--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When young I did my best to undo that bit…" description: "\"When young I did my best to undo that bit of the British Empire I found myself in: that is, old Southern Rhodesia.\" — Doris Lessing" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/doris-lessing-501_british_when-young-i-did-my-best-to-undo-that-bi_2364728.png" --- # When young I did my best to undo that bit of the British… ![“When young I did my best to undo that bit of the British Empire I found myself in: that is, old Southern Rhodesia.” quote by Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/doris-lessing-501_british_when-young-i-did-my-best-to-undo-that-bi_2364728.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/doris-lessing-501_british_when-young-i-did-my-best-to-undo-that-bi_2364728.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/doris-lessing-501_british_when-young-i-did-my-best-to-undo-that-bi_2364728.png) > “When young I did my best to undo that bit of the British Empire I found myself in: that is, old Southern Rhodesia.” [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reflecting on colonial past, she critiques personal complicity in empire. **In simple terms:** Personal history ties to larger imperial legacies. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and learn from past actions. Themes history colonialism self‑reflection Mood reflective critical Type philosophical historical When to use this quote - education - political activism - writing - family narratives Key Concepts imperial legacy personal responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What personal actions reflect larger systems? - How to reconcile pride and guilt? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex historical forces. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [British](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british/) [British empire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british-empire/) [Empires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empires/) [Rhodesia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rhodesia/) ## Related quotes > [There's an old Southern saying that if you're worried about your weight, clothes, or getting old, then you don't have any real problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hill-hearth/there-s-an-old-southern-saying-that-if-you-re-worried-about-your/) [Amy Hill Hearth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hill-hearth/) > [“What had happened was that the formal pattern of black-and-white, mistress-and-servant, had been broken by the personal relation; and when a white man in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-had-happened-was-that-the-formal-pattern-of-black-and-white/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [You know, when I was a girl, the idea that the British Empire could ever end was absolutely inconceivable. And it just disappeared, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-when-i-was-a-girl-the-idea-that-the-british-empire-could/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [Palestine must be built up without violating the legitimate interests of the Arabs.. Palestine is not Rhodesia... 600,0000 Arabs live there, who before the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-weizmann/palestine-must-be-built-up-without-violating-the-legitimate-interests/) [Chaim Weizmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-weizmann/) > [“His loyalty was to Rhodesia, and he would do whatever it took to ensure it remained under white rule – ‘in civilised hands’, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-duns/his-loyalty-was-to-rhodesia-and-he-would-do-whatever-it-took-to/) [Jeremy Duns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-duns/) > [When you look at my life, you can go back to the late 1930s, what I saw was, first of all, Hitler, he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/when-you-look-at-my-life-you-can-go-back-to-the-late-1930s-what-i-saw/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I grew up in Rhodesia on my father's ranch and every year he used to take us on safari in some remote area of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilbur-smith/i-grew-up-in-rhodesia-on-my-father-s-ranch-and-every-year-he-used-to/) [Wilbur Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilbur-smith/) > [Striding tall through Lauren St John's gorgeously written memoir is her father, and chapter after chapter their relationship is untangled and celebrated. Joy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-fugard/striding-tall-through-lauren-st-john-s-gorgeously-written-memoir-is/) Lisa Fugard > [When I was a girl, the idea that the British Empire could ever end was absolutely inconceivable. 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Their plaster is an acne…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/the-schools-wear-the-blank-faces-of-war-buildings-their-windows-blown/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [“The Commander hates the Brits.’ As do I, he felt like adding. ‘He doesn’t usually stand for “God Save the Queen”, it’s true, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-duns/the-commander-hates-the-brits-as-do-i-he-felt-like-adding-he-doesn-t/) [Jeremy Duns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-duns/) ## More by Doris Lessing > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“In the morning, when she wishes me to wake, she crouches on my chest, and pats my face with her paw. Or, if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/in-the-morning-when-she-wishes-me-to-wake-she-crouches-on-my-chest/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [You know, whenever women make imaginary female kingdoms in literature, they are always very permissive, to use the jargon word, and easy and generous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-whenever-women-make-imaginary-female-kingdoms-in-literature/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [There is only one real sin and that is to persuade oneself that the second best is anything but second best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/there-is-only-one-real-sin-and-that-is-to-persuade-oneself-that-the/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“She was using the water as she had used the fruit earlier—to calm herself, to assure herself of the possibility of normality. Yet all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/she-was-using-the-water-as-she-had-used-the-fruit-earlier-to-calm/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I remember World War II when there were very few books, very little paper available. For me to walk into a shop or look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-remember-world-war-ii-when-there-were-very-few-books-very-little/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [They can't give a Nobel to someone who's dead so I think they were probably thinking they had better give it to me now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/they-can-t-give-a-nobel-to-someone-who-s-dead-so-i-think-they-were/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“While she strode rapidly through the ward to the door at the other end, she was able to see that every bed or cot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/while-she-strode-rapidly-through-the-ward-to-the-door-at-the-other/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I do not think that marriage is one of my talents. I've been much happier unmarried than married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-do-not-think-that-marriage-is-one-of-my-talents-i-ve-been-much/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I haven't got the energy to write now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-haven-t-got-the-energy-to-write-now/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What really fascinates me is this need that is so strong now that if you read a work of the imagination you instantly have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-really-fascinates-me-is-this-need-that-is-so-strong-now-that-if/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“The charge that the United Nations are using bacteriological warfare in Korea cannot be dismissed merely because it would be insane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-charge-that-the-united-nations-are-using-bacteriological-warfare/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What I did have, which others perhaps didn't, was a capacity for sticking at it, which really is the point, not the talent at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-i-did-have-which-others-perhaps-didn-t-was-a-capacity-for/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [The human community is evolving... . We can survive anything you care to mention. We are supremely equipped to survive, to adapt and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-human-community-is-evolving-we-can-survive-anything-you-care-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [So love is rest? The cosy corner? The little nook? Sometimes it ought to be. Sometimes it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/so-love-is-rest-the-cosy-corner-the-little-nook-sometimes-it-ought-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) [Explore all 508 Doris Lessing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## More British quotes > [I'd love to work in the States; I'd love to work anywhere where you get a good script and a good part to play.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-carmichael/i-d-love-to-work-in-the-states-i-d-love-to-work-anywhere-where-you/) [Laura Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-carmichael/) > [I shot for French and British Vogue. 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I'm so disappointed that we're not better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brownlow/somebody-said-that-part-of-my-reaction-to-british-cinema-is-actually/) [Kevin Brownlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brownlow/) > [All the cliches of glamorous sophistication have little appeal to me. Do I want to live the British version of 'Dynasty?' No thanks!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sade-adu/all-the-cliches-of-glamorous-sophistication-have-little-appeal-to-me/) [Sade Adu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sade-adu/) > [British Forces should be in a position to give back in a ten fold measure any attack that the Germans may attempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-banting/british-forces-should-be-in-a-position-to-give-back-in-a-ten-fold/) [Frederick Banting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-banting/) > [Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/although-i-don-t-have-anything-against-people-from-other-countries/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It could be my British need for discipline that makes me admire the American appetite for freedom and passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-winwood/it-could-be-my-british-need-for-discipline-that-makes-me-admire-the/) [Steve Winwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-winwood/) > [While we like to think queueing is unique to British culture, the truth is that we are mere amateurs. 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