--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Going to bed with Gertrude Stein, Jeane…" description: "\"Going to bed with Gertrude Stein, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Susan Sontag, or Margaret Thatcher: There are some things one prefers neither to do nor to have do..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/377/edward-abbey-254_bed_going-to-bed-with-gertrude-stein-jeane-k_1361628.png" --- # Going to bed with Gertrude Stein, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Susan… ![“Going to bed with Gertrude Stein, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Susan Sontag, or Margaret Thatcher: There are some things one prefers neither to do nor to have done.” quote by Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/377/edward-abbey-254_bed_going-to-bed-with-gertrude-stein-jeane-k_1361628.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/377/edward-abbey-254_bed_going-to-bed-with-gertrude-stein-jeane-k_1361628.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/377/edward-abbey-254_bed_going-to-bed-with-gertrude-stein-jeane-k_1361628.png) > “Going to bed with Gertrude Stein, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Susan Sontag, or Margaret Thatcher: There are some things one prefers neither to do nor to have done.” [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Some experiences are so undesirable that one would rather avoid them entirely. **In simple terms:** Avoid certain things completely. Key Takeaway Identify and set clear personal boundaries. Themes personal values avoidance choice preference ethics Mood reflective candid philosophical Type essay personal thoughtful When to use this quote - relationship choices - career moves - social engagements Key Concepts boundary setting personal integrity decision making Questions to Reflect On - What do you refuse to do? - Why do you avoid it? A Different Perspective Avoidance can limit growth if overly restrictive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bed/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Gertrude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gertrude/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gertrude-stein/) [Going Bed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-bed/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/susan-sontag/) [Thatcher Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thatcher-things-4662393/) [Things Prefers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-prefers-4662392/) ## Related quotes > [There's a reason why trainspotters are not girls, there's a reason why there's the myth of the slightly autistic male genius, there's a reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/there-s-a-reason-why-trainspotters-are-not-girls-there-s-a-reason-why/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [Gertrude Stein did us the most harm when she said, 'You're all a lost generation.' That got around to certain people and we all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/gertrude-stein-did-us-the-most-harm-when-she-said-you-re-all-a-lost/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [I had learned of Gertrude Steins bon mot that medicine opened all doors. This prompted me, in different moods, to view my future life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-e-varmus/i-had-learned-of-gertrude-steins-bon-mot-that-medicine-opened-all/) [Harold E. Varmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-e-varmus/) > [When students are first at the Kerouac School we harp on Gertrude Stein's very basic poetic insistence that words are things . Not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/when-students-are-first-at-the-kerouac-school-we-harp-on-gertrude/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [Gertrude Stein's prose-song is a cold, black suet-pudding… Cut it at any point, it is the same thing ... all fat, without nerve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/gertrude-stein-s-prose-song-is-a-cold-black-suet-pudding-cut-it-at/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [ON HER DEATHBED, Gertrude Stein is said to have asked, 'What is the answer?' Then, after a long silence, 'What is the question?' Don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/on-her-deathbed-gertrude-stein-is-said-to-have-asked-what-is-the/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [ You are all a lost generation. \[with credit to Gertrude Stein\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-are-all-a-lost-generation-with-credit-to-gertrude-stein/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Because anybody can write, but not everybody invents new forms of writing. Gertrude Stein invented a new form of writing and her imitators are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/because-anybody-can-write-but-not-everybody-invents-new-forms-of/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Is the professor who insists we read Ernest Hemingway again instead of Gertrude Stein "obsessing"? Because although I did a BA in English, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/is-the-professor-who-insists-we-read-ernest-hemingway-again-instead/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [The two greatest mannequins of the century were Gertrude Stein and Edith Sitwell - unquestionably. You just couldn't take a bad picture of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-vreeland/the-two-greatest-mannequins-of-the-century-were-gertrude-stein-and/) [Diana Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-vreeland/) > [I murmured to Picasso that I liked his portrait of Gertrude Stein. Yes, he said, everybody said that she does not look like it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-murmured-to-picasso-that-i-liked-his-portrait-of-gertrude-stein-yes/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Gertrude Stein, all courage and will, is a soldier of minimalism. Her work, unlike the resonating silences in the art of Samuel Beckett, embodies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/gertrude-stein-all-courage-and-will-is-a-soldier-of-minimalism-her/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [It seems all "protection" has to be monitored, considered, weighed and justified - I am suggesting we do that (but it's something Mary Shelley…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/it-seems-all-protection-has-to-be-monitored-considered-weighed-and/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [Gertrude Stein said, "I write for myself and strangers." I would say I write for myself, strangers and the great dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/gertrude-stein-said-i-write-for-myself-and-strangers-i-would-say-i/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [He came after Homer and before Gertrude Stein, a difficult interval for a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-carson/he-came-after-homer-and-before-gertrude-stein-a-difficult-interval/) [Anne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-carson/) ## More by Edward Abbey > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Apuleius married a rich widow, then wrote \_The Golden Ass\_.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/apuleius-married-a-rich-widow-then-wrote-the-golden-ass/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Except for the scale of the operation, there was nothing unusual about Hitler's massacre of the Jews. Genocide's an old tradition, as human as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/except-for-the-scale-of-the-operation-there-was-nothing-unusual-about/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [By the age of eighteen, a human has acquired enough joy and heartache to provide the food of reflection for a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/by-the-age-of-eighteen-a-human-has-acquired-enough-joy-and-heartache/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Our institutions are too big; they represent not the best but the worst characteristics of human beings. By submitting to huge hierarchies of power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/our-institutions-are-too-big-they-represent-not-the-best-but-the/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [No man-made structure in all of American history has been hated so much, by so many, for so long, with such good reason, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/no-man-made-structure-in-all-of-american-history-has-been-hated-so/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Where all pretend to be thinking alike, it's likely that no one is thinking at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/where-all-pretend-to-be-thinking-alike-it-s-likely-that-no-one-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Nobody has so many friends that he can afford to lose one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/nobody-has-so-many-friends-that-he-can-afford-to-lose-one/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“But why, the questioner insists, why do people like you pretend to love uninhabited country so much? Why this cult of wilderness? Why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/but-why-the-questioner-insists-why-do-people-like-you-pretend-to-love/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Civilization is a youth with a molotov cocktail in his hand. Culture is the Soviet tank or L.A. cop that guns him down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/civilization-is-a-youth-with-a-molotov-cocktail-in-his-hand-culture/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [All revolutions have failed? Perhaps. But rebellion for good cause is self- justifying -- a good in itself. Rebellion transforms slaves into human beings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/all-revolutions-have-failed-perhaps-but-rebellion-for-good-cause-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Me, I'm living under a sword too, as Jack may have told you. 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Part Two: Say it well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/what-is-the-essence-of-the-art-of-writing-part-one-have-something-to/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) [Explore all 807 Edward Abbey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## 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. 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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 ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Going to bed with Gertrude Stein, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Susan Sontag, or Margaret Thatcher: There are some things one prefers neither to do nor to have done.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Abbey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/going-to-bed-with-gertrude-stein-jeane-kirkpatrick-susan-sontag-or/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/going-to-bed-with-gertrude-stein-jeane-kirkpatrick-susan-sontag-or/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/377/edward-abbey-254_bed_going-to-bed-with-gertrude-stein-jeane-k_1361628.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/377/edward-abbey-254_bed_going-to-bed-with-gertrude-stein-jeane-k_1361628.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/377/edward-abbey-254_bed_going-to-bed-with-gertrude-stein-jeane-k_1361628.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Going to bed with Gertrude Stein, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Susan Sontag, or Margaret Thatcher: There are some…” — Edward Abbey", "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": "Edward Abbey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Going to bed with Gertrude Stein,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/going-to-bed-with-gertrude-stein-jeane-kirkpatrick-susan-sontag-or/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/going-to-bed-with-gertrude-stein-jeane-kirkpatrick-susan-sontag-or/#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 } } ] } ```