--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We built walls, and built them high. The…" description: "\"“We built walls, and built them high. The walls would keep the gentiles and their terrifying world far away. The walls would protect us and shelter us—..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/eishes-chayil-44944_quote_we-built-walls-and-built-them-high-the-w_948202.jpg" --- # We built walls, and built them high. The walls would keep… ![“We built walls, and built them high. The walls would keep the gentiles and their terrifying world far away. The walls would protect us and shelter us—and as we built them higher, thicker, wider, we forgot to look inside. We forgot that the greatest enemies always grow from within.” quote by Eishes Chayil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/eishes-chayil-44944_quote_we-built-walls-and-built-them-high-the-w_948202.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/eishes-chayil-44944_quote_we-built-walls-and-built-them-high-the-w_948202.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/eishes-chayil-44944_quote_we-built-walls-and-built-them-high-the-w_948202.jpg) > ““We built walls, and built them high. The walls would keep the gentiles and their terrifying world far away. The walls would protect us and shelter us—and as we built them higher, thicker, wider, we forgot to look inside. We forgot that the greatest enemies always grow from within.”” [Eishes Chayil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eishes-chayil/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Building external barriers leads to neglect of internal flaws, creating greater danger. **In simple terms:** Walls protect but hide inner threats. Key Takeaway Address internal issues before external defenses. Themes security self‑deception internal conflict Mood cautious thoughtful Type philosophical warning When to use this quote - political policy - personal growth - team building Key Concepts psychology of fear group identity Questions to Reflect On - What internal issues are you ignoring? - How can you strengthen inner resilience? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex social problems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Built Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built-walls-854738/) [High Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-walls-1671295/) [Walls Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walls-built-475607/) [Walls Gentiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walls-gentiles-1671294/) [Walls Protect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walls-protect-327380/) ## Related quotes > [I was afraid of getting hurt so I built these walls to protect me but now they are so high and strong that nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/llouw/i-was-afraid-of-getting-hurt-so-i-built-these-walls-to-protect-me-but/) [LLouw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/llouw/) > [“Sometimes we build such high walls for protection that we forget that our greatest enemy can grow from within.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eishes-chayil/sometimes-we-build-such-high-walls-for-protection-that-we-forget-that/) [Eishes Chayil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eishes-chayil/) > [“ordinary people can never fall over the walls, because they never dare climb high enough to see what is beyond the walls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-traven/ordinary-people-can-never-fall-over-the-walls-because-they-never-dare/) [B. Traven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-traven/) > [India is one vast prison with high walls of suppression clothing her mind and her body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/india-is-one-vast-prison-with-high-walls-of-suppression-clothing-her/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/it-is-from-their-foes-not-their-friends-that-cities-learn-the-lesson-2/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [Each age, each guilty age, builds high walls around its Versailles; and personally I hate those walls most when they are made by literature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/each-age-each-guilty-age-builds-high-walls-around-its-versailles-and/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [The thing that's very puzzling to somebody who's been in Pakistan repeatedly since 1983 is lots of people live in compounds with high walls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bergen/the-thing-that-s-very-puzzling-to-somebody-who-s-been-in-pakistan/) [Peter Bergen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bergen/) > [Don't look far away for the freedom. Its behind the walls that we built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-look-far-away-for-the-freedom-its-behind-the-walls-that-we-built/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [He looked at the pain and he set himself apart from it. He saw it, examined it, identified it, corralled it. He isolated it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-child/he-looked-at-the-pain-and-he-set-himself-apart-from-it-he-saw-it/) [Lee Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-child/) > [Dont look faraway for freedom ..Its behind the walls that we built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmed-mahdi-salih/dont-look-faraway-for-freedom-its-behind-the-walls-that-we-built/) [Ahmed Mahdi Salih](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahmed-mahdi-salih/) > [So I put out my hand and I asked for some help we tore down the walls I built around myself. c:](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/papa-roach/so-i-put-out-my-hand-and-i-asked-for-some-help-we-tore-down-the-walls/) [Papa Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/papa-roach/) > [Walls are built up between people a hell of a damn sight faster than--broken down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/walls-are-built-up-between-people-a-hell-of-a-damn-sight-faster-than/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [We can understand each other with music without words - and that's so important in these times when walls are built. In music, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andris-nelsons/we-can-understand-each-other-with-music-without-words-and-that-s-so/) [Andris Nelsons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andris-nelsons/) > [Remember those walls I built? well baby they're tumbling down. and they didn't even put up a fight. they didn't even make a sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/remember-those-walls-i-built-well-baby-they-re-tumbling-down-and-they-4/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The walls we built around us to keep sadness out also keeps out the joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/the-walls-we-built-around-us-to-keep-sadness-out-also-keeps-out-the/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) ## More by Eishes Chayil > [“Someone who dressed in an immodest fashion was trying to be like the goyim, who cared only for their bodies and neglected their souls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eishes-chayil/someone-who-dressed-in-an-immodest-fashion-was-trying-to-be-like-the/) [Eishes Chayil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eishes-chayil/) > [“We will lie talking and talking forever because dreams don’t need to end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eishes-chayil/we-will-lie-talking-and-talking-forever-because-dreams-don-t-need-to/) [Eishes Chayil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eishes-chayil/) > [“Then he’d tell me all about his first year of marriage with my mother, and how they didn’t get along all at once, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eishes-chayil/then-he-d-tell-me-all-about-his-first-year-of-marriage-with-my-mother/) [Eishes Chayil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eishes-chayil/) > [“Can the dead hear our prayers? When the words come floating up, do they go straight to God's sacred domain, or does all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eishes-chayil/can-the-dead-hear-our-prayers-when-the-words-come-floating-up-do-they/) [Eishes Chayil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eishes-chayil/) > [“And it taught me all I needed to know about right and wrong. If a man was wearing that hat he was right; if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eishes-chayil/and-it-taught-me-all-i-needed-to-know-about-right-and-wrong-if-a-man/) [Eishes Chayil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eishes-chayil/) > [“Fashion is created to bring attention to your body and to disguise what is really important about you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eishes-chayil/fashion-is-created-to-bring-attention-to-your-body-and-to-disguise/) [Eishes Chayil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eishes-chayil/) > [“Sometimes we build such high walls for protection that we forget that our greatest enemy can grow from within.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eishes-chayil/sometimes-we-build-such-high-walls-for-protection-that-we-forget-that/) [Eishes Chayil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eishes-chayil/) > [“Children come from love.” “They come from Hashem’s commandment. He said to produce and multiply.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eishes-chayil/children-come-from-love-they-come-from-hashem-s-commandment-he-said/) [Eishes Chayil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eishes-chayil/) [Explore all 9 Eishes Chayil quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eishes-chayil/) ## More Walls Protect quotes > [“He spent so long building walls to protect his privacy that I think he forgot to build a door.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-kenner/he-spent-so-long-building-walls-to-protect-his-privacy-that-i-think/) [J. Kenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-kenner/) > [I never think that walls can protect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haider-al-abadi/i-never-think-that-walls-can-protect-you/) [Haider al-Abadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haider-al-abadi/) > [“Spiritual gifts are not walls to protect the indwelling furnace of sin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin/spiritual-gifts-are-not-walls-to-protect-the-indwelling-furnace-of-sin/) [Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin/) > [“Life is better without the walls, everyone agrees. Still, sometimes I'm afraid of the outside world, and every so often in my private thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-carman/life-is-better-without-the-walls-everyone-agrees-still-sometimes-i-m/) [Patrick Carman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-carman/) > [Happens all the time. I care way too much & I end up putting up walls to protect myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happens-all-the-time-i-care-way-too-much-i-end-up-putting-up-walls-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Be careful when building walls to protect yourself. Those same walls may cage you in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/be-careful-when-building-walls-to-protect-yourself-those-same-walls/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was afraid of getting hurt so I built these walls to protect me but now they are so high and strong that nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/llouw/i-was-afraid-of-getting-hurt-so-i-built-these-walls-to-protect-me-but/) [LLouw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/llouw/) > [Walls protect and walls limit. It is in the nature of walls that they should fall. That walls should fall is the consequence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/walls-protect-and-walls-limit-it-is-in-the-nature-of-walls-that-they/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [When we love and respect people, revealing to them their value, they can begin to come out from behind the walls that protect them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-vanier/when-we-love-and-respect-people-revealing-to-them-their-value-they/) [Jean Vanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-vanier/) > [“There are four kinds of people in the world, Ms. Harper. Those who build walls. Those who protect walls. Those who breach walls. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-s-baber/there-are-four-kinds-of-people-in-the-world-ms-harper-those-who-build/) [P.S. Baber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-s-baber/) > [I build walls around me, to protect my heart. I won't believe you if you tell me you're different unless you stick around and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-build-walls-around-me-to-protect-my-heart-i-won-t-believe-you-if/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Walls protect, divide, distinguish; above all they abstract . The basic activities that sustain life . . . take place beyond walls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pogue-harrison/walls-protect-divide-distinguish-above-all-they-abstract-the-basic/) [Robert Pogue Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pogue-harrison/) > [“In the building of walls to protect ourselves— we have managed to keep ourselves from the best in this life. And so the line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/in-the-building-of-walls-to-protect-ourselves-we-have-managed-to-keep/) [C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) [Browse all 14 Walls Protect quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walls-protect-327380/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We built walls, and built them high. The walls would keep the gentiles and their terrifying world far away. The walls would protect us and shelter us—and as we built them higher, thicker, wider, we forgot to look inside. 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