--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've had only one idea in my life - a…" description: "\"I've had only one idea in my life - a true idee fixe. To put it as bluntly as possible - the idea of having my own way. 'Control!' expresses it. The co..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/b-f-skinner-4812_behave_i-ve-had-only-one-idea-in-my-life-a-true_2750598.png" --- # I've had only one idea in my life - a true idee fixe. To… ![“I've had only one idea in my life - a true idee fixe. To put it as bluntly as possible - the idea of having my own way. 'Control!' expresses it. The control of human behavior. In my early experimental days it was a frenzied, selfish desire to dominate. I remember the rage I used to feel when a…” quote by B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/b-f-skinner-4812_behave_i-ve-had-only-one-idea-in-my-life-a-true_2750598.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/b-f-skinner-4812_behave_i-ve-had-only-one-idea-in-my-life-a-true_2750598.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/b-f-skinner-4812_behave_i-ve-had-only-one-idea-in-my-life-a-true_2750598.png) > “I've had only one idea in my life - a true idee fixe. To put it as bluntly as possible - the idea of having my own way. 'Control!' expresses it. The control of human behavior. In my early experimental days it was a frenzied, selfish desire to dominate. I remember the rage I used to feel when a prediction went awry. I could have shouted at the subjects of my experiments, 'Behave, damn you! Behave as you ought!” [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker describes an obsessive drive to control others, equating it with a fixed, all‑consuming idea. **In simple terms:** Obsessive desire to dominate others. Key Takeaway Recognize and temper controlling impulses. Themes power control obsession ethics Mood reflective critical Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - research labs - leadership - personal relationships - policy making Key Concepts behaviorism psychology ego authority Questions to Reflect On - How does your need for control affect those around you? - What alternative motivations could replace domination? A Different Perspective Control can erode trust and autonomy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Behave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behave/) [Behavior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behavior/) [Control](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/control/) [Control Expresses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/control-expresses-3096027/) [Control Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/control-human-605041/) [Damn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/damn/) [Damn you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/damn-you/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Experiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiments/) [Expresses Control](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expresses-control-3096028/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Human behavior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-behavior/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [My own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-own/) [Ought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ought/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Predictions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/predictions/) [Rage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rage/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Selfish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfish/) [Selfish desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfish-desire/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [“Data about human desires and experiences can be gathered and made into algorithms that can lead to the ability to control human decisions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/readtrepreneur-publishing/data-about-human-desires-and-experiences-can-be-gathered-and-made/) [Readtrepreneur Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/readtrepreneur-publishing/) > [Physical nature lies at our feet shackled with a hundred chains. What of the control of human nature? Do not point to the triumphs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/physical-nature-lies-at-our-feet-shackled-with-a-hundred-chains-what/) [Johan Huizinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/) > [Although technology is proceeding at a dizzying pace, I believe that the human mind will always have control of itself. And since the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/although-technology-is-proceeding-at-a-dizzying-pace-i-believe-that/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [To preserve the human race, it is now necessary to reorganize society. To this end, an Authority must be created with the power to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/to-preserve-the-human-race-it-is-now-necessary-to-reorganize-society/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“Feeling in control makes most people feel secure and safe. It doesn’t matter how much actual control we have. Every human is technically a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-burnett/feeling-in-control-makes-most-people-feel-secure-and-safe-it-doesn-t/) [Dean Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-burnett/) > [The control of the production of wealth is the control of human life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/the-control-of-the-production-of-wealth-is-the-control-of-human-life/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Physical weather certainly is beyond our control. ... But human weather - the psychological climate of the world - is not beyond our control.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-struther/physical-weather-certainly-is-beyond-our-control-but-human-weather/) [Jan Struther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-struther/) > [You cannot control another human being, and you just have to learn to go with the flow and laugh at yourself, in whatever capacity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-durance/you-cannot-control-another-human-being-and-you-just-have-to-learn-to/) [Erica Durance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-durance/) > [Better contraceptives will control population only if people will use them. A nuclear holocaust can be prevented only if the conditions under which nations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/better-contraceptives-will-control-population-only-if-people-will-use/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [You have delivered up our holy German Fatherland to one of the greatest demagogues of all time. I solemnly prophesy that this accursed man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-have-delivered-up-our-holy-german-fatherland-to-one-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Saying you love something out loud with the wrong intonation in your face can damn you and destroy what you're working on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-white/saying-you-love-something-out-loud-with-the-wrong-intonation-in-your/) [Jack White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-white/) > [The point of women's liberation is not to stand at the door of the male world, beating our fists, and crying, 'Let me in,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivian-gornick/the-point-of-women-s-liberation-is-not-to-stand-at-the-door-of-the/) [Vivian Gornick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivian-gornick/) > [If the producer doesn't like you, consequently he reads the script with a very negative view. But I wouldn't preoccupy myself with that, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/if-the-producer-doesn-t-like-you-consequently-he-reads-the-script/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [The indications are that swearing preceded the development of cursing. That is, expletives, maledictions, exclamations, and imprecations of the immediately explosive or vituperative kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/the-indications-are-that-swearing-preceded-the-development-of-cursing/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [No tears to damn you when jealousy burns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elton-john/no-tears-to-damn-you-when-jealousy-burns/) [Elton John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elton-john/) ## More by B. F. Skinner > [To require a citizen to sign a loyalty oath is to destroy some of the loyalty he could otherwise claim, since any subsequent loyal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/to-require-a-citizen-to-sign-a-loyalty-oath-is-to-destroy-some-of-the/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [A first principle not formally recognized by scientific methodologists: when you run into something interesting, drop everything else and study it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/a-first-principle-not-formally-recognized-by-scientific/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [The problem of far greater importance remains to be solved. Rather than build a world in which we shall all live well, we must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/the-problem-of-far-greater-importance-remains-to-be-solved-rather/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [I remember when I was a freshman in college, I was still somewhat bothered by... worried... about religion. I remember going to this professor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/i-remember-when-i-was-a-freshman-in-college-i-was-still-somewhat/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [Those who have had anything useful to say have said it far too often, and those who have had nothing to say have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/those-who-have-had-anything-useful-to-say-have-said-it-far-too-often/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [I would be opposed to any kind of totalitarian control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/i-would-be-opposed-to-any-kind-of-totalitarian-control/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [A disappointment is not generally an oversight. It might just be the best one can do the situation being what it is. The genuine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/a-disappointment-is-not-generally-an-oversight-it-might-just-be-the/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [The simplest and most satisfactory view is that thought is simply behavior - verbal or nonverbal, covert or overt. It is not some mysterious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/the-simplest-and-most-satisfactory-view-is-that-thought-is-simply/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [Behavior is shaped and maintained by its consequences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/behavior-is-shaped-and-maintained-by-its-consequences/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [The alphabet was a great invention, which enabled men to store and to learn with little effort what others had learned the hard way-that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/the-alphabet-was-a-great-invention-which-enabled-men-to-store-and-to/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [The people who control the condition in which we live have no reason to think beyond more than the next five or 10 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/the-people-who-control-the-condition-in-which-we-live-have-no-reason/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [I am opposed to the military use of animals. I am also opposed to the military use of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/i-am-opposed-to-the-military-use-of-animals-i-am-also-opposed-to-the/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [A person's genetic endowment, a product of the evolution of the species, is said to explain part of the workings of his mind and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/a-person-s-genetic-endowment-a-product-of-the-evolution-of-the/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [Reinforcement is being right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/reinforcement-is-being-right/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [If you're old, don't try to change yourself, change your environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/if-you-re-old-don-t-try-to-change-yourself-change-your-environment/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) [Explore all 105 B. F. Skinner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) ## More Behave quotes > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To behave creatively in art means behavior with skill; and skill comes from discipline, not derangement. The artist who knows the rules -and proportion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burne-hogarth/to-behave-creatively-in-art-means-behavior-with-skill-and-skill-comes/) [Burne Hogarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burne-hogarth/) > [You can behave as badly as you like in America. Nobody notices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-crisp/you-can-behave-as-badly-as-you-like-in-america-nobody-notices/) [Quentin Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-crisp/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Then Olympus it is. But do try to behave. I know it’s hard for you, but… (Delphine) I won’t piss on the floor. (Jericho)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/then-olympus-it-is-but-do-try-to-behave-i-know-it-s-hard-for-you-but/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [The possibility of saying anything about a thing rests on the assumption that it preserves its identity, or continues to be the same thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-knight/the-possibility-of-saying-anything-about-a-thing-rests-on-the/) [Frank Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-knight/) > [Why does man behave like perfect idiot? This is the problem I wish to deal with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-szent-gyorgyi/why-does-man-behave-like-perfect-idiot-this-is-the-problem-i-wish-to/) [Albert Szent-Gyorgyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-szent-gyorgyi/) > [This is a time in my life where I'm gonna behave like an elegant human being. Or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-stritch/this-is-a-time-in-my-life-where-i-m-gonna-behave-like-an-elegant/) [Elaine Stritch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-stritch/) > [Most people, even in simple risky situations, don't behave the way the theory of utility would have them behave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-raiffa/most-people-even-in-simple-risky-situations-don-t-behave-the-way-the/) [Howard Raiffa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-raiffa/) > [As a club, we have an educational purpose: to give back to those people who love Arsenal so that they learn moral values from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arsene-wenger/as-a-club-we-have-an-educational-purpose-to-give-back-to-those-people/) [Arsene Wenger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arsene-wenger/) > [What astonishes many of us is not so much that human nature is fundamentally corrupt; we are astonished rather that it does not behave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morton-irving-seiden/what-astonishes-many-of-us-is-not-so-much-that-human-nature-is/) [Morton Irving Seiden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morton-irving-seiden/) > [Do we behave out of fear of punishment, or out of the demands of our heart? For me, it is the latter, as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-we-behave-out-of-fear-of-punishment-or-out-of-the-demands-of-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you are in hard labor, remember that the length of labor is usually proportional to the number of people around. Avoid the presence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-odent/when-you-are-in-hard-labor-remember-that-the-length-of-labor-is/) [Michel Odent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-odent/) > [The superpowers often behave like two heavily armed blind men feeling their way around a room, each believing himself in mortal peril from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-superpowers-often-behave-like-two-heavily-armed-blind-men-feeling/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For political and bureaucratic reasons, governments at all levels are telling far less to the public than to insiders about how to prepare for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/for-political-and-bureaucratic-reasons-governments-at-all-levels-are/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) [Browse all 1,587 Behave quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behave/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I've had only one idea in my life - a true idee fixe. 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