--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Had he any choice? Can one decide whether…" description: "\"“Had he any choice? Can one decide whether to love or not? Yes, probably. One could walk away from life and choose half a life, paralysis of the soul.”..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c7/anne-perry-6912_choice_had-he-any-choice-can-one-decide-whether_709306.jpg" --- # Had he any choice? Can one decide whether to love or not?… ![“Had he any choice? Can one decide whether to love or not? Yes, probably. One could walk away from life and choose half a life, paralysis of the soul.” quote by Anne Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c7/anne-perry-6912_choice_had-he-any-choice-can-one-decide-whether_709306.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c7/anne-perry-6912_choice_had-he-any-choice-can-one-decide-whether_709306.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c7/anne-perry-6912_choice_had-he-any-choice-can-one-decide-whether_709306.jpg) > ““Had he any choice? Can one decide whether to love or not? Yes, probably. One could walk away from life and choose half a life, paralysis of the soul.”” [Anne Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Choosing love is possible, but avoiding it can lead to a half‑alive existence. **In simple terms:** Love can be chosen, but avoiding it harms the soul. Key Takeaway Embrace love, avoid stagnation. Themes love choice existence paralysis soul Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - relationships - personal growth - spiritual reflection - mental health Key Concepts free will emotional health identity Questions to Reflect On - What does “half a life” feel like? - How can you move from paralysis to action? A Different Perspective Choosing love may still involve fear and vulnerability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) [Choice Decide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice-decide-1498686/) [Choose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choose/) [Decide Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decide-love-311700/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Paralysis Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paralysis-soul-3178891/) ## Related quotes > [We all dread a bodily paralysis, and would make use of every contrivance to avoid it; but none of us is troubled about a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/we-all-dread-a-bodily-paralysis-and-would-make-use-of-every/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Happiness is a choice. You can decide how things affect you. You can decide how you react. It's up to YOU.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-is-a-choice-you-can-decide-how-things-affect-you-you-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Who Will I be? Hmm... How to choose Who to be Well lets see There's so many choices now Play guitar, be a movie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crystal/who-will-i-be-hmm-how-to-choose-who-to-be-well-lets-see-there-s-so/) [Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crystal/) > [You're not just anyone. One day, you're going to have to make a choice. 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He/She has to be true, beautiful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mhargs-abuda/when-we-are-looking-for-someone-to-love-we-do-so-with-images-of/) [Mhargs Abuda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mhargs-abuda/) > [Not everything in life is easy but the hardest thing you'll witness is seeing the one you love trying to decide if they still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/not-everything-in-life-is-easy-but-the-hardest-thing-you-ll-witness/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [Instead of wondering why you're not getting the love you should get, decide to give the love you should give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-williams/instead-of-wondering-why-you-re-not-getting-the-love-you-should-get/) [Craig Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-williams/) > [“You don't fall in love once you cross teenage, You just decide whether to be in love or not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santhosh-namballa/you-don-t-fall-in-love-once-you-cross-teenage-you-just-decide-whether/) [Santhosh Namballa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santhosh-namballa/) > [The day you finally decide to love me will be the day after I have given up on chasing you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shay-ricks/the-day-you-finally-decide-to-love-me-will-be-the-day-after-i-have/) [Shay Ricks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shay-ricks/) ## More by Anne Perry > [“without honor and kindness there are no rituals in the world that make any difference,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-perry/without-honor-and-kindness-there-are-no-rituals-in-the-world-that/) [Anne Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) > [“And she was attractive. She had an unusual mixture of innocence and individuality. A man who loved her might waken all kinds of passions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-perry/and-she-was-attractive-she-had-an-unusual-mixture-of-innocence-and/) [Anne Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) > [“A veces la ignorancia es una especie de salvaguarda.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-perry/a-veces-la-ignorancia-es-una-especie-de-salvaguarda/) [Anne Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) > [“When you are in love, there is not much that hurts as deeply as rejection.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-perry/when-you-are-in-love-there-is-not-much-that-hurts-as-deeply-as/) [Anne Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) > [“He was a man built to yearn for what he could not have.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-perry/he-was-a-man-built-to-yearn-for-what-he-could-not-have/) [Anne Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) > [“He actually cared. 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It is not repellent at all. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-perry/the-very-power-of-evil-is-that-it-is-not-recognizable-to-us-most-of/) [Anne Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) > [People only tell lies when the truth is disagreeable to them, or frightens them, or to cover sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-perry/people-only-tell-lies-when-the-truth-is-disagreeable-to-them-or/) [Anne Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) > [I was born in London, England, in 1938, a few months before the war, and spent the first years of my life there, although…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-perry/i-was-born-in-london-england-in-1938-a-few-months-before-the-war-and/) [Anne Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) > [We all try to forget what hurts us, it is sometimes the only way we can continue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-perry/we-all-try-to-forget-what-hurts-us-it-is-sometimes-the-only-way-we/) [Anne Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) > [“She understood very clearly why people go mad. Sometimes it is the only way to survive the unbearable when all other flight has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-perry/she-understood-very-clearly-why-people-go-mad-sometimes-it-is-the/) [anne perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) [Explore all 86 Anne Perry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-perry/) ## More Choice quotes > [Making the right decision is hard,telling someone your decision is even harder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/making-the-right-decision-is-hard-telling-someone-your-decision-is/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [“That’s all! Now either leave us alone or join us as a father rather than a receiver of sacrifices. You have the choice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/that-s-all-now-either-leave-us-alone-or-join-us-as-a-father-rather/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“Exactly. So, what can't you take? Decide which of the two options is harder, and do the other. That way, no matter how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/exactly-so-what-can-t-you-take-decide-which-of-the-two-options-is/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [“too—I realized that my only hope was to give up the life that had been, in order to make room for the life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/too-i-realized-that-my-only-hope-was-to-give-up-the-life-that-had/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) [Pancho Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [There has always been a feeling with people that they love my singing but not always the choice of material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/there-has-always-been-a-feeling-with-people-that-they-love-my-singing/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [I have too many options when it comes to guitars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-nielsen/i-have-too-many-options-when-it-comes-to-guitars/) [Rick Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-nielsen/) > [“Amazing how a small choice can change your life forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-c-dockens/amazing-how-a-small-choice-can-change-your-life-forever/) [Randy C. Dockens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-c-dockens/) > [Change is inevitable but personal growth is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/change-is-inevitable-but-personal-growth-is-a-choice/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Since I don't outline my books very much, I feel like sometimes I don't have a choice in what the characters do; they just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-todd/since-i-don-t-outline-my-books-very-much-i-feel-like-sometimes-i-don/) [Anna Todd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-todd/) > [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [Words can only have an effect on you if you choose to listen to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernajoy-vaal/words-can-only-have-an-effect-on-you-if-you-choose-to-listen-to-them/) [Bernajoy Vaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernajoy-vaal/) [Browse all 8,092 Choice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Had he any choice? 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