Ask HN: Please help to understand "Things don't just happen; things happen just"

2 points by piotrke 2 years ago | 6 comments

Dear native english or even american-english speaking colleagues.

Jim Rohn said "Things don't just happen; things happen just."

Beside of my many years of usage of english as a second language, I just can't understand the meaning here.

Could you give me a clue what he ment by this sentence?

Thank you in advance.

talldayo 2 years ago |

I would assume it's a statement on determinism. The phrase is based on the dual usage of "just" in meaning "simply" the first time, and then "rationally" in the next. It seems the author wants you to refuse the simple understanding of things and focus on the causal chain-of-events leading up to them instead.

That's just my interpretation, though. "Just" is also commonly used as a term for religious righteousness, which could also change the meaning. I'm unfamiliar with Jim Rohn too, if that helps :P

davidcollantes 2 years ago |

I see the phrase as this:

- "Things don't just happen; things simply are."

- "Things don't just happen by chance; things occur for a reason."

- "There are no accidents; everything happens for a purpose."

Or, as a my teenager would say:

"Things don't just happen; things happen just because."

piotrke 2 years ago |

Thank you for all the answers.

I guess the one saying about things happening for a reason, or going further, the reason why they happen is to give us a chance to act on them in some way, talks to me the most.

r721 2 years ago | |

jjgreen 2 years ago |

You're right to be confused, it's fairly ungrammatical, one would typically use the adjectival form there: "... things happen justly" but then it wouldn't scan as well.

miles 2 years ago |

It might be expressed another way as:

"Things don't merely happen; things happen as they should (as deserved/merited/earned)."