--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Propaganda is a soft weapon; hold it in…" description: "\"Propaganda is a soft weapon; hold it in your hands too long, and it will move about like a snake, and strike the other way.\" — Jean Anouilh" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/jean-anouilh-7113_hands_propaganda-is-a-soft-weapon-hold-it-in-y_138978.jpg" --- # Propaganda is a soft weapon; hold it in your hands too… ![“Propaganda is a soft weapon; hold it in your hands too long, and it will move about like a snake, and strike the other way.” quote by Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/jean-anouilh-7113_hands_propaganda-is-a-soft-weapon-hold-it-in-y_138978.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/jean-anouilh-7113_hands_propaganda-is-a-soft-weapon-hold-it-in-y_138978.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/jean-anouilh-7113_hands_propaganda-is-a-soft-weapon-hold-it-in-y_138978.jpg) > “Propaganda is a soft weapon; hold it in your hands too long, and it will move about like a snake, and strike the other way.” [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Propaganda is likened to a snake that, when held too long, turns against its holder, illustrating its dangerous, self‑directed nature. **In simple terms:** Propaganda can backfire on its users. Key Takeaway Use information responsibly and critically. Themes politics media manipulation Mood cautionary analytical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - political campaigns - media literacy - public speaking Key Concepts propaganda psychology power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards prevent misuse? - How can societies detect manipulation? A Different Perspective Overreliance can erode trust. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Propaganda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/propaganda/) [Weapon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weapon/) ## Related quotes > [“The tongue is the soft weapon that kills subtly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-tenorio-valenzuela/the-tongue-is-the-soft-weapon-that-kills-subtly/) Jaime Tenorio Valenzuela > [Self-love for ever creeps out, like a snake, to sting anything which happens to stumble upon it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/self-love-for-ever-creeps-out-like-a-snake-to-sting-anything-which/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [“Your life is like this snake's coils. No matter how many turns it makes, you'll end up back where you belong. With me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valek/your-life-is-like-this-snake-s-coils-no-matter-how-many-turns-it-2/) Valek > [The hearings are just like a snake about to devour people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-nixon/the-hearings-are-just-like-a-snake-about-to-devour-people/) [Pat Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-nixon/) > [“I got myself to the middle and sort of groped along there with one hand out in front. And something groped back at me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-wynne-jones/i-got-myself-to-the-middle-and-sort-of-groped-along-there-with-one/) [Diana Wynne Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-wynne-jones/) > [The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-thing-about-words-is-that-meanings-can-twist-just-like-a-snake/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“WHY SO SWEET? Tongues surrounded by the farm of sugarcane, Hold on, their prickling stuff stings like a snake. Showers of appreciation swiftly slide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashmita/why-so-sweet-tongues-surrounded-by-the-farm-of-sugarcane-hold-on/) Rashmita > [“It was all coming together. Now, if she could just find Snow White’s identity. It was curled in the corner of her mind like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-t-ellison/it-was-all-coming-together-now-if-she-could-just-find-snow-white-s/) [J.T. Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-t-ellison/) > [“addiction is an insidious disease that's always lurking nearby like a snake ready to strike.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-gramm/addiction-is-an-insidious-disease-that-s-always-lurking-nearby-like-a/) [Lou Gramm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-gramm/) > [“this thing upon me crawling like a snake, terrifying my love of commonness, some call Art some call Poetry; it’s not death but dying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-thing-upon-me-crawling-like-a-snake-terrifying-my-love-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In the morning I'm like a snake in the spring: I need to lie out on a warm rock and let the sun sink…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-hannigan/in-the-morning-i-m-like-a-snake-in-the-spring-i-need-to-lie-out-on-a/) [Katherine Hannigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-hannigan/) > [“Like a snake creeping through the undergrowth, I sneak into the law school well past noon and hours after both of my scheduled classes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grisham/like-a-snake-creeping-through-the-undergrowth-i-sneak-into-the-law/) [John Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grisham/) > [“with a torn quilt coiled around him like a snake suffocating its prey. Beads”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-kozinn/with-a-torn-quilt-coiled-around-him-like-a-snake-suffocating-its-prey/) [Nat Kozinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-kozinn/) > [“Your life is like this snake's coils. No matter how many turns it makes, you'll end up back where you belong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-v-snyder/your-life-is-like-this-snake-s-coils-no-matter-how-many-turns-it/) [Maria V. Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-v-snyder/) > [“Let me touch your skin." His words came out like a snake flicking its tongue, testing out the air to see if there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-drake/let-me-touch-your-skin-his-words-came-out-like-a-snake-flicking-its/) [J.L. Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-drake/) ## More by Jean Anouilh > [“I spit on your happiness! I spit on your idea of life--that life that must go on, come what may. You are all like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/i-spit-on-your-happiness-i-spit-on-your-idea-of-life-that-life-that/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [It is restful, tragedy, because one knows that there is no more lousy hope left. You know you're caught, caught at last like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/it-is-restful-tragedy-because-one-knows-that-there-is-no-more-lousy/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [Saintliness is also a temptation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/saintliness-is-also-a-temptation/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [A good actor must never be in love with anyone but himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/a-good-actor-must-never-be-in-love-with-anyone-but-himself/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [I don't want people to love me. It makes for obligations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/i-don-t-want-people-to-love-me-it-makes-for-obligations/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [Poor little men, poor little cocks! As soon as they're old enough, they swell their plumage to be conquerors. If they only knew that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/poor-little-men-poor-little-cocks-as-soon-as-they-re-old-enough-they/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [Life consists of nothing more than the happiness we can get out of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/life-consists-of-nothing-more-than-the-happiness-we-can-get-out-of-it/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [Each of us has a day .. when he has to accept, finally, the fact that he is a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/each-of-us-has-a-day-when-he-has-to-accept-finally-the-fact-that-he/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [We have found other terms far less vague than the old ones to designate the same complaints. It's a great advance linguistically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/we-have-found-other-terms-far-less-vague-than-the-old-ones-to/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [One can be a patriot, you know, without making one's wife join the breadline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/one-can-be-a-patriot-you-know-without-making-one-s-wife-join-the/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [All prisons are brimming over with innocence. It is those who cram their fellows into them, in the name of empty ideas, who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/all-prisons-are-brimming-over-with-innocence-it-is-those-who-cram/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [Obligations, hatreds, injuries; what did I expect my memories to be? I was forgetting remorse. Now I have a complete past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/obligations-hatreds-injuries-what-did-i-expect-my-memories-to-be-i/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [We poison our lives with fear of burglary and shipwreck, and, ask anyone, the house is never burgled, and the ship never goes down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/we-poison-our-lives-with-fear-of-burglary-and-shipwreck-and-ask/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [Je sais de quelles petitesses meurent les plus grandes amours. I know how pettiness ruins the greatest loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/je-sais-de-quelles-petitesses-meurent-les-plus-grandes-amours-i-know/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [“My part is not a heroic one, but I shall play my part.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/my-part-is-not-a-heroic-one-but-i-shall-play-my-part/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) [Explore all 85 Jean Anouilh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) ## More Hands quotes > [When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back at him. I think the writers showed bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-owens/when-i-passed-the-chancellor-he-arose-waved-his-hand-at-me-and-i/) [Jesse Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-owens/) > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [(knitting while on a motorcycle) "For several years she knitted in secret (my father would not approve; she was to concentrate on motorcycling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-zimmermann/knitting-while-on-a-motorcycle-for-several-years-she-knitted-in/) [Elizabeth Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-zimmermann/) > [Then come to realize that you're making mountains out of molehills. Realize how petty you've become. Sure, it may feel like you can't get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-asher/then-come-to-realize-that-you-re-making-mountains-out-of-molehills/) [Jay Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-asher/) > [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie/to-me-the-beauty-of-a-quilt-or-a-dress-lies-within-the-stitches-and/) [Natalie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie/) > [I always step on the plane with my right foot and touch the outside of the plane with my left hand. Sometimes you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-davis/i-always-step-on-the-plane-with-my-right-foot-and-touch-the-outside/) [Hope Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-davis/) > [If one truly has lost hope, one would not be on hand to say so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bentley/if-one-truly-has-lost-hope-one-would-not-be-on-hand-to-say-so/) [Eric Bentley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bentley/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [When you put your hand on the Bible, you are saying something much stronger than just telling your peers that you're going to tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-greenwood/when-you-put-your-hand-on-the-bible-you-are-saying-something-much/) [Lee Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-greenwood/) > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“for they are all the work of his hands?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zondervan/for-they-are-all-the-work-of-his-hands/) Zondervan > [I nibbled my lower lip. "If you could see into my past just by touching my back, you'd have a hard time resisting the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/i-nibbled-my-lower-lip-if-you-could-see-into-my-past-just-by-touching/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [My happiness is in my hands not between another person hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hero/my-happiness-is-in-my-hands-not-between-another-person-hands/) [Hero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hero/) Browse all 18,228 Hands quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Propaganda is a soft weapon; hold it in your hands too long, and it will move about like a snake, and strike the other way.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jean Anouilh" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/propaganda-is-a-soft-weapon-hold-it-in-your-hands-too-long-and-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hands" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/propaganda-is-a-soft-weapon-hold-it-in-your-hands-too-long-and-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/jean-anouilh-7113_hands_propaganda-is-a-soft-weapon-hold-it-in-y_138978.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/jean-anouilh-7113_hands_propaganda-is-a-soft-weapon-hold-it-in-y_138978.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/jean-anouilh-7113_hands_propaganda-is-a-soft-weapon-hold-it-in-y_138978.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Propaganda is a soft weapon; hold it in your hands too long, and it will move about like a snake, and strike…” — Jean Anouilh", "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": "Jean Anouilh", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Propaganda is a soft weapon; hold...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/propaganda-is-a-soft-weapon-hold-it-in-your-hands-too-long-and-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/propaganda-is-a-soft-weapon-hold-it-in-your-hands-too-long-and-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 } } ] } ```