--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He who has nothing—it has been said many…" description: "\"He who has nothing—it has been said many times—has nothing to lose but his chains.\" — Pablo Neruda" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae7/pablo-neruda-435_chains_he-who-has-nothing-it-has-been-said-many_1864012.jpg" --- # He who has nothing—it has been said many times—has nothing… ![“He who has nothing—it has been said many times—has nothing to lose but his chains.” quote by Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae7/pablo-neruda-435_chains_he-who-has-nothing-it-has-been-said-many_1864012.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae7/pablo-neruda-435_chains_he-who-has-nothing-it-has-been-said-many_1864012.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae7/pablo-neruda-435_chains_he-who-has-nothing-it-has-been-said-many_1864012.jpg) > “He who has nothing—it has been said many times—has nothing to lose but his chains.” [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freedom is most valuable when one recognizes the weight of oppression and chooses to break it. **In simple terms:** Freedom comes from shedding oppression. Key Takeaway Recognize and release what binds you. Themes freedom oppression self‑empowerment Mood defiant reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal growth - activism - mental health - relationship dynamics Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What personal chains hold you back? - How can you transform loss into liberation? A Different Perspective Chains may be internal as well as external, making change harder. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chains/) [Nothing to lose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothing-to-lose/) ## Related quotes > [Slaves lose everything in their chains, even the desire of escaping from them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/slaves-lose-everything-in-their-chains-even-the-desire-of-escaping/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“You have nothing to lose but the chains of reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-davis/you-have-nothing-to-lose-but-the-chains-of-reality/) Harold Davis > [“How may times can you lose the one you love?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-james/how-may-times-can-you-lose-the-one-you-love/) [Lauren James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-james/) > [I always say that at some times you can lose perspective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-trent-d-arby/i-always-say-that-at-some-times-you-can-lose-perspective/) [Terence Trent D'Arby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-trent-d-arby/) > [Many times we lose courage at the point when success is waiting for us right at the next turn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/many-times-we-lose-courage-at-the-point-when-success-is-waiting-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There will always be times when we get beaten, said Bill Shankly. There will always be times when we lose. But the important thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-peace/there-will-always-be-times-when-we-get-beaten-said-bill-shankly-there/) [David Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-peace/) > [You're not going to be at the top of your game all the time. There's going to be times when you lose a few.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-drummond/you-re-not-going-to-be-at-the-top-of-your-game-all-the-time-there-s/) [Andre Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-drummond/) > [A lot of times you can lose the MP3s - it's a lot of labor to be finding it again, putting things back up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/afrika-bambaataa/a-lot-of-times-you-can-lose-the-mp3s-it-s-a-lot-of-labor-to-be/) [Afrika Bambaataa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/afrika-bambaataa/) > [“times. As we lose sight of what the Anglosphere has achieved, we risk losing the institutions that have served to make it what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-hannan/times-as-we-lose-sight-of-what-the-anglosphere-has-achieved-we-risk/) [Daniel Hannan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-hannan/) > [The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They open declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/the-communists-disdain-to-conceal-their-views-and-aims-they-open/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Underachievers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose except your fright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/underachievers-of-the-world-unite-you-have-nothing-to-lose-except/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [Being sixty-five ... became a crossroads. We said, we have nothing to lose, so we can raise hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-kuhn/being-sixty-five-became-a-crossroads-we-said-we-have-nothing-to-lose/) [Maggie Kuhn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-kuhn/) > [We have nothing to lose, nothing to gain, nothing we desired anymore- except to make our lives into a work of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-del-rey/we-have-nothing-to-lose-nothing-to-gain-nothing-we-desired-anymore/) [Lana Del Rey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-del-rey/) > [“When you give everything, you have nothing to lose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-mcgahan/when-you-give-everything-you-have-nothing-to-lose/) [Kate McGahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-mcgahan/) > [Eating alone is a disappointment. But not eating matter more, is hollow and green, has thorns like a chain of fish hooks, trailing from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/eating-alone-is-a-disappointment-but-not-eating-matter-more-is-hollow/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) ## More by Pablo Neruda > [For me writing is like breathing. I could not live without breathing and I could not live without writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/for-me-writing-is-like-breathing-i-could-not-live-without-breathing/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Our love was born outside the walls, in the wind, in the night, in the earth, and that's why the clay and the flower,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/our-love-was-born-outside-the-walls-in-the-wind-in-the-night-in-the/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“I remember only a day that was perhaps never intended for me, it was an incessant day, without origins, Thursday. I was a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-remember-only-a-day-that-was-perhaps-never-intended-for-me-it-was/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“We had, as men, time So our thirst could slowly be satisfied, the ancestral longing to enumerate things and sum them up, to render…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-had-as-men-time-so-our-thirst-could-slowly-be-satisfied-the/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [We bear the sole, relentless tenderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-bear-the-sole-relentless-tenderness/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [I don't know who it is who lives or dies, who rests or wakes, but it is your heart that distributes all the graces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-don-t-know-who-it-is-who-lives-or-dies-who-rests-or-wakes-but-it-is/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs, you look like a world, lying in surrender. My rough peasant's body digs in you and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/body-of-a-woman-white-hills-white-thighs-you-look-like-a-world-lying/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [We open the halves of a miracle, and a clotting of acids brims into the starry divisions: creation's original juices, irreducible, changeless, alive: so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/we-open-the-halves-of-a-miracle-and-a-clotting-of-acids-brims-into/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Take bread away from me, if you wish, take air away, but do not take from me your laughter. Do not take away the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/take-bread-away-from-me-if-you-wish-take-air-away-but-do-not-take/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Perhaps the earth can teach us As when everything seems dead And later proves to be alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/perhaps-the-earth-can-teach-us-as-when-everything-seems-dead-and/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“I am no longer in love with her, that's certain, but maybe I love her. Love is so short, forgetting is so long.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-am-no-longer-in-love-with-her-that-s-certain-but-maybe-i-love-her/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Body of a woman, white hills, white thighs, you look like a world, lying in surrender.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/body-of-a-woman-white-hills-white-thighs-you-look-like-a-world-lying-2/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“ I Like For You To Be Still I like for you to be still It is as though you are absent And you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-like-for-you-to-be-still-i-like-for-you-to-be-still-it-is-as-though/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“Tonight I Can Write”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/tonight-i-can-write/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) [Explore all 457 Pablo Neruda quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) ## More Chains quotes > [Unchecked, the new tolerance will sooner or later put many people in chains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-carson/unchecked-the-new-tolerance-will-sooner-or-later-put-many-people-in/) [D. A. Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-carson/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The Chains of conformity click in tiresomely monotonous unison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-sweet/the-chains-of-conformity-click-in-tiresomely-monotonous-unison/) [Leonard Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-sweet/) > [The dark ages still reign over all humanity, and the depth and persistence of this domination are only now becoming clear. This Dark Ages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-dark-ages-still-reign-over-all-humanity-and-the-depth-and/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [I don't have a huge amount of gear, but on the software side, I have a number of plug-in chains that act as abstracted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-hopkins/i-don-t-have-a-huge-amount-of-gear-but-on-the-software-side-i-have-a/) [Jon Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-hopkins/) > [We don't have a farm-to-table food safety system. I keep saying this. It came as a big surprise to the FDA that tomatoes were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-nestle/we-don-t-have-a-farm-to-table-food-safety-system-i-keep-saying-this/) [Marion Nestle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-nestle/) > [So many times we come to Jesus in worship and ask Him for things that He already IS and has already done... What a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-nockels/so-many-times-we-come-to-jesus-in-worship-and-ask-him-for-things-that/) Christy Nockels > [How can I set free anyone who doesn't have the guts to stand up alone and declare his own freedom? I think it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/how-can-i-set-free-anyone-who-doesn-t-have-the-guts-to-stand-up-alone/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [I'm bigger than you! I'm higher on the food chain - get in my belly!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-myers/i-m-bigger-than-you-i-m-higher-on-the-food-chain-get-in-my-belly/) [Mike Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-myers/) > [The chains will fall off freely, no more worries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dl-watson/the-chains-will-fall-off-freely-no-more-worries/) DL WATSON > [I am ever mindful of the legacy of my grandfather, the founder of this Kingdom, who had said to me that he perceived his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/king-hussein-i/i-am-ever-mindful-of-the-legacy-of-my-grandfather-the-founder-of-this/) [King Hussein I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/king-hussein-i/) > [Think about it: we went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. We went into slavery pieces of property; we came out American citizens.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/think-about-it-we-went-into-slavery-pagans-we-came-out-christians-we/) [Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/) > [To one who is accustomed to thinking a lot, every new thought that he hears or reads about immediately appears as a link in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/to-one-who-is-accustomed-to-thinking-a-lot-every-new-thought-that-he/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Man's ethics must not end with man, but should extend to the universe. He must regain the consciousness of the great Chain of Life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/man-s-ethics-must-not-end-with-man-but-should-extend-to-the-universe/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [To sigh, yet feel no pain; To weep, yet scarce know why; To sport an hour with Beauty's chain, Then throw it idly by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/to-sigh-yet-feel-no-pain-to-weep-yet-scarce-know-why-to-sport-an-hour/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) [Browse all 1,639 Chains quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chains/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He who has nothing—it has been said many times—has nothing to lose but his chains.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pablo Neruda" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/he-who-has-nothing-it-has-been-said-many-times-has-nothing-to-lose/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chains" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/he-who-has-nothing-it-has-been-said-many-times-has-nothing-to-lose/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae7/pablo-neruda-435_chains_he-who-has-nothing-it-has-been-said-many_1864012.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae7/pablo-neruda-435_chains_he-who-has-nothing-it-has-been-said-many_1864012.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae7/pablo-neruda-435_chains_he-who-has-nothing-it-has-been-said-many_1864012.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He who has nothing—it has been said many times—has nothing to lose but his chains.” — Pablo Neruda", "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": "Pablo Neruda", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "He who has nothing—it has been...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/he-who-has-nothing-it-has-been-said-many-times-has-nothing-to-lose/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/he-who-has-nothing-it-has-been-said-many-times-has-nothing-to-lose/#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 } } ] } ```