--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We went down into the dungeons where the…" description: "\"“We went down into the dungeons where the captives were held. There was a church above one of the dungeons -- which tells you something about saying on..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43e/barack-h-obama-90420_captives_we-went-down-into-the-dungeons-where-the_351872.jpg" --- # We went down into the dungeons where the captives were… ![“We went down into the dungeons where the captives were held. There was a church above one of the dungeons -- which tells you something about saying one thing and doing another. (Applause.) I was -- we walked through the "Door Of No Return." I was reminded of all the pain and all the hardships, all…” quote by Barack H. Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43e/barack-h-obama-90420_captives_we-went-down-into-the-dungeons-where-the_351872.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43e/barack-h-obama-90420_captives_we-went-down-into-the-dungeons-where-the_351872.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43e/barack-h-obama-90420_captives_we-went-down-into-the-dungeons-where-the_351872.jpg) > ““We went down into the dungeons where the captives were held. There was a church above one of the dungeons -- which tells you something about saying one thing and doing another. (Applause.) I was -- we walked through the "Door Of No Return." I was reminded of all the pain and all the hardships, all the injustices and all the indignities on the voyage from slavery to freedom.”” [Barack H. Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-h-obama/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Historical oppression reveals contradictions between religious symbols and brutal reality; remembering pain fuels the quest for freedom. **In simple terms:** Contradiction between church and slavery highlights injustice. Key Takeaway Acknowledge past injustices to pursue freedom. Themes history justice religion oppression freedom Mood somber inspirational Type political reflective When to use this quote - education - activism - policy making Key Concepts moral paradox human rights collective memory Questions to Reflect On - How do symbols hide oppression? - What actions promote true freedom? A Different Perspective Complex history may be oversimplified. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Captives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/captives/) [Dungeons Captives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dungeons-captives-3248651/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Slavery freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery-freedom/) [Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel/) [Voyage Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voyage-slavery-3248652/) ## Related quotes > [Slavery it is that makes slavery; freedom, freedom. The slavery of women happened when the men were slaves of kings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/slavery-it-is-that-makes-slavery-freedom-freedom-the-slavery-of-women/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/in-giving-freedom-to-the-slave-we-assure-freedom-to-the-free/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Slavery is theft - theft of a life, theft of work, theft of any property or produce, theft even of the children a slave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-bales/slavery-is-theft-theft-of-a-life-theft-of-work-theft-of-any-property/) [Kevin Bales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-bales/) > [Slavery is no scholar, no improver; it does not love the whistle of the railroad; it does not love the newspaper, the mailbag, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/slavery-is-no-scholar-no-improver-it-does-not-love-the-whistle-of-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Everything we seek so enthusiastically before we reach adulthood— love, work, faith— turns into a burden too heavy to bear. There is only one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everything-we-seek-so-enthusiastically-before-we-reach-adulthood-love/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Slavery and freedom cannot exist together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernestine-rose/slavery-and-freedom-cannot-exist-together/) [Ernestine Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernestine-rose/) > [Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/slavery-is-such-an-atrocious-debasement-of-human-nature-that-its-very/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“no one has ever gone from slavery to freedom with the slaveholders cheering them on,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/no-one-has-ever-gone-from-slavery-to-freedom-with-the-slaveholders/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [Freedom and slavery are mental states.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/freedom-and-slavery-are-mental-states/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Literacy is the path from slavery to freedom. But there are many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom. But reading is still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/literacy-is-the-path-from-slavery-to-freedom-but-there-are-many-kinds/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Frederick Douglas taught that literacy is the path from slavery to freedom. There are many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/frederick-douglas-taught-that-literacy-is-the-path-from-slavery-to/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Work or die’—this is the essence of slavery, of compulsion. And yet this is our world. Most of our world is enslaved but does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/work-or-die-this-is-the-essence-of-slavery-of-compulsion-and-yet-this/) [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) > [The artist must elect to fight for Freedom or for Slavery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-robeson/the-artist-must-elect-to-fight-for-freedom-or-for-slavery/) [Paul Robeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-robeson/) > [Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs Receive our air, that moment they are free; They touch our country, and their shackles fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cowper/slaves-cannot-breathe-in-england-if-their-lungs-receive-our-air-that/) [William Cowper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cowper/) > [I do not see how a barbarous community and a civilized community can constitute a state. I think we must get rid of slavery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-do-not-see-how-a-barbarous-community-and-a-civilized-community-can/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More by Barack H. Obama > [“I screwed up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-h-obama/i-screwed-up/) [Barack H. Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-h-obama/) [Explore all 2 Barack H. Obama quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-h-obama/) ## More Captives quotes > [The creative writer is usually captive to his next book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-hurst/the-creative-writer-is-usually-captive-to-his-next-book/) [Fannie Hurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-hurst/) > [People without an internalized symbolic system can all too easily become captives of the media.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/people-without-an-internalized-symbolic-system-can-all-too-easily/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [My favorite job is being a father. I have four girls now. They're a captive audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-willis/my-favorite-job-is-being-a-father-i-have-four-girls-now-they-re-a/) [Bruce Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-willis/) > [We live in all we seek. The hidden shows up in too-plain sight. It lives captive on the face of the obvious - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-live-in-all-we-seek-the-hidden-shows-up-in-too-plain-sight-it/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Of all the jaw-droppingly beautiful women who've become genuine movie stars, none has had a longer film career (62 years), has been filmed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-osborne/of-all-the-jaw-droppingly-beautiful-women-who-ve-become-genuine-movie/) [Robert Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-osborne/) > [Make me a captive Lord, then I shall be truly free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/make-me-a-captive-lord-then-i-shall-be-truly-free/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [As long as we're dependent on those fossil fuels, we're dependent on the Middle East. If we are not victims, we're certainly captives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-m-mchugh/as-long-as-we-re-dependent-on-those-fossil-fuels-we-re-dependent-on/) [John M. McHugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-m-mchugh/) > [Jah come to break downpression, rule equality, wipe away transgression, set the captives free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-marley/jah-come-to-break-downpression-rule-equality-wipe-away-transgression/) [Bob Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-marley/) > [“Though the captives' resistance was dangerous, through such acts, dignity was preserved, and through dignity, life itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-hillenbrand/though-the-captives-resistance-was-dangerous-through-such-acts/) [Laura Hillenbrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-hillenbrand/) > [The state is captive to vested interests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanusi-lamido-sanusi/the-state-is-captive-to-vested-interests/) [Sanusi Lamido Sanusi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanusi-lamido-sanusi/) > [“...you go back to liberate the captives and sadly realize, some want to remain tied down in the cave...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/you-go-back-to-liberate-the-captives-and-sadly-realize-some-want-to/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“So, very soon our captives will meet their small countrywoman again. How grateful they must be to have a pleasant ride, with us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-rodda/so-very-soon-our-captives-will-meet-their-small-countrywoman-again/) [Emily Rodda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-rodda/) > [The cry for freedom is a sign of suppression. It will not cease to ring as long as man feels himself captive. As diverse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/the-cry-for-freedom-is-a-sign-of-suppression-it-will-not-cease-to/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [Words have to murder reality before they can hold it captive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/words-have-to-murder-reality-before-they-can-hold-it-captive/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [It would drive the photographers crazy because I would giggle and tell jokes. I was gregarious, and looking back, I realize I had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/it-would-drive-the-photographers-crazy-because-i-would-giggle-and/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) [Browse all 176 Captives quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/captives/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We went down into the dungeons where the captives were held. There was a church above one of the dungeons -- which tells you something about saying one thing and doing another. (Applause.) I was -- we walked through the \"Door Of No Return.\" I was reminded of all the pain and all the hardships, all the injustices and all the indignities on the voyage from slavery to freedom.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Barack H. 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