--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am not yet born; O fill me with…" description: "\"I am not yet born; O fill me with strength against those who would freeze my humanity.\" — Louis MacNeice" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a4/louis-macneice-13584_born_i-am-not-yet-born-o-fill-me-with-strengt_2642879.jpg" --- # I am not yet born; O fill me with strength against those… ![“I am not yet born; O fill me with strength against those who would freeze my humanity.” quote by Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a4/louis-macneice-13584_born_i-am-not-yet-born-o-fill-me-with-strengt_2642879.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a4/louis-macneice-13584_born_i-am-not-yet-born-o-fill-me-with-strengt_2642879.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a4/louis-macneice-13584_born_i-am-not-yet-born-o-fill-me-with-strengt_2642879.jpg) > “I am not yet born; O fill me with strength against those who would freeze my humanity.” [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A plea for inner strength to resist forces that dehumanize. **In simple terms:** Seek strength to protect your humanity. Key Takeaway Guard your humanity against dehumanizing forces. Themes humanity strength resistance Mood determined reflective Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - social oppression - personal crisis - ethical dilemmas Key Concepts existentialism personal agency Questions to Reflect On - How do you maintain humanity under pressure? - What strengths can you cultivate? A Different Perspective Strength alone may not suffice against systemic oppression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Strength](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strength/) ## Related quotes > [I am not yet born; O fill me With strength against those who would freeze my humanity, would dragoon me into a lethal automaton…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/i-am-not-yet-born-o-fill-me-with-strength-against-those-who-would/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [Strength is not born from strength. Strength can be born only from weakness. So be glad of your weaknesses now, they are the beginnings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-weekes/strength-is-not-born-from-strength-strength-can-be-born-only-from/) [Claire Weekes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-weekes/) > [True love is no game of the faint-hearted and the weak; it is born of strength and understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meher-baba/true-love-is-no-game-of-the-faint-hearted-and-the-weak-it-is-born-of/) [Meher Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meher-baba/) > [“if you were born with the weakness to fall you were born with the strength to rise”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupi-kaur/if-you-were-born-with-the-weakness-to-fall-you-were-born-with-the/) [Rupi Kaur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupi-kaur/) > [A child's course in life should be determined not by the zip code she's born in, but by the strength of her work ethic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/a-child-s-course-in-life-should-be-determined-not-by-the-zip-code-she/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [“I see you. I see your strength and courage, your hesitations and fears. I see the way you love others, and your struggle to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-stabile/i-see-you-i-see-your-strength-and-courage-your-hesitations-and-fears/) [Scott Stabile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-stabile/) > [“From this point forward, you don’t even know how to quit in life.” ~ Aaron Lauritsen, ‘100 Days Drive”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-lauritsen/from-this-point-forward-you-don-t-even-know-how-to-quit-in-life-aaron/) [Aaron Lauritsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-lauritsen/) > [There's no way I would have got to see so much of the world, with my humble background, without modelling. We were penniless and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-dell-orefice/there-s-no-way-i-would-have-got-to-see-so-much-of-the-world-with-my/) [Carmen Dell'Orefice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-dell-orefice/) > [We sometimes freeze the specimen with liquid nitrogen, which is extremely cold, you know. This is another technique we use now - but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lennart-nilsson/we-sometimes-freeze-the-specimen-with-liquid-nitrogen-which-is/) [Lennart Nilsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lennart-nilsson/) > [Got to keep thatin mind. I'm a ninja now... I swore I'd never freeze up or run away again... AND I WON'T...!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masashi-kishimoto/got-to-keep-thatin-mind-i-m-a-ninja-now-i-swore-i-d-never-freeze-up/) [Masashi Kishimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masashi-kishimoto/) > [Hell would freeze over before I saw my parents happily holding hands and ice skating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tana-mongeau/hell-would-freeze-over-before-i-saw-my-parents-happily-holding-hands/) [Tana Mongeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tana-mongeau/) > [You freeze with the number of opportunities given to you and just decide to do nothing at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-mendes/you-freeze-with-the-number-of-opportunities-given-to-you-and-just/) [Sam Mendes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-mendes/) > [Years later, I figured out why he (Ivan Karp) was such a successful art dealer-this may sound strange, but I believe it was because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/years-later-i-figured-out-why-he-ivan-karp-was-such-a-successful-art/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [I'll tell you one big misconception. Cops never say 'Freeze!' It might be misinterpreted. They might think you were, like, ordering fries. Or that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-smith/i-ll-tell-you-one-big-misconception-cops-never-say-freeze-it-might-be/) [Gregory Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-smith/) > [Nothing cools so fast as undue enthusiasm. Water that has boiled freezes sooner than any other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/nothing-cools-so-fast-as-undue-enthusiasm-water-that-has-boiled/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) ## More by Louis MacNeice > [World is crazier and more of it than we think, Incorrigibly plural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/world-is-crazier-and-more-of-it-than-we-think-incorrigibly-plural/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [“Bagpipe Music' It's no go the merrygoround, it's no go the rickshaw, All we want is a limousine and a ticket for the peepshow.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/bagpipe-music-it-s-no-go-the-merrygoround-it-s-no-go-the-rickshaw-all/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [Let them not make me a stone and let them not spill me, otherwise kill me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/let-them-not-make-me-a-stone-and-let-them-not-spill-me-otherwise-kill/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [“Thus were we weaned to knowledge of the Will That wills the natural world, but wills us dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/thus-were-we-weaned-to-knowledge-of-the-will-that-wills-the-natural/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [Politics: distrust all parties but consider capitalism must go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/politics-distrust-all-parties-but-consider-capitalism-must-go/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [“If war is the test of reality, then all poetry is unreal; but in that case unreality is a virtue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/if-war-is-the-test-of-reality-then-all-poetry-is-unreal-but-in-that/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [“If war is the test of reality, than all poetry is unreal; but in that case unreality is a virtue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/if-war-is-the-test-of-reality-than-all-poetry-is-unreal-but-in-that/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [Why do we like being Irish? Partly because It gives us a hold on the sentimental English As members of a world that never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/why-do-we-like-being-irish-partly-because-it-gives-us-a-hold-on-the/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [A city built upon mud; A culture built upon profit; Free speech nipped in the bud, The minority always guilty. Why should I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/a-city-built-upon-mud-a-culture-built-upon-profit-free-speech-nipped/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [“Cradle Song for Eleanor”: Sleep, my darling, sleep; The pity of it all Is all we compass if We watch disaster fall. Put off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/cradle-song-for-eleanor-sleep-my-darling-sleep-the-pity-of-it-all-is/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [A pharaoh's profile, a Krishna's grace, tail like a question mark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/a-pharaoh-s-profile-a-krishna-s-grace-tail-like-a-question-mark/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [I was the rector's son, born to the anglican order, Banned for ever from the candles of the Irish poor; The Chichesters knelt in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/i-was-the-rector-s-son-born-to-the-anglican-order-banned-for-ever/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [Better authentic mammon than a bogus god.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/better-authentic-mammon-than-a-bogus-god/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [Dublin was a glorious name in our family and had pleasurable associations of violence …Today I am so at home in Dublin, more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/dublin-was-a-glorious-name-in-our-family-and-had-pleasurable/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [So they were married-to be the more together- And found they were never again so much together, Divided by the morning tea, By the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/so-they-were-married-to-be-the-more-together-and-found-they-were/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) [Explore all 50 Louis MacNeice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) ## 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. 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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": "I am not yet born; O fill me with strength against those who would freeze my humanity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Louis MacNeice" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/i-am-not-yet-born-o-fill-me-with-strength-against-those-who-would-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Born" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/i-am-not-yet-born-o-fill-me-with-strength-against-those-who-would-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a4/louis-macneice-13584_born_i-am-not-yet-born-o-fill-me-with-strengt_2642879.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a4/louis-macneice-13584_born_i-am-not-yet-born-o-fill-me-with-strengt_2642879.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a4/louis-macneice-13584_born_i-am-not-yet-born-o-fill-me-with-strengt_2642879.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am not yet born; O fill me with strength against those who would freeze my humanity.” — Louis MacNeice", "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": "Louis MacNeice", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I am not yet born; O...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/i-am-not-yet-born-o-fill-me-with-strength-against-those-who-would-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/i-am-not-yet-born-o-fill-me-with-strength-against-those-who-would-2/#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 } } ] } ```