--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd…" description: "\"I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd been an organizer, so many things had changed over those three years [from 1965 till 1968].\" — Bill Ayers" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/bill-ayers-1848_arrested_i-d-been-arrested-many-times-by-then-i-d_88658.png" --- # I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd been an… ![“I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd been an organizer, so many things had changed over those three years [from 1965 till 1968].” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/bill-ayers-1848_arrested_i-d-been-arrested-many-times-by-then-i-d_88658.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/bill-ayers-1848_arrested_i-d-been-arrested-many-times-by-then-i-d_88658.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/bill-ayers-1848_arrested_i-d-been-arrested-many-times-by-then-i-d_88658.png) > “I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd been an organizer, so many things had changed over those three years \[from 1965 till 1968\].” [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reflects on a period of intense activism and repeated arrests, highlighting personal evolution amid social upheaval. **In simple terms:** Activism can lead to repeated legal confrontations. Key Takeaway Personal change often occurs in turbulent times. Themes activism social change personal evolution legal conflict historical context Mood defiant historical thoughtful Type personal testimony historical reflection When to use this quote - historical research - social movement studies - biographical writing Key Concepts commitment resilience Practical Applications - education - activist training Questions to Reflect On - What drives individuals to persist despite arrests? - How does activism reshape personal identity? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I was arrested a few times, for fights and having a knife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-edwards/i-was-arrested-a-few-times-for-fights-and-having-a-knife/) [Leon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-edwards/) > [I have been arrested several times protesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrisse-cullors/i-have-been-arrested-several-times-protesting/) [Patrisse Cullors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrisse-cullors/) > [I don't really hang out with people. I like to be by myself. In fact, I've been arrested a few times because I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emo-philips/i-don-t-really-hang-out-with-people-i-like-to-be-by-myself-in-fact-i/) [Emo Philips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emo-philips/) > [I did yoga in the cell, meditated, and slept well; somebody brings you some food and drink. I've been arrested four times now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-bradbrook/i-did-yoga-in-the-cell-meditated-and-slept-well-somebody-brings-you/) [Gail Bradbrook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-bradbrook/) > [I was arrested three times and tortured once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-was-arrested-three-times-and-tortured-once/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I've been arrested several times. I've been known to dress in ludicrous fashions. I've also built a career out of negative reviews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waters/i-ve-been-arrested-several-times-i-ve-been-known-to-dress-in/) [John Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waters/) > [Agitators, organizers, activists, intellectuals aren't bound by those rules. We're not trying to figure out, how do I thread this particular needle?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/agitators-organizers-activists-intellectuals-aren-t-bound-by-those/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [As somebody who's been writing about this subject for getting on twenty years now, it's astonishing how the climate has changed in the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-holden/as-somebody-who-s-been-writing-about-this-subject-for-getting-on/) [Anthony Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-holden/) > [Nothing's really changed for me over the years. I like telling stories about people with problems. I can't really put it much simpler than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-buscemi/nothing-s-really-changed-for-me-over-the-years-i-like-telling-stories/) [Steve Buscemi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-buscemi/) > [I've become a huge fan of term limits," the former aide said, "because Armey and the others in leadership used to be just like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-sanford/i-ve-become-a-huge-fan-of-term-limits-the-former-aide-said-because/) [Mark Sanford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-sanford/) > [“The first time her grandfather had told her of her heritage, she’d laughed, thinking it was a jest. But as they’d walked down the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-grant/the-first-time-her-grandfather-had-told-her-of-her-heritage-she-d/) [Donna Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-grant/) > [“Right ain't changed in all these years. From my maternal grandmother, Pearl C. Parker”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-l-parker/right-ain-t-changed-in-all-these-years-from-my-maternal-grandmother/) [Deborah L. Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-l-parker/) > [Basically, radio hasn't changed over the years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casey-kasem/basically-radio-hasn-t-changed-over-the-years/) [Casey Kasem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/casey-kasem/) > [“He'd changed in the ten years since he'd been gone.He'd grown taller certainly, and his body was thick with muscle, but his white blond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wright/he-d-changed-in-the-ten-years-since-he-d-been-gone-he-d-grown-taller/) [Laura Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wright/) > [“A nondescript place, but it had inevitably changed over the years; one of the old oaks had been split by lightning and now lay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-anne-long/a-nondescript-place-but-it-had-inevitably-changed-over-the-years-one/) [Julie Anne Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-anne-long/) ## More by Bill Ayers > [ It wasn't \[Barack\] Obama per se; it was the feeling on the ground; it was seeing an old black woman in a wheelchair being… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/it-wasn-t-barack-obama-per-se-it-was-the-feeling-on-the-ground-it-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I didn't respond to people thrusting microphones at me and asking me questions that were unanswerable in a sound bite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-didn-t-respond-to-people-thrusting-microphones-at-me-and-asking-me/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I haven't been silent. I teach, I lecture at universities, I write, I'm not silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-haven-t-been-silent-i-teach-i-lecture-at-universities-i-write-i-m/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ One of the great crimes of the Bloomberg/Klein administration \[in New York City\] is that they've removed themselves from communities, as if communities have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/one-of-the-great-crimes-of-the-bloomberg-klein-administration-in-new/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was involved in the anti-war movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-involved-in-the-anti-war-movement/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[Lyndon \] Johnson was responding to a black freedom movement that was tearing the country open and he did what he had to do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/lyndon-johnson-was-responding-to-a-black-freedom-movement-that-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ I'm wary of government. Part of \[the Tea Party\] impulse is to dislike and be worried about the rich. I'm that way too. So… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-m-wary-of-government-part-of-the-tea-party-impulse-is-to-dislike/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [You cannot live a political life, you cannot live a moral life if you're not willing to open your eyes and see the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/you-cannot-live-a-political-life-you-cannot-live-a-moral-life-if-you/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was a good liberal in some sense at that point. I wanted to end a war. I wanted to support the civil rights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-a-good-liberal-in-some-sense-at-that-point-i-wanted-to-end-a/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The fact is that in my prep school, I went to a boarding school, 39 young men graduated from that prep school. Five years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-fact-is-that-in-my-prep-school-i-went-to-a-boarding-school-39/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[The whole first year at university\] was a great time for me and great time of awakening. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a-great-time-for-me-and-great/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The truth is that the antiwar movement was powered by the working class. The students were the ones that got the media and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-truth-is-that-the-antiwar-movement-was-powered-by-the-working/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [There was one moment when J. Edgar Hoover and us had the same distorted lens about who we were - "a real threat," you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/there-was-one-moment-when-j-edgar-hoover-and-us-had-the-same/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Every politician - FDR, Lyndon Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama - they're all conservative by nature. They are part of the big thing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/every-politician-fdr-lyndon-johnson-abraham-lincoln-barack-obama-they/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [It transmitted because on the campuses, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was recruiting, was organizing. Students for a Democratic Society was founded at Michigan just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/it-transmitted-because-on-the-campuses-student-nonviolent/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) [Explore all 204 Bill Ayers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## More Arrested quotes > [Impulse arrested spills over, and the flood is feeling, the flood is passion, the flood is even madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/impulse-arrested-spills-over-and-the-flood-is-feeling-the-flood-is/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [On stage you're free. You can say and do things that if you said and did any place else, you'd be arrested.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/on-stage-you-re-free-you-can-say-and-do-things-that-if-you-said-and/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [a TEN-YEAR-OLD lad in Indianapolis who was arrested for picking up coal along the side of railroad tracks is now in jail. If the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-jones/a-ten-year-old-lad-in-indianapolis-who-was-arrested-for-picking-up/) Mother Jones > [Fame is like a big eraser. It's strange, now that I'm famous. In my parents' opinion, all the shitty things - all the wreckage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobcat-goldthwait/fame-is-like-a-big-eraser-it-s-strange-now-that-i-m-famous-in-my/) [Bobcat Goldthwait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobcat-goldthwait/) > [When men are arrested without any legal basis and for political reasons, it's merely a routine, everyday occurrence in Russia, and hardly anyone has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexei-navalny/when-men-are-arrested-without-any-legal-basis-and-for-political/) [Alexei Navalny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexei-navalny/) > [Helen Crawfurd and the Women's Peace Crusade, made a march on the City Chambers, distributing an illegal leaflet in front of police and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-gallacher/helen-crawfurd-and-the-women-s-peace-crusade-made-a-march-on-the-city/) Willie Gallacher > [I just put myself in a hotel and was smoking coke for a while. Then I met up with the wrong people. I ended…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-wallice/i-just-put-myself-in-a-hotel-and-was-smoking-coke-for-a-while-then-i/) [Marc Wallice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-wallice/) > [My father was pretty independent. He was - he was arrested once in Nashville when he was on one of his sales trips because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/my-father-was-pretty-independent-he-was-he-was-arrested-once-in/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [I was arrested on graduation night for breaking and entering into the high school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-anderson/i-was-arrested-on-graduation-night-for-breaking-and-entering-into-the/) [Gillian Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-anderson/) > [On my recent trip to the Mexico border, Border Patrol agents in California told me they have arrested the same coyotes 20 times, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ric-keller/on-my-recent-trip-to-the-mexico-border-border-patrol-agents-in/) [Ric Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ric-keller/) > [You tell people that all the time, 'Jail's the worst place ever and you don't want to go there,' which is true but at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-glover/you-tell-people-that-all-the-time-jail-s-the-worst-place-ever-and-you/) [Stephen Glover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-glover/) > [“But Daddy, I never knew that's what you expected of me. I mean on the plus side, I've never been arrested or anything..”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-smith/but-daddy-i-never-knew-that-s-what-you-expected-of-me-i-mean-on-the/) [Andrea Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-smith/) > [There is the possibility to be suddenly arrested for hacking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-elbakyan/there-is-the-possibility-to-be-suddenly-arrested-for-hacking/) [Alexandra Elbakyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-elbakyan/) > [“I don’t do drugs, I’ve never been arrested, and from what I hear, I’m not too shabby in bed. Not that any of you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-peterfreund/i-don-t-do-drugs-i-ve-never-been-arrested-and-from-what-i-hear-i-m/) [Diana Peterfreund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-peterfreund/) > [You know, back in the 1950s and '60s, when J. Edgar Hoover was making the FBI the respected organization it used to be, oftentimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howie-carr/you-know-back-in-the-1950s-and-60s-when-j-edgar-hoover-was-making-the/) [Howie Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howie-carr/) Browse all 480 Arrested quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'd been arrested many times by then. 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