--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have been unable to live an uncommitted…" description: "\"I have been unable to live an uncommitted or suspended life. I have not hesitated to declare my affiliation with an extremely unpopular cause.\" — Edwar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a28/edward-said-6412_affiliation_i-have-been-unable-to-live-an-uncommitte_2640810.jpg" --- # I have been unable to live an uncommitted or suspended… ![“I have been unable to live an uncommitted or suspended life. I have not hesitated to declare my affiliation with an extremely unpopular cause.” quote by Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a28/edward-said-6412_affiliation_i-have-been-unable-to-live-an-uncommitte_2640810.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a28/edward-said-6412_affiliation_i-have-been-unable-to-live-an-uncommitte_2640810.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a28/edward-said-6412_affiliation_i-have-been-unable-to-live-an-uncommitte_2640810.jpg) > “I have been unable to live an uncommitted or suspended life. I have not hesitated to declare my affiliation with an extremely unpopular cause.” [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker rejects a passive, indecisive existence and openly embraces a controversial stance despite social pressure. **In simple terms:** Reject passivity and embrace controversial beliefs. Key Takeaway Choose commitment over neutrality. Themes identity politics authenticity courage Mood defiant determined Type philosophical political When to use this quote - activism - public speaking - personal decision making - standing up for beliefs Key Concepts existentialism political philosophy social conformity Questions to Reflect On - What cause would you support despite unpopularity? - How does commitment shape personal identity? A Different Perspective Boldness may alienate allies and invite backlash. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affiliation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affiliation/) [Causes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causes/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Live Uncommitted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-uncommitted-2267849/) [Suspended](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suspended/) [Suspended Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suspended-life-2267846/) [Uncommitted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncommitted/) [Uncommitted Suspended](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncommitted-suspended-2267847/) [Unpopular Cause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unpopular-cause-2267848/) ## Related quotes > [My advice to a young man seeking deathless fame would be to espouse an unpopular cause and devote his life to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/my-advice-to-a-young-man-seeking-deathless-fame-would-be-to-espouse/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [The history of progress is written in the blood of men and women who have dared to espouse an unpopular cause, as, for instance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-history-of-progress-is-written-in-the-blood-of-men-and-women-who/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [I don't think that anybody should be suspended for life for anything, other than murder. How is it helping someone to say, 'You're done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steinbrenner/i-don-t-think-that-anybody-should-be-suspended-for-life-for-anything/) [George Steinbrenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steinbrenner/) > [“I am suspended between life and death in an unfamiliar way”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/i-am-suspended-between-life-and-death-in-an-unfamiliar-way/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [You are not just a meaningless fragment in an alien universe, briefly suspended between life and death, allowed a few short-lived pleasures followed by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-are-not-just-a-meaningless-fragment-in-an-alien-universe-briefly/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [A pure heart is one that is unencumbered, unworried, uncommitted and which does not want its own way about anything but which, rather, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/a-pure-heart-is-one-that-is-unencumbered-unworried-uncommitted-and/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [The uncommitted share many of our core values, but if we do not live out those values in a compelling way, we will not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-yancey/the-uncommitted-share-many-of-our-core-values-but-if-we-do-not-live/) [Philip Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-yancey/) > [As long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-long-as-possible-live-free-and-uncommitted-it-makes-but-little/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Socrates had it wrong; it is not the unexamined but finally the uncommitted life that is not worth living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-sloane-coffin/socrates-had-it-wrong-it-is-not-the-unexamined-but-finally-the/) [William Sloane Coffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-sloane-coffin/) > [Excuses are the crutches of the uncommitted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-bernard/excuses-are-the-crutches-of-the-uncommitted/) [A. R. Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-bernard/) > [Sarah Palin has been hired back by Fox News, and she only left five months ago. She has now effectively quit quitting. She can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-oliver/sarah-palin-has-been-hired-back-by-fox-news-and-she-only-left-five/) [John Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-oliver/) > [Make a total commitment to your company, your job, and your career. Uncommitted people have no future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/make-a-total-commitment-to-your-company-your-job-and-your-career/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [Success is not for the weak and uncommitted... Sometimes it's gonna hurt!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-thomas/success-is-not-for-the-weak-and-uncommitted-sometimes-it-s-gonna-hurt/) [Eric Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-thomas/) > [They said there was no rest for the wicked. In fact, there was rest neither for the virtuous nor the wicked, nor for guys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/they-said-there-was-no-rest-for-the-wicked-in-fact-there-was-rest/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [People do not follow uncommitted leaders. Commitment can be displayed in a full range of matters to include the work hours you choose to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-gregg/people-do-not-follow-uncommitted-leaders-commitment-can-be-displayed/) [Stephen R. Gregg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-gregg/) ## More by Edward Said > [Beginning is not only a kind of action. It is also a frame of mind, a kind of work, an attitude, a consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/beginning-is-not-only-a-kind-of-action-it-is-also-a-frame-of-mind-a/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [It's very hard, for example, to justify the thirty-four-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It's very hard to justify 140 Israeli settlements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/it-s-very-hard-for-example-to-justify-the-thirty-four-year-occupation/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ \[9/11\] was bloody-minded destruction for no other reason than to do it. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/9-11-was-bloody-minded-destruction-for-no-other-reason-than-to-do-it/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Look at situations as contingent, not as inevitable, look at them as the result of a series of historical choices made by men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/look-at-situations-as-contingent-not-as-inevitable-look-at-them-as/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [I was one of the first people in the Palestinian world, in the late 1970s, to say that there is no military option, either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-was-one-of-the-first-people-in-the-palestinian-world-in-the-late/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Take a young man from Gaza living in the most horrendous conditions - most of it imposed by Israel - who straps dynamite around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/take-a-young-man-from-gaza-living-in-the-most-horrendous-conditions/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ \[One task of intellectuals is\] to break down the stereotypes and reductive categories that are . . . limiting to human thought and communication. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/one-task-of-intellectuals-is-to-break-down-the-stereotypes-and/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [I have never known what is Arabic or English, or which one was really mine beyond any doubt. What I do know, however, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-have-never-known-what-is-arabic-or-english-or-which-one-was-really/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/every-single-empire-in-its-official-discourse-has-said-that-it-is-not/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ The just response to this terrible event \[9/11\] should be to go immediately to the world community, the United Nations. The rule of international… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/the-just-response-to-this-terrible-event-9-11-should-be-to-go/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Since when does a militarily occupied people have the responsibility for a peace movement?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/since-when-does-a-militarily-occupied-people-have-the-responsibility/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Refuse to allow yourself to become a vegetable that simply absorbs information, pre-packaged, pre-ideologized , because no message.. is anything but an ideological package…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/refuse-to-allow-yourself-to-become-a-vegetable-that-simply-absorbs/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [No cause, no God, no abstract idea can justify the mass slaughter of innocents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/no-cause-no-god-no-abstract-idea-can-justify-the-mass-slaughter-of/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [What we must eliminate are systems of representation that carry with them the authority which has become repressive because it doesn't permit or make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/what-we-must-eliminate-are-systems-of-representation-that-carry-with/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Part of the main plan of imperialism... is that we will give you your history, we will write it for you, we will re-order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/part-of-the-main-plan-of-imperialism-is-that-we-will-give-you-your/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) [Explore all 97 Edward Said quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) ## More Affiliation quotes > [My goal has been to encourage jointness, to push people to think of affiliations rather than to operate as solo entrepreneurs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-bartlett-giamatti/my-goal-has-been-to-encourage-jointness-to-push-people-to-think-of/) [A. Bartlett Giamatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-bartlett-giamatti/) > [The time has come to make the protection of children - all our children - a common cause that can unite us across the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olara-otunnu/the-time-has-come-to-make-the-protection-of-children-all-our-children/) [Olara Otunnu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olara-otunnu/) > [Of course, peer pressure has a strong positive component. It provides the social cohesion that allows the very development of communal affiliation. But peer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-d-hayes/of-course-peer-pressure-has-a-strong-positive-component-it-provides/) [Charles D. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-d-hayes/) > [ It is different \[to perform in Israel\] because it arises from very deep wells of affiliation. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/it-is-different-to-perform-in-israel-because-it-arises-from-very-deep/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [We shall say clearly that any symbol conspicuously displaying religious affiliation in school is prohibited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-pierre-raffarin/we-shall-say-clearly-that-any-symbol-conspicuously-displaying/) [Jean-Pierre Raffarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-pierre-raffarin/) > [Your race and gender don't change, but you can choose to change your political affiliation at will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-podhoretz/your-race-and-gender-don-t-change-but-you-can-choose-to-change-your/) [John Podhoretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-podhoretz/) > [“When only one party makes a profit that's robbery when all parties make profit that's business.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/when-only-one-party-makes-a-profit-that-s-robbery-when-all-parties/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [History will not judge our endeavors--and a government cannot be selected--merely on the basis of color or creed or even party affiliation. Neither will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/history-will-not-judge-our-endeavors-and-a-government-cannot-be/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [To be motivated to sit at home and study, instead of going out and playing, children need a sense of themselves over time--they need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-greenspan/to-be-motivated-to-sit-at-home-and-study-instead-of-going-out-and/) [Stanley Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-greenspan/) > [The Night Manager doesn't exist in the post-Cold war universe, it exists much more in the modern world, I think. There is more action.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/the-night-manager-doesn-t-exist-in-the-post-cold-war-universe-it/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [I would describe my spirituality as exactly the opposite of having a religious affiliation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/i-would-describe-my-spirituality-as-exactly-the-opposite-of-having-a/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [Touch seems to be such an important tool for enhancing social cooperation and affiliation that we have evolved a special physical route along which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/touch-seems-to-be-such-an-important-tool-for-enhancing-social/) [Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/) > [The writer is the person who stands outside society, independent of affiliation and independent of influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-writer-is-the-person-who-stands-outside-society-independent-of/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Since the moment of the United Nations' inception, untold energies have been expended by governments not only toward the exclusion of persons of principle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-hazzard/since-the-moment-of-the-united-nations-inception-untold-energies-have/) [Shirley Hazzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-hazzard/) > [The question really is what will be the central focus of global politics in the coming decades and my argument is that cultural identities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-p-huntington/the-question-really-is-what-will-be-the-central-focus-of-global/) [Samuel P. Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-p-huntington/) [Browse all 100 Affiliation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affiliation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have been unable to live an uncommitted or suspended life. I have not hesitated to declare my affiliation with an extremely unpopular cause.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Said" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-have-been-unable-to-live-an-uncommitted-or-suspended-life-i-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affiliation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-have-been-unable-to-live-an-uncommitted-or-suspended-life-i-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a28/edward-said-6412_affiliation_i-have-been-unable-to-live-an-uncommitte_2640810.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a28/edward-said-6412_affiliation_i-have-been-unable-to-live-an-uncommitte_2640810.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a28/edward-said-6412_affiliation_i-have-been-unable-to-live-an-uncommitte_2640810.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have been unable to live an uncommitted or suspended life. I have not hesitated to declare my affiliation…” — Edward Said", "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 Said", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I have been unable to live...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-have-been-unable-to-live-an-uncommitted-or-suspended-life-i-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-have-been-unable-to-live-an-uncommitted-or-suspended-life-i-have/#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 } } ] } ```