--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Being and having in our society teaches…" description: "\"Being and having in our society teaches us how to take possession of things, when it should rather initiate us in the art of letting go. For there is n..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3f/gabriel-marcel-23278_apprenticeship_being-and-having-in-our-society-teaches_1516119.png" --- # Being and having in our society teaches us how to take… ![“Being and having in our society teaches us how to take possession of things, when it should rather initiate us in the art of letting go. For there is neither freedom nor real life without an apprenticeship in letting go.” quote by Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3f/gabriel-marcel-23278_apprenticeship_being-and-having-in-our-society-teaches_1516119.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3f/gabriel-marcel-23278_apprenticeship_being-and-having-in-our-society-teaches_1516119.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3f/gabriel-marcel-23278_apprenticeship_being-and-having-in-our-society-teaches_1516119.png) > “Being and having in our society teaches us how to take possession of things, when it should rather initiate us in the art of letting go. For there is neither freedom nor real life without an apprenticeship in letting go.” [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Possessing things does not bring freedom; true freedom comes from learning to let go, which is essential for authentic living. **In simple terms:** Freedom comes from letting go, not owning. Key Takeaway Embrace letting go to find real freedom. Themes freedom existence attachment spirituality Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal relationships - career changes - material loss - spiritual practice Key Concepts philosophy psychology detachment Questions to Reflect On - What do you cling to that limits you? - How can letting go enhance your life? A Different Perspective Letting go can be painful and socially discouraged. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apprenticeship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apprenticeship/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Letting go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letting-go/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Our society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-society/) [Possession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possession/) [Real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-life/) ## Related quotes > [When we look at our children, I think a lot of the troubles we're having as a society is because we don't have strong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-watson/when-we-look-at-our-children-i-think-a-lot-of-the-troubles-we-re/) [Benjamin Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-watson/) > [He who hopes in God trusts God, Whom he never sees, to bring him to the possession of things that are beyond imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/he-who-hopes-in-god-trusts-god-whom-he-never-sees-to-bring-him-to-the/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [What we enjoy, not what we possess, is ours, and in labouring for the possession of many things, we lose the power to enjoy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lancaster-spalding/what-we-enjoy-not-what-we-possess-is-ours-and-in-labouring-for-the/) [John Lancaster Spalding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lancaster-spalding/) > [Many of the things that bring delight should not be owned. They are more enjoyed if another's, than if yours; the first day they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/many-of-the-things-that-bring-delight-should-not-be-owned-they-are/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [Peace is only possible if men cease to place their happiness in the possession of things which cannot be shared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-benda/peace-is-only-possible-if-men-cease-to-place-their-happiness-in-the-2/) [Julien Benda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-benda/) > [All the same, my depression and self-hatred, my desire to mutilate myself with broken bottles, my numbness and crying fits, my inability to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/all-the-same-my-depression-and-self-hatred-my-desire-to-mutilate/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [“There are powers far beyond us, plans far beyond what we could have ever thought of, visions far more vast than what we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/there-are-powers-far-beyond-us-plans-far-beyond-what-we-could-have/) [C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [“The tricky thing about living in a society that allows you freedom is that everyone else has it too. Some people can’t handle that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-cobble/the-tricky-thing-about-living-in-a-society-that-allows-you-freedom-is/) A.C. Cobble > [Letting go is freedom. When you find yourself in a useless battle, you merely walk off the battlefield.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-prather/letting-go-is-freedom-when-you-find-yourself-in-a-useless-battle-you/) [Hugh Prather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-prather/) > [As a Christian, I got something the world didn't give me, the world can't take away, so I find joy that can never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/as-a-christian-i-got-something-the-world-didn-t-give-me-the-world-can/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Every endeavor should be used to weaken and destroy all those institutions relating to corporations, apprenticeships, &c, which cause the labours of agriculture to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/every-endeavor-should-be-used-to-weaken-and-destroy-all-those/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [There has never been a boy painter, nor can there be. The art requires a long apprenticeship, being mechanical, as well as intellectual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-constable/there-has-never-been-a-boy-painter-nor-can-there-be-the-art-requires/) [John Constable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-constable/) > [I was in the U.K. and Germany and went to Volkswagen and learned about their apprenticeship model - young people become paid apprentices in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perez/i-was-in-the-u-k-and-germany-and-went-to-volkswagen-and-learned-about/) [Tom Perez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perez/) > [From 1965 to 1974, I served the best possible apprenticeship for an actor. I learned firsthand how a truck driver lives, what a bartender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-dennehy/from-1965-to-1974-i-served-the-best-possible-apprenticeship-for-an/) [Brian Dennehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-dennehy/) > [For a young man to start his career with a love affair with an older woman was quite de rigueur ... Of course, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vita-sackville-west/for-a-young-man-to-start-his-career-with-a-love-affair-with-an-older/) [Vita Sackville-West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vita-sackville-west/) ## More by Gabriel Marcel > [A mystery is a problem that encroaches upon itself because the questioner becomes the object of the question. Getting to Mars is a problem.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/a-mystery-is-a-problem-that-encroaches-upon-itself-because-the/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [It is right that we be concerned with the scientific probity of metaphysics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/it-is-right-that-we-be-concerned-with-the-scientific-probity-of/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [“The atheist relies not on an experience but on an idea, or pseudo idea, of God: if God existed, He would have such and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/the-atheist-relies-not-on-an-experience-but-on-an-idea-or-pseudo-idea/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [But however measurable, there is much more life in music than mathematics or logic ever dreamed of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/but-however-measurable-there-is-much-more-life-in-music-than/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [But a science is exact to the extent that its method measures up to and is adequate to its object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/but-a-science-is-exact-to-the-extent-that-its-method-measures-up-to/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [... freedom is a conquest, always partial, always precarious, always challenged. ... the freest person is the one with the most hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/freedom-is-a-conquest-always-partial-always-precarious-always/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [The dynamic element in my philosophy, taken as a whole, can be seen as an obstinate and untiring battle against the spirit of abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/the-dynamic-element-in-my-philosophy-taken-as-a-whole-can-be-seen-as/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [You know you have loved someone when you have glimpsed in them that which is too beautiful to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/you-know-you-have-loved-someone-when-you-have-glimpsed-in-them-that/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [On a grassroots level we say that man can touch more than he can grasp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/on-a-grassroots-level-we-say-that-man-can-touch-more-than-he-can-grasp/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [I not only have a body; I am this body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/i-not-only-have-a-body-i-am-this-body/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [The wise man knows how to run his life so that contemplation is possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/the-wise-man-knows-how-to-run-his-life-so-that-contemplation-is/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [Hope consists in asserting that there is at the heart of being, beyond all data, beyond all inventories and all calculations, a mysterious principle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/hope-consists-in-asserting-that-there-is-at-the-heart-of-being-beyond/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [An individual is not distinct from his place. He is his place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/an-individual-is-not-distinct-from-his-place-he-is-his-place/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [I almost think that hope is for the soul what breathing is for the living organism. Where hope is lacking the soul dries up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/i-almost-think-that-hope-is-for-the-soul-what-breathing-is-for-the/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) > [Music at times is more like perfume than mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-marcel/music-at-times-is-more-like-perfume-than-mathematics/) [Gabriel Marcel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) [Explore all 24 Gabriel Marcel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-marcel/) ## More Apprenticeship quotes > [For a young man to start his career with a love affair with an older woman was quite de rigueur ... Of course, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vita-sackville-west/for-a-young-man-to-start-his-career-with-a-love-affair-with-an-older/) [Vita Sackville-West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vita-sackville-west/) > [From 1965 to 1974, I served the best possible apprenticeship for an actor. I learned firsthand how a truck driver lives, what a bartender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-dennehy/from-1965-to-1974-i-served-the-best-possible-apprenticeship-for-an/) [Brian Dennehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-dennehy/) > [I was in the U.K. and Germany and went to Volkswagen and learned about their apprenticeship model - young people become paid apprentices in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perez/i-was-in-the-u-k-and-germany-and-went-to-volkswagen-and-learned-about/) [Tom Perez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perez/) > [There has never been a boy painter, nor can there be. The art requires a long apprenticeship, being mechanical, as well as intellectual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-constable/there-has-never-been-a-boy-painter-nor-can-there-be-the-art-requires/) [John Constable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-constable/) > [Every endeavor should be used to weaken and destroy all those institutions relating to corporations, apprenticeships, &c, which cause the labours of agriculture to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/every-endeavor-should-be-used-to-weaken-and-destroy-all-those/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [The best thing about writing programs is that it rationalized the apprenticeship of a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-banks/the-best-thing-about-writing-programs-is-that-it-rationalized-the/) [Russell Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-banks/) > [Every day should be Labor Day. We have to fight for the basic proposition that apprenticeship is a wonderful ticket to the middle class.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-perez/every-day-should-be-labor-day-we-have-to-fight-for-the-basic/) [Thomas Perez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-perez/) > [The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-apprenticeship-of-difficulty-is-one-which-the-greatest-of-men/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [ For the production of man a different apprenticeship \[from forests\] was needed to sharpen the wits and quicken the higher manifestations of intellect -… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-dart/for-the-production-of-man-a-different-apprenticeship-from-forests-was/) Raymond Dart > [Life is an apprenticeship to the constant renunciations, to the steady failure of our claims, our hopes, our powers, our liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-frederic-amiel/life-is-an-apprenticeship-to-the-constant-renunciations-to-the-steady/) [Henri Frederic Amiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-frederic-amiel/) > [I come from a family with a long tradition in shoemaking, and I still live in a region famous for its shoemakers. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-della-valle/i-come-from-a-family-with-a-long-tradition-in-shoemaking-and-i-still/) [Diego Della Valle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-della-valle/) > [Work-based learning is a game changer. It's like test driving a career, and I have seen it in action with our registered apprenticeship programs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-reynolds/work-based-learning-is-a-game-changer-it-s-like-test-driving-a-career/) [Kim Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-reynolds/) > [Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/our-life-is-an-apprenticeship-to-the-truth-that-around-every-circle/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Most people won't realise that writing is a craft. You have to take your apprenticeship in it like anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/most-people-won-t-realise-that-writing-is-a-craft-you-have-to-take/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [I've been working for many years and I think I've managed to work with some of the best people in the business, which has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-eckhart/i-ve-been-working-for-many-years-and-i-think-i-ve-managed-to-work/) [Aaron Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-eckhart/) [Browse all 134 Apprenticeship quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apprenticeship/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Being and having in our society teaches us how to take possession of things, when it should rather initiate us in the art of letting go. 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