--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Never cut what you can untie." description: "\"Never cut what you can untie.\" — Joseph Joubert" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d92/joseph-joubert-1017_cut-untie_never-cut-what-you-can-untie-244495_244495.png" --- # Never cut what you can untie. ![“Never cut what you can untie.” quote by Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d92/joseph-joubert-1017_cut-untie_never-cut-what-you-can-untie-244495_244495.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d92/joseph-joubert-1017_cut-untie_never-cut-what-you-can-untie-244495_244495.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d92/joseph-joubert-1017_cut-untie_never-cut-what-you-can-untie-244495_244495.png) > “Never cut what you can untie.” [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Avoid trying to solve problems by cutting ties; seek to loosen them first. **In simple terms:** Solve problems by untangling, not severing. Key Takeaway Look for gentle solutions before drastic ones. Themes problem solving relationships conflict resolution Mood thoughtful calm Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - personal disputes - organizational restructuring - legal negotiations - family dynamics Key Concepts Systems thinking non‑violent communication Questions to Reflect On - When could a gentle approach work better? - What risks does cutting ties pose? A Different Perspective May be impractical when immediate action is required. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cut Untie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cut-untie-2444192/) [Untie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/untie-2444193/) ## Related quotes > [“Untie me so I can kill you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-roux/untie-me-so-i-can-kill-you/) [Abigail Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-roux/) > [Around your skin, I tie and untie mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-hern-ndez/around-your-skin-i-tie-and-untie-mine/) [Miguel Hernandez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-hern-ndez/) > [When you love someone you put yourself in their shoes. And if the shoes don't fit everything falls apart. But when you look back,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-love-someone-you-put-yourself-in-their-shoes-and-if-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We must untie these bonds that are so powerful, and henceforth love this and that, but be wedded on to ourselves. That is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/we-must-untie-these-bonds-that-are-so-powerful-and-henceforth-love/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [We all have an old knot in the heart we wish to untie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/we-all-have-an-old-knot-in-the-heart-we-wish-to-untie/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Bad spellers of the world untie!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-savage/bad-spellers-of-the-world-untie/) [Adam Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-savage/) ## More by Joseph Joubert > [Living requires but little life; doing requires much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/living-requires-but-little-life-doing-requires-much/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [A false mind is false in everything, just as a cross eye always looks askant. But one may err once, nay, a hundred times,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/a-false-mind-is-false-in-everything-just-as-a-cross-eye-always-looks/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Criticism even should not be without its charms. When quite devoid of all amenities, it is no longer literary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/criticism-even-should-not-be-without-its-charms-when-quite-devoid-of/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [What a man knows only through feeling can be explained only through enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/what-a-man-knows-only-through-feeling-can-be-explained-only-through/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Imagination is the eye of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/imagination-is-the-eye-of-the-soul/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [One man finds in religion his literature and his science, another finds in it his joy and his duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/one-man-finds-in-religion-his-literature-and-his-science-another/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Which is more misshapen,--religion without virtue, or virtue without religion?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/which-is-more-misshapen-religion-without-virtue-or-virtue-without/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [How many people become abstract as a way of appearing profound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/how-many-people-become-abstract-as-a-way-of-appearing-profound/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [How many books there are whose reputation is made that would not obtain it were it now to make?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/how-many-books-there-are-whose-reputation-is-made-that-would-not/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [God has commanded Time to console the unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/god-has-commanded-time-to-console-the-unhappy/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [We shall always keep a spare corner in our heads to give passing hospitality to our friends' opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/we-shall-always-keep-a-spare-corner-in-our-heads-to-give-passing/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Agriculture engenders good sense, and good sense of an excellent kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/agriculture-engenders-good-sense-and-good-sense-of-an-excellent-kind/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [We may convince others by our arguements, but we can only persuade them by their own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/we-may-convince-others-by-our-arguements-but-we-can-only-persuade/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [To teach is to learn twice. 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This is true of bodies; but when we speak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/grace-is-in-garments-in-movements-in-manners-beauty-in-the-nude-and/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) [Explore all 306 Joseph Joubert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Never cut what you can untie.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Joubert" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/never-cut-what-you-can-untie/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cut Untie" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/never-cut-what-you-can-untie/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d92/joseph-joubert-1017_cut-untie_never-cut-what-you-can-untie-244495_244495.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d92/joseph-joubert-1017_cut-untie_never-cut-what-you-can-untie-244495_244495.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d92/joseph-joubert-1017_cut-untie_never-cut-what-you-can-untie-244495_244495.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Never cut what you can untie.” — Joseph Joubert", "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": "Joseph Joubert", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Never cut what you can untie.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/never-cut-what-you-can-untie/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/never-cut-what-you-can-untie/#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 } } ] } ```