Time & Perspective Quote by Norma McCorvey

Productivity becomes a kind of emotional alibi here: not a denial that sadness exists, but a refusal to grant it prime real estate. McCorvey frames grief as something that requires time and posture - to "sit down" is to settle into it, to treat it like an appointment. By insisting she can't afford that, she flips the usual script where busyness is a shallow distraction. In her mouth, it reads more like triage. Life is crowded, urgent, and she’s choosing motion over rumination because stopping carries a cost.

The line also performs toughness. "I've got so much to do" isn’t just a schedule; it’s a public posture that signals resilience without asking for applause. It’s the kind of sentence people use when they suspect the world will punish them for lingering too long in vulnerability. The humor is dry, almost stubborn: sadness is reduced to a luxury item, something for people with fewer fires to put out.

Context matters because McCorvey lived as a symbol people argued over rather than a person they consistently listened to. Known to history as "Jane Roe" in Roe v. Wade, she spent decades being claimed, recast, and marketed by movements with competing narratives. That background makes the quote feel like self-defense against being emotionally consumed - by trauma, by politics, by other people's projections. The intent isn’t self-help; it’s survival strategy. Keep moving, stay useful, don’t give sorrow the microphone.