--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They always assumed that I did not speak…" description: "\"They always assumed that I did not speak. That I could not. So many had plotted my death, discussed it, laughed about it, even while I was in the same ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/karen-chance-1416_born_they-always-assumed-that-i-did-not-speak_2439532.png" --- # They always assumed that I did not speak. That I could… ![“They always assumed that I did not speak. That I could not. So many had plotted my death, discussed it, laughed about it, even while I was in the same room, because they assumed I was mindless. Like one of the failures of their kind, born mad. But I was not a failure. I was what I was supposed to…” quote by Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/karen-chance-1416_born_they-always-assumed-that-i-did-not-speak_2439532.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/karen-chance-1416_born_they-always-assumed-that-i-did-not-speak_2439532.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/karen-chance-1416_born_they-always-assumed-that-i-did-not-speak_2439532.png) > “They always assumed that I did not speak. That I could not. So many had plotted my death, discussed it, laughed about it, even while I was in the same room, because they assumed I was mindless. Like one of the failures of their kind, born mad. But I was not a failure. I was what I was supposed to be. I was dhampir. And they never lived to tell anyone they were wrong.” [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reveals they were underestimated and labeled a failure, but embraces their true identity as a dhampir, defying others' assumptions and surviving their plots. **In simple terms:** They were thought powerless, yet they are a dhampir and survived despite others' doubts. Key Takeaway Embrace your true self despite others' misconceptions. Themes identity resilience misunderstanding survival self‑acceptance Mood defiant hopeful empowering Type literary personal When to use this quote - personal identity crises - bullying situations - career setbacks - creative projects - social marginalization Key Concepts mythology self‑realization empowerment social prejudice Questions to Reflect On - What parts of your identity have others misjudged? - How can you turn perceived weakness into strength? A Different Perspective The narrative relies on supernatural tropes that may not translate to real‑world contexts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Mindless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mindless/) ## Related quotes > [Nor is there any law more just, than that he who has plotted death shall perish by his own plot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/nor-is-there-any-law-more-just-than-that-he-who-has-plotted-death/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [“Come to think of it, she did not speak a word. Yet I could have sworn she had the most beautiful voice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-klassen/come-to-think-of-it-she-did-not-speak-a-word-yet-i-could-have-sworn/) [Julie Klassen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-klassen/) > [If I did not speak with people who call me names, I could not engage in politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geert-wilders/if-i-did-not-speak-with-people-who-call-me-names-i-could-not-engage/) [Geert Wilders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geert-wilders/) > [“Then there were so many things to be said that they did not speak of any of them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-steinberg/then-there-were-so-many-things-to-be-said-that-they-did-not-speak-of/) [Milton Steinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-steinberg/) > [“That there is a before-speaking, that we did not always speak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-moure/that-there-is-a-before-speaking-that-we-did-not-always-speak/) [Erin Moure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-moure/) > [She did not speak for speech was unknown to her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/she-did-not-speak-for-speech-was-unknown-to-her/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Does it matter if they were from Kielce or Brno or Grodno or Brody or Lvov or Turin or Berlin? Or that the silverware…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-michaels/does-it-matter-if-they-were-from-kielce-or-brno-or-grodno-or-brody-or/) [Anne Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-michaels/) > [“And there it was. He knew it, and I knew it. There was nothing left for me to do. Do you know how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jojo-moyes/and-there-it-was-he-knew-it-and-i-knew-it-there-was-nothing-left-for/) [Jojo Moyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jojo-moyes/) > [I never said anything bad about Smriti, nor did she speak against me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ekta-kapoor/i-never-said-anything-bad-about-smriti-nor-did-she-speak-against-me/) [Ekta Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ekta-kapoor/) > [When we did not move or speak, there was no proof that we were there at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/when-we-did-not-move-or-speak-there-was-no-proof-that-we-were-there/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“She paused when he did not speak. "I know what I would do if I were you." Frantically, Tatiana chewed her lip. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulina-simons/she-paused-when-he-did-not-speak-i-know-what-i-would-do-if-i-were-you/) Paulina Simons > [“Please could I say one word?" was the question three times repeated before a rough head bobbed out from the grotto of books in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/please-could-i-say-one-word-was-the-question-three-times-repeated-2/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [We did not speak in terms of strategy, in terms of overall economies, in terms of production and territorial conquest. We spoke of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-morrison/we-did-not-speak-in-terms-of-strategy-in-terms-of-overall-economies/) [Philip Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-morrison/) > [“Please could I say one word?" was the question three times repeated before a rough head boobed out from the grotto of books in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/please-could-i-say-one-word-was-the-question-three-times-repeated/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [“He who is mindless is defenceless” RjS”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rassool-jibraeel-snyman/he-who-is-mindless-is-defenceless-rjs/) [rassool jibraeel snyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rassool-jibraeel-snyman/) ## More by Karen Chance > [ I glanced at Radu. "What, exactly is Louis-Cesare's problem?'. \[..\] Suddenly a speculative gleam lit his eyes. It made me nervous. 'He tends to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/i-glanced-at-radu-what-exactly-is-louis-cesare-s-problem-suddenly-a/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [“He had all the self-preservation instincts of a bug near a shiny windshield.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/he-had-all-the-self-preservation-instincts-of-a-bug-near-a-shiny/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [“I liked Pritkin loud and bitching, in other words, his normal state. I didn't like it when he got quiet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/i-liked-pritkin-loud-and-bitching-in-other-words-his-normal-state-i/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [“A courteous war mage. The world really was coming to an end. And then Pritkin ran back around the corner followed by half a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/a-courteous-war-mage-the-world-really-was-coming-to-an-end-and-then/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [..."I ran out of stock around midnight and dropped by a place, got some Chinese." I hoped he meant takeout.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/i-ran-out-of-stock-around-midnight-and-dropped-by-a-place-got-some/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [“When good Americans die, they go to Paris,' the ghost said, after taking a drag on a small cigarette.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/when-good-americans-die-they-go-to-paris-the-ghost-said-after-taking/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [Where. Is. He?" Alphonse repeated, although it sounded more like "Don't make me eat your face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/where-is-he-alphonse-repeated-although-it-sounded-more-like-don-t/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [“Because the next moment, when I was hauled out from under the bed and up to a pair of so-familiar green eyes, I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/because-the-next-moment-when-i-was-hauled-out-from-under-the-bed-and/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [“I drank some too-hot coffee and scowled at him, annoyed although I couldn't remember why. The light from the lounge was leaking in, highlighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/i-drank-some-too-hot-coffee-and-scowled-at-him-annoyed-although-i/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [They don’t eat that much.” “In comparison to what? Starving marines?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/they-don-t-eat-that-much-in-comparison-to-what-starving-marines/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [“I rotated my eyeball—and, goddamnit, even that hurt—to see the leader of my bodyguards peering at me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/i-rotated-my-eyeball-and-goddamnit-even-that-hurt-to-see-the-leader/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [I was alive, they were not. Go Me. (Touch the Dark)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/i-was-alive-they-were-not-go-me-touch-the-dark/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [There are things we want, and things we may have… Sanity lies in knowing the difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/there-are-things-we-want-and-things-we-may-have-sanity-lies-in/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [You know, I was gutting this loser the other day, and I thought, It’d be more fun fighting that little dhampir. I wonder if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/you-know-i-was-gutting-this-loser-the-other-day-and-i-thought-it-d-be/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [One day, you will say it to me again. You will be sober. And you will mean it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/one-day-you-will-say-it-to-me-again-you-will-be-sober-and-you-will/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) [Explore all 243 Karen Chance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) ## More Born quotes > [My mother says I didn't open my eyes for eight days after I was born, but when I did, the first thing I saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-taylor/my-mother-says-i-didn-t-open-my-eyes-for-eight-days-after-i-was-born/) [Elizabeth Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-taylor/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [The real world out there isn't nearly as nice as some people prefer it to be, so don't swallow everything your high-born teachers tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-real-world-out-there-isn-t-nearly-as-nice-as-some-people-prefer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was born and raised in Orlando, where the economy and culture has been powerfully shaped by tourism, and so I've long been interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-was-born-and-raised-in-orlando-where-the-economy-and-culture-has/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [I know that in the rap game you've got a lot of people, that come from poverty, was born in poverty and if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-connor/i-know-that-in-the-rap-game-you-ve-got-a-lot-of-people-that-come-from/) [Jon Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-connor/) > [Nothing old is ever reborn but neither does it totally disappear. And that which has once been born, will always reappear in a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvar-aalto/nothing-old-is-ever-reborn-but-neither-does-it-totally-disappear-and/) [Alvar Aalto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvar-aalto/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Must I go bound while you go free Must I love a manwho doesn't love me Must I be born with so little art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/must-i-go-bound-while-you-go-free-must-i-love-a-manwho-doesn-t-love/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I'm not against gay people. I have a relative who is also gay. We can't help it if they were born that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manny-pacquiao/i-m-not-against-gay-people-i-have-a-relative-who-is-also-gay-we-can-t/) [Manny Pacquiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manny-pacquiao/) > [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) > [If you can believe it, Hollywood wanted to change my birthdate. I was born after Valentine's Day, so they wanted to change it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-romero/if-you-can-believe-it-hollywood-wanted-to-change-my-birthdate-i-was/) [Cesar Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-romero/) Browse all 11,606 Born quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "They always assumed that I did not speak. That I could not. So many had plotted my death, discussed it, laughed about it, even while I was in the same room, because they assumed I was mindless. Like one of the failures of their kind, born mad. But I was not a failure. I was what I was supposed to be. I was dhampir. And they never lived to tell anyone they were wrong.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Karen Chance" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/they-always-assumed-that-i-did-not-speak-that-i-could-not-so-many-had/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Born" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/they-always-assumed-that-i-did-not-speak-that-i-could-not-so-many-had/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/karen-chance-1416_born_they-always-assumed-that-i-did-not-speak_2439532.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/karen-chance-1416_born_they-always-assumed-that-i-did-not-speak_2439532.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/783/karen-chance-1416_born_they-always-assumed-that-i-did-not-speak_2439532.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They always assumed that I did not speak. That I could not. So many had plotted my death, discussed it…” — Karen Chance", "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": "Karen Chance", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "They always assumed that I did...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/they-always-assumed-that-i-did-not-speak-that-i-could-not-so-many-had/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/they-always-assumed-that-i-did-not-speak-that-i-could-not-so-many-had/#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 } } ] } ```