# Trying to find a philosophical quote **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2024, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-a-philosophical-quote/997164 "2024-02-06T03:01:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![oligArchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oligarchie/32/21546_2.png) [@oligArchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oligArchie)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-a-philosophical-quote/997164/1 "2024-02-06T03:01:46Z")
A couple of months ago, I read a quote from (possibly) Alan Watts and I can’t remember the exact phrase. My google-fu is compromised by my not completely remembering the specifics. It was something similar to this paraphrasing; “Do not worry about changing things. Things are exactly as ‘it’ as they are supposed to be.” I know I’ve garbled the quote, but this is what I remember it trying to convey. I’m not positive this is a Cafe Society query, yet here I am. Thanks in advance ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-a-philosophical-quote/997164/2 "2024-02-06T06:57:55Z")
Perhaps from the Max Enhrmann poem, [Desiderata](https://www.cse.cuhk.edu.hk/~cslui/desiderata.html). It was t-shirt and poster fodder in the 1960s and 70s. _You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should._ ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-a-philosophical-quote/997164/3 "2024-02-06T14:14:36Z")
As a point of clarification, @Elmer_J.Fudd has included just one stanza of a much longer poem in his post. His cite has the whole poem. I agree w **Elmer** that that’s the most likely stanza, but the whole thing is worth reading and might trigger some more of the OP’s memory. For the OP I have a question. When you said > “Do not worry about changing things. Things are exactly as ‘it’ as they are supposed to be.” Was your word [it] a reliable part of the half-remembered quote, or is that a stand-in for [mumble mumble I don’t remember]? IANA religious person, but that sentiment is not far from what Xians call the **[Serenity Prayer - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_Prayer)**. Punchline being it’s hardly a novel sentiment and there are probably hundreds of variants on this theme by everyone from great ancient Greek / Roman philosophers to modern t-shirt slogan-writers. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-a-philosophical-quote/997164/4 "2024-02-06T14:46:19Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Perhaps from the Max Enhrmann poem, [Desiderata](https://www.cse.cuhk.edu.hk/~cslui/desiderata.html). It was t-shirt and poster fodder in the 1960s and 70s. Or perhaps it’s the equally eloquent [Deteriorata](https://genius.com/National-lampoon-deteriorata-annotated). > You are a fluke of the universe. > You have no right to be here. > And whether you can hear it or not, > The universe is laughing behind your back. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-a-philosophical-quote/997164/5 "2024-02-06T14:52:26Z")
There’s lots of quotes along the lines of don’t worry about things you cant change, but the the “things are exactly the way they are supposed to be” part piqued my interest. I’ve found one quote that sort of matches that sentiment: “Everything happens kind of the way it’s supposed to happen, and we just watch it unfold. And you can’t control it. Looking back, you can’t say, 'I should’ve… ’ You didn’t, and had you, the outcome would have been different.” - Rick Ruben ---
**Author:** ![oligArchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oligarchie/32/21546_2.png) [@oligArchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oligArchie)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-a-philosophical-quote/997164/6 "2024-02-06T15:09:56Z")
Thank you very much for that, Mr. Fudd. It’s really close, though not what I remember. It’s a good one, too. And all you guys are great… I appreciate the input from everyone. I read Desiderata and found it quite moving. I do try to keep mindful of; “With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.” @LSLGuy, that’s exactly what I’m hung-up on, if I can call it a hang-up. It’s the phrase _that it’s exactly as “It” as it should be_. The hang-up is that my mind sometimes wants to substitute the word “Is” instead of “it”. The “is” would make the quote more esoteric (without changing the overall meaning) than I’ve paraphrased above. And that’s what my brain is dancing around. I mean, my paraphrase certainly works as a meaningful take-away. But I keep seeing “is” (as in, the world is exactly as “is” as it should be), and thus my vexation. I seem to remember that it was a 1 or 2 sentence set-up, then the delivery of the idea that I paraphrased in the op. I found this one from Mr. Watts; “As long as you remember that everything is exactly how it’s supposed to be, you will always be sane.” Which is close, but that’s not it either. It’s quite possible that I’m not remembering it correctly, or even that I’m compiling 2 quotes into one. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-a-philosophical-quote/997164/7 "2024-02-06T15:14:38Z")
I will suggest ignoring whatever that quote is and pay attention to the following: > [@George Bernard Shaw](#): > > The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2024, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-a-philosophical-quote/997164/8 "2024-02-07T00:25:18Z")
> [@oligArchie](#): > > It’s the phrase _that it’s exactly as “It” as it should be_. The hang-up is that my mind sometimes wants to substitute the word “Is” instead of “it”. The “is” would make the quote more esoteric (without changing the overall meaning) than I’ve paraphrased above. I find both of your varaiations to be meaningless nonsense. There is IMO no sensible meaning to “it” or"is" at that spot in the sentence. It’s not profoundly symbolic; it’s just utterly wrong English. I’m not sure that’s directly helpful to you, but to me it suggests you should jettison that whole part of your memory as simply mistaken and pursue different ideas and different terms to find the quote you seek. Despite that harsh-sounding critique I wish you every success in your quest. I’m digging around in my raggedy but large memory banks on your behalf. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2024, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-a-philosophical-quote/997164/9 "2024-02-07T02:44:42Z")
This isn’t an answer to the OP, but only a comment on this post: > [@Dorjan](#): > > Looking back, you can’t say, 'I should’ve… ’ My husband once had a therapist tell him not to use the phrase “should have”, but to use instead, “could have”. ---
**Author:** ![oligArchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oligarchie/32/21546_2.png) [@oligArchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oligArchie)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2024, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-a-philosophical-quote/997164/10 "2024-02-07T04:24:08Z")
Whoa. That’s kinda harsh. I’m not looking to hitch my wagon to any of this “nonsense”. My brain is just trying to discern what it (thinks it) read. I’ve got lots of fish frying in the oil; moving on to other things now. (I would have expected this from other dopers, but you floored me, dude) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2024, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-a-philosophical-quote/997164/11 "2024-02-07T14:46:09Z")
“Spiritual awakening is the difficult process whereby the increasing realisation that everything is as wrong as it can be flips suddenly into the realisation that everything is as right is it can be. Or better, everything is as _it_ as it can be.”