--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's only one thing to say to the…" description: "\"There's only one thing to say to the censors: Shut up.\" — Chris Crutcher" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/chris-crutcher-7956_censors_there-s-only-one-thing-to-say-to-the-cen_2789218.png" --- # There's only one thing to say to the censors: Shut up. ![“There's only one thing to say to the censors: Shut up.” quote by Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/chris-crutcher-7956_censors_there-s-only-one-thing-to-say-to-the-cen_2789218.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/chris-crutcher-7956_censors_there-s-only-one-thing-to-say-to-the-cen_2789218.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/chris-crutcher-7956_censors_there-s-only-one-thing-to-say-to-the-cen_2789218.png) > “There's only one thing to say to the censors: Shut up.” [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Direct defiance against censorship; a blunt demand for silence. **In simple terms:** Tell censors to shut up. Key Takeaway Stand up against censorship. Themes free speech rebellion authority Mood defiant assertive Type political motivational When to use this quote - protests - public speaking - writing Key Concepts literature activism politics Questions to Reflect On - When is silence necessary? - How to balance expression and respect? A Different Perspective May provoke conflict or legal issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Censors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censors/) ## Related quotes > [there are lots of would-be censors out there, and although they may have different agendas, they all want basically the same thing: for you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/there-are-lots-of-would-be-censors-out-there-and-although-they-may/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Censors can make a case for zero tolerance in language. They can make the argument that since we don't allow our children to use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/censors-can-make-a-case-for-zero-tolerance-in-language-they-can-make/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [If you can not say any thing do not say it at all…...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-cotton/if-you-can-not-say-any-thing-do-not-say-it-at-all/) [Deanna Cotton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deanna-cotton/) > [Thoughts shut up want air, And spoil, like bales unopen'd to the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/thoughts-shut-up-want-air-and-spoil-like-bales-unopen-d-to-the-sun/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [Shut up, Nick. (Talon) 'Shut up, Nick, heel, sit, fetch.’ Love you too, Celt. (Nick)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/shut-up-nick-talon-shut-up-nick-heel-sit-fetch-love-you-too-celt-nick/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Shut up, sod off, and let me in. (Fury)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/shut-up-sod-off-and-let-me-in-fury/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [I won't sit down And I won't shut up And most of all I will not grow up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-turner/i-won-t-sit-down-and-i-won-t-shut-up-and-most-of-all-i-will-not-grow/) [Frank Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-turner/) > [In spite of the opinions of certain narrow-minded people, who would shut up the human race upon this globe, as within some magic circle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-verne/in-spite-of-the-opinions-of-certain-narrow-minded-people-who-would/) [Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-verne/) > [Tell your lizard (brain) to shut up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/tell-your-lizard-brain-to-shut-up/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [I remember being a bathtub singer. You know, the type that sings and everybody's like, 'Shut up.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-paul/i-remember-being-a-bathtub-singer-you-know-the-type-that-sings-and/) [Sean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-paul/) > [Never pass by a chance to shut up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/never-pass-by-a-chance-to-shut-up/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [I get a lot of "Shut up, Matilda." I probably get as many "Shut up, Matildas" as Wil Wheaton gets "Shut up, Wesleys." That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mara-wilson/i-get-a-lot-of-shut-up-matilda-i-probably-get-as-many-shut-up/) [Mara Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mara-wilson/) > [Wow you need to get some sun.” “Shut up. I'm Irish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hearne/wow-you-need-to-get-some-sun-shut-up-i-m-irish/) [Kevin Hearne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hearne/) > [Shut the fuck up ur so annoying and you think your the shit lmao sit the fuck down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/shut-the-fuck-up-ur-so-annoying-and-you-think-your-the-shit-lmao-sit/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Shut up,' he explained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ring-lardner/shut-up-he-explained/) [Ring Lardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ring-lardner/) ## More by Chris Crutcher > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [“The distances across that atom, in relative measure, are the same as the distances across the universe. So there is no big and no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/the-distances-across-that-atom-in-relative-measure-are-the-same-as/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [No amount of effort could have stopped that, because our points of view - the way we perceive things - are inextricably linked to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/no-amount-of-effort-could-have-stopped-that-because-our-points-of/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [If someone's different from you and it scares you or makes you mad, that's God telling you to take a closer look. If you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/if-someone-s-different-from-you-and-it-scares-you-or-makes-you-mad/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [Certainly working with teens keeps me up to date with language and with certain kinds of thinking. I often feel like I have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/certainly-working-with-teens-keeps-me-up-to-date-with-language-and/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [Beware the short terminal guy with nothing to lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/beware-the-short-terminal-guy-with-nothing-to-lose/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [...we can say we love each other if my life is better because you're in it and your life is better because I'm in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/we-can-say-we-love-each-other-if-my-life-is-better-because-you-re-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [“Love, in the universal sense, is unconditional acceptance. In the individual sense, the one-on-one sense, try this: we can say we love each other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/love-in-the-universal-sense-is-unconditional-acceptance-in-the/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [We get crazy when we can't make things be like the world tells us they are". She looked back out the window. "It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/we-get-crazy-when-we-can-t-make-things-be-like-the-world-tells-us/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [It seems to me if you don't know anything about child development you shouldn't intimate in your 'reporting' that you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/it-seems-to-me-if-you-don-t-know-anything-about-child-development-you/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [“See, Mr. Nak'll be talking about how anger comes creeping up, hoping you're not paying attention so it can trick you into something really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/see-mr-nak-ll-be-talking-about-how-anger-comes-creeping-up-hoping-you/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [So you didn’t tell me it was a messed-up idea to keep this all a secret because. . .” “Because experience is the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/so-you-didn-t-tell-me-it-was-a-messed-up-idea-to-keep-this-all-a/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [You have to be careful not to use anything too colloquial or you date the book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/you-have-to-be-careful-not-to-use-anything-too-colloquial-or-you-date/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [“A student asked me recently why somebody always dies in my books. I said, because somebody is always dying in my life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/a-student-asked-me-recently-why-somebody-always-dies-in-my-books-i/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) > [“Tonight sometime the full reality will dawn on him, but he's like me: the guy you want at the site where the plane went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/tonight-sometime-the-full-reality-will-dawn-on-him-but-he-s-like-me/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Explore all 85 Chris Crutcher quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) ## More Censors quotes > [I enjoy upsetting the right people. I love poking fun at earnest censors. I want to push the bounds of what can be said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milo-yiannopoulos/i-enjoy-upsetting-the-right-people-i-love-poking-fun-at-earnest/) [Milo Yiannopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milo-yiannopoulos/) > [“Censors don’t want children exposed to ideas different from their own. If every individual with an agenda had his/her way, the shelves in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-blume/censors-don-t-want-children-exposed-to-ideas-different-from-their-own/) [Judy Blume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-blume/) > [“Mainstream features can turn into ventures when you fender their venders and set off their censors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-w-allison/mainstream-features-can-turn-into-ventures-when-you-fender-their/) [Calvin W. Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-w-allison/) > [ \[Censors are\] people with secret attractions to various temptations... They are defending themselves under the pretext of defending others, because at heart they fear… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-jones/censors-are-people-with-secret-attractions-to-various-temptations/) [Ernest Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-jones/) > [In conclusion, you can see that there is a place for censors and we only wish that we could tell you where it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-paulsen/in-conclusion-you-can-see-that-there-is-a-place-for-censors-and-we/) [Pat Paulsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-paulsen/) > [I turned to historical films because they pass censors more easily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiang-wen/i-turned-to-historical-films-because-they-pass-censors-more-easily/) [Jiang Wen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiang-wen/) > [I'm gonna sing those songs that offend the censors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickelback/i-m-gonna-sing-those-songs-that-offend-the-censors/) Nickelback > [“The censors of our age do not yet burn books, they attempt to restrict speech in the name of "offense". The tactics may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmine-savastano/the-censors-of-our-age-do-not-yet-burn-books-they-attempt-to-restrict/) [Carmine Savastano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmine-savastano/) > [Censorship is not an occupation that attracts intelligent, subtle minds. Censors can and often have been outwitted. But the game of slipping Aesopian messages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/censorship-is-not-an-occupation-that-attracts-intelligent-subtle/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [The worst censors are those prohibiting criticism of the theory of evolution in the classroom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-schlafly/the-worst-censors-are-those-prohibiting-criticism-of-the-theory-of/) [Phyllis Schlafly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-schlafly/) > [Freedom of the press is essential to the preservation of a democracy; but there is a difference between freedom and license. Editorialists who tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/freedom-of-the-press-is-essential-to-the-preservation-of-a-democracy/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [there are lots of would-be censors out there, and although they may have different agendas, they all want basically the same thing: for you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/there-are-lots-of-would-be-censors-out-there-and-although-they-may/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I have a very serious censorship office inside my head; it censors things that I could tell you that you would never forget, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/i-have-a-very-serious-censorship-office-inside-my-head-it-censors/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [The people are the only censors of their governors, and even their errors will tend to keep these to the true principles of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-people-are-the-only-censors-of-their-governors-and-even-their/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Censors are dead men set up to judge between life and death. For no live, sunny man would be a censor, he'd just laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/censors-are-dead-men-set-up-to-judge-between-life-and-death-for-no/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) [Browse all 77 Censors quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/censors/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There's only one thing to say to the censors: Shut up.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Chris Crutcher" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/there-s-only-one-thing-to-say-to-the-censors-shut-up/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Censors" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/there-s-only-one-thing-to-say-to-the-censors-shut-up/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/chris-crutcher-7956_censors_there-s-only-one-thing-to-say-to-the-cen_2789218.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/chris-crutcher-7956_censors_there-s-only-one-thing-to-say-to-the-cen_2789218.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/chris-crutcher-7956_censors_there-s-only-one-thing-to-say-to-the-cen_2789218.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There's only one thing to say to the censors: Shut up.” — Chris Crutcher", "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": "Chris Crutcher", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There's only one thing to say...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/there-s-only-one-thing-to-say-to-the-censors-shut-up/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/there-s-only-one-thing-to-say-to-the-censors-shut-up/#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 } } ] } ```