--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you sit back and simply allow your…" description: "\"If you sit back and simply allow your country to be, it is highly unlikely to be the kind of country you want. You have to be active.\" — Mohsin Hamid" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/mohsin-hamid-798_back_if-you-sit-back-and-simply-allow-your-co_260870.jpg" --- # If you sit back and simply allow your country to be, it is… ![“If you sit back and simply allow your country to be, it is highly unlikely to be the kind of country you want. You have to be active.” quote by Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/mohsin-hamid-798_back_if-you-sit-back-and-simply-allow-your-co_260870.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/mohsin-hamid-798_back_if-you-sit-back-and-simply-allow-your-co_260870.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b83/mohsin-hamid-798_back_if-you-sit-back-and-simply-allow-your-co_260870.jpg) > “If you sit back and simply allow your country to be, it is highly unlikely to be the kind of country you want. You have to be active.” [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Passive citizenship leads to undesired outcomes; active participation shapes a nation's future. **In simple terms:** Stay active in shaping your country. Key Takeaway Engage civically now. Themes civic duty politics activism responsibility agency Mood motivational urgent Type inspirational call to action When to use this quote - voting - community organizing - public debate Key Concepts Democratic participation social change Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take to become more politically active? - How does personal agency affect national direction? A Different Perspective Complacency can be hard to overcome. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Allow Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allow-country-1923632/) [Back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/back/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Country Highly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country-highly-2572093/) [Country Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country-want/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) [Simply Allow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simply-allow-2572094/) [Sit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sit/) [Want Active](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-active-2572092/) [Your](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your/) ## Related quotes > [“Women’s rights and economic development within a country are highly correlated.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregg-hurwitz/women-s-rights-and-economic-development-within-a-country-are-highly/) [Gregg Hurwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregg-hurwitz/) > [The Iraqi people will not allow any country to take possession of their own resources.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haider-al-abadi/the-iraqi-people-will-not-allow-any-country-to-take-possession-of/) [Haider al-Abadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haider-al-abadi/) > [We will not allow our country ever to be at the mercy of commodity price volatility or external markets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammad-bin-salman/we-will-not-allow-our-country-ever-to-be-at-the-mercy-of-commodity/) [Mohammad bin Salman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammad-bin-salman/) > [What is, is simply what is. Allow it and rejoice in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/what-is-is-simply-what-is-allow-it-and-rejoice-in-it/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [“It’s been my experience in life that if you step back and simply allow events to take their course, things will usually work out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-o-donovan/it-s-been-my-experience-in-life-that-if-you-step-back-and-simply/) [Donald O'Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-o-donovan/) > [Simply allow your thoughts and experiences to come and go, without ever grasping at them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/simply-allow-your-thoughts-and-experiences-to-come-and-go-without/) [Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/) > [Happiness is simply to allow everything to be exactly as it is from moment to moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-spira/happiness-is-simply-to-allow-everything-to-be-exactly-as-it-is-from/) [Rupert Spira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-spira/) > [“I don't want to be good; and I don't want to be bad: I just don't want to be bothered about either good or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-shaw/i-don-t-want-to-be-good-and-i-don-t-want-to-be-bad-i-just-don-t-want/) [Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-shaw/) > [I want to keep active.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demetrius-andrade/i-want-to-keep-active/) [Demetrius Andrade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demetrius-andrade/) > [“Hypatia:...I don't want to be good; and I don't want to be bad: I just don't want to be bothered about either good or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/hypatia-i-don-t-want-to-be-good-and-i-don-t-want-to-be-bad-i-just-don/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [I want to be active. I want to be able to show everything I can do. I can blitz. I can cover. I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-harris-jr/i-want-to-be-active-i-want-to-be-able-to-show-everything-i-can-do-i/) [Chris Harris, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-harris-jr/) > [What I really want is to keep myself active.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junior-dos-santos/what-i-really-want-is-to-keep-myself-active/) [Junior dos Santos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junior-dos-santos/) > [If you want an active schedule, you have to husband your time so you can act on the things that are important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pozen/if-you-want-an-active-schedule-you-have-to-husband-your-time-so-you/) [Robert Pozen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pozen/) > [Our country, if that is what we want, can now permanently radiate love, understanding, the power of the spirit and of ideas. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/our-country-if-that-is-what-we-want-can-now-permanently-radiate-love/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [I want a great country. I want people happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/i-want-a-great-country-i-want-people-happy/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) ## More by Mohsin Hamid > [Pakistan now is like a horror film franchise. You know, it's 'Friday the 13th, Episode 63: The Terrorist from Pakistan.' And each time we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/pakistan-now-is-like-a-horror-film-franchise-you-know-it-s-friday-the/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/a-beard-is-something-that-is-almost-like-a-mirror-to-the-viewer-when/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“I met her eyes, and for the first time I perceived that there was something broken behind them, like a tiny crack in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-met-her-eyes-and-for-the-first-time-i-perceived-that-there-was/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“muscularity, made more pronounced by her gauntness, and the near-inanimate”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/muscularity-made-more-pronounced-by-her-gauntness-and-the-near/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“In this group, everyone was foreign, and so, in a sense, no one was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/in-this-group-everyone-was-foreign-and-so-in-a-sense-no-one-was/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“It seemed to me then - and to be honest, sir, seems to me still - that America was engaged only in posturing. 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In fact, they did more than trouble me: they made me resentful. Four…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/often-during-my-stay-in-your-country-such-comparisons-troubled-me-in/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [Americans need to educate themselves, from elementary school onward, about what their country has done abroad. And they need to play a more active…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/americans-need-to-educate-themselves-from-elementary-school-onward/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I'm not a representative of Pakistan; I'm just an example that Pakistanis are different from each other. 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Then I probably wouldn't have found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-george/i-wish-that-i-had-known-back-then-that-a-mastery-of-process-would/) [Elizabeth George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-george/) > [It's what the people wanted at the time, but the country could not be half-segregated and half-integrated, just as it could not be half-slave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-wallace/it-s-what-the-people-wanted-at-the-time-but-the-country-could-not-be/) [George Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-wallace/) > [I've always stuck my arms behind my back anyway when trying to block a shot in the penalty area.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/millie-bright/i-ve-always-stuck-my-arms-behind-my-back-anyway-when-trying-to-block/) [Millie Bright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/millie-bright/) > [I'm sure at some point I will get back into coaching, but right now I need to focus completely on my kids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ewing/i-m-sure-at-some-point-i-will-get-back-into-coaching-but-right-now-i/) [Patrick Ewing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ewing/) > [Any time someone achieves success before they've earned it, it always comes back to haunt them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-white/any-time-someone-achieves-success-before-they-ve-earned-it-it-always/) [Ron White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-white/) > [In Congress, Florida Republicans worked with the Trump administration to secure funding for coastal restoration projects following the devastating impacts of Hurricanes Irma and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-waltz/in-congress-florida-republicans-worked-with-the-trump-administration/) [Michael Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-waltz/) > [Back in the really olden days, dinner was seldom a ceremonial event for U.S. families. 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