--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pretending that there are no choices to…" description: "\"Pretending that there are no choices to be made - reading only books, for example, which are cheery and safe and nice - is a prescription for disaster ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee8/lois-lowry-978_books_pretending-that-there-are-no-choices-to_30042.png" --- # Pretending that there are no choices to be made - reading… ![“Pretending that there are no choices to be made - reading only books, for example, which are cheery and safe and nice - is a prescription for disaster for the young.” quote by Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee8/lois-lowry-978_books_pretending-that-there-are-no-choices-to_30042.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee8/lois-lowry-978_books_pretending-that-there-are-no-choices-to_30042.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee8/lois-lowry-978_books_pretending-that-there-are-no-choices-to_30042.png) > “Pretending that there are no choices to be made - reading only books, for example, which are cheery and safe and nice - is a prescription for disaster for the young.” [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Avoiding decision‑making by immersing in comforting, non‑challenging media leads to stagnation and vulnerability in youth. **In simple terms:** Escapism harms growth. Key Takeaway Choice is essential for development. Themes personal responsibility youth development media influence critical thinking risk of complacency Mood cautionary reflective urgent Type advice observation warning When to use this quote - adolescents avoiding real‑world problems - students seeking only feel reads - young adults stuck in echo chambers Key Concepts decision making literature as coping psychological resilience Practical Applications - educational curricula that encourage critical engagement - counseling programs teaching decision‑making skills Questions to Reflect On - How does safe reading limit a young person's agency? - What alternatives can foster healthy decision‑making? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Cheery Safe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheery-safe-423844/) [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Choices Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices-reading-423845/) [Disaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disaster/) [Example](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/example/) [Example Cheery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/example-cheery-423847/) [For example](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/for-example/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Nice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nice/) [Only](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/only/) [Prescription](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prescription/) [Pretending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pretending/) [Pretending Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pretending-choices-423846/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-books/) [Safe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safe/) [Which](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/which/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) ## Related quotes > [Students need to make their own choices about reading material and writing topics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donalyn-miller/students-need-to-make-their-own-choices-about-reading-material-and/) [Donalyn Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donalyn-miller/) > [Women have to stop pretending the choices we make, particularly if we have a platform, don't affect others. We have to be held accountable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keli-goff/women-have-to-stop-pretending-the-choices-we-make-particularly-if-we/) [Keli Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keli-goff/) > [Manipulation, sloganizing, depositing, regimentation, and prescription cannot be components of revolutionary praxis, precisely because they are the components of the praxis of domination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/manipulation-sloganizing-depositing-regimentation-and-prescription/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [Many different relationships among patients, doctors, and drugs are possible and desirable. As in so many other areas of life, the Internet encourages experimentation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-postrel/many-different-relationships-among-patients-doctors-and-drugs-are/) [Virginia Postrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-postrel/) > [“THE MAXIMS OF MEDICINE Before you examine the body of a patient, Be patient to learn his story. For once you learn his story,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/the-maxims-of-medicine-before-you-examine-the-body-of-a-patient-be/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [“You do not want to be taking doctors prescription drugs. They will turn you into a drug addict! Many of their drugs damage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/you-do-not-want-to-be-taking-doctors-prescription-drugs-they-will/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“The move from description to prescription, from saying what happens to passing judgment on what should happen, is a creative one, a fundamentally human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-carroll/the-move-from-description-to-prescription-from-saying-what-happens-to/) [Sean Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-carroll/) > [“Time heals without prescriptions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamerlan-kuzgov/time-heals-without-prescriptions/) [Tamerlan Kuzgov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamerlan-kuzgov/) > [they should let some people into the library by prescription only](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/they-should-let-some-people-into-the-library-by-prescription-only/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [I believe in prescription drugs. I believe in feeling better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-leary/i-believe-in-prescription-drugs-i-believe-in-feeling-better/) [Denis Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-leary/) > [Like Lyndon Johnson, President Obama understands that timidity in a time of troubles is a prescription for failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dallek/like-lyndon-johnson-president-obama-understands-that-timidity-in-a/) [Robert Dallek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dallek/) > [I believe gelato is meant to be treated as medicine and taken daily as a prescription.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-brandt/i-believe-gelato-is-meant-to-be-treated-as-medicine-and-taken-daily/) [Betsy Brandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-brandt/) > [The only medicine that needs no prescription, has no unpleasant taste, and costs no money is laughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/the-only-medicine-that-needs-no-prescription-has-no-unpleasant-taste/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [The best prescription is knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/the-best-prescription-is-knowledge/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [“Time heals without a prescription.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamerlan-kuzgov/time-heals-without-a-prescription/) [Tamerlan Kuzgov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamerlan-kuzgov/) ## More by Lois Lowry > [“She's sure, absolutely sure, that what she's waiting for will happen, just the way she wants it to; and I'm so uncertain, so fearful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/she-s-sure-absolutely-sure-that-what-she-s-waiting-for-will-happen/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [I've always been interested in medicine and was pleased when my brother became a doctor. But after thinking seriously about that field, I realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-medicine-and-was-pleased-when-my/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“The important thing is that another medium—stage, film, music—doesn’t obliterate a book. The movie is here now, on a big screen, with stars and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/the-important-thing-is-that-another-medium-stage-film-music-doesn-t/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [They were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on. And he was angry at himself, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/they-were-satisfied-with-their-lives-which-had-none-of-the-vibrance/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [Nowadays it seems as though people sit down to write what they know is going to be a trilogy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/nowadays-it-seems-as-though-people-sit-down-to-write-what-they-know/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“Take your pride in your pain. You are stronger than those who have none.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/take-your-pride-in-your-pain-you-are-stronger-than-those-who-have-none/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“Sometimes we have to hurt people, in order to keep ourselves whole. We must just do it with love, that's all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/sometimes-we-have-to-hurt-people-in-order-to-keep-ourselves-whole-we/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“Once, back in the time of the memories, everything had a shape and size, the way things still do, but they also had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/once-back-in-the-time-of-the-memories-everything-had-a-shape-and-size/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“No one mentioned such things; it was not a rule, but was considered rude to call attention to things that were unsettling or different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/no-one-mentioned-such-things-it-was-not-a-rule-but-was-considered/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [When you lose a child in an accident as I did, it's final - you're not caught in this longing for him, to search…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/when-you-lose-a-child-in-an-accident-as-i-did-it-s-final-you-re-not/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“...and I want you all to remember- that you must not dream yourselves back to the times before the war, but the dream for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/and-i-want-you-all-to-remember-that-you-must-not-dream-yourselves/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“He saw Forest and understood what Seer had meant. It was an illusion. It was a tangled knot of fears and deceits and dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/he-saw-forest-and-understood-what-seer-had-meant-it-was-an-illusion/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“Don't grow much more, or you will be taller than I am, little Longlegs!" Annemarie smiled, but Peter's comment was no longer the lighthearted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/don-t-grow-much-more-or-you-will-be-taller-than-i-am-little-longlegs/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“Matty had felt this sensation—the”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/matty-had-felt-this-sensation-the/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [Now he saw another elephant emerge from the place where it had stood hidden in the trees. Very slowly it walked to the mutilated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/now-he-saw-another-elephant-emerge-from-the-place-where-it-had-stood/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) [Explore all 311 Lois Lowry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Pretending that there are no choices to be made - reading only books, for example, which are cheery and safe and nice - is a prescription for disaster for the young.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lois Lowry" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/pretending-that-there-are-no-choices-to-be-made-reading-only-books/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/pretending-that-there-are-no-choices-to-be-made-reading-only-books/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee8/lois-lowry-978_books_pretending-that-there-are-no-choices-to_30042.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee8/lois-lowry-978_books_pretending-that-there-are-no-choices-to_30042.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee8/lois-lowry-978_books_pretending-that-there-are-no-choices-to_30042.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Pretending that there are no choices to be made - reading only books, for example, which are cheery and safe…” — Lois Lowry", "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": "Lois Lowry", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Pretending that there are no choices...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/pretending-that-there-are-no-choices-to-be-made-reading-only-books/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/pretending-that-there-are-no-choices-to-be-made-reading-only-books/#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 } } ] } ```