--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As the eagle was killed by the arrow…" description: "\"As the eagle was killed by the arrow winged with his own feather, so the hand of the world is wounded by its own skill.\" — Helen Keller" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/helen-keller-429_world_as-the-eagle-was-killed-by-the-arrow-win_2389434.png" --- # As the eagle was killed by the arrow winged with his own… ![“As the eagle was killed by the arrow winged with his own feather, so the hand of the world is wounded by its own skill.” quote by Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/helen-keller-429_world_as-the-eagle-was-killed-by-the-arrow-win_2389434.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/helen-keller-429_world_as-the-eagle-was-killed-by-the-arrow-win_2389434.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/helen-keller-429_world_as-the-eagle-was-killed-by-the-arrow-win_2389434.png) > “As the eagle was killed by the arrow winged with his own feather, so the hand of the world is wounded by its own skill.” [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self‑destructive actions often stem from the very tools or skills that created them. **In simple terms:** Our own abilities can cause our downfall. Key Takeaway Beware of using what you create against you. Themes self‑sabotage paradox human nature Mood reflective cautionary Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - political decisions - technological innovation - personal relationships - environmental policy Key Concepts psychology systems theory feedback loops Questions to Reflect On - How do your strengths become weaknesses? - What safeguards can prevent self‑inflicted harm? A Different Perspective Even well‑intended expertise can backfire if unchecked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arrow Winged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrow-winged-5946534/) [Eagle Killed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eagle-killed-5946533/) [Feather Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feather-hand-4998305/) [Killed Arrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killed-arrow-2405317/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Wounded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-wounded-2246929/) [Wounded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounded/) ## Related quotes > [Religion is the hospital of the souls that the world has wounded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-antoine-petit-senn/religion-is-the-hospital-of-the-souls-that-the-world-has-wounded/) [Jean Antoine Petit-Senn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-antoine-petit-senn/) > [Without mercy, we have little chance nowadays of becoming part of a world of 'wounded' persons in need of understanding, forgiveness, love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/without-mercy-we-have-little-chance-nowadays-of-becoming-part-of-a/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [A feather in hand is better then a bird in the ayre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/a-feather-in-hand-is-better-then-a-bird-in-the-ayre/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [My life is light, waiting for the death wind, Like a feather on the back of my hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/my-life-is-light-waiting-for-the-death-wind-like-a-feather-on-the/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [“It is easy to let go of the string and think: This isn't me, it's the arrow. My hands do not bear the blood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrzej-sapkowski/it-is-easy-to-let-go-of-the-string-and-think-this-isn-t-me-it-s-the/) [Andrzej Sapkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrzej-sapkowski/) > [“The whole world seemed to be wounded, broken, hurting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-clare/the-whole-world-seemed-to-be-wounded-broken-hurting/) [Pamela Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-clare/) > [“It is easy to kill with a bow, girl. How easy it is to release the bowstring and think, it is not I, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrzej-sapkowski/it-is-easy-to-kill-with-a-bow-girl-how-easy-it-is-to-release-the/) [Andrzej Sapkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrzej-sapkowski/) > [I longed to return to that bloody riverbank, to throw myself in the path of the final arrow, to die ignorant, and so, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-wasserman/i-longed-to-return-to-that-bloody-riverbank-to-throw-myself-in-the/) [Robin Wasserman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-wasserman/) > [I was not wounded in any part of my body, but I had never experienced such intense pain, such a ripping of the nerves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-was-not-wounded-in-any-part-of-my-body-but-i-had-never-experienced/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [According to a recent Harvard study, $6 trillion, when you include the ongoing healthcare expenses for our wounded soldiers, which is the least they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/according-to-a-recent-harvard-study-6-trillion-when-you-include-the/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [She's lonely and wounded and very vulnerable and it really is a story about people at the heart of it all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmy-rossum/she-s-lonely-and-wounded-and-very-vulnerable-and-it-really-is-a-story/) [Emmy Rossum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmy-rossum/) > [“Having been, not only mutilated in our country, wounded in our very flesh, but also divested of our most beautiful images, for you gave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/having-been-not-only-mutilated-in-our-country-wounded-in-our-very/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The God in whose hands are all our days and ways, did cast into my hand one day a book of Martin Luthers; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/the-god-in-whose-hands-are-all-our-days-and-ways-did-cast-into-my/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [Cover that bosom that I must not see: souls are wounded by such things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/cover-that-bosom-that-i-must-not-see-souls-are-wounded-by-such-things/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) ## More by Helen Keller > [He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/he-who-is-content-with-what-has-been-done-is-an-obstacle-in-the-path/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [I rejoice to live in such a splendidly disturbing time!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/i-rejoice-to-live-in-such-a-splendidly-disturbing-time/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [The clatter of a changing world is not pleasant, and those who have enjoyed the comforts and protection of the old order may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/the-clatter-of-a-changing-world-is-not-pleasant-and-those-who-have/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/be-of-good-cheer-do-not-think-of-today-s-failures-but-of-the-success/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [When indeed shall we learn that we are all related one to the other, that we are all members of one body? Until the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/when-indeed-shall-we-learn-that-we-are-all-related-one-to-the-other/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [I have visited sweatshops, factories, and crowded slums. If I could not see it, I could smell it. The foundation of society is laid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/i-have-visited-sweatshops-factories-and-crowded-slums-if-i-could-not/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [If we do not like our work, and do not try to get happiness out of it, we are a menace to our profession…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/if-we-do-not-like-our-work-and-do-not-try-to-get-happiness-out-of-it/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/alone-we-can-do-so-little-together-we-can-do-so-much/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [I do not want the peace which passeth understanding, I want the understanding which bringeth peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/i-do-not-want-the-peace-which-passeth-understanding-i-want-the/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/although-the-world-is-full-of-suffering-it-is-also-full-of-the/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Love? Why ... it is what everybody feels for everybody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/love-why-it-is-what-everybody-feels-for-everybody-else/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Blindness separates us from things but deafness separates us from people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/blindness-separates-us-from-things-but-deafness-separates-us-from/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [A simple, childlike faith in a Divine Friend solves all the problems that come to us by land or sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/a-simple-childlike-faith-in-a-divine-friend-solves-all-the-problems/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [“A beam from the everlasting sun of God. Rude and unresponsive are the stones; Yet in them divine things lie concealed; I hear their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/a-beam-from-the-everlasting-sun-of-god-rude-and-unresponsive-are-the/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [I can see in what you call the dark, but which to me is golden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/i-can-see-in-what-you-call-the-dark-but-which-to-me-is-golden/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) [Explore all 568 Helen Keller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) ## More World quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I don't understand why we're all connected wirelessly via a little machine that goes in our pocket, to everybody in the world, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-m-chu/i-don-t-understand-why-we-re-all-connected-wirelessly-via-a-little/) [Jon M. Chu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-m-chu/) > [I don't really like too much credit. I know nobody's going to believe this, but I'd rather be able to score goals and nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bradley-wright-phillips/i-don-t-really-like-too-much-credit-i-know-nobody-s-going-to-believe/) [Bradley Wright-Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bradley-wright-phillips/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [I pray that wherever we are and whatever duties we have in the priesthood of God, we will be united in the cause to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/i-pray-that-wherever-we-are-and-whatever-duties-we-have-in-the/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [One of the best moments of any Liars show is hearing the crowd squawk 'We're doomed! We're doomed!' on cue during 'We Fenced Other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/one-of-the-best-moments-of-any-liars-show-is-hearing-the-crowd-squawk/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [If you hate yourself... The world will hate you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cv-pillay/if-you-hate-yourself-the-world-will-hate-you/) [Cv Pillay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cv-pillay/) > [Public infrastructure around the world is facing unprecedented stress, with hurricanes, cyclones, floods and forest fires all increasing in frequency and intensity. It's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/public-infrastructure-around-the-world-is-facing-unprecedented-stress/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [The real world out there isn't nearly as nice as some people prefer it to be, so don't swallow everything your high-born teachers tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-real-world-out-there-isn-t-nearly-as-nice-as-some-people-prefer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We live in the greatest country in the world because of the veterans who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom and the security…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-husted/we-live-in-the-greatest-country-in-the-world-because-of-the-veterans/) [Jon Husted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-husted/) [Browse all 104,471 World quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As the eagle was killed by the arrow winged with his own feather, so the hand of the world is wounded by its own skill.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Helen Keller" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/as-the-eagle-was-killed-by-the-arrow-winged-with-his-own-feather-so/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "World" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/as-the-eagle-was-killed-by-the-arrow-winged-with-his-own-feather-so/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/helen-keller-429_world_as-the-eagle-was-killed-by-the-arrow-win_2389434.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/helen-keller-429_world_as-the-eagle-was-killed-by-the-arrow-win_2389434.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/helen-keller-429_world_as-the-eagle-was-killed-by-the-arrow-win_2389434.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As the eagle was killed by the arrow winged with his own feather, so the hand of the world is wounded by its…” — Helen Keller", "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": "Helen Keller", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "As the eagle was killed by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/as-the-eagle-was-killed-by-the-arrow-winged-with-his-own-feather-so/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/as-the-eagle-was-killed-by-the-arrow-winged-with-his-own-feather-so/#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 } } ] } ```