--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wanted to protect him, which I was sure…" description: "\"I wanted to protect him, which I was sure I could do, even if I could not protect myself.\" — Jonathan Safran Foer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e9/jonathan-safran-foer-136_protect_i-wanted-to-protect-him-which-i-was-sure_2549602.png" --- # I wanted to protect him, which I was sure I could do, even… ![“I wanted to protect him, which I was sure I could do, even if I could not protect myself.” quote by Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e9/jonathan-safran-foer-136_protect_i-wanted-to-protect-him-which-i-was-sure_2549602.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e9/jonathan-safran-foer-136_protect_i-wanted-to-protect-him-which-i-was-sure_2549602.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e9/jonathan-safran-foer-136_protect_i-wanted-to-protect-him-which-i-was-sure_2549602.png) > “I wanted to protect him, which I was sure I could do, even if I could not protect myself.” [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Protecting others can become a self‑sacrificial duty, even when personal safety is at risk. **In simple terms:** Protect others even if you risk yourself. Key Takeaway Balance self‑care with caring for others. Themes protectiveness self‑sacrifice risk family Mood concerned reflective Type ethical emotional When to use this quote - parenting - friendship - caregiving - emergency response Key Concepts altruism ethical dilemma Questions to Reflect On - When is it okay to prioritize others over yourself? - What boundaries protect you while helping? A Different Perspective Self‑neglect can cause harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Protect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protect/) [Protect Myself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protect-myself/) [Protect Sure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protect-sure-1507943/) [Sure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sure/) [Sure Protect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sure-protect-1507944/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Wanted Protect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted-protect-763263/) ## Related quotes > [My parents wanted me to protect myself and have something to fall back on. I even remember reading a quote from Razor Ramon in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-phoenix/my-parents-wanted-me-to-protect-myself-and-have-something-to-fall/) [Beth Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-phoenix/) > [When you're walking at the airport, you're expected to smile at people because they know you... I find that tough. I'm only trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-kaif/when-you-re-walking-at-the-airport-you-re-expected-to-smile-at-people/) [Katrina Kaif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-kaif/) > [I can't take nothing for granted. I have to really protect myself - either get out of bounds or continue to finish the play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-veon-bell/i-can-t-take-nothing-for-granted-i-have-to-really-protect-myself/) [Le'Veon Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-veon-bell/) > [O God, protect me from my friends, that they have not power over me. Thou hast giv'n me power to protect myself from thy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/o-god-protect-me-from-my-friends-that-they-have-not-power-over-me/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Maybe by nature and because of my past I protect myself. The minute I feel any tension I take myself away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-toffolo/maybe-by-nature-and-because-of-my-past-i-protect-myself-the-minute-i/) [Georgia Toffolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-toffolo/) > [I probably protect myself by not asking myself too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-tompkins/i-probably-protect-myself-by-not-asking-myself-too-much/) [Sue Tompkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-tompkins/) > [“More often than not, she acted as if she wanted to protect him, from the image of herself--herself in the past. She liked to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/more-often-than-not-she-acted-as-if-she-wanted-to-protect-him-from/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [The Founders wanted to protect the church from an encroaching state, not the other way around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-johnson/the-founders-wanted-to-protect-the-church-from-an-encroaching-state/) [Mike Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-johnson/) > [“Something in her wanted to bolt, wanted to protect her heart before it became too lost to ever find again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-kingsbury/something-in-her-wanted-to-bolt-wanted-to-protect-her-heart-before-it/) [Karen Kingsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-kingsbury/) > [“She wanted to protect us from worry, from sadness, from loneliness--things her parents had not been able to protect her from. (About Alice)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-trillin/she-wanted-to-protect-us-from-worry-from-sadness-from-loneliness/) [Calvin Trillin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-trillin/) > [“Tony and Kimberley and had wanted to protect her,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maeve-haran/tony-and-kimberley-and-had-wanted-to-protect-her/) [Maeve Haran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maeve-haran/) > [I wanted to protect the songs. I wanted to make sure I could write freely and not be self-conscious about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandra-deheza/i-wanted-to-protect-the-songs-i-wanted-to-make-sure-i-could-write/) [Alejandra Deheza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandra-deheza/) > [I've always wanted to fight for people who didn't have arms. I've always wanted to speak up for people who don't have a voice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophia-bush/i-ve-always-wanted-to-fight-for-people-who-didn-t-have-arms-i-ve/) [Sophia Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophia-bush/) > [“We wanted to protect some planets that the Empire wanted to destroy. Not outright, not even the Empire’s that evil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-revis/we-wanted-to-protect-some-planets-that-the-empire-wanted-to-destroy/) [Beth Revis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-revis/) > [“I wanted to protect her, and, if I couldn’t do that, I’d at least be there for her. (Eric)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-a-thompson/i-wanted-to-protect-her-and-if-i-couldn-t-do-that-i-d-at-least-be/) [Shannon A. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-a-thompson/) ## More by Jonathan Safran Foer > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I try not to remember the life that I didn’t want to lose but lost and have to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-try-not-to-remember-the-life-that-i-didn-t-want-to-lose-but-lost/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“I have an aristocratic smile and like to punch people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-have-an-aristocratic-smile-and-like-to-punch-people/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. Some would fall with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-removed-several-pages-of-death-certificates-which-were-picked-up/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I would have done anything for him. Maybe that was my sickness. We made love in nothing places and turned the lights off. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-would-have-done-anything-for-him-maybe-that-was-my-sickness-we-made/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“One day I wandered away from her and hid. 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We eat foods that are native to America on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/food-is-not-so-much-a-symbol-of-freedom-as-the-first-requirement-of/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Rationally, factory farming is so obviously wrong, in so many ways. In all of my reading and conversations, I’ve yet to find a credible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/rationally-factory-farming-is-so-obviously-wrong-in-so-many-ways-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/just-because-you-re-an-atheist-that-doesn-t-mean-you-wouldn-t-love/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Do you think I'm wonderful? she asked him one day as they leaned against the trunk of a petrified maple. No, he said. Why?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/do-you-think-i-m-wonderful-she-asked-him-one-day-as-they-leaned/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [My insides don't match up with my outsides. -Do anyone's inside and outsides match up? -I don't know. I'm only me. -Maybe that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/my-insides-don-t-match-up-with-my-outsides-do-anyone-s-inside-and/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) [Explore all 1,117 Jonathan Safran Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## More Protect quotes > [We all know what it feels like to love someone and care about them and want to protect them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiana-madeira/we-all-know-what-it-feels-like-to-love-someone-and-care-about-them/) [Kiana Madeira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiana-madeira/) > [The minimum that most minimalists want leaves in place just the institutions who protect their interests. That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/the-minimum-that-most-minimalists-want-leaves-in-place-just-the/) [Kim Stanley Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley-robinson/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [As an adventurer...I try to protect against the downside. I make sure I have covered as many eventualities as I can. In the end,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/as-an-adventurer-i-try-to-protect-against-the-downside-i-make-sure-i/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [As far as Japan is concerned, I want to help all of our allies, but we are losing billions and billions of dollars. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/as-far-as-japan-is-concerned-i-want-to-help-all-of-our-allies-but-we/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [I believe in UFOs, I believe in extraterrestrials, and I believe in angels. And maybe they'll protect all of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-maclaine/i-believe-in-ufos-i-believe-in-extraterrestrials-and-i-believe-in/) [Shirley MacLaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-maclaine/) > [The "health, education, and welfare" section of government is another boondoggle. First we manufacture indigent and superfluous people by legal monopolies in land, money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurance-labadie/the-health-education-and-welfare-section-of-government-is-another/) [Laurance Labadie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurance-labadie/) > [There was only the broad square with the scattered dim moons of the street lamps and with the monumental stone arch which receded into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-maria-remarque/there-was-only-the-broad-square-with-the-scattered-dim-moons-of-the/) [Erich Maria Remarque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-maria-remarque/) > [UN peacekeeping operations are now increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing failed States back to life, often after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/un-peacekeeping-operations-are-now-increasingly-complex-and-multi/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [If i can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition i have is nothing but talk..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoro/if-i-can-t-even-protect-my-captain-s-dream-then-whatever-ambition-i/) [Zoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoro/) > [Each transfer brings a change to the dressing room that I must protect - that is my job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-tuchel/each-transfer-brings-a-change-to-the-dressing-room-that-i-must/) [Thomas Tuchel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-tuchel/) > [Our children are our future, and we should do everything within our power to protect them and show them how to live a healthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bel-edwards/our-children-are-our-future-and-we-should-do-everything-within-our/) [John Bel Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bel-edwards/) > [Governments regard their own citizens as their main enemy, and they have to be - protect themselves. That's why you have state secret laws.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/governments-regard-their-own-citizens-as-their-main-enemy-and-they/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Only a coward will use a gun to protect and get respect for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-jal/only-a-coward-will-use-a-gun-to-protect-and-get-respect-for-themselves/) [Emmanuel Jal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-jal/) [Browse all 4,904 Protect quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protect/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I wanted to protect him, which I was sure I could do, even if I could not protect myself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Safran Foer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-wanted-to-protect-him-which-i-was-sure-i-could-do-even-if-i-could/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Protect" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-wanted-to-protect-him-which-i-was-sure-i-could-do-even-if-i-could/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e9/jonathan-safran-foer-136_protect_i-wanted-to-protect-him-which-i-was-sure_2549602.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e9/jonathan-safran-foer-136_protect_i-wanted-to-protect-him-which-i-was-sure_2549602.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e9/jonathan-safran-foer-136_protect_i-wanted-to-protect-him-which-i-was-sure_2549602.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I wanted to protect him, which I was sure I could do, even if I could not protect myself.” — Jonathan Safran Foer", "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": "Jonathan Safran Foer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I wanted to protect him, which...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-wanted-to-protect-him-which-i-was-sure-i-could-do-even-if-i-could/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-wanted-to-protect-him-which-i-was-sure-i-could-do-even-if-i-could/#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 } } ] } ```