--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: road so crooked it could run for the…" description: "\"“road so crooked it could run for the legislature,”\" — William Least Heat-Moon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/william-least-heat-moon-11769_crooked_road-so-crooked-it-could-run-for-the-leg_531894.jpg" --- # road so crooked it could run for the legislature, ![“road so crooked it could run for the legislature,” quote by William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/william-least-heat-moon-11769_crooked_road-so-crooked-it-could-run-for-the-leg_531894.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/william-least-heat-moon-11769_crooked_road-so-crooked-it-could-run-for-the-leg_531894.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/william-least-heat-moon-11769_crooked_road-so-crooked-it-could-run-for-the-leg_531894.jpg) > ““road so crooked it could run for the legislature,”” [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The road is so twisted it could become a lawmaking body, highlighting absurd complexity. **In simple terms:** Complex paths can seem legislative. Key Takeaway Recognize and navigate complexity. Themes complexity absurdity politics navigation Mood wry critical Type satirical observational When to use this quote - urban planning - policy analysis - personal decision making - project management Key Concepts systems theory bureaucracy Questions to Reflect On - In what ways do you simplify complex systems? - How can you influence policy without getting lost in detail? A Different Perspective It may exaggerate the influence of a single road on legislation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crooked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crooked/) [Crooked Run](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crooked-run-4466729/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Legislature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legislature/) [Road](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/road/) [Road Crooked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/road-crooked-2567432/) [Run Legislature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/run-legislature-4466730/) ## Related quotes > [The slaves of custom and established mode, With pack-horse constancy we keep the road Crooked or straight, through quags or thorny dells, True to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cowper/the-slaves-of-custom-and-established-mode-with-pack-horse-constancy/) [William Cowper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cowper/) > [We must keep in mind that where the road is crooked, God makes it straight, and where our hearts are wounded, God makes us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/we-must-keep-in-mind-that-where-the-road-is-crooked-god-makes-it/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [John Kerry described his Republican critics as 'the most crooked, lying group I've ever seen.' Now, that's saying something, because Kerry's both a lawyer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/john-kerry-described-his-republican-critics-as-the-most-crooked-lying/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Washington has a mysterious power to turn perfectly reasonable, wholesome, well-meaning human beings into equivocating crooked gasbags.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harsanyi/washington-has-a-mysterious-power-to-turn-perfectly-reasonable/) [David Harsanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harsanyi/) > [ “CLOV \[sadly\] No one that ever lived ever thought so crooked as we.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/clov-sadly-no-one-that-ever-lived-ever-thought-so-crooked-as-we/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [The desires of the heart...are as crooked as a corkscrew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/the-desires-of-the-heart-are-as-crooked-as-a-corkscrew/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [I don't like to look at myself in the mirror, which is why my eye makeup is always crooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-guinness/i-don-t-like-to-look-at-myself-in-the-mirror-which-is-why-my-eye/) [Daphne Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-guinness/) > [I'm talkin' about a good girl gone bad crooked world, wrong path.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-talkin-about-a-good-girl-gone-bad-crooked-world-wrong-path/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“He is crooked enough to hide behind a spiral staircase.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-mccaffrey-margaret-ball/he-is-crooked-enough-to-hide-behind-a-spiral-staircase/) [Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-mccaffrey-margaret-ball/) > [I support all people on earth who have bodies like and unlike my body, skins and moles and old scars, secret and public hair,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/i-support-all-people-on-earth-who-have-bodies-like-and-unlike-my-body/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [The habit of taking the line of least resistance makes all rivers and some men crooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/the-habit-of-taking-the-line-of-least-resistance-makes-all-rivers-and/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [When I meet a new person, something has to be a little off for me to consider them beautiful. It could be crooked teeth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/when-i-meet-a-new-person-something-has-to-be-a-little-off-for-me-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [I have crooked toes from wearing boots that didn't fit me because that's all I could afford as a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lomu/i-have-crooked-toes-from-wearing-boots-that-didn-t-fit-me-because/) [Jonah Lomu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lomu/) > [Hey Sydney," she said, giving me a small, crooked smile as she entered the room. Her flashing, dark eyes were friendly, but they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/hey-sydney-she-said-giving-me-a-small-crooked-smile-as-she-entered/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [Like a morning dream, life becomes more and more bright the longer we live, and the reason of everything appears more clear. What has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul/like-a-morning-dream-life-becomes-more-and-more-bright-the-longer-we/) [Jean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul/) ## More by William Least Heat-Moon > [I like the digressive kind of traveling, where there's not a particular, set, goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/i-like-the-digressive-kind-of-traveling-where-there-s-not-a/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [Memory is each man's own last measure, and for some, the only achievement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/memory-is-each-man-s-own-last-measure-and-for-some-the-only/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [I have not been on any river that has more of a distinctive personality than does the Missouri River. It's a river that immediately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/i-have-not-been-on-any-river-that-has-more-of-a-distinctive/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [At the beginning we learn to travel, then we travel to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/at-the-beginning-we-learn-to-travel-then-we-travel-to-learn/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [Beware thoughts that come in the night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/beware-thoughts-that-come-in-the-night/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [The four horsemen of the prairie are tornado, locust, drought, and fire, and the greatest of these is fire, a rider with two faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/the-four-horsemen-of-the-prairie-are-tornado-locust-drought-and-fire/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [For me, writing is not a search for explanations but a ramble in quest of what informs a place, a hunt for equivalents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/for-me-writing-is-not-a-search-for-explanations-but-a-ramble-in-quest/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [New ways of seeing can disclose new things: the radio telescope revealed quasars and pulsars, and the scanning electron microscope showed the whiskers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/new-ways-of-seeing-can-disclose-new-things-the-radio-telescope/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [When you're travelling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/when-you-re-travelling-you-are-what-you-are-right-there-and-then/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [The biggest hindrance to learning is fear of showing one's self a fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/the-biggest-hindrance-to-learning-is-fear-of-showing-one-s-self-a-fool/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [Be careful going in search of adventure - it's ridiculously easy to find.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/be-careful-going-in-search-of-adventure-it-s-ridiculously-easy-to-find/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [The thing that overwhelms me when I go out now is the sprawlation of America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/the-thing-that-overwhelms-me-when-i-go-out-now-is-the-sprawlation-of/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do - especially in other people's minds. When you're traveling, you are what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/what-you-ve-done-becomes-the-judge-of-what-you-re-going-to-do/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [The hotel was once where things coalesced, where you could meet both townspeople and travelers. Not so in a motel. No matter how you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/the-hotel-was-once-where-things-coalesced-where-you-could-meet-both/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) > [With a nearly desperate sense of isolation and a growing suspicion that I lived in an alien land, I took to the road in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/with-a-nearly-desperate-sense-of-isolation-and-a-growing-suspicion/) [William Least Heat-Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) [Explore all 57 William Least Heat-Moon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/) ## More Crooked quotes > [Like a morning dream, life becomes more and more bright the longer we live, and the reason of everything appears more clear. What has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul/like-a-morning-dream-life-becomes-more-and-more-bright-the-longer-we/) [Jean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul/) > [Hey Sydney," she said, giving me a small, crooked smile as she entered the room. Her flashing, dark eyes were friendly, but they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/hey-sydney-she-said-giving-me-a-small-crooked-smile-as-she-entered/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [I have crooked toes from wearing boots that didn't fit me because that's all I could afford as a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lomu/i-have-crooked-toes-from-wearing-boots-that-didn-t-fit-me-because/) [Jonah Lomu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lomu/) > [When I meet a new person, something has to be a little off for me to consider them beautiful. It could be crooked teeth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/when-i-meet-a-new-person-something-has-to-be-a-little-off-for-me-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [The habit of taking the line of least resistance makes all rivers and some men crooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/the-habit-of-taking-the-line-of-least-resistance-makes-all-rivers-and/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I support all people on earth who have bodies like and unlike my body, skins and moles and old scars, secret and public hair,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/i-support-all-people-on-earth-who-have-bodies-like-and-unlike-my-body/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [“He is crooked enough to hide behind a spiral staircase.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-mccaffrey-margaret-ball/he-is-crooked-enough-to-hide-behind-a-spiral-staircase/) [Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-mccaffrey-margaret-ball/) > [I'm talkin' about a good girl gone bad crooked world, wrong path.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-talkin-about-a-good-girl-gone-bad-crooked-world-wrong-path/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't like to look at myself in the mirror, which is why my eye makeup is always crooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-guinness/i-don-t-like-to-look-at-myself-in-the-mirror-which-is-why-my-eye/) [Daphne Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-guinness/) > [The desires of the heart...are as crooked as a corkscrew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/the-desires-of-the-heart-are-as-crooked-as-a-corkscrew/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [ “CLOV \[sadly\] No one that ever lived ever thought so crooked as we.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/clov-sadly-no-one-that-ever-lived-ever-thought-so-crooked-as-we/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Washington has a mysterious power to turn perfectly reasonable, wholesome, well-meaning human beings into equivocating crooked gasbags.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harsanyi/washington-has-a-mysterious-power-to-turn-perfectly-reasonable/) [David Harsanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harsanyi/) > [John Kerry described his Republican critics as 'the most crooked, lying group I've ever seen.' Now, that's saying something, because Kerry's both a lawyer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/john-kerry-described-his-republican-critics-as-the-most-crooked-lying/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [The privilege of ruling would be in the hands of the skilled and the learned, with a wide scope left for profitable crooked deals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/the-privilege-of-ruling-would-be-in-the-hands-of-the-skilled-and-the/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [“Between the whiskers scraggling down his neck and the now-crooked glasses, he could have been the Black Allen Ginsberg.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/between-the-whiskers-scraggling-down-his-neck-and-the-now-crooked/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) [Browse all 376 Crooked quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crooked/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“road so crooked it could run for the legislature,”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Least Heat-Moon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/road-so-crooked-it-could-run-for-the-legislature/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crooked" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/road-so-crooked-it-could-run-for-the-legislature/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/william-least-heat-moon-11769_crooked_road-so-crooked-it-could-run-for-the-leg_531894.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/william-least-heat-moon-11769_crooked_road-so-crooked-it-could-run-for-the-leg_531894.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/william-least-heat-moon-11769_crooked_road-so-crooked-it-could-run-for-the-leg_531894.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“road so crooked it could run for the legislature,” — William Least Heat-Moon", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William Least Heat-Moon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-least-heat-moon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“road so crooked it could run...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/road-so-crooked-it-could-run-for-the-legislature/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-least-heat-moon/road-so-crooked-it-could-run-for-the-legislature/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```