--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sometimes it seems the harder you try to…" description: "\"Sometimes it seems the harder you try to hold onto something or someone the more it wants to get away. You feel like some kind of criminal for having f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/henry-rollins-170_criminals_sometimes-it-seems-the-harder-you-try-to_189997.png" --- # Sometimes it seems the harder you try to hold onto… ![“Sometimes it seems the harder you try to hold onto something or someone the more it wants to get away. You feel like some kind of criminal for having felt, for having wanted. For having wanted to be wanted. It confuses you because you think that your feelings were wrong and it makes you feel so…” quote by Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/henry-rollins-170_criminals_sometimes-it-seems-the-harder-you-try-to_189997.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/henry-rollins-170_criminals_sometimes-it-seems-the-harder-you-try-to_189997.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ee/henry-rollins-170_criminals_sometimes-it-seems-the-harder-you-try-to_189997.png) > “Sometimes it seems the harder you try to hold onto something or someone the more it wants to get away. You feel like some kind of criminal for having felt, for having wanted. For having wanted to be wanted. It confuses you because you think that your feelings were wrong and it makes you feel so small because it’s so hard to keep it inside when you let it out and it doesn’t come back. You’re left so alone that you can’t explain.” [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Trying harder to retain something often pushes it further away, creating guilt and self‑doubt. **In simple terms:** Effort can make relationships slip away. Key Takeaway Balance effort with freedom. Themes relationships effort guilt Mood reflective somber Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - friendships - romantic relationships - personal boundaries Key Concepts attachment theory self‑sabotage Questions to Reflect On - Why do you feel criminal for wanting? - How can you honor feelings without losing self? A Different Perspective Over‑attachment may cause anxiety and isolation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Criminals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criminals/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [It hurts to let go. Sometimes it seems the harder you try to hold on to something or someone the more it wants to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-hurts-to-let-go-sometimes-it-seems-the-harder-you-try-to-hold-on-3/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It hurts to let go. Sometimes it seems the harder you try to hold on to something or someone the more it wants to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins-2/it-hurts-to-let-go-sometimes-it-seems-the-harder-you-try-to-hold-on-2/) â Henry Rollins > [“As a child I felt mostly alone. 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Only actions can be wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-simpson/feelings-are-never-wrong-only-actions-can-be-wrong/) [David Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-simpson/) > [“Still i knew because of my own feelings there was something wrong with me and i knew it wasnt only me. I knew it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/still-i-knew-because-of-my-own-feelings-there-was-something-wrong/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [On the court, I get the opportunity to just open up all my feelings, everything that's wrong, everything I struggle with, I get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-ariza/on-the-court-i-get-the-opportunity-to-just-open-up-all-my-feelings/) [Trevor Ariza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-ariza/) > [Catching feelings isn't the problem. 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Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) ## More by Henry Rollins > [I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-believe-that-one-defines-oneself-by-reinvention/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [I think that one of the hardest things in the world to be is a black male. I mean everyone hates your guts. White…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-think-that-one-of-the-hardest-things-in-the-world-to-be-is-a-black/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [In the summer of '84, you just couldn't escape the Born in the USA record.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/in-the-summer-of-84-you-just-couldn-t-escape-the-born-in-the-usa/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [We spend millions of dollars to remove pain from our lives. It's why so many people get hooked on painkillers. 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It was never a thing either parent ever said I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-was-never-told-to-get-up-get-out-there-get-a-job-it-was-never-a/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [There's no retirement, there's just a few years of non-work by the fire with someone bringing you some tea and relative peace and playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/there-s-no-retirement-there-s-just-a-few-years-of-non-work-by-the/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [I love being a storyteller. I love telling stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-love-being-a-storyteller-i-love-telling-stories/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) [Explore all 1,006 Henry Rollins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) ## More Criminals quotes > [We need to incorporate that age-old concept of redemption into the work that we do in the criminal justice system in California.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamala-harris/we-need-to-incorporate-that-age-old-concept-of-redemption-into-the/) [Kamala Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamala-harris/) > [They're criminals, they brutalized Afghanistan, they killed our people, they destroyed our land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamid-karzai/they-re-criminals-they-brutalized-afghanistan-they-killed-our-people/) [Hamid Karzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamid-karzai/) > [There are over 500,000 registered sex offenders across the country, and statistics have shown that the recidivism rate for those criminals is high.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-sensenbrenner/there-are-over-500-000-registered-sex-offenders-across-the-country/) [Jim Sensenbrenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-sensenbrenner/) > [Discovering witnesses is just as important as catching criminals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-wiesenthal/discovering-witnesses-is-just-as-important-as-catching-criminals/) [Simon Wiesenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-wiesenthal/) > [The proliferation of right-to-carry laws throughout the states has drawn plaintive complaints from the criminal element. 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There's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dabo-swinney/there-s-some-criminals-that-wear-badges-guess-what-there-s-some/) [Dabo Swinney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dabo-swinney/) > [Nobody can really compare a relationship in which the victim is 15 years old to one where she's 6. While both criminal, they're very different circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/nobody-can-really-compare-a-relationship-in-which-the-victim-is-15/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [Humanity is not perfect in any fashion; no more in the case of evil than in that of good. 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He has the nerve and he has the knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/when-a-doctor-does-go-wrong-he-is-the-first-of-criminals-he-has-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. 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