like adventure? Then cultivate a taste for it. Take a chance. That’s how you grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/what-if-i-don-t-like-adventure-then-cultivate-a-taste-for-it-take-a/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“Guess what?' I said. 'I have a psychic.' His head tilted questioningly, birdlike. A sidekick?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/guess-what-i-said-i-have-a-psychic-his-head-tilted-questioningly/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [The evidence of God exists in the roundness of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/the-evidence-of-god-exists-in-the-roundness-of-things/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [Life is a whoopee cushion, a chair pulled away just as you were taking a seat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/life-is-a-whoopee-cushion-a-chair-pulled-away-just-as-you-were-taking/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“What I remembered about those seesaw rides was the way Thomas would get mad at me, midride, and evacuate. Send me crashing back down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/what-i-remembered-about-those-seesaw-rides-was-the-way-thomas-would/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“I didn't respond to him. Couldn't speak at all. Couldn't look at his self-mutilation--not even the clean, bandaged version of it. Instead, I looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/i-didn-t-respond-to-him-couldn-t-speak-at-all-couldn-t-look-at-his/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [I write to find out what the story means to me, that is what I try to do especially with the first draft.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/i-write-to-find-out-what-the-story-means-to-me-that-is-what-i-try-to/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“As anxious and limited as that love might have been, it had been love nonetheless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/as-anxious-and-limited-as-that-love-might-have-been-it-had-been-love/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) [Explore all 204 Wally Lamb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) ## More Decide quotes > [“Exactly. So, what can't you take? Decide which of the two options is harder, and do the other. That way, no matter how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/exactly-so-what-can-t-you-take-decide-which-of-the-two-options-is/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [DECIDE, v.i. To succumb to the preponderance of one set of influences over another set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/decide-v-i-to-succumb-to-the-preponderance-of-one-set-of-influences/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [We do not know which irresponsible Israeli prime minister will take office and decide to use nuclear weapons in the struggle against neighboring Arab…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordechai-vanunu/we-do-not-know-which-irresponsible-israeli-prime-minister-will-take/) [Mordechai Vanunu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordechai-vanunu/) > [In New York, you are constantly faced with this very urgent decision that you have to make, about every twenty minutes...you have to decide,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cross/in-new-york-you-are-constantly-faced-with-this-very-urgent-decision/) [David Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cross/) > [Nothing is more private than a woman's body; it is her physical, emotional, and moral citadel. She cannot be free at all if she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/nothing-is-more-private-than-a-woman-s-body-it-is-her-physical/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [LOOK before you pick,DECIDE WELL before you choose,because these two things are very important in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oluwatayo-oluwatoyosi/look-before-you-pick-decide-well-before-you-choose-because-these-two/) [Oluwatayo Oluwatoyosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oluwatayo-oluwatoyosi/) > [Decisions decide destiny, there is no action without decision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/decisions-decide-destiny-there-is-no-action-without-decision/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [“Do you keep pace with those around you, or do you decide yourself just how you will live your life? The truth is...only you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-goodier/do-you-keep-pace-with-those-around-you-or-do-you-decide-yourself-just/) [Steve Goodier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-goodier/) > [All the people ought to decide, but now most states are tossed on the scrap heap and ignored](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-anderson/all-the-people-ought-to-decide-but-now-most-states-are-tossed-on-the/) [John Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-anderson/) > [Fear is going to be a player in your life, but you get to decide how much!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carrey/fear-is-going-to-be-a-player-in-your-life-but-you-get-to-decide-how/) [Jim Carrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carrey/) > [We cant choose our lives, but we can decide what to do with the joys or griefs were given.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/we-cant-choose-our-lives-but-we-can-decide-what-to-do-with-the-joys/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [It’s as easy as we choose to make it,” he murmured, pressing his forehead to mine. “At least, this decision is. Nothing’s truly easy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/it-s-as-easy-as-we-choose-to-make-it-he-murmured-pressing-his/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [What you believe in, is the life you decide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keshia-chante/what-you-believe-in-is-the-life-you-decide/) [Keshia Chante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keshia-chante/) > [Heart is decide u want in ur life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raajni/heart-is-decide-u-want-in-ur-life/) Raajni > [I think hopefully we've got enough brain cells left to decide if our music is really worth something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-champion/i-think-hopefully-we-ve-got-enough-brain-cells-left-to-decide-if-our/) [Will Champion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-champion/) Browse all 1,644 Decide quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Making the decision to have a child—it’s momentous. 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