--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The biggest straitjacket is all the…" description: "\"The biggest straitjacket is all the prejudices that we carry around, and all the fears. But what if we just surrender to the fear? There are things gre..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eab/isabel-allende-266_absolutes_the-biggest-straitjacket-is-all-the-prej_2123651.jpg" --- # The biggest straitjacket is all the prejudices that we… ![“The biggest straitjacket is all the prejudices that we carry around, and all the fears. But what if we just surrender to the fear? There are things greater than fear. The great, wonderful quality of human beings is that we can overcome even absolute terror, and we do.” quote by Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eab/isabel-allende-266_absolutes_the-biggest-straitjacket-is-all-the-prej_2123651.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eab/isabel-allende-266_absolutes_the-biggest-straitjacket-is-all-the-prej_2123651.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eab/isabel-allende-266_absolutes_the-biggest-straitjacket-is-all-the-prej_2123651.jpg) > “The biggest straitjacket is all the prejudices that we carry around, and all the fears. But what if we just surrender to the fear? There are things greater than fear. The great, wonderful quality of human beings is that we can overcome even absolute terror, and we do.” [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Prejudices and fears limit us, but surrendering to fear reveals a greater capacity to overcome terror. **In simple terms:** Fears and prejudices trap us; surrender can unlock courage. Key Takeaway Embrace fear to discover inner strength. Themes courage self‑awareness overcoming fear human potential Mood reflective determined Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - conflict resolution - mental health - leadership Key Concepts psychology philosophy resilience Questions to Reflect On - What fears are you holding onto? - How can surrender become a catalyst for action? A Different Perspective Surrender may lead to passivity if not paired with action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Fears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fears/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Overcoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overcoming/) [Prejudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudice/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Surrender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrender/) [Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful/) ## Related quotes > [If you carry someone else's fears and live by someone else's values, you may find that you have lived their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-naomi-remen/if-you-carry-someone-else-s-fears-and-live-by-someone-else-s-values/) [Rachel Naomi Remen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-naomi-remen/) > [“Many times, the thought of fear itself is greater than what it is we fear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idowu-koyenikan/many-times-the-thought-of-fear-itself-is-greater-than-what-it-is-we/) [Idowu Koyenikan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idowu-koyenikan/) > [The more you surrender to the fear of someone's disapproval, the more you lose face in your own eyes, and the more desperate you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/the-more-you-surrender-to-the-fear-of-someone-s-disapproval-the-more/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [If we show people that fear isn't actually the place that we have to surrender to, fear isn't actually the thing that we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-daigle/if-we-show-people-that-fear-isn-t-actually-the-place-that-we-have-to/) [Lauren Daigle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-daigle/) > [“Surrender to your fear so you may triumph over it.Choose me,open you soul to me, and embrace the Devouring.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-holt/surrender-to-your-fear-so-you-may-triumph-over-it-choose-me-open-you/) [Simon Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-holt/) > [“Surrender to your fear so you may triumph over it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-holt/surrender-to-your-fear-so-you-may-triumph-over-it/) [Simon Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-holt/) > [“the only way you will ever truly be happy is to surrender the fear, choose to be brave and let it go”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christie-anderson/the-only-way-you-will-ever-truly-be-happy-is-to-surrender-the-fear/) [Christie Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christie-anderson/) > [To save the people from themselves it would take a greater fear than the earth has ever seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-manson/to-save-the-people-from-themselves-it-would-take-a-greater-fear-than/) [Charles Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-manson/) > [Let your curiosity be greater than your fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/let-your-curiosity-be-greater-than-your-fear/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [... love and fear increase together with a precision almost mathematical: the greater the love is then the greater the fear is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-winslow-johnson/love-and-fear-increase-together-with-a-precision-almost-mathematical/) [Josephine Winslow Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-winslow-johnson/) > [Your courage to do what's right has to be greater than your fear of getting hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hasan-minhaj/your-courage-to-do-what-s-right-has-to-be-greater-than-your-fear-of/) [Hasan Minhaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hasan-minhaj/) > [“If your will to win is greater than fear of failure.. then only you will win.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrmn/if-your-will-to-win-is-greater-than-fear-of-failure-then-only-you/) Vikrmn > [I believe that fear of life brings a greater fear of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-blaine/i-believe-that-fear-of-life-brings-a-greater-fear-of-death/) [David Blaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-blaine/) > [Fear is a negative thought in your mind. Supplant it with a constructive thought. Fear has killed millions. Confidence is greater than fear. Nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-murphy/fear-is-a-negative-thought-in-your-mind-supplant-it-with-a/) [Joseph Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-murphy/) > [As long as your curiosity is greater than your fear, you will move forward!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/as-long-as-your-curiosity-is-greater-than-your-fear-you-will-move/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) ## More by Isabel Allende > [“I am happier when I love than when I am loved. I adore my husband, my son, and my grandchildren, my mother, my dog,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/i-am-happier-when-i-love-than-when-i-am-loved-i-adore-my-husband-my/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [Having a point to start is important. You know that when you decide to write something it's like a commitment. It's like falling in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/having-a-point-to-start-is-important-you-know-that-when-you-decide-to/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [Music is a wind that blows away the years, memories, and fear, that crouching animal I carry inside me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/music-is-a-wind-that-blows-away-the-years-memories-and-fear-that/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [Everybody has losses - it's unavoidable in life. Sharing our pain is very healing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/everybody-has-losses-it-s-unavoidable-in-life-sharing-our-pain-is/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [“The writer and the dreamer have so much in common: They can't control the plot, they are always part of the story or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/the-writer-and-the-dreamer-have-so-much-in-common-they-can-t-control/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [People think that they will sit down and produce the great American novel in one sitting. It doesn't work that way. This is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/people-think-that-they-will-sit-down-and-produce-the-great-american/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [“He had a principle: if you lend money and never see the person again, that's money well spent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/he-had-a-principle-if-you-lend-money-and-never-see-the-person-again/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [“Catholics form a majority in Chile, although there are more and more Evangelicals and Pentacostals who irritate everyone because they have a direct understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/catholics-form-a-majority-in-chile-although-there-are-more-and-more/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [“At times I feel as if I had lived all this before and that I have already written these very words, but I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/at-times-i-feel-as-if-i-had-lived-all-this-before-and-that-i-have/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [In 2011, I announced that I was going to retire, and my agent panicked. So she says: 'No, no, no. You have to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/in-2011-i-announced-that-i-was-going-to-retire-and-my-agent-panicked/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [I have lived with passion and in a hurry, trying to accomplish too many things. I never had time to think about my beliefs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/i-have-lived-with-passion-and-in-a-hurry-trying-to-accomplish-too/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [I'm surrounded by the scene of aging. I myself am in my 70s and not getting any younger. Although I'm very healthy, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/i-m-surrounded-by-the-scene-of-aging-i-myself-am-in-my-70s-and-not/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [I try to write the kind of books I like to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/i-try-to-write-the-kind-of-books-i-like-to-read/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [“Intimacy needs time to mature—a shared history, tears shed, obstacles overcome, photographs in an album. It’s a slow-growing plant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/intimacy-needs-time-to-mature-a-shared-history-tears-shed-obstacles/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [ The idea of the book \["The Japanese Lover"\] came in a conversation that I had with a friend walking in the streets of New… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/the-idea-of-the-book-the-japanese-lover-came-in-a-conversation-that-i/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) [Explore all 552 Isabel Allende quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) ## More Absolutes quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/there-is-no-perfect-justice-just-as-there-is-no-absolute-in-ethics/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [ Their \[the U.S.’s\] defense budget in absolute figures is almost 25 times bigger than Russia’s. This is what in defense is referred to as… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/their-the-u-s-s-defense-budget-in-absolute-figures-is-almost-25-times/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Conservative political opinion in America cleaves to the tradition of the judge as passive interpreter, believing that his absolute loyalty to authoritative law is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/conservative-political-opinion-in-america-cleaves-to-the-tradition-of/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [So many times we come to Jesus in worship and ask Him for things that He already IS and has already done... What a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-nockels/so-many-times-we-come-to-jesus-in-worship-and-ask-him-for-things-that/) Christy Nockels > [Those are decisions only the Lord will make. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/those-are-decisions-only-the-lord-will-make-i-believe-the-love-of-god/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“The Gods know what it is to be eternal, and they love to toy with mortals who use absolutes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/the-gods-know-what-it-is-to-be-eternal-and-they-love-to-toy-with/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [The only "definitive truth" for Buddhism is the absolute negation of any one truth as the Definitive Truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-only-definitive-truth-for-buddhism-is-the-absolute-negation-of/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [The nature of the Absolute is neither perceptible nor imperceptible; and with phenomena it is just the same. But to one who has discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huangbo-xiyun/the-nature-of-the-absolute-is-neither-perceptible-nor-imperceptible/) [Huangbo Xiyun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huangbo-xiyun/) > [Joining a company is an act that calls for absolute loyalty in big matters and little ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-watson/joining-a-company-is-an-act-that-calls-for-absolute-loyalty-in-big/) [Thomas Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-watson/) > [In fine, a life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-fine-a-life-of-good-or-evil-the-hope-of-heaven-or-the-despair-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 2,016 Absolutes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The biggest straitjacket is all the prejudices that we carry around, and all the fears. 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