--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life yields only to the conqueror. Never…" description: "\"Life yields only to the conqueror. Never accept what can be gained by giving in. You will be living off stolen goods, and your muscles will atrophy.\" —..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caf/dag-hammarskj-ld-2606_atrophy_life-yields-only-to-the-conqueror-never_1118891.png" --- # Life yields only to the conqueror. Never accept what can… ![“Life yields only to the conqueror. Never accept what can be gained by giving in. You will be living off stolen goods, and your muscles will atrophy.” quote by Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caf/dag-hammarskj-ld-2606_atrophy_life-yields-only-to-the-conqueror-never_1118891.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caf/dag-hammarskj-ld-2606_atrophy_life-yields-only-to-the-conqueror-never_1118891.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caf/dag-hammarskj-ld-2606_atrophy_life-yields-only-to-the-conqueror-never_1118891.png) > “Life yields only to the conqueror. Never accept what can be gained by giving in. You will be living off stolen goods, and your muscles will atrophy.” [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote urges relentless pursuit of goals, warning that compromise leads to weakness and dependence on unearned gains. **In simple terms:** Never give up; avoid weakness from compromise. Key Takeaway Stay resilient and self‑reliant. Themes determination strength self‑reliance Mood defiant serious Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - career ambition - personal fitness - financial independence - political leadership Key Concepts philosophy psychology ethics Questions to Reflect On - What goals are you willing to fight for? - How do you balance persistence with flexibility? A Different Perspective May overlook the value of strategic compromise in complex situations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atrophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atrophy/) [Conqueror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conqueror/) [Conqueror Accept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conqueror-accept-1231398/) [Gained Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gained-giving-430029/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Goods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goods/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Yields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-yields-1231399/) [Muscles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/muscles/) [Stolen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stolen/) [Yields Conqueror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yields-conqueror-1231400/) ## Related quotes > [Life yields only to the conqueror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/life-yields-only-to-the-conqueror/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [Life yields only to the conqueror. Never accept whatcan be gained by giving in. You will be living off stolen goods, and your muscles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/life-yields-only-to-the-conqueror-never-accept-whatcan-be-gained-by/) [Dag Hammarskjöld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [“Funny how often something she'd been so certain she needed turned out not to be a need at all, but a want--when the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamera-alexander/funny-how-often-something-she-d-been-so-certain-she-needed-turned-out/) [Tamera Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamera-alexander/) > [“The life that yields the most—yields the most.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/the-life-that-yields-the-most-yields-the-most/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Somewhere between the ages of eleven and fifteen, the average child begins to suffer from an atrophy, the paralysis of curiosity and the suspension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/somewhere-between-the-ages-of-eleven-and-fifteen-the-average-child/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [I prefer atrophy over exercise any day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-duffy/i-prefer-atrophy-over-exercise-any-day/) [Karen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-duffy/) > [There can be no question, however, that prolonged commitment to mathematical exercises in economics can be damaging. It leads to the atrophy of judgement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/there-can-be-no-question-however-that-prolonged-commitment-to/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Skepticism, as I said, is not intellectual only; it is moral also; a chronic atrophy and disease of the whole soul. A man lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/skepticism-as-i-said-is-not-intellectual-only-it-is-moral-also-a/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The psychological tools I've gained from bodybuilding will never atrophy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-platz/the-psychological-tools-i-ve-gained-from-bodybuilding-will-never/) [Tom Platz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-platz/) > [I don't believe anything I write or say. I regard belief as a form of brain damage, the death of intelligence, the fracture of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/i-don-t-believe-anything-i-write-or-say-i-regard-belief-as-a-form-of/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [There is always this interesting relationship we have with technology. When we invented writing Socrates used to say it was going to rot our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-silva/there-is-always-this-interesting-relationship-we-have-with-technology/) [Jason Silva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-silva/) > [The author's conviction on this day of New Year is that music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/the-author-s-conviction-on-this-day-of-new-year-is-that-music-begins/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [ The disinterest \[of my two great-aunts\] in anything that had to do with high society was such that their sense of hearing ... put… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-disinterest-of-my-two-great-aunts-in-anything-that-had-to-do-with/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The modern world’s tech-giddy control and facilitation makes us stupid. Awareness atrophies. Dumb gets dumber. Lists are everywhere – the five things you need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-cohen/the-modern-world-s-tech-giddy-control-and-facilitation-makes-us/) [Roger Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-cohen/) > [A road that perhaps more than any other leads to self atrophy is undedicated money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-stanley-jones/a-road-that-perhaps-more-than-any-other-leads-to-self-atrophy-is/) [E. Stanley Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-stanley-jones/) ## More by Dag Hammarskjold > [“Didst thou give me this inescapable loneliness so that it would be easier for me to give thee all?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/didst-thou-give-me-this-inescapable-loneliness-so-that-it-would-be/) [Dag Hammarskjöld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [Beneath the hush a whisper from long ago, promising peace of mind and a burden shared. No peace which is not peace for all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/beneath-the-hush-a-whisper-from-long-ago-promising-peace-of-mind-and/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [For the sacrificed, in the hour of sacrifice, only one thing counts: faith-alone among enemies and skeptics. Faith, in spite of the humiliation which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/for-the-sacrificed-in-the-hour-of-sacrifice-only-one-thing-counts/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [Friendship needs no words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/friendship-needs-no-words/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [If even dying is to be made a social function, then, grant me the favor of sneaking out on tiptoe without disturbing the party.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/if-even-dying-is-to-be-made-a-social-function-then-grant-me-the-favor/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [Your position never gives you the right to command. It only imposes on you the duty of so living your life that others can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/your-position-never-gives-you-the-right-to-command-it-only-imposes-on/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [I have only my own burden to bear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/i-have-only-my-own-burden-to-bear/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [Life yields only to the conqueror. Never accept whatcan be gained by giving in. You will be living off stolen goods, and your muscles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/life-yields-only-to-the-conqueror-never-accept-whatcan-be-gained-by/) [Dag Hammarskjöld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [I never discuss discussions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/i-never-discuss-discussions/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [We all have within us a center of stillness surrounded by silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/we-all-have-within-us-a-center-of-stillness-surrounded-by-silence/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [There is a point at which everything becomes simple and there is no longer any question of choice, because all you have staked will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/there-is-a-point-at-which-everything-becomes-simple-and-there-is-no/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/god-does-not-die-on-the-day-when-we-cease-to-believe-in-a-personal/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [The concept of loyalty is distorted when it is understood to mean blind acceptance. It is correctly interpreted when it is assumed to cover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/the-concept-of-loyalty-is-distorted-when-it-is-understood-to-mean/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [Those who invoke history will certainly be heard by history. And they will have to accept its verdict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/those-who-invoke-history-will-certainly-be-heard-by-history-and-they/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [Your body must become familiar with its death - in all its possible forms and degrees - as a self-evident, imminent, and emotionally neutral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/your-body-must-become-familiar-with-its-death-in-all-its-possible/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) [Explore all 155 Dag Hammarskjold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) ## More Atrophy quotes > [I prefer atrophy over exercise any day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-duffy/i-prefer-atrophy-over-exercise-any-day/) [Karen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-duffy/) > [The author's conviction on this day of New Year is that music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/the-author-s-conviction-on-this-day-of-new-year-is-that-music-begins/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [Somewhere between the ages of eleven and fifteen, the average child begins to suffer from an atrophy, the paralysis of curiosity and the suspension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/somewhere-between-the-ages-of-eleven-and-fifteen-the-average-child/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [The modern world’s tech-giddy control and facilitation makes us stupid. Awareness atrophies. Dumb gets dumber. Lists are everywhere – the five things you need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-cohen/the-modern-world-s-tech-giddy-control-and-facilitation-makes-us/) [Roger Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-cohen/) > [ The disinterest \[of my two great-aunts\] in anything that had to do with high society was such that their sense of hearing ... put… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-disinterest-of-my-two-great-aunts-in-anything-that-had-to-do-with/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [A road that perhaps more than any other leads to self atrophy is undedicated money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-stanley-jones/a-road-that-perhaps-more-than-any-other-leads-to-self-atrophy-is/) [E. Stanley Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-stanley-jones/) > [There is always this interesting relationship we have with technology. When we invented writing Socrates used to say it was going to rot our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-silva/there-is-always-this-interesting-relationship-we-have-with-technology/) [Jason Silva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-silva/) > [I don't believe anything I write or say. I regard belief as a form of brain damage, the death of intelligence, the fracture of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/i-don-t-believe-anything-i-write-or-say-i-regard-belief-as-a-form-of/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [The psychological tools I've gained from bodybuilding will never atrophy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-platz/the-psychological-tools-i-ve-gained-from-bodybuilding-will-never/) [Tom Platz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-platz/) > [Skepticism, as I said, is not intellectual only; it is moral also; a chronic atrophy and disease of the whole soul. A man lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/skepticism-as-i-said-is-not-intellectual-only-it-is-moral-also-a/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [There can be no question, however, that prolonged commitment to mathematical exercises in economics can be damaging. It leads to the atrophy of judgement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/there-can-be-no-question-however-that-prolonged-commitment-to/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [“If you can do everything in your job without struggling, not only will you get stuck in your slot but you’ll never flex your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-wong/if-you-can-do-everything-in-your-job-without-struggling-not-only-will/) [Brian Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-wong/) > [Life is a series of diminishments. Each cessation of an activity either from choice or some variety of infirmity is a death, a putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleman-dowell/life-is-a-series-of-diminishments-each-cessation-of-an-activity/) [Coleman Dowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleman-dowell/) > [Life yields only to the conqueror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/life-yields-only-to-the-conqueror/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [There's a lot of different kinds of success. I'm so dedicated to the making of the art that the rest of my life atrophies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-shaw/there-s-a-lot-of-different-kinds-of-success-i-m-so-dedicated-to-the/) [Jim Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-shaw/) [Browse all 75 Atrophy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atrophy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Life yields only to the conqueror. 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