--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Rejection was to be rejection but not…" description: "\"“Rejection was to be rejection but not denial, as reception was to be reception but not subservience. Both methods, the Affirmative Way and the Negativ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ed/charles-williams-12379_quote_rejection-was-to-be-rejection-but-not-de_1976448.jpg" --- # Rejection was to be rejection but not denial, as reception… ![“Rejection was to be rejection but not denial, as reception was to be reception but not subservience. Both methods, the Affirmative Way and the Negative Way, were to co-exist; one might almost say, to co-inhere, since each was to be the key of the other: in intellect as in emotion, in morals as in…” quote by Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ed/charles-williams-12379_quote_rejection-was-to-be-rejection-but-not-de_1976448.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ed/charles-williams-12379_quote_rejection-was-to-be-rejection-but-not-de_1976448.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ed/charles-williams-12379_quote_rejection-was-to-be-rejection-but-not-de_1976448.jpg) > ““Rejection was to be rejection but not denial, as reception was to be reception but not subservience. Both methods, the Affirmative Way and the Negative Way, were to co-exist; one might almost say, to co-inhere, since each was to be the key of the other: in intellect as in emotion, in morals as in doctrine.”” [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Balancing opposing approaches creates a fuller understanding; both positive and negative perspectives are essential. **In simple terms:** Both sides are needed. Key Takeaway Embrace complementary viewpoints. Themes balance duality philosophy Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - conflict resolution - ethical debates - personal growth - creative problem solving Key Concepts affirmative vs negative integrative thinking Questions to Reflect On - Which perspective dominates your decisions? - How can you integrate opposites? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on one side can skew judgment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Denial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/denial/) [Denial Reception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/denial-reception-3349123/) [Rejection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rejection/) [Rejection Denial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rejection-denial-3349122/) [Rejection Rejection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rejection-rejection-1623906/) ## Related quotes > [But whereas a puppy will cringe away or roll on its back, groveling, a little boy may cover his shyness with nonchalance, with bravado,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/but-whereas-a-puppy-will-cringe-away-or-roll-on-its-back-groveling-a/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [What is rejection? Rejection is something that you try and you don't get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-sadh/what-is-rejection-rejection-is-something-that-you-try-and-you-don-t/) [Amit Sadh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-sadh/) > [“Rejection. Rejection. You can't handle rejection!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buffy-andrews/rejection-rejection-you-can-t-handle-rejection/) [Buffy Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buffy-andrews/) > [There are no real successes without rejection. The more rejection you get, the better you are, the more you've learned, the closer you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-no-real-successes-without-rejection-the-more-rejection-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To never, ever give up. It's a business built on rejection and rejection is just one step closer to acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-kaye-thomas/to-never-ever-give-up-it-s-a-business-built-on-rejection-and/) [Eddie Kaye Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-kaye-thomas/) > [I think everyone in the world to a large or small extent has felt rejection. And with rejection comes anger, and with anger some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-think-everyone-in-the-world-to-a-large-or-small-extent-has-felt/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I don't think of rejection as rejection, just a bad fit. Then I seek out other avenues of acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-raboteau/i-don-t-think-of-rejection-as-rejection-just-a-bad-fit-then-i-seek/) [Emily Raboteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-raboteau/) > [The key to success is to not take rejection personally, to know that having faith counts the most when we feel scared the most,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mastin-kipp/the-key-to-success-is-to-not-take-rejection-personally-to-know-that/) [Mastin Kipp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mastin-kipp/) > [Its up to any government to decide how to react to the denial of basic human rights anywhere in the world, including Egypt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-elbaradei/its-up-to-any-government-to-decide-how-to-react-to-the-denial-of/) [Mohamed ElBaradei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-elbaradei/) > [What you try to bury just ends up burying you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-wagner/what-you-try-to-bury-just-ends-up-burying-you/) [Jane Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-wagner/) > [But we need to be very clear: because of our decades of collective denial, no gradual, incremental options are now available to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/but-we-need-to-be-very-clear-because-of-our-decades-of-collective/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [Atheist’s denial of God’s existence needs just as much substantiation as does the theist’s claim; the atheist must give plausible reasons for rejecting God’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-copan/atheist-s-denial-of-god-s-existence-needs-just-as-much-substantiation/) [Paul Copan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-copan/) > [It is through suppression that hells are formed in us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-glaspell/it-is-through-suppression-that-hells-are-formed-in-us/) [Susan Glaspell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-glaspell/) > [A mistake doesnt make you a fool, but denying it surely makes you one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/a-mistake-doesnt-make-you-a-fool-but-denying-it-surely-makes-you-one/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Because after you've crossed some lines, you just keep crossing them. And there's no escaping from constant escape. Distracting ourselves. Avoiding confrontation. Getting past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/because-after-you-ve-crossed-some-lines-you-just-keep-crossing-them/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) ## More by Charles Williams > [To forgive and to be forgiven are the two points of holy magnificence and holy modesty; round these two centres the whole doctrine of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/to-forgive-and-to-be-forgiven-are-the-two-points-of-holy-magnificence/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [The most he would do was to promise that the gates of hell should not prevail against it. It is about all that, looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/the-most-he-would-do-was-to-promise-that-the-gates-of-hell-should-not/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [“Have you by any chance an edition of St. Ignatius's treatise against the Gnostics?" he asked in a low clear voice. The young assistant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/have-you-by-any-chance-an-edition-of-st-ignatius-s-treatise-against/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [“What’s the matter with you, Madox? You got a grudge against the world?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/what-s-the-matter-with-you-madox-you-got-a-grudge-against-the-world/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [“There is no possible idea," Kenneth thought as he came onto the terrace, "to which the mind of man can't supply some damned alternative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/there-is-no-possible-idea-kenneth-thought-as-he-came-onto-the-terrace/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [Of Adam and Eve: They had what they wanted. That they did not like it when they got it does not alter the fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/of-adam-and-eve-they-had-what-they-wanted-that-they-did-not-like-it/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [Hell is indefinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/hell-is-indefinite/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [“Nothing was certain, but everything was safe - that was part of the mystery of Love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/nothing-was-certain-but-everything-was-safe-that-was-part-of-the/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [Every contrition for sin is apt to encourage a not quite charitable wish that other people should exhibit a similar contrition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/every-contrition-for-sin-is-apt-to-encourage-a-not-quite-charitable/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [Love was even more mathematical than poetry. It was the pure mathematics of the spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/love-was-even-more-mathematical-than-poetry-it-was-the-pure/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [“Over the white curve he had looked into incredible space; abysses of intelligence lay beyond it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/over-the-white-curve-he-had-looked-into-incredible-space-abysses-of/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [You will all know that in the Middle Ages there were supposed to be various classes of angels. these hierarchized celsitudes are but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/you-will-all-know-that-in-the-middle-ages-there-were-supposed-to-be/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [“She sat the sister of Arthur, the wife of Lot four sons got by him, and one not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/she-sat-the-sister-of-arthur-the-wife-of-lot-four-sons-got-by-him-and/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [The history of Christianity would have been far happier if we all had remembered one rule of intelligence -- not to believe a thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/the-history-of-christianity-would-have-been-far-happier-if-we-all-had/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) > [Many promising reconciliations have broken down because while both parties come prepared to forgive, neither party come prepared to be forgiven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-williams/many-promising-reconciliations-have-broken-down-because-while-both/) [Charles Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) [Explore all 55 Charles Williams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-williams/) ## More Denial quotes > [Because after you've crossed some lines, you just keep crossing them. And there's no escaping from constant escape. Distracting ourselves. Avoiding confrontation. Getting past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/because-after-you-ve-crossed-some-lines-you-just-keep-crossing-them/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [A mistake doesnt make you a fool, but denying it surely makes you one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/a-mistake-doesnt-make-you-a-fool-but-denying-it-surely-makes-you-one/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [It is through suppression that hells are formed in us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-glaspell/it-is-through-suppression-that-hells-are-formed-in-us/) [Susan Glaspell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-glaspell/) > [Atheist’s denial of God’s existence needs just as much substantiation as does the theist’s claim; the atheist must give plausible reasons for rejecting God’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-copan/atheist-s-denial-of-god-s-existence-needs-just-as-much-substantiation/) [Paul Copan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-copan/) > [But we need to be very clear: because of our decades of collective denial, no gradual, incremental options are now available to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/but-we-need-to-be-very-clear-because-of-our-decades-of-collective/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [What you try to bury just ends up burying you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-wagner/what-you-try-to-bury-just-ends-up-burying-you/) [Jane Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-wagner/) > [Its up to any government to decide how to react to the denial of basic human rights anywhere in the world, including Egypt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-elbaradei/its-up-to-any-government-to-decide-how-to-react-to-the-denial-of/) [Mohamed ElBaradei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-elbaradei/) > [“Research on organised abuse emphasises the diversity of organised abuse cases, and the ways in which serious forms of child maltreatment cluster in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/research-on-organised-abuse-emphasises-the-diversity-of-organised/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [“Living in denial only makes finding the truth that much harder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-f/living-in-denial-only-makes-finding-the-truth-that-much-harder/) [Jules F](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-f/) > [Sanity can take one of only two forms: that of ignorance, or denial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-r-audette/sanity-can-take-one-of-only-two-forms-that-of-ignorance-or-denial/) [Derek R. Audette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-r-audette/) > [Denial leads to closure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aruho-marwin-machiaveli/denial-leads-to-closure/) [Aruho Marwin Machiaveli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aruho-marwin-machiaveli/) > [People are in denial all the time, hiding things. If I tell you a racist or dirty joke and you laugh, you're telling me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-landau/people-are-in-denial-all-the-time-hiding-things-if-i-tell-you-a/) [Martin Landau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-landau/) > [It is not a question of who dances but of who or what does not dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-st-denis/it-is-not-a-question-of-who-dances-but-of-who-or-what-does-not-dance/) [Ruth St. Denis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-st-denis/) > [What’s looming in the shadows of our ignorance and denial is a critique of civilization itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lierre-keith/what-s-looming-in-the-shadows-of-our-ignorance-and-denial-is-a/) [Lierre Keith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lierre-keith/) > [“You can hold on to the smallest doubt and take comfort in it, stay in denial and go on with your carefree life, until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-beck/you-can-hold-on-to-the-smallest-doubt-and-take-comfort-in-it-stay-in/) [Glenn Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-beck/) [Browse all 1,463 Denial quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/denial/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Rejection was to be rejection but not denial, as reception was to be reception but not subservience. 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