--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Imagine the martyrdom of a pun which has…" description: "\"“Imagine the martyrdom of a pun which has become an integral portion of one's organism to be lugged through life like the convict's ball and chain. Do ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/489/alice-james-18373_convict_imagine-the-martyrdom-of-a-pun-which-has_1853225.png" --- # Imagine the martyrdom of a pun which has become an… ![“Imagine the martyrdom of a pun which has become an integral portion of one's organism to be lugged through life like the convict's ball and chain. Do you suppose he vainly tries to escape it, or is he passive in its clutches or can it be possible that some memory of the joy still survives which…” quote by Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/489/alice-james-18373_convict_imagine-the-martyrdom-of-a-pun-which-has_1853225.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/489/alice-james-18373_convict_imagine-the-martyrdom-of-a-pun-which-has_1853225.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/489/alice-james-18373_convict_imagine-the-martyrdom-of-a-pun-which-has_1853225.png) > ““Imagine the martyrdom of a pun which has become an integral portion of one's organism to be lugged through life like the convict's ball and chain. Do you suppose he vainly tries to escape it, or is he passive in its clutches or can it be possible that some memory of the joy still survives which irradiated his being, the first time he heard it from his lips in the springtime of his practice?”” [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humans cling to past joys like a heavy chain, questioning whether memory can ever truly be free. **In simple terms:** Memories can imprison us. Key Takeaway Release the past’s grip. Themes memory attachment freedom Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - grief processing - creative writing - therapy sessions Key Concepts psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What joy from the past still energizes you? - Can you transform painful memory into strength? A Different Perspective Memory can also inspire rather than imprison. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Convict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convict/) [Convict Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convict-ball-2445932/) [First time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-time/) [Imagine Martyrdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine-martyrdom-2445930/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Like Convict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-convict-2445931/) [Martyrdom Pun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/martyrdom-pun-2445929/) ## Related quotes > [Being a sex symbol was rather like being a convict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raquel-welch/being-a-sex-symbol-was-rather-like-being-a-convict/) [Raquel Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raquel-welch/) > [“The brainless wonder in his pants certainly appreciated her nearness. The stupid bastard started pounding against his zipper like a convict pounding against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-ann-walker/the-brainless-wonder-in-his-pants-certainly-appreciated-her-nearness/) [Julie Ann Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-ann-walker/) > [“They even convict and execute the dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-berry/they-even-convict-and-execute-the-dead/) [Julie Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-berry/) > [Our constitutionally-based criminal justice system places a high value on protecting the innocent. Among its central tenets is the idea that it is better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-shapiro/our-constitutionally-based-criminal-justice-system-places-a-high/) [Robert Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-shapiro/) > [“Of course, 85 per cent won’t be enough by itself to convict him, but it makes him someone you want to take seriously.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-bolton/of-course-85-per-cent-won-t-be-enough-by-itself-to-convict-him-but-it/) [S.J. Bolton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-bolton/) > [I'm the only convict who couldn't get into Australia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-goad/i-m-the-only-convict-who-couldn-t-get-into-australia/) [Jim Goad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-goad/) > [“The most honest man I bet I’ve ever known, I and met him in prison.” “The nicest woman I ever knew, and she took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cara-mckenna/the-most-honest-man-i-bet-i-ve-ever-known-i-and-met-him-in-prison-the/) [Cara McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cara-mckenna/) > [You could accuse Republicans of a lot of things, but you could never convict us of being too conservative!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-demint/you-could-accuse-republicans-of-a-lot-of-things-but-you-could-never/) [Jim DeMint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-demint/) > [“Every prisoner knows perfectly that he is a convict and a reprobate, and knows the distance which separates him from his superiors; but neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dostoieffsky/every-prisoner-knows-perfectly-that-he-is-a-convict-and-a-reprobate/) [Dostoieffsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dostoieffsky/) > [I'm enormously proud of being the ancestor of a convict. That's mad, isn't it, but I really am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-reid/i-m-enormously-proud-of-being-the-ancestor-of-a-convict-that-s-mad/) [Anne Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-reid/) > [“The witch-hunt narrative is a really popular story that goes like this: Lots of people were falsely convicted of child sexual abuse in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-cheit/the-witch-hunt-narrative-is-a-really-popular-story-that-goes-like/) [Ross Cheit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-cheit/) > [“Brother, these last two months I've found in myself a new man. A new man has risen up in me. He was hidden in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/brother-these-last-two-months-i-ve-found-in-myself-a-new-man-a-new/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [I've been a biker, I've been a convict, I've been a husband, father, and son.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-chapman/i-ve-been-a-biker-i-ve-been-a-convict-i-ve-been-a-husband-father-and/) [Duane Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-chapman/) > [“Farragut's first visitor was his wife. He was raking leaves in yard Y when the PA said that 734-508-32 had a visitor. He jogged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/farragut-s-first-visitor-was-his-wife-he-was-raking-leaves-in-yard-y/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [No matter how corrupt and unjust a convict may be, he loves fairness more than anything else. If the people placed over him are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/no-matter-how-corrupt-and-unjust-a-convict-may-be-he-loves-fairness/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) ## More by Alice James > [I make it a rule always to believe compliments implicitly for five minutes, and to simmer gently for twenty more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/i-make-it-a-rule-always-to-believe-compliments-implicitly-for-five/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [What a sense of superiority it gives one to escape reading some book which everyone else is reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/what-a-sense-of-superiority-it-gives-one-to-escape-reading-some-book/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [The success or failure of a life, as far as posterity goes, seems to lie in the more or less luck of seizing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-success-or-failure-of-a-life-as-far-as-posterity-goes-seems-to/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [If I can get on to my sofa and occupy myself for four hours, at intervals through the day, scribbling my notes, and able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/if-i-can-get-on-to-my-sofa-and-occupy-myself-for-four-hours-at/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [How heroic to be able to suppress one's vanity to the extent of confessing that the game is too hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/how-heroic-to-be-able-to-suppress-one-s-vanity-to-the-extent-of/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [“The paralytic on his couch can have if he wants them wider experiences than Stanley slaughtering the savages, the two roomed cottage may enclose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-paralytic-on-his-couch-can-have-if-he-wants-them-wider/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [The gain isn't counted to the recluse and inactive that, having nothing to measure themselves by and never being tested by failure, they simmer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-gain-isn-t-counted-to-the-recluse-and-inactive-that-having/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [How sick one gets of being "good," how much I should respect myself if I could burst out and make everyone wretched for twenty-four…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/how-sick-one-gets-of-being-good-how-much-i-should-respect-myself-if-i/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [When will women begin to have the first glimmer that above all other loyalties is the loyalty toTruth, i.e., to yourself, that husband, children,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/when-will-women-begin-to-have-the-first-glimmer-that-above-all-other/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [I wonder whether if I had an education I should have been more or less a fool that I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/i-wonder-whether-if-i-had-an-education-i-should-have-been-more-or/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [It is an immense loss to have all robust and sustaining expletives refined away from one! At. moments of trial refinement is a feeble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/it-is-an-immense-loss-to-have-all-robust-and-sustaining-expletives/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [Though I have no productive worth, I have a certain value as an indestructible quantity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/though-i-have-no-productive-worth-i-have-a-certain-value-as-an/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [How fatally the entire want of humor cripples the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/how-fatally-the-entire-want-of-humor-cripples-the-mind/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [The difficulty about all this dying, is that you can't tell a fellow anything about it, so where does the fun come in?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-difficulty-about-all-this-dying-is-that-you-can-t-tell-a-fellow/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [“I was born bad and I never have recovered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/i-was-born-bad-and-i-never-have-recovered/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) [Explore all 35 Alice James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) ## More Convict quotes > [No matter how corrupt and unjust a convict may be, he loves fairness more than anything else. If the people placed over him are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/no-matter-how-corrupt-and-unjust-a-convict-may-be-he-loves-fairness/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“Farragut's first visitor was his wife. He was raking leaves in yard Y when the PA said that 734-508-32 had a visitor. He jogged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/farragut-s-first-visitor-was-his-wife-he-was-raking-leaves-in-yard-y/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [I've been a biker, I've been a convict, I've been a husband, father, and son.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-chapman/i-ve-been-a-biker-i-ve-been-a-convict-i-ve-been-a-husband-father-and/) [Duane Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-chapman/) > [“Brother, these last two months I've found in myself a new man. A new man has risen up in me. He was hidden in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/brother-these-last-two-months-i-ve-found-in-myself-a-new-man-a-new/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“The witch-hunt narrative is a really popular story that goes like this: Lots of people were falsely convicted of child sexual abuse in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-cheit/the-witch-hunt-narrative-is-a-really-popular-story-that-goes-like/) [Ross Cheit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-cheit/) > [I'm enormously proud of being the ancestor of a convict. That's mad, isn't it, but I really am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-reid/i-m-enormously-proud-of-being-the-ancestor-of-a-convict-that-s-mad/) [Anne Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-reid/) > [“Every prisoner knows perfectly that he is a convict and a reprobate, and knows the distance which separates him from his superiors; but neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dostoieffsky/every-prisoner-knows-perfectly-that-he-is-a-convict-and-a-reprobate/) [Dostoieffsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dostoieffsky/) > [You could accuse Republicans of a lot of things, but you could never convict us of being too conservative!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-demint/you-could-accuse-republicans-of-a-lot-of-things-but-you-could-never/) [Jim DeMint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-demint/) > [“The most honest man I bet I’ve ever known, I and met him in prison.” “The nicest woman I ever knew, and she took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cara-mckenna/the-most-honest-man-i-bet-i-ve-ever-known-i-and-met-him-in-prison-the/) [Cara McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cara-mckenna/) > [I'm the only convict who couldn't get into Australia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-goad/i-m-the-only-convict-who-couldn-t-get-into-australia/) [Jim Goad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-goad/) > [“Of course, 85 per cent won’t be enough by itself to convict him, but it makes him someone you want to take seriously.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-bolton/of-course-85-per-cent-won-t-be-enough-by-itself-to-convict-him-but-it/) [S.J. Bolton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-bolton/) > [Our constitutionally-based criminal justice system places a high value on protecting the innocent. Among its central tenets is the idea that it is better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-shapiro/our-constitutionally-based-criminal-justice-system-places-a-high/) [Robert Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-shapiro/) > [“They even convict and execute the dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-berry/they-even-convict-and-execute-the-dead/) [Julie Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-berry/) > [What can I do if everyone from the president to a junior bureaucrat is dying to convict me. If I am such a criminal,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asif-ali-zardari/what-can-i-do-if-everyone-from-the-president-to-a-junior-bureaucrat/) [Asif Ali Zardari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asif-ali-zardari/) > [“You can almost define a convict as one who lacks precisely the kind of wisdom and self-control necessary to derive long-term advantage from short-term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/you-can-almost-define-a-convict-as-one-who-lacks-precisely-the-kind/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) [Browse all 28 Convict quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convict/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Imagine the martyrdom of a pun which has become an integral portion of one's organism to be lugged through life like the convict's ball and chain. 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