--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once various forms were signed, I was…" description: "\"Once various forms were signed, I was separated from my free will, led down the corridors into a room which was now to be the boundary of my existence,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da0/dorothy-west-36708_bed_once-various-forms-were-signed-i-was-sep_3168161.png" --- # Once various forms were signed, I was separated from my… ![“Once various forms were signed, I was separated from my free will, led down the corridors into a room which was now to be the boundary of my existence, told to surrender my clothes, handed that comic invention, the hospital gown, and sent to bed in broad daylight like a child being stripped of her…” quote by Dorothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da0/dorothy-west-36708_bed_once-various-forms-were-signed-i-was-sep_3168161.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da0/dorothy-west-36708_bed_once-various-forms-were-signed-i-was-sep_3168161.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da0/dorothy-west-36708_bed_once-various-forms-were-signed-i-was-sep_3168161.png) > “Once various forms were signed, I was separated from my free will, led down the corridors into a room which was now to be the boundary of my existence, told to surrender my clothes, handed that comic invention, the hospital gown, and sent to bed in broad daylight like a child being stripped of her privileges.” [Dorothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator describes losing autonomy and being reduced to a patient, stripped of identity and agency. **In simple terms:** Loss of control and identity in a medical setting. Key Takeaway Recognize and protect personal autonomy. Themes autonomy identity power dynamics vulnerability Mood anxious defiant Type literary personal narrative When to use this quote - hospital admission - patient care - legal custody - psychological trauma Key Concepts medicalization dehumanization social control Questions to Reflect On - How does institutional power erode personal freedom? - What safeguards can preserve dignity in care? A Different Perspective The narrative may dramatize for literary effect, not all experiences are identical. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boundaries/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Clothes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothes/) [Comic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comic/) [Daylight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daylight/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Free will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-will/) [Hospitals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hospitals/) [Invention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invention/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Privilege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privilege/) [Surrender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrender/) ## Related quotes > [I think continually of those who were truly great . Who, from the womb, remembered the soul 's history Through corridors of light where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-spender/i-think-continually-of-those-who-were-truly-great-who-from-the-womb/) [Stephen Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-spender/) > [I think continually of those who were truly great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-spender/i-think-continually-of-those-who-were-truly-great/) [Stephen Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-spender/) > [The corridor couldn't have smelled more strongly of fish guts if we had actually been inside a fish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-golden/the-corridor-couldn-t-have-smelled-more-strongly-of-fish-guts-if-we/) [Arthur Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-golden/) > [In the home we make certain distinctions about functions of rooms and corridors; we do not deliver the groceries straight into the baby's crib.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ward-baroness-jackson-of-lodsworth/in-the-home-we-make-certain-distinctions-about-functions-of-rooms-and/) [Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ward-baroness-jackson-of-lodsworth/) > [Words, living and ghostly, the quick and the dead, crowd and jostle the otherwise too empty corridors of my mind ... To move among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/words-living-and-ghostly-the-quick-and-the-dead-crowd-and-jostle-the/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [A man who can be happy with the crumbs of light in the dark corridors of life infinitely deserves the brightest Sun!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/a-man-who-can-be-happy-with-the-crumbs-of-light-in-the-dark-corridors/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [In the chummy corridors of the liberal media establishment, no self-satisfying myth is more prevalent than the notion that there are two types of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-brent-bozell-iii/in-the-chummy-corridors-of-the-liberal-media-establishment-no-self/) L. Brent Bozell III > [The reason why so many of my photographs in the book were taken in stairwells and corridors was that that was the only bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-ridgers/the-reason-why-so-many-of-my-photographs-in-the-book-were-taken-in/) [Derek Ridgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-ridgers/) > [I agree about Shaw - he is haunted by the mystery he flouts. He is an atheist who trembles in the haunted corridor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-agree-about-shaw-he-is-haunted-by-the-mystery-he-flouts-he-is-an/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I hear the wind blowing across the desert and I see the moons of a winter night rising like great ships in the void.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/i-hear-the-wind-blowing-across-the-desert-and-i-see-the-moons-of-a/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Across the gulf of centuries, the blind smile of Homer is turned upon our age. Along the echoing corridors of time, the roar of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/across-the-gulf-of-centuries-the-blind-smile-of-homer-is-turned-upon/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [After such knowledge, what forgiveness?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/after-such-knowledge-what-forgiveness/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Success will smile at the man who refuses to lie down at the corridor of failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-murdock/success-will-smile-at-the-man-who-refuses-to-lie-down-at-the-corridor/) [Mike Murdock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-murdock/) > [The certain pathway to all things that you want is through the corridor of joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/the-certain-pathway-to-all-things-that-you-want-is-through-the/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [Journeying through secret doors, curving corridors, and connecting rooms into the mountain was like being digested by the different organs of a deity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-grey/journeying-through-secret-doors-curving-corridors-and-connecting/) [Alex Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-grey/) ## More by Dorothy West > [“She would grace his home with her charm and beauty and she would make his bed joyous, all without ever having to shame his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/she-would-grace-his-home-with-her-charm-and-beauty-and-she-would-make/) [Dorothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/) > [I'm a writer. I don't cook and I don't clean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/i-m-a-writer-i-don-t-cook-and-i-don-t-clean/) [Dorothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/) > [I never knew a man who got so hurt in his pocketbook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/i-never-knew-a-man-who-got-so-hurt-in-his-pocketbook/) [Dorothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/) > [Beauty is but skin deep, ugly to the bone. And when beauty fades away, ugly claims its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/beauty-is-but-skin-deep-ugly-to-the-bone-and-when-beauty-fades-away/) [Dorothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/) > [Because if you don't know someone all that well, you react to their surface qualities, the superficial stereotypes-they throw off like sparks. But once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/because-if-you-don-t-know-someone-all-that-well-you-react-to-their/) [Dorothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/) > [Identity is not inherent. It is shaped by circumstance and sensitivity and resistance to self-pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/identity-is-not-inherent-it-is-shaped-by-circumstance-and-sensitivity/) [Dorothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/) > [“He had been taught that bread unshared is bread unblessed when someone else is hungry, whether man or beast, friend or stranger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/he-had-been-taught-that-bread-unshared-is-bread-unblessed-when/) [Dorothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/) > [There is no life that does not contribute to history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/there-is-no-life-that-does-not-contribute-to-history/) [Dorothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/) > [It is a rule of mine never to ask unsolicited questions of people over twenty-one. I am only giving them the option of lying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/it-is-a-rule-of-mine-never-to-ask-unsolicited-questions-of-people/) [Dorothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/) > [If the Best is yet to come, the Present will blend with it Beautifully.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/if-the-best-is-yet-to-come-the-present-will-blend-with-it-beautifully/) [Dorothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/) > [To know how much there is to know is the beginning of learning to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/to-know-how-much-there-is-to-know-is-the-beginning-of-learning-to-live/) [Dorothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/) [Explore all 12 Dorothy West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/) ## More Bed quotes > [When man of slender visits you / Nothing on earth that one can do / In well he’ll hide, or watery hole / And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-goldstein/when-man-of-slender-visits-you-nothing-on-earth-that-one-can-do-in/) [Jack Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-goldstein/) > [Your idea of fidelity is not having more than one man in bed at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-raphael/your-idea-of-fidelity-is-not-having-more-than-one-man-in-bed-at-the/) [Frederic Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-raphael/) > [The beginning of love is all about the butterflies, but the end of it is when you can't get out of bed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/the-beginning-of-love-is-all-about-the-butterflies-but-the-end-of-it/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I wish I had as much in bed as I get in the newspapers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-ronstadt/i-wish-i-had-as-much-in-bed-as-i-get-in-the-newspapers/) [Linda Ronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-ronstadt/) > [ Leave a cavity behind the \[wall\] facings, and on the inside build walls two feet thick, made of red dimension stone or burnt brick… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/leave-a-cavity-behind-the-wall-facings-and-on-the-inside-build-walls/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/why-couldn-t-jesus-command-us-to-obsess-over-everything-to-try-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“To all the secret writers, late-night painters, would-be singers, lapsed and scared artists of every stripe, dig out your paintbrush, or your flute, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/to-all-the-secret-writers-late-night-painters-would-be-singers-lapsed/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [“In the parking lot, she drove and parked in a dark area with no other cars around. She reclined her seat, and listened to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tao-lin/in-the-parking-lot-she-drove-and-parked-in-a-dark-area-with-no-other/) [Tao Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tao-lin/) > [It wasn't really touching to be young; it was touching not to be young, because you had less of life left. Touching to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/it-wasn-t-really-touching-to-be-young-it-was-touching-not-to-be-young/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [I have to meditate before I go to bed, always. I have to let the day go and let the eternal in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bellamy-young/i-have-to-meditate-before-i-go-to-bed-always-i-have-to-let-the-day-go/) [Bellamy Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bellamy-young/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I think life is full of challenges and problems. I don't believe that anyone is perfect. We all make mistakes. It's not a bed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-mansell/i-think-life-is-full-of-challenges-and-problems-i-don-t-believe-that/) [Nigel Mansell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-mansell/) > [When I saw him I thought I could curl up inside him and go to sleep and never wake up." "Men are no good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/when-i-saw-him-i-thought-i-could-curl-up-inside-him-and-go-to-sleep/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [I always wanted to be a movie star. I thought it meant being famous and having breakfast in bed. I didn't know you had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-allyson/i-always-wanted-to-be-a-movie-star-i-thought-it-meant-being-famous/) [June Allyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-allyson/) Browse all 4,159 Bed quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once various forms were signed, I was separated from my free will, led down the corridors into a room which was now to be the boundary of my existence, told to surrender my clothes, handed that comic invention, the hospital gown, and sent to bed in broad daylight like a child being stripped of her privileges.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dorothy West" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/once-various-forms-were-signed-i-was-separated-from-my-free-will-led/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/once-various-forms-were-signed-i-was-separated-from-my-free-will-led/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da0/dorothy-west-36708_bed_once-various-forms-were-signed-i-was-sep_3168161.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da0/dorothy-west-36708_bed_once-various-forms-were-signed-i-was-sep_3168161.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da0/dorothy-west-36708_bed_once-various-forms-were-signed-i-was-sep_3168161.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Once various forms were signed, I was separated from my free will, led down the corridors into a room which…” — Dorothy West", "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": "Dorothy West", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-west/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Once various forms were signed, I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/once-various-forms-were-signed-i-was-separated-from-my-free-will-led/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-west/once-various-forms-were-signed-i-was-separated-from-my-free-will-led/#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 } } ] } ```