--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...I long ago gave up defending humanity…" description: "\"“...I long ago gave up defending humanity. It's beyond me on most days to defend myself.”\" — Lionel Shriver" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bde/lionel-shriver-744_defend_i-long-ago-gave-up-defending-humanity-it_293865.jpg" --- # ...I long ago gave up defending humanity. It's beyond me… ![“...I long ago gave up defending humanity. It's beyond me on most days to defend myself.” quote by Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bde/lionel-shriver-744_defend_i-long-ago-gave-up-defending-humanity-it_293865.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bde/lionel-shriver-744_defend_i-long-ago-gave-up-defending-humanity-it_293865.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bde/lionel-shriver-744_defend_i-long-ago-gave-up-defending-humanity-it_293865.jpg) > ““...I long ago gave up defending humanity. It's beyond me on most days to defend myself.”” [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A character expresses deep disillusionment and self‑protection after repeated failures. **In simple terms:** Giving up defending others. Key Takeaway Recognize personal limits and seek help. Themes disillusionment self‑protection exhaustion Mood cynical reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - activism - personal safety - mental health Key Concepts psychological fatigue ethical conflict Questions to Reflect On - When do you know to step back? - How can you rebuild trust in humanity? A Different Perspective Self‑defense may become neglect of others. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Long ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-ago/) ## Related quotes > [Swearing's my release. It's the one weapon I have to defend myself against destiny when it elects to strike without pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-pirlo/swearing-s-my-release-it-s-the-one-weapon-i-have-to-defend-myself/) [Andrea Pirlo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-pirlo/) > [“I don't need to be on guard to defend myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-caine/i-don-t-need-to-be-on-guard-to-defend-myself/) [Christine Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-caine/) > [People said, That's great for your career, but what have you done? I kept feeling I had to defend myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skeet-ulrich/people-said-that-s-great-for-your-career-but-what-have-you-done-i/) [Skeet Ulrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skeet-ulrich/) > [Please, I'm a transgender former boy-bander. You think I don't know how to defend myself?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/please-i-m-a-transgender-former-boy-bander-you-think-i-don-t-know-how/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [I’m fighting for my life, I have to defend myself. If I don’t defend myself, no one else will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-rodriguez/i-m-fighting-for-my-life-i-have-to-defend-myself-if-i-don-t-defend/) [Alex Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-rodriguez/) > [I don't really feel the need to defend myself for having a six-pack.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-sorrentino/i-don-t-really-feel-the-need-to-defend-myself-for-having-a-six-pack/) [Michael Sorrentino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-sorrentino/) > [When someone abuses me I can defend myself, but against praise I am defenceless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/when-someone-abuses-me-i-can-defend-myself-but-against-praise-i-am/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“For the record, while it's very charming that you keep trying to protect me, I would like to remind you that I actually know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/for-the-record-while-it-s-very-charming-that-you-keep-trying-to/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [Being a black belt from the Nogueira brothers, I have the obligation to always defend myself well on the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anderson-silva/being-a-black-belt-from-the-nogueira-brothers-i-have-the-obligation/) [Anderson Silva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anderson-silva/) > [My parents taught me the way to deal with being picked on was to be compassionate. 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I won't go in that discussion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxime-bernier/for-me-i-don-t-have-to-defend-myself-that-i-am-not-a-racist-i-won-t/) [Maxime Bernier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxime-bernier/) > [I cannot defend myself during a trial if there is no charge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sooraj-pancholi/i-cannot-defend-myself-during-a-trial-if-there-is-no-charge/) [Sooraj Pancholi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sooraj-pancholi/) > [I never had any desire to defend myself, and never did I seriously think about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhagat-singh/i-never-had-any-desire-to-defend-myself-and-never-did-i-seriously/) [Bhagat Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhagat-singh/) ## More by Lionel Shriver > [The discovery that heartbreak is indeed heartbreaking consoles us about our humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-discovery-that-heartbreak-is-indeed-heartbreaking-consoles-us/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I’m a journalist, and journalists need news. Deprive them of it, and they go a bit barking. Deprive them of news long enough, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/i-m-a-journalist-and-journalists-need-news-deprive-them-of-it-and/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“One of the things I learned with Charles," said Gray carefully, "was that finding someone like you does not necessarily mean that either of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/one-of-the-things-i-learned-with-charles-said-gray-carefully-was-that/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [In the particular dwells the tawdry. In the conceptual dwells the grand, the transcendent, the everlasting. Earthly countries and single malignant boys can go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/in-the-particular-dwells-the-tawdry-in-the-conceptual-dwells-the/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“The idea is that you don't only have one destiny. Younger and younger, kids are pressed to decide what they want to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-idea-is-that-you-don-t-only-have-one-destiny-younger-and-younger/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [Oddly, for a book to do well merely because people like it is surprisingly rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/oddly-for-a-book-to-do-well-merely-because-people-like-it-is/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“And there's a freedom in apathy, a wild, dizzying liberation on which you can almost get drunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/and-there-s-a-freedom-in-apathy-a-wild-dizzying-liberation-on-which/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [The sign that I don't like the book I'm reading is finding myself watching reruns of 'Come Dine With Me.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-sign-that-i-don-t-like-the-book-i-m-reading-is-finding-myself/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [We speak often of 'destroying the planet' when what we mean is destroying its habitability for humans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/we-speak-often-of-destroying-the-planet-when-what-we-mean-is/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [My agent had warned that, while a fine film would do my profile a world of good, a bad one wouldn't help me at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/my-agent-had-warned-that-while-a-fine-film-would-do-my-profile-a/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“I think that's the biggest favor you can grant anyone, don't you? Permission to be dull. 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If the authorities try to destroy us, we have the right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-udaltsov/we-will-defend-ourselves-and-we-have-full-rights-to-do-so-if-the/) Sergei Udaltsov > [I definitely want to defend my 145 belt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-nunes/i-definitely-want-to-defend-my-145-belt/) [Amanda Nunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-nunes/) > [In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-wurzelbacher/in-1911-turkey-established-gun-control-from-1915-to-1917-1-5-million/) [Joe Wurzelbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-wurzelbacher/) > [“There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-always-those-who-take-it-upon-themselves-to-defend-god-as/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“defend women’s right to be wrong, at least occasionally.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/defend-women-s-right-to-be-wrong-at-least-occasionally/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [There are a lot of things you can practise to unsettle teams that defend deep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/didier-deschamps/there-are-a-lot-of-things-you-can-practise-to-unsettle-teams-that/) [Didier Deschamps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/didier-deschamps/) > [The more you defend a lie, the angrier you become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/the-more-you-defend-a-lie-the-angrier-you-become/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [I'm very willing to defend creative things that I believe in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-schneider/i-m-very-willing-to-defend-creative-things-that-i-believe-in/) [Dan Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-schneider/) > [Sometimes it is difficult to play against teams who just drop back and try to defend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadio-mane/sometimes-it-is-difficult-to-play-against-teams-who-just-drop-back/) [Sadio Mane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadio-mane/) Browse all 993 Defend quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“...I long ago gave up defending humanity. 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