--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Personal affection is a luxury you can…" description: "\"Personal affection is a luxury you can have only after all your enemies are eliminated. Until then, everyone you love is a hostage, sapping your courag..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/orson-scott-card-134_affection_personal-affection-is-a-luxury-you-can-h_2713085.png" --- # Personal affection is a luxury you can have only after all… ![“Personal affection is a luxury you can have only after all your enemies are eliminated. Until then, everyone you love is a hostage, sapping your courage and corrupting your judgment.” quote by Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/orson-scott-card-134_affection_personal-affection-is-a-luxury-you-can-h_2713085.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/orson-scott-card-134_affection_personal-affection-is-a-luxury-you-can-h_2713085.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/orson-scott-card-134_affection_personal-affection-is-a-luxury-you-can-h_2713085.png) > “Personal affection is a luxury you can have only after all your enemies are eliminated. Until then, everyone you love is a hostage, sapping your courage and corrupting your judgment.” [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Success requires eliminating internal conflicts; love can become a liability if enemies remain, urging focus on personal security before intimacy. **In simple terms:** Clear enemies before loving. Key Takeaway Secure your foundations first. Themes trust security relationships Mood cautious strategic Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - leadership - personal development - conflict resolution Key Concepts strategic thinking psychology Questions to Reflect On - What enemies must you resolve? - Can love coexist with vigilance? A Different Perspective Overlooks the value of love as a motivator. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) [Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Luxury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luxury/) ## Related quotes > [“Personal affection is a luxury you can have only after all your enemies are eliminated. Until then, everyone you love is a hostage, sapping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/personal-affection-is-a-luxury-you-can-have-only-after-all-your/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) > [In any experience or state of mind, when the ego is eliminated, there will be only LOVE! EGO lives in the mind, but LOVE…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prem-tihan-shafiq/in-any-experience-or-state-of-mind-when-the-ego-is-eliminated-there/) [Prem Tihan (Shafiq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prem-tihan-shafiq/) > [“To those who have neither public nor private affections, the excitements of life are much curtailed, and in any case dwindle in value as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/to-those-who-have-neither-public-nor-private-affections-the/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [Come in, Bean. Come in Julian Delphiki, longed-for child of good and loving parents. Come in, kidnapped child, hostage of fate. Come and talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/come-in-bean-come-in-julian-delphiki-longed-for-child-of-good-and/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [It's the middle class that feels the luxury of being able to have causes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/it-s-the-middle-class-that-feels-the-luxury-of-being-able-to-have/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [In theory, when you're working with a record label, you're just borrowing their money. And that's basically how the record industry works, right? It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-carney/in-theory-when-you-re-working-with-a-record-label-you-re-just/) [Patrick Carney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-carney/) > [“Eve commanded her hostage to open the door and look calm. She didn’t turn around again, but Beckett knew what she’d done. She’d crossed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/eve-commanded-her-hostage-to-open-the-door-and-look-calm-she-didn-t/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [It is worth emphasizing that Iran released our hostages in 1981 the day Ronald Reagan was sworn into office.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/it-is-worth-emphasizing-that-iran-released-our-hostages-in-1981-the/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [A nation should not be a hostage to one man's thirst for power, and it won't. Belarusians have woken up. The point of no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya/a-nation-should-not-be-a-hostage-to-one-man-s-thirst-for-power-and-it/) [Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya/) > [I think in times of fear and hysteria in a culture, gender experimentation as it pertains to men has to go underground because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupaul/i-think-in-times-of-fear-and-hysteria-in-a-culture-gender/) [RuPaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupaul/) > [After spending 460 days as a hostage, I did emerge a fundamentally changed person. But I think, like everyone does as they grow older…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lindhout/after-spending-460-days-as-a-hostage-i-did-emerge-a-fundamentally/) [Amanda Lindhout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lindhout/) > [When death gives us a long lease of life, it takes as hostages all those whom we have loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-curchod/when-death-gives-us-a-long-lease-of-life-it-takes-as-hostages-all/) [Suzanne Curchod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-curchod/) > [There is a thin line between peace of the brave and peace of the hostage... between compromise - even calculated risk - and irresponsibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ehud-barak/there-is-a-thin-line-between-peace-of-the-brave-and-peace-of-the/) [Ehud Barak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ehud-barak/) > [Has one hostage from Lebanon come back with a photograph of his abductors? Has any hostage ever come back with a photograph of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-schultz/has-one-hostage-from-lebanon-come-back-with-a-photograph-of-his/) [Dwight Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-schultz/) > [I had a great dislike to the annoyances entailed by baggage; and it was always with some feeling of elation that I cut myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/i-had-a-great-dislike-to-the-annoyances-entailed-by-baggage-and-it/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) ## More by Orson Scott Card > [“You underestimate yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/you-underestimate-yourself/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“Why did he hesitate? He finally admitted to himself that he was like an American child who was almost completely certain about Santa Claus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/why-did-he-hesitate-he-finally-admitted-to-himself-that-he-was-like/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“I don't know of a soul who doesn't maintain two separate lists of doctrines - the ones they believe they believe; and the ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-don-t-know-of-a-soul-who-doesn-t-maintain-two-separate-lists-of/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Good people do not let others suffer needlessly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/good-people-do-not-let-others-suffer-needlessly/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“The devil?” Jason heaved the tick over his shoulder like a collier with his sack. “Satan. The adversary. The enemy of the plan of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/the-devil-jason-heaved-the-tick-over-his-shoulder-like-a-collier-with/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“What we've done is make the categories of science fiction and fantasy larger, freer, and more inclusive than any other genre of contemporary literature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/what-we-ve-done-is-make-the-categories-of-science-fiction-and-fantasy/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Where ideas are real and reality is shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/where-ideas-are-real-and-reality-is-shadow/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“Ender, for the past few months you have been the battle commander of our fleets. This was the Third Invasion. There were no games,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/ender-for-the-past-few-months-you-have-been-the-battle-commander-of/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Science fiction is about what could be but isn't; fantasy is about what couldn't be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/science-fiction-is-about-what-could-be-but-isn-t-fantasy-is-about/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Knowledge is just opinion that you trust enough to act upon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/knowledge-is-just-opinion-that-you-trust-enough-to-act-upon/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“Of course they accused Marcão of having done it without provocation—that’s the way of torturers of every age, to put the blame on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/of-course-they-accused-marc-o-of-having-done-it-without-provocation/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“Where did this whole thing begin? If what we think of as reality is just a pattern that somebody brought Outside, and the universe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/where-did-this-whole-thing-begin-if-what-we-think-of-as-reality-is/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) [Explore all 1,158 Orson Scott Card quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) ## More Affection quotes > [My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with diffiulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/my-team-and-i-have-reunited-two-elements-that-coexist-with-diffiulty/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [Needs cause motivation. Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [“It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/it-is-to-build-a-house-with-affection-even-as-if-your-beloved-were-to/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There are a number of qualities which are important for mental peace, but from the little experience I have, I believe that one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-are-a-number-of-qualities-which-are-important-for-mental-peace/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [A lost love. Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [Affection! Affection is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/affection-affection-is-false/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Listen, I have a great affection and respect for Joe Biden. I think he's been a great vice president. He's taken on a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-axelrod/listen-i-have-a-great-affection-and-respect-for-joe-biden-i-think-he/) [David Axelrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-axelrod/) > [The still affection of the heart Became an outward breathing type, That into stillness past again, And left a want unknown before; Although the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/the-still-affection-of-the-heart-became-an-outward-breathing-type/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [I am persuaded that there is no affection of the human heart more exquisitely pure, than that which is felt by a grateful son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/i-am-persuaded-that-there-is-no-affection-of-the-human-heart-more/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Our sweetest experiences of affection are meant to be suggestions of that realm which is the home of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/our-sweetest-experiences-of-affection-are-meant-to-be-suggestions-of/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Browse all 2,465 Affection quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Personal affection is a luxury you can have only after all your enemies are eliminated. 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