--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And keep as few things as possible, so…" description: "\"And keep as few things as possible, so that you don't have to fear for them. Give them up without a struggle-because otherwise the humiliation will poi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-671_away-from-you_and-keep-as-few-things-as-possible-so-th_839153.jpg" --- # And keep as few things as possible, so that you don't have… ![“And keep as few things as possible, so that you don't have to fear for them. Give them up without a struggle-because otherwise the humiliation will poison your heart. They will take them away from you in a fight, and trying to hold onto your property will only leave you with a bloodied mouth…” quote by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-671_away-from-you_and-keep-as-few-things-as-possible-so-th_839153.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-671_away-from-you_and-keep-as-few-things-as-possible-so-th_839153.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-671_away-from-you_and-keep-as-few-things-as-possible-so-th_839153.jpg) > “And keep as few things as possible, so that you don't have to fear for them. Give them up without a struggle-because otherwise the humiliation will poison your heart. They will take them away from you in a fight, and trying to hold onto your property will only leave you with a bloodied mouth ... But by owning things and trembling about their fate aren't you forfeiting the rare opportunity of observing and understanding?” [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Detaching from material possessions reduces fear and suffering, but may also limit deep understanding of loss. **In simple terms:** Let go of things to avoid fear. Key Takeaway Release attachment for peace. Themes minimalism fear attachment Mood reflective philosophical Type advice contemplative When to use this quote - travel - decluttering - financial planning Key Concepts impermanence psychology Questions to Reflect On - What can you safely let go? - How does ownership shape your identity? A Different Perspective Complete detachment can hinder appreciation of value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Away from you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/away-from-you/) [Fate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Humiliation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humiliation/) [Opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opportunity/) [Poison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poison/) [Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property/) [Rare opportunities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rare-opportunities/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [“Even as he printed the words, he imagined people reading them, people moved by his loneliness and disappointment, even by his wretched spelling, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/even-as-he-printed-the-words-he-imagined-people-reading-them-people/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [A married woman has the same natural right to acquire and hold property, and to make all contracts that she is mentally competent to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/a-married-woman-has-the-same-natural-right-to-acquire-and-hold/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) > [Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/those-who-hold-and-those-who-are-without-property-have-ever-formed/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Do not fear the struggle.Honor it as a necessary part of learning and growth.Anticipate it and meet it with your highest self.It will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-not-fear-the-struggle-honor-it-as-a-necessary-part-of-learning-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We want more people owning things in this country. Let me put it to you bluntly: In a changing world, we want more people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/we-want-more-people-owning-things-in-this-country-let-me-put-it-to/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [I had this thesis that we had entered the experience economy. People were getting married later and starting to value experiences like travel over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-hyman/i-had-this-thesis-that-we-had-entered-the-experience-economy-people/) [Jennifer Hyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-hyman/) > [Owning things is an obsession in our culture. If we own it, we feel we can control it; and if we control it, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-j-foster/owning-things-is-an-obsession-in-our-culture-if-we-own-it-we-feel-we/) [Richard J. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-j-foster/) > [“Your fear is a blessing. It is giving you an opportunity to disidentify from your mind and learn to trust the unknown. The mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-mada-dalian/your-fear-is-a-blessing-it-is-giving-you-an-opportunity-to/) [Eliza Mada Dalian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-mada-dalian/) > [“Buying things is only sometimes about owning the things. Buying often is simply about what 50 Cent observed: being ABLE to buy. Having less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-beckwith/buying-things-is-only-sometimes-about-owning-the-things-buying-often/) [Harry Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-beckwith/) > [Devote to your endevour, go for a kill to make it happen,overcome your fear & struggle for it till your endeavour becomes a reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dranil-kr-sinha/devote-to-your-endevour-go-for-a-kill-to-make-it-happen-overcome-your/) [DrAnil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dranil-kr-sinha/) > [“There is a notion out there that black people enjoy the Sisyphean struggle against racism. In fact, most of us live for the day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/there-is-a-notion-out-there-that-black-people-enjoy-the-sisyphean/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [Occasions are rare; and those, who know how to seize upon them, are rarer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/occasions-are-rare-and-those-who-know-how-to-seize-upon-them-are-rarer/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [Michael Bohn provides a rare opportunity to experience the American sporting scene in the Roaring Twenties. A constant stream of legendary characters marches across…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-golenbock/michael-bohn-provides-a-rare-opportunity-to-experience-the-american/) [Peter Golenbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-golenbock/) > [I believe we have these capabilities. It doesn't mean that we will use them. Our future is not assured here. It's not clear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/i-believe-we-have-these-capabilities-it-doesn-t-mean-that-we-will-use/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [The war in Iraq is a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times a new world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/the-war-in-iraq-is-a-rare-opportunity-to-move-toward-an-historic/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) ## More by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn > [If you wanted to put the world to rights, who should you begin with: yourself or others?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/if-you-wanted-to-put-the-world-to-rights-who-should-you-begin-with/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [“...you are strong only as long as you don't deprive people of everything . For a person you've taken everything from is no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/you-are-strong-only-as-long-as-you-don-t-deprive-people-of-everything/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Woe to that nation whose literature is cut short by the intrusion of force. 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Some things lead us into a realm beyond words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/not-everything-has-a-name-some-things-lead-us-into-a-realm-beyond/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [It is almost always impossible to evaluate at the time events which you have already experienced, and to understand their meaning with the guidance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/it-is-almost-always-impossible-to-evaluate-at-the-time-events-which/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Human nature is full of riddles; . . . one of those riddles is: how is it that people who have been crushed by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/human-nature-is-full-of-riddles-one-of-those-riddles-is-how-is-it/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [“It was astonishing that the pseudo wreckers, who knew perfectly well that they weren't wreckers, believed that military men and priests were being shaken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/it-was-astonishing-that-the-pseudo-wreckers-who-knew-perfectly-well/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [When the whole discussion of "developing a national idea" hastily began in post-Soviet Russia, I tried to pour cold water on it with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/when-the-whole-discussion-of-developing-a-national-idea-hastily-began/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [“It was granted me to carry away from my prison years on my bent back, which nearly broke beneath its load, this essential experience;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/it-was-granted-me-to-carry-away-from-my-prison-years-on-my-bent-back/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Call no day happy 'til it is done; call no man happy til he is dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/call-no-day-happy-til-it-is-done-call-no-man-happy-til-he-is-dead/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Whenever the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relationships, this creates an atmosphere of spiritual mediocrity that paralyzes a person's noblest impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/whenever-the-tissue-of-life-is-woven-of-legalistic-relationships-this/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [The same old caveman feeling-greed, envy, violence, and mutual hate, which along the way assumed respectable pseudonyms like class struggle, racial struggle, mass struggle,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/the-same-old-caveman-feeling-greed-envy-violence-and-mutual-hate/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Surrender one hair, and you'll end up beardless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/surrender-one-hair-and-you-ll-end-up-beardless/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) [Explore all 412 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) ## More Away from you quotes > [But one of the things I learned is that when you fight for something you believe in and you tell the truth and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-kerry/but-one-of-the-things-i-learned-is-that-when-you-fight-for-something/) [Vanessa Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-kerry/) > [Read. 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Your idols got taken away from you one by one and now you have nothing to give your love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/you-re-killing-yourself-with-cynicism-your-idols-got-taken-away-from/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [Is driving a right? You are entitled to a driving license if you can abide by the traffic laws and drive responsibly. If your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-sina/is-driving-a-right-you-are-entitled-to-a-driving-license-if-you-can/) [Ali Sina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-sina/) > [If, when you talk to people, they keep backing away from you, it's because you're TOO CLOSE, alright? SO DON'T KEEP ADVANCING ON THEM…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/if-when-you-talk-to-people-they-keep-backing-away-from-you-it-s/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [Because you don't learn anything unless you can find the patience to read. TV takes that away from you. It robs you from your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/because-you-don-t-learn-anything-unless-you-can-find-the-patience-to/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [His lessons were chock-full of analogies for a variety of musical situations. Those little things were my favorites. 'No . . . that's too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manny-laureano/his-lessons-were-chock-full-of-analogies-for-a-variety-of-musical/) Manny Laureano > [Love leaves a memory nobody can take away from you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-campbell/love-leaves-a-memory-nobody-can-take-away-from-you/) [Danielle Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-campbell/) > [Roads taken far away from you are many. 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