--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Living in a bubble as I said in a…" description: "\"Living in a bubble as I said in a featherbed of privilege. That's why leaving home, leaving the prep school and going to the University of Michigan in ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16e/bill-ayers-1848_awakening_living-in-a-bubble-as-i-said-in-a-feathe_1968399.png" --- # Living in a bubble as I said in a featherbed of privilege… ![“Living in a bubble as I said in a featherbed of privilege. That's why leaving home, leaving the prep school and going to the University of Michigan in the early '60s was a moment of awakening and to go to a place like Michigan and to see suddenly a world in flames and the injustices all around was…” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16e/bill-ayers-1848_awakening_living-in-a-bubble-as-i-said-in-a-feathe_1968399.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16e/bill-ayers-1848_awakening_living-in-a-bubble-as-i-said-in-a-feathe_1968399.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16e/bill-ayers-1848_awakening_living-in-a-bubble-as-i-said-in-a-feathe_1968399.png) > “Living in a bubble as I said in a featherbed of privilege. That's why leaving home, leaving the prep school and going to the University of Michigan in the early '60s was a moment of awakening and to go to a place like Michigan and to see suddenly a world in flames and the injustices all around was quite a wake up call. I lasted a year and a half at Michigan before I dropped out and joined the merchant marines and I was a merchant marine for my sophomore year then I came back to Michigan.” [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. Leaving a privileged environment for university exposed him to social injustice, prompting a brief departure to the merchant marines before returning. **In simple terms:** University revealed injustice, leading to a short maritime stint. Key Takeaway Seek experiences that broaden perspective. Themes awakening privilege activism Mood reflective inspirational Type personal narrative When to use this quote - college enrollment - activism - military service - return to studies Key Concepts social justice education career change Questions to Reflect On - What drives you to leave comfort zones? - How do brief experiences shape long‑term values? A Different Perspective Short stays may limit deep impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awakening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awakening/) [Bubbles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bubbles/) [Came Michigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/came-michigan-3215928/) [Flames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flames/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Injustice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/injustice/) [Leaving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leaving/) [Leaving home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leaving-home/) [Like Michigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-michigan-2208727/) [Marine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marine/) [Merchant marine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merchant-marine/) [Merchants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merchants/) [Michigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/michigan/) [Michigan Suddenly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/michigan-suddenly-3291773/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Preps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preps/) [Privilege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privilege/) [Privilege Leaving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privilege-leaving-3291774/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Sophomore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sophomore/) [Sophomore year](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sophomore-year/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) [University Michigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university-michigan-534925/) [University of michigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university-of-michigan/) [Wake up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wake-up/) [Wake up call](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wake-up-call/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [I dropped out in '64. And I came back to Michigan, in '65. In 1965, when I came back I had never heard of Vietnam.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-dropped-out-in-64-and-i-came-back-to-michigan-in-65-in-1965-when-i/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Our great history has been that people came to Michigan because you didn't have to have a college degree to get a good-paying job.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-granholm/our-great-history-has-been-that-people-came-to-michigan-because-you/) [Jennifer Granholm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-granholm/) > [I was arrested 1965. I had come back from the merchant marines, got into conversations about the war. I had never heard of Vietnam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-arrested-1965-i-had-come-back-from-the-merchant-marines-got/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Canada - they won't like me saying this, but it's really like it's a part of Michigan, that area.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-varvatos/canada-they-won-t-like-me-saying-this-but-it-s-really-like-it-s-a/) [John Varvatos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-varvatos/) > [California is beautiful to look at, but you can't be a part of it like you can in Michigan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-granholm/california-is-beautiful-to-look-at-but-you-can-t-be-a-part-of-it-like/) [Jennifer Granholm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-granholm/) > [I'm proud to be a Michigander, but I look around at the Michigan that my kids are growing up in and it doesn't look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-whitmer/i-m-proud-to-be-a-michigander-but-i-look-around-at-the-michigan-that/) [Gretchen Whitmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-whitmer/) > [“Not simply wanting compensation for destroyed American vessels, he added a still more explosive demand: that Britain pay a staggering $2 billion in indirect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/not-simply-wanting-compensation-for-destroyed-american-vessels-he/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Eight Bells: Robert J. Kane ‘55D died June 3, 2017, in Palm Harbor, Florida. He came to MMA by way of Boston College. Bob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-the-exciting-story-of-cuba/eight-bells-robert-j-kane-55d-died-june-3-2017-in-palm-harbor-florida/) [Captain Hank Bracker, The Exciting Story of Cuba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/captain-hank-bracker-the-exciting-story-of-cuba/) > [(Mariners) have written one of its most brilliant chapters. They have delivered the goods when and where needed in every theater of operations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/mariners-have-written-one-of-its-most-brilliant-chapters-they-have/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [I had hoped to go to law school, but the war started, and because of the strong feeling that I did not want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglass-north/i-had-hoped-to-go-to-law-school-but-the-war-started-and-because-of/) [Douglass North](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglass-north/) > [But very unfortunately the merchant marine died away till even the majority of fishing done about the Cape is in the hands of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-c-lincoln/but-very-unfortunately-the-merchant-marine-died-away-till-even-the/) [Joseph C. Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-c-lincoln/) > [“If I survived at all, it would be a triumph. If I swam, it would be a miracle. As I unlocked my door, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-i-survived-at-all-it-would-be-a-triumph-if-i-swam-it-would-be-a/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“Farrell Lines was a concept envisioned by James A. Farrell Sr., the son of a ship’s captain and the president of the United States…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-one/farrell-lines-was-a-concept-envisioned-by-james-a-farrell-sr-the-son/) [Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-one/) > [“(Without the merchant marine, there is no Walmart.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-phillips/without-the-merchant-marine-there-is-no-walmart/) [Richard Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-phillips/) > [Because I had worked the river boats some summers, pushing as far as New Orleans, I joined the Merchant Marine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-walker/because-i-had-worked-the-river-boats-some-summers-pushing-as-far-as/) [Clint Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-walker/) ## 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/) > [ I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd been an organizer, so many things had changed over those three years \[from 1965 till 1968\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-d-been-arrested-many-times-by-then-i-d-been-an-organizer-so-many/) [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/) [Explore all 204 Bill Ayers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## More Awakening quotes > [It is natural that our minds replay old stories, because that is our own mechanism for trying to work out unresolved problems. Yet rerunning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-brach/it-is-natural-that-our-minds-replay-old-stories-because-that-is-our/) [Tara Brach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-brach/) > [Imitation is the first instinct of the awakening mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/imitation-is-the-first-instinct-of-the-awakening-mind/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [“It is not so much about fighting against the ego; it is more about harmonizing with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-sara/it-is-not-so-much-about-fighting-against-the-ego-it-is-more-about/) [Grace Sara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-sara/) > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [“Low states are a like a poison to the psyche. Millions of people throughout the world take tranquillizers each day to combat depression, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/belsebuub/low-states-are-a-like-a-poison-to-the-psyche-millions-of-people/) [Belsebuub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/belsebuub/) > [The awakening of the soul to its bondage and its effort to stand up and assert itself - this is called life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-awakening-of-the-soul-to-its-bondage-and-its-effort-to-stand-up/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [My political awakening, if I can be as grand as to call it that, was all about what was happening around me. It wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/my-political-awakening-if-i-can-be-as-grand-as-to-call-it-that-was/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) > [How often have you sailed in my dreams. And now you come in my awakening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-often-have-you-sailed-in-my-dreams-and-now-you-come-in-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“CWC (Church Women Concerned) enabled us as women in that part of South Africa, to see ourselves as ordinary citizens who found themselves in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sindiwe-magona/cwc-church-women-concerned-enabled-us-as-women-in-that-part-of-south/) [Sindiwe Magona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sindiwe-magona/) > [I feel there is a great spiritual awakening on the planet right now. More than any previous time, people are drawn to meditation, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agapi-stassinopoulos/i-feel-there-is-a-great-spiritual-awakening-on-the-planet-right-now/) [Agapi Stassinopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agapi-stassinopoulos/) > [When I was 20 years old, I got cast in 'Spring Awakening' and got swept up in this experience where it was kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-groff/when-i-was-20-years-old-i-got-cast-in-spring-awakening-and-got-swept/) [Jonathan Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-groff/) > [Motivation is awakening own mind and Inspiration is arising spirit in others to find their own with their heart and soul in all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj/motivation-is-awakening-own-mind-and-inspiration-is-arising-spirit-in/) [Anuj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [Life is perhaps best regarded as a bad dream between two awakenings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/life-is-perhaps-best-regarded-as-a-bad-dream-between-two-awakenings/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [“The Illusion - The source of suffering can be linked back to a condition of the mind that creates the illusion of separation--the state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-blanchard/the-illusion-the-source-of-suffering-can-be-linked-back-to-a/) [L.M.Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-blanchard/) [Browse all 1,440 Awakening quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awakening/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Living in a bubble as I said in a featherbed of privilege. That's why leaving home, leaving the prep school and going to the University of Michigan in the early '60s was a moment of awakening and to go to a place like Michigan and to see suddenly a world in flames and the injustices all around was quite a wake up call. 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