--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have preferred chloroform to cancer" description: "\"I have preferred chloroform to cancer\" — Charlotte Perkins Gilman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/charlotte-perkins-gilman-2420_cancer_i-have-preferred-chloroform-to-cancer-22_2212234.png" --- # I have preferred chloroform to cancer ![“I have preferred chloroform to cancer” quote by Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/charlotte-perkins-gilman-2420_cancer_i-have-preferred-chloroform-to-cancer-22_2212234.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/charlotte-perkins-gilman-2420_cancer_i-have-preferred-chloroform-to-cancer-22_2212234.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/charlotte-perkins-gilman-2420_cancer_i-have-preferred-chloroform-to-cancer-22_2212234.png) > “I have preferred chloroform to cancer” [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker prefers death (chloroform) over cancer, indicating despair. **In simple terms:** Prefers death to suffering from cancer. Key Takeaway Seek support and treatment options. Themes illness despair death Mood sad hopeful Type medical emotional When to use this quote - oncology - palliative care - support groups Key Concepts medicine mental health Questions to Reflect On - What support could change this view? - How can society better address terminal illness? A Different Perspective Preference for death may reflect lack of resources or hope. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cancer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cancer/) [Chloroform](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chloroform/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [ Behold me waiting—waiting for the knife… The thick, sweet mystery of chloroform, The drunken dark, the little death-in-life… \[F\]ace to face with chance, I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ernest-henley/behold-me-waiting-waiting-for-the-knife-the-thick-sweet-mystery-of/) [William Ernest Henley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ernest-henley/) > [Chloroform unfit children. Show them the same mercy that is shown beasts that are no longer fit to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-darrow/chloroform-unfit-children-show-them-the-same-mercy-that-is-shown/) [Clarence Darrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-darrow/) > [Books are the blessed chloroform of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/books-are-the-blessed-chloroform-of-the-mind/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you lived in London, where the whole system is one of false good-fellowship, and you may know a man for twenty years without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/if-you-lived-in-london-where-the-whole-system-is-one-of-false-good/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Ladies of the choir, I want you to sound like twenty-two women having babies without chloroform.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barbirolli/ladies-of-the-choir-i-want-you-to-sound-like-twenty-two-women-having/) John Barbirolli > [“I want to find the murderer too. I don’t like having my journeys interrupted by chloroform.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-greenwood/i-want-to-find-the-murderer-too-i-don-t-like-having-my-journeys/) [Kerry Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-greenwood/) > [American author Mark Twain, while viewed as liberal and non-judgmental, did at times demonstrate both these characteristics. While his reasons for detesting the Christian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/american-author-mark-twain-while-viewed-as-liberal-and-non-judgmental/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [All men have heard of the Mormon Bible, but few except the "elect" have seen it, or, at least, taken the trouble to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/all-men-have-heard-of-the-mormon-bible-but-few-except-the-elect-have/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Every parent knows that for a kid, the car is chloroform..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-romano/every-parent-knows-that-for-a-kid-the-car-is-chloroform/) [Ray Romano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-romano/) > [Might I trouble you to open the window, for chloroform vapour does not help the palate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/might-i-trouble-you-to-open-the-window-for-chloroform-vapour-does-not/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [The Book of Mormon is chloroform in print](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-book-of-mormon-is-chloroform-in-print/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Liquor is the chloroform which enables the poor man to endure the painful operation of living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/liquor-is-the-chloroform-which-enables-the-poor-man-to-endure-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-dorfman/does-this-rag-smell-like-chloroform-to-you/) [Lawrence Dorfman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-dorfman/) > [Blessed be the inventor of photography! I set him above even the inventor of chloroform! It has given more positive pleasure to poor suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-welsh-carlyle/blessed-be-the-inventor-of-photography-i-set-him-above-even-the/) [Jane Welsh Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-welsh-carlyle/) > [My Range Rover is great for LA. You can take surfboards on it and stick some bikes in the back. And if you kidnap…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-butler/my-range-rover-is-great-for-la-you-can-take-surfboards-on-it-and/) [Gerard Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-butler/) ## More by Charlotte Perkins Gilman > [“They were inconveniently reasonable, these women.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/they-were-inconveniently-reasonable-these-women/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [Architecture might be more sportive and varied if every man built his own house, but it would not be the art and science that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/architecture-might-be-more-sportive-and-varied-if-every-man-built-his/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [To-day there is hardly a woman of intelligence in all America ... who is not definitely and actively concerned in some social interest, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/to-day-there-is-hardly-a-woman-of-intelligence-in-all-america-who-is/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [“Here she comes, running, out of prison and off the pedestal: chains off, crown off, halo off, just a live woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/here-she-comes-running-out-of-prison-and-off-the-pedestal-chains-off/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [“I never saw so much expression in an inanimate thing before, and we all know how much expression they have! I used to lie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/i-never-saw-so-much-expression-in-an-inanimate-thing-before-and-we/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [In New York City, everyone is an exile, none more so than the Americans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/in-new-york-city-everyone-is-an-exile-none-more-so-than-the-americans/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [The fact that women in the home have shut themselves away from the thought and life of the world has done much to retard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/the-fact-that-women-in-the-home-have-shut-themselves-away-from-the/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead. It is going on all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/eternity-is-not-something-that-begins-after-you-are-dead-it-is-going/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [Now why should that man have fainted? But he did,and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/now-why-should-that-man-have-fainted-but-he-did-and-right-across-my/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [The best proof of man's dissatisfaction with the home is found in his universal absence from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/the-best-proof-of-man-s-dissatisfaction-with-the-home-is-found-in-his/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [The home is the centre and circumference, the start and the finish, of most of our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/the-home-is-the-centre-and-circumference-the-start-and-the-finish-of/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [Audiences are always better pleased with a smart retort, some joke or epigram, than with any amount of reasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/audiences-are-always-better-pleased-with-a-smart-retort-some-joke-or/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [No matter what the belief, if it had modestly said, 'This is our best thought, go on, think farther!' then we could have smoothly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/no-matter-what-the-belief-if-it-had-modestly-said-this-is-our-best/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [A house does not need a wife any more than it needs a husband.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/a-house-does-not-need-a-wife-any-more-than-it-needs-a-husband/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [The home is a human institution. All human institutions are open to improvement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/the-home-is-a-human-institution-all-human-institutions-are-open-to/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) [Explore all 167 Charlotte Perkins Gilman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) ## More Cancer quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [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/) > [Racism is a cancer. You cannot ignore it and it'll go away. If you ignore cancer, it simply metastasizes and consumes the whole body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-davis/racism-is-a-cancer-you-cannot-ignore-it-and-it-ll-go-away-if-you/) [Daryl Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-davis/) > [Historically, more people have died of religion than cancer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/historically-more-people-have-died-of-religion-than-cancer/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [“Our kind of love can go into remission, but it's always waiting to return. Like the world sweetest cancer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/our-kind-of-love-can-go-into-remission-but-it-s-always-waiting-to/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [Bollywood is a cancer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-banerjee/bollywood-is-a-cancer/) [Victor Banerjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-banerjee/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [When people go get chemo, they're not injecting themselves with will - I have lost various loved ones to cancer, and I certainly don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-hall/when-people-go-get-chemo-they-re-not-injecting-themselves-with-will-i/) [Michael C. Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-hall/) > [“the doctor hesitated before breaking the news to her. "those aren't stars. it's cancer." - forty years a smoker”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lovelace/the-doctor-hesitated-before-breaking-the-news-to-her-those-aren-t/) [Amanda Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lovelace/) > [I loved you to the moon and back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-loved-you-to-the-moon-and-back/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) Richard Doll > [I would do away with super PACs. I think it's a cancer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-conrad/i-would-do-away-with-super-pacs-i-think-it-s-a-cancer/) [Kent Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-conrad/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [If you are a white male, you don't deserve to live. You are a cancer, you're a disease, white males have never contributed anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noel-ignatiev/if-you-are-a-white-male-you-don-t-deserve-to-live-you-are-a-cancer/) [Noel Ignatiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noel-ignatiev/) > [The way I look at it is, cancer research is absolutely nonpartisan. Cancer is very democratic in the sense that it attacks people regardless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-h-koch/the-way-i-look-at-it-is-cancer-research-is-absolutely-nonpartisan/) [David H. Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-h-koch/) [Browse all 3,177 Cancer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cancer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have preferred chloroform to cancer", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charlotte Perkins Gilman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/i-have-preferred-chloroform-to-cancer/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cancer" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/i-have-preferred-chloroform-to-cancer/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/charlotte-perkins-gilman-2420_cancer_i-have-preferred-chloroform-to-cancer-22_2212234.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/charlotte-perkins-gilman-2420_cancer_i-have-preferred-chloroform-to-cancer-22_2212234.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd2/charlotte-perkins-gilman-2420_cancer_i-have-preferred-chloroform-to-cancer-22_2212234.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have preferred chloroform to cancer” — Charlotte Perkins Gilman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charlotte Perkins Gilman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I have preferred chloroform to cancer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/i-have-preferred-chloroform-to-cancer/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/i-have-preferred-chloroform-to-cancer/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```