--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And so Shin’s misery never skidded into…" description: "\"“And so Shin’s misery never skidded into complete hopelessness. He had no hope to lose, no past to mourn, no pride to defend. He did not find it degrad..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/567/blaine-harden-21436_hope_and-so-shin-s-misery-never-skidded-into_1381789.jpg" --- # And so Shin’s misery never skidded into complete… ![“And so Shin’s misery never skidded into complete hopelessness. He had no hope to lose, no past to mourn, no pride to defend. He did not find it degrading to lick soup off the floor. He was not ashamed to beg a guard for forgiveness. It didn’t trouble his conscience to betray a friend for food…” quote by Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/567/blaine-harden-21436_hope_and-so-shin-s-misery-never-skidded-into_1381789.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/567/blaine-harden-21436_hope_and-so-shin-s-misery-never-skidded-into_1381789.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/567/blaine-harden-21436_hope_and-so-shin-s-misery-never-skidded-into_1381789.jpg) > ““And so Shin’s misery never skidded into complete hopelessness. He had no hope to lose, no past to mourn, no pride to defend. He did not find it degrading to lick soup off the floor. He was not ashamed to beg a guard for forgiveness. It didn’t trouble his conscience to betray a friend for food. These were merely survival skills, not motives for suicide.”” [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A man survives extreme hardship by abandoning pride and moral conflict, focusing solely on basic survival needs. **In simple terms:** Survival can strip away pride and moral concerns. Key Takeaway Recognize the harsh reality of survival choices. Themes survival humanity morality desperation Mood somber reflective Type narrative ethical analysis When to use this quote - war zones - refugee camps - disaster relief - poverty stricken communities Key Concepts existentialism psychology ethics Questions to Reflect On - What ethical dilemmas arise in survival situations? - How does society support those forced into extreme choices? A Different Perspective Such narratives may overlook systemic causes of suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Survival skills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survival-skills/) ## Related quotes > [“Shin’s story of survival is different. His mother beat him, and he viewed her as a competitor for food. His father, who was allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/shin-s-story-of-survival-is-different-his-mother-beat-him-and-he/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) > [“But I was learning forgiveness didn’t have to be about granting absolution for sins but being able to find freedom from pain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-topham-wood/but-i-was-learning-forgiveness-didn-t-have-to-be-about-granting/) Heather Topham Wood > [(on forgiveness) Didn't he and I stand together before an all seeing God convicted of the same murder? For I had murdered him with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corrie-ten-boom/on-forgiveness-didn-t-he-and-i-stand-together-before-an-all-seeing/) [Corrie Ten Boom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corrie-ten-boom/) > [Shin splints are something I actually suffered with a lot in my younger years of dancing. I know the pain and it's not fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaitlyn-bristowe/shin-splints-are-something-i-actually-suffered-with-a-lot-in-my/) [Kaitlyn Bristowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaitlyn-bristowe/) > [A shin is a device for finding furniture in the dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/a-shin-is-a-device-for-finding-furniture-in-the-dark/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [When people call me a photographer, I always feel like something of a charlatan—at least in Japanese. The word shashin, for photograph, combines the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiroshi-sugimoto/when-people-call-me-a-photographer-i-always-feel-like-something-of-a/) [Hiroshi Sugimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiroshi-sugimoto/) > [I know if I can get that shin across your liver, it's going to do some damage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-meerschaert/i-know-if-i-can-get-that-shin-across-your-liver-it-s-going-to-do-some/) [Gerald Meerschaert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-meerschaert/) > [He's got a knock on his shin there, just above the knee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-stapleton/he-s-got-a-knock-on-his-shin-there-just-above-the-knee/) Frank Stapleton > [ I knew Shin \[Biyajima\] a little bit early on, but it's funny because where I really met Shin, and where he made a strong… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-rice/i-knew-shin-biyajima-a-little-bit-early-on-but-it-s-funny-because/) [Travis Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-rice/) > [I run a lot. I have this five-mile run that I try and do a few times a week. If I do more, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hammond/i-run-a-lot-i-have-this-five-mile-run-that-i-try-and-do-a-few-times-a/) [Richard Hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hammond/) > [Tis Vanth's cage. You can just move it out of the way." "I already have," he grumbles. "With my shin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/tis-vanth-s-cage-you-can-just-move-it-out-of-the-way-i-already-have/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was born into the most amazing family an underdog could be born into, and I was born into the LGBTQ community. And what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-tranter/i-was-born-into-the-most-amazing-family-an-underdog-could-be-born/) [Justin Tranter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-tranter/) > [“We're not going to die. You're with me kiddo and it just happens I know a few survival skills." "Oh yeah right. Like carrying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/we-re-not-going-to-die-you-re-with-me-kiddo-and-it-just-happens-i/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [To a certain degree, I think both self-narrativizing and selective memory are essential survival skills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/to-a-certain-degree-i-think-both-self-narrativizing-and-selective/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [I've never ceased to be amazed at the survival skills of poor children. I've learned how much children can actually do for themselves if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/landon-pearson/i-ve-never-ceased-to-be-amazed-at-the-survival-skills-of-poor/) Landon Pearson ## More by Blaine Harden > [“Kwon Tae-jin, a specialist on North Korean agriculture at the Korea Rural Economic Institute, which is funded by the South Korean government, told me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/kwon-tae-jin-a-specialist-on-north-korean-agriculture-at-the-korea/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) > [“Shin’s story of survival is different. His mother beat him, and he viewed her as a competitor for food. His father, who was allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/shin-s-story-of-survival-is-different-his-mother-beat-him-and-he/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) > [“Among the elite in Pyongyang, one of the most coveted signifiers of status is an electric rice cooker.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/among-the-elite-in-pyongyang-one-of-the-most-coveted-signifiers-of/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) > [“About sixty percent of Shin’s class was assigned to the coal mines, where accidental death from cave-ins, explosions, and gas poisonings was common. Many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/about-sixty-percent-of-shin-s-class-was-assigned-to-the-coal-mines/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) > [“I am evolving from being an animal,' he said. 'But it is going very, very slowly. 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It signifies wealth, evokes the closeness of family and sanctifies a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/it-is-difficult-to-overstate-the-importance-of-rice-in-north-korean/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) > [“Freedom, in Shin's mind, was just another word for grilled meat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/freedom-in-shin-s-mind-was-just-another-word-for-grilled-meat/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) > [“As contemporaries, Shin and Kim Jong Eun personify the antipodes of privilege and privation in North Korea, a nominally classless society where, in fact,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/as-contemporaries-shin-and-kim-jong-eun-personify-the-antipodes-of/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) > [“His teachers, as a result, could shape the minds and values of their students without contradiction from children who might know something of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/his-teachers-as-a-result-could-shape-the-minds-and-values-of-their/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) > [“To identify and isolate his perceived political enemies, Kim Il Sung created a neofeudal, blood-based pecking order in 1957. The government classified and, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/to-identify-and-isolate-his-perceived-political-enemies-kim-il-sung/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) > [“Anyone who steals or conceals any foodstuffs will be shot immediately.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/anyone-who-steals-or-conceals-any-foodstuffs-will-be-shot-immediately/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) > [“There are six camps, according to South Korea’s intelligence agency and human rights groups. The biggest is thirty-one miles long and twenty-five miles wide,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/there-are-six-camps-according-to-south-korea-s-intelligence-agency/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) > [“9. Prisoners must genuinely repent of their errors. Anyone who does not acknowledge his sins and instead denies them or carries a deviant opinion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/9-prisoners-must-genuinely-repent-of-their-errors-anyone-who-does-not/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) > [“Like Nazi concentration camps, labour camps in North Korea use confinement, hunger and fear to create a kind of Skinner box: a closed, closely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-harden/like-nazi-concentration-camps-labour-camps-in-north-korea-use/) [Blaine Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) [Explore all 29 Blaine Harden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-harden/) ## More Hope quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“What can we do in any hardship? We can hope with prayerful praise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/what-can-we-do-in-any-hardship-we-can-hope-with-prayerful-praise/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [If one truly has lost hope, one would not be on hand to say so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bentley/if-one-truly-has-lost-hope-one-would-not-be-on-hand-to-say-so/) [Eric Bentley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bentley/) > [“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/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Stop trying to give me hope ... I have no room left for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenn-f/stop-trying-to-give-me-hope-i-have-no-room-left-for-it/) [Jenn F](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenn-f/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Give me love, give me peace on earth, give me light, give me life, keep me free from birth, give me hope, help me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/give-me-love-give-me-peace-on-earth-give-me-light-give-me-life-keep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pray, hope, don't worry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/pray-hope-don-t-worry/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/do-not-pray-for-tasks-equal-to-your-powers-pray-for-powers-equal-to/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [I am at a point in my life where everything I have worked for starts to look like a burden, a weight on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-abou-samra/i-am-at-a-point-in-my-life-where-everything-i-have-worked-for-starts/) Simone Abou Samra > [Im really happy that I met you I hope you know that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-nothing/im-really-happy-that-i-met-you-i-hope-you-know-that/) Im Nothing > [All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-that-i-am-or-ever-hope-to-be-i-owe-to-my-angel-mother/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) [Browse all 24,868 Hope quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And so Shin’s misery never skidded into complete hopelessness. 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