Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
What These Words Mean
There are days when you catch yourself staring at the ceiling, feeling guilty for not doing more, and also exhausted by the very thought of doing anything at all. Your mind floats between wanting peace and needing momentum, like you are built for both rest and restlessness. That is the tension at the heart of these words: "I begin to think, that a calm is not desirable in any situation in life. Man was made for action and for bustle too, I believe."
When the quote begins, "I begin to think," you can almost hear someone thinking out loud, not preaching from a distance but slowly arriving at a conclusion. On the surface, this is just someone sharing a developing opinion. Underneath, there is a kind of humility here: you are allowed to grow into your understanding of what your life needs. Your beliefs about work, rest, and purpose do not have to be fixed; they can shift as your days and responsibilities change.
The next part, "that a calm is not desirable in any situation in life," sounds almost shocking at first. Calm is usually held up as the goal: peace, quiet, no problems. Here, the words push back against that picture. They suggest that if everything in your life is always smooth and undisturbed, something important may be missing. It points to those moments when you have had too much safety, too much stillness, and it started to feel like emptiness instead of peace. The deeper suggestion is that growth, connection, and meaning often show up wrapped in friction: learning a new job, having a hard conversation, risking your pride, making a change. An absolutely quiet life can begin to feel like a room where the air never moves.
Then comes, "Man was made for action," which swings the thought in a new direction. The scene shifts from avoiding calm to leaning into movement. Action here is not just constant busyness; it is choosing, doing, engaging. It is when you start the project instead of only thinking about it, when you pick up the phone, when you step onto the stage or into the meeting or out the door for a walk that you have put off for weeks. These words hint that you are wired to find part of your identity in what you do, not just what you feel. When you act, you find out who you are. Passive comfort, on its own, rarely gives you that.
Finally, "and for bustle too, I believe," adds an interesting layer. Bustle is not just action; it is action with noise, overlap, and a bit of chaos. It is the crowded kitchen when you are cooking dinner with others, pots clinking, voices crossing, the smell of onions in hot oil, and three tasks happening at once. It is the juggling of errands, messages, responsibilities, and small interruptions that make up an ordinary day. This part of the quote says you are not only built for clear, clean, purposeful actions but also for the messier, overlapping hum of an active life. There is an affection for that noise here, a belief that the scramble itself can be good for you.
You might recognize this on a regular workday. You are answering emails, helping a colleague, grabbing a quick lunch, running an errand after work, trying to fit in a short workout, and remembering to text someone back. At times, you wish everything would stop. But if it stopped completely and stayed that way for weeks, the stillness would probably start to feel heavy and strange. The bustle keeps you aware that you are needed somewhere, that your choices have consequences, that your time matters.
Still, it is honest to say these words are not the whole story. Sometimes you really do need calm: after loss, after burnout, after illness, when your mind and body are sending clear signals that enough is enough. In those seasons, action can feel harsh instead of healing. But even then, part of what makes recovery feel complete is the moment you are ready to step back into movement, to rejoin the bustle in a way that fits your limits. That is where this quote lands, to me: you are at your most alive not in endless frenzy, and not in endless stillness, but in that dynamic rhythm where quiet has a purpose and activity has a heart.
The Time and Place Behind the Quote
Abigail Adams lived in a world where calm was more an illusion than a reality. She was an American woman in the late 1700s and early 1800s, caught in the middle of a young country being born through revolution, political uncertainty, and rapid social change. Everyday life was demanding and physical; survival and stability were never guaranteed. In such a setting, calm did not mean a spa day. It usually meant a brief pause between storms.
Because of this, saying that "a calm is not desirable in any situation in life" made sense in a practical way. A completely undisturbed life would have sounded like stagnation or even irresponsibility. For her world, movement meant progress: building a new nation, raising families, running households, managing farms or businesses, and arguing about laws and rights. Doing nothing was not a realistic option; nearly everyone had many roles to juggle.
The idea that "Man was made for action and for bustle too" reflects the atmosphere of a society that believed in effort, duty, and public life. People were expected to participate: in communities, churches, local politics, and family decisions. The bustle of travel by horseback, letters carried slowly over distance, and constant news of conflict or negotiation shaped how people understood a meaningful life.
These words are generally accepted as Abigail Adams’s, though like many quotes from that era, they often circulate without full context. Still, they fit well with the energy of her time: an era when quiet was rare, and many believed that being truly alive meant being involved, active, and sometimes overwhelmed by the work of building something larger than yourself.
About Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams, who was born in 1744 and died in 1818, was an American woman whose life unfolded at the very center of the early United States. She was the wife of John Adams, the second U.S. president, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth, but she was far more than a background figure. Living in Massachusetts and later in emerging political capitals, she managed households, raised children largely on her own during her husband’s long absences, and engaged deeply with politics, ideas, and the moral questions of her age.
Abigail is remembered for her sharp mind, perceptive letters, and strong opinions about education, women’s roles, and justice. Her correspondence with her husband reveals a partnership built not just on affection but on argument, advice, and shared responsibility. She spoke up for the interests of women and the need for fairness at a time when their voices were often dismissed.
Her worldview helps explain the quote about action and bustle. She lived through war, political upheaval, and personal hardship. Calm, for her, was rare and perhaps suspicious; she knew that progress required effort, often in imperfect, noisy conditions. In her own life, she did not wait passively on the sidelines. She read widely, thought seriously, and took on heavy duties at home and in public. When she says humans are made for action and bustle, she is speaking from a life spent in the thick of things, convinced that meaning is often found in the middle of demands, not away from them.
