--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's punishment to be compelled to do…" description: "\"It's punishment to be compelled to do what one doesn't wish.\" — Alice Dunbar Nelson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e40/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_compelled_it-s-punishment-to-be-compelled-to-do-wh_232795.png" --- # It's punishment to be compelled to do what one doesn't wish. ![“It's punishment to be compelled to do what one doesn't wish.” quote by Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e40/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_compelled_it-s-punishment-to-be-compelled-to-do-wh_232795.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e40/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_compelled_it-s-punishment-to-be-compelled-to-do-wh_232795.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e40/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_compelled_it-s-punishment-to-be-compelled-to-do-wh_232795.png) > “It's punishment to be compelled to do what one doesn't wish.” [Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Being forced to act against one's wishes feels like punishment. **In simple terms:** Compulsion feels punitive. Key Takeaway Respect autonomy. Themes freedom ethics psychology Mood serious reflective Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - workplace policy - legal frameworks - education - interpersonal relationships Key Concepts coercion personal agency human rights Questions to Reflect On - When is coercion justified? - How can we protect autonomy? A Different Perspective Sometimes compliance is necessary for safety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Punishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punishment/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [After all who doesn't wish to make a spectacle of their loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/after-all-who-doesn-t-wish-to-make-a-spectacle-of-their-loneliness/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [One doesn't wish to see those to whom one owes so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-corneille/one-doesn-t-wish-to-see-those-to-whom-one-owes-so-much/) [Pierre Corneille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-corneille/) > [In the various states of society, armies are recruited from very different motives. 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So what you need to do is to help people to change and recover is to help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maia-szalavitz/punishment-by-definition-isn-t-going-to-help-so-what-you-need-to-do/) [Maia Szalavitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maia-szalavitz/) > [Different victims, different survivors of different crimes will choose to pursue different paths. 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The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnnie-dent-jr/crime-and-punishment-can-be-summed-up-in-two-classifications-there/) [Johnnie Dent Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnnie-dent-jr/) ## More by Alice Dunbar Nelson > [I am profoundly in the D's - discouraged, depressed, disheartened, disgusted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/i-am-profoundly-in-the-d-s-discouraged-depressed-disheartened/) [Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/) > [I had not thought of violets of late, The wild, shy kind that springs beneath you feet In wistful April days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/i-had-not-thought-of-violets-of-late-the-wild-shy-kind-that-springs/) [Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/) > [In every race, in every nation, and in every clime in every period of history there is always an eager-eyed group of youthful patriots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/in-every-race-in-every-nation-and-in-every-clime-in-every-period-of/) [Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/) > [The rainbow is elusive, and its colors but the illumination of tears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/the-rainbow-is-elusive-and-its-colors-but-the-illumination-of-tears/) [Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/) > [Picturesqueness is a lost art. 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I'm so blue that if I were a dog, I'd sit on my haunches and howl and howl and howl...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/blue-my-god-i-m-so-blue-that-if-i-were-a-dog-i-d-sit-on-my-haunches/) [Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/) > [Every new fad or fashion at once has its denouncers from the pulpit, platform, professor's chair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/every-new-fad-or-fashion-at-once-has-its-denouncers-from-the-pulpit/) [Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/) > [Didacticism is the death of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/didacticism-is-the-death-of-art/) [Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/) [Explore all 11 Alice Dunbar Nelson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/) ## More Compelled quotes > [We explore our environment, more than we are compelled to utter poetry, when we're toddlers. We start doing that later. Before that happens, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/we-explore-our-environment-more-than-we-are-compelled-to-utter-poetry/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [When I think of God's Kingdom, I am compelled to be silent because of its immensity, because God's Kingdom is none other than God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/when-i-think-of-god-s-kingdom-i-am-compelled-to-be-silent-because-of/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [Ordinary citizens are obliged and, if need be, compelled by force to meet their commitments. But let higher obligations of an international order be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-albert-gobat/ordinary-citizens-are-obliged-and-if-need-be-compelled-by-force-to/) [Charles Albert Gobat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-albert-gobat/) > [Untethered technology gives us the freedom to do nearly anything, anytime, anywhere. It can also enslave us - we feel compelled to use it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-stone/untethered-technology-gives-us-the-freedom-to-do-nearly-anything/) [Linda Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-stone/) > [He who is required by the necessity of his position to speak the highest things is compelled by the same necessity to exemplify the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-gregory-i/he-who-is-required-by-the-necessity-of-his-position-to-speak-the/) [Pope Gregory I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-gregory-i/) > [I found myself compelled - like this weird, shameful compulsion - to draw cute animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/i-found-myself-compelled-like-this-weird-shameful-compulsion-to-draw/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [ I've written a lot of other books and this book \[Tears we cannot stop\] was different. I couldn't just say what I wanted to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-ve-written-a-lot-of-other-books-and-this-book-tears-we-cannot-stop/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [See with what force yon river's crystal stream Resists the weight of many a massy beam. To sink the wood the more we vainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/see-with-what-force-yon-river-s-crystal-stream-resists-the-weight-of/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [“The more helpless she was, the more he would feel compelled to protect her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-more-helpless-she-was-the-more-he-would-feel-compelled-to-protect/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I love different sorts of people, their stories, all the different facets, that make them, them. This is entwined with how I am compelled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-cairney/i-love-different-sorts-of-people-their-stories-all-the-different/) [Gemma Cairney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-cairney/) > [The most deeply compelled action is also the freest action. By that I mean, no part of you is outside the action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-most-deeply-compelled-action-is-also-the-freest-action-by-that-i/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [It's a mission for me to make sure that philanthropy doesn't feel like a vintage hand-me-down from mom or dad. I want people to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/usher/it-s-a-mission-for-me-to-make-sure-that-philanthropy-doesn-t-feel/) [Usher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/usher/) > [Operas elucidate, in a way sometimes absent in other theatrical productions, the very human fact that in every hero, there is a thread of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-decrow/operas-elucidate-in-a-way-sometimes-absent-in-other-theatrical/) [Karen DeCrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-decrow/) > [The first thing, when I read the script, is that I need to care about what happens and feel compelled by the story and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-sheen/the-first-thing-when-i-read-the-script-is-that-i-need-to-care-about/) [Michael Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-sheen/) > [God has not made this world to be a nest for us, and if we try to make it such for ourselves, he plants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/god-has-not-made-this-world-to-be-a-nest-for-us-and-if-we-try-to-make/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) Browse all 515 Compelled quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's punishment to be compelled to do what one doesn't wish.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Dunbar Nelson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/it-s-punishment-to-be-compelled-to-do-what-one-doesn-t-wish/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Compelled" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/it-s-punishment-to-be-compelled-to-do-what-one-doesn-t-wish/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e40/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_compelled_it-s-punishment-to-be-compelled-to-do-wh_232795.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e40/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_compelled_it-s-punishment-to-be-compelled-to-do-wh_232795.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e40/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_compelled_it-s-punishment-to-be-compelled-to-do-wh_232795.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's punishment to be compelled to do what one doesn't wish.” — Alice Dunbar Nelson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alice Dunbar Nelson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It's punishment to be compelled to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/it-s-punishment-to-be-compelled-to-do-what-one-doesn-t-wish/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/it-s-punishment-to-be-compelled-to-do-what-one-doesn-t-wish/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```