---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The good we secure for ourselves is…"
description: "\"The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.\" — Jane Addams"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f00/jane-addams-6111_common_the-good-we-secure-for-ourselves-is-prec_1837359.png"
---

#  The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and…

![“The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.” quote by Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f00/jane-addams-6111_common_the-good-we-secure-for-ourselves-is-prec_1837359.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f00/jane-addams-6111_common_the-good-we-secure-for-ourselves-is-prec_1837359.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f00/jane-addams-6111_common_the-good-we-secure-for-ourselves-is-prec_1837359.png)

> “The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.”

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Personal security is fragile unless shared with the community.

**In simple terms:** Security needs collective care.

Key Takeaway

Build inclusive safety nets.

Themes

social justice community security

Mood

hopeful determined

Type

political activist

When to use this quote

- housing
- healthcare
- education
- employment

Key Concepts

collective welfare public policy

Questions to Reflect On

- How can you contribute to shared security?
- What policies promote common safety?

A Different Perspective

Individualism can undermine security.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) [Common life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-life/) [Inequality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Precarious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precarious/) [Precarious Uncertain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precarious-uncertain-2322595/) [Secure Precarious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secure-precarious-2322594/) [Secured](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secured/) [Uncertain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncertain/) [Uncertain Secured](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncertain-secured-2322596/)

## Related quotes

> [Civil liberty is only natural liberty, modified and secured by the sanctions of civil society. It is not a thing, in its own nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/civil-liberty-is-only-natural-liberty-modified-and-secured-by-the/)

[Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/)

> [Social advance depends as much upon the process through which it is secured as upon the result itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/social-advance-depends-as-much-upon-the-process-through-which-it-is/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Let us learn to accept ourselves-accept the truth that we are capable in some directions and limited in others, that genius is rare, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-l-liebman/let-us-learn-to-accept-ourselves-accept-the-truth-that-we-are-capable/)

[Joshua L. Liebman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-l-liebman/)

> [The poor and the low have their way of expressing the last facts of philosophy as well as you. "Blessed be nothing," and "The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-poor-and-the-low-have-their-way-of-expressing-the-last-facts-of/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [“Such are the limitations of the human mind, and so thoroughly engrossing are the cares of common life, that only the few among men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/such-are-the-limitations-of-the-human-mind-and-so-thoroughly/)

[Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/)

> [The most part of men, though they have the use of reasoning a little way, as in numbering to some degree; yet it serves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/the-most-part-of-men-though-they-have-the-use-of-reasoning-a-little/)

[Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/)

> [Let us become thoroughly sensible of the weakness, blindness, and narrow limits of human reason: Let us duly consider its uncertainty and endless contrarieties,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/let-us-become-thoroughly-sensible-of-the-weakness-blindness-and/)

[David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/)

> [Learn to commend thy daily acts to God, so shall the dry every-day duties of common life be steps to heaven, and lift they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bouverie-pusey/learn-to-commend-thy-daily-acts-to-god-so-shall-the-dry-every-day/)

[Edward Bouverie Pusey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bouverie-pusey/)

> [“The Spirit doesn’t simply make me a singular new creation. He makes me part of God’s new creation people. He inscribes God’s rule on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lawrence/the-spirit-doesn-t-simply-make-me-a-singular-new-creation-he-makes-me/)

[Michael Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lawrence/)

> [People are mostly sane enough, of course, in the affairs of common life: the getting of food, shelter, and so on. But the moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-stove/people-are-mostly-sane-enough-of-course-in-the-affairs-of-common-life/)

[David Stove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-stove/)

> [In morals, theosophy builds its teachings on the unity, seeing in each form the expression of a common life, and therefore the fact that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/in-morals-theosophy-builds-its-teachings-on-the-unity-seeing-in-each/)

[Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/)

> [Each moment of the happy lover's hour is worth an age of dull and common life. -](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aphra-behn/each-moment-of-the-happy-lover-s-hour-is-worth-an-age-of-dull-and/)

[Aphra Behn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aphra-behn/)

> [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/)

[Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/)

> [We must seek the loving-kindness of God in all the breadth and open-air of common life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-a-smith/we-must-seek-the-loving-kindness-of-god-in-all-the-breadth-and-open/)

[George A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-a-smith/)

> [It is not the fact that we are united in common goals or purposes that makes us a community. Rather, it is the fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-bridges/it-is-not-the-fact-that-we-are-united-in-common-goals-or-purposes/)

[Jerry Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-bridges/)

## More by Jane Addams

> [The task of youth is not only its own salvation but the salvation of those against whom it rebels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/the-task-of-youth-is-not-only-its-own-salvation-but-the-salvation-of/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [“In his own way each man must struggle, lest the moral law become a far-off abstraction utterly separated from his active life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/in-his-own-way-each-man-must-struggle-lest-the-moral-law-become-a-far/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Private beneficence is totally inadequate to deal with the vast numbers of the city's disinherited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/private-beneficence-is-totally-inadequate-to-deal-with-the-vast/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [That person is most cultivated who is able to put himself in the place of the greatest number of other persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/that-person-is-most-cultivated-who-is-able-to-put-himself-in-the/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [As the acceptance of democracy brings a certain life-giving power, so it has its own sanctions and comforts. Perhaps the most obvious one is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/as-the-acceptance-of-democracy-brings-a-certain-life-giving-power-so/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Perhaps nothing is so fraught with significance as the human hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/perhaps-nothing-is-so-fraught-with-significance-as-the-human-hand/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Intellectual life requires for its expansion and manifestation the influences and assimilation of the interests and affections of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/intellectual-life-requires-for-its-expansion-and-manifestation-the/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Life cannot be administered by definite rules and regulations; that wisdom to deal with a man's difficulties comes only through some knowledge of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/life-cannot-be-administered-by-definite-rules-and-regulations-that/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Hospitality still survives among foreigners, although it is buried under false pride among the poorest Americans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/hospitality-still-survives-among-foreigners-although-it-is-buried/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Keep friends close but keep enemies closer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/keep-friends-close-but-keep-enemies-closer/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [We are thus brought to a conception of Democracy not merely as a sentiment which desires the well-being of all men, nor yet as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/we-are-thus-brought-to-a-conception-of-democracy-not-merely-as-a/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [With all the efforts made by modern society to nurture and educate the young, how stupid it is to permit the mothers of young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/with-all-the-efforts-made-by-modern-society-to-nurture-and-educate/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [If the meanest man in the republic is deprived of his rights,then every man in the republic is deprived of his rights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/if-the-meanest-man-in-the-republic-is-deprived-of-his-rights-then/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [If the underdog were always right, one might quite easily try to defend him. The trouble is that very often he is but obscurely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/if-the-underdog-were-always-right-one-might-quite-easily-try-to/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

> [Pliable human nature is relentlessly pressed upon by its physical environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/pliable-human-nature-is-relentlessly-pressed-upon-by-its-physical/)

[Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

[Explore all 100 Jane Addams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/)

## More Common quotes

> [I'm Fine!, the most common LIE in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/i-m-fine-the-most-common-lie-in-the-world/)

[Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/)

> [A flourishing, morally credible media is a vital component in the maintenance of genuinely public talk, argument about common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/a-flourishing-morally-credible-media-is-a-vital-component-in-the/)

[Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/)

> [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/)

[John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/)

> [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/)

[Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/)

> [Our times demand the declaration of the world's resources as the common heritage of all people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/our-times-demand-the-declaration-of-the-world-s-resources-as-the/)

[Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/)

> [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/)

[Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/)

> [When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/when-you-have-a-cavity-in-your-tooth-and-you-let-it-get-worse/)

[Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/)

> [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/)

[Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/)

> [Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/common-sense-is-nothing-more-than-a-deposit-of-prejudices-laid-down/)

[Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/)

> [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/)

[Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/)

> [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/)

[Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/)

> [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/)

[Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/)

> [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/)

[John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/)

> [It is a tragedy that we live in a world where physical courage is so common, and moral courage is so rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/it-is-a-tragedy-that-we-live-in-a-world-where-physical-courage-is-so/)

[Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/)

> [Those who advocate common usage in philosophy sometimes speak in a manner that suggests the mystique of the 'common man.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/those-who-advocate-common-usage-in-philosophy-sometimes-speak-in-a/)

[Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/)

[Browse all 7,866 Common quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Jane Addams"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/the-good-we-secure-for-ourselves-is-precarious-and-uncertain-until-it/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Common"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/the-good-we-secure-for-ourselves-is-precarious-and-uncertain-until-it/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f00/jane-addams-6111_common_the-good-we-secure-for-ourselves-is-prec_1837359.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f00/jane-addams-6111_common_the-good-we-secure-for-ourselves-is-prec_1837359.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f00/jane-addams-6111_common_the-good-we-secure-for-ourselves-is-prec_1837359.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and…” — Jane Addams",
                "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": "Jane Addams",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The good we secure for ourselves...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/the-good-we-secure-for-ourselves-is-precarious-and-uncertain-until-it/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/the-good-we-secure-for-ourselves-is-precarious-and-uncertain-until-it/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
