--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Many Americans knew their lives and their…" description: "\"Many Americans knew their lives and their souls were being struggled for, and they fought for it. And I felt I should carry on.\" — Pete Seeger" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/pete-seeger-1942_felt_many-americans-knew-their-lives-and-thei_1604253.png" --- # Many Americans knew their lives and their souls were being… ![“Many Americans knew their lives and their souls were being struggled for, and they fought for it. And I felt I should carry on.” quote by Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/pete-seeger-1942_felt_many-americans-knew-their-lives-and-thei_1604253.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/pete-seeger-1942_felt_many-americans-knew-their-lives-and-thei_1604253.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/pete-seeger-1942_felt_many-americans-knew-their-lives-and-thei_1604253.png) > “Many Americans knew their lives and their souls were being struggled for, and they fought for it. And I felt I should carry on.” [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People recognize their lives and souls are under threat, prompting them to fight and persevere. **In simple terms:** Fight for what matters. Key Takeaway Stand up for justice. Themes activism resilience solidarity Mood determined hopeful Type inspirational political When to use this quote - protests - community organizing - personal conviction - historical struggles Key Concepts civil rights social movements Questions to Reflect On - What cause drives you to act? - How do you sustain hope? A Different Perspective Opposition can be overwhelming and risky. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Americans Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans-knew-3816390/) [Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt/) [Fought Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fought-felt-6106032/) [Obstacle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obstacle/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Souls Struggled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/souls-struggled-6106031/) [Struggled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggled/) [Struggled Fought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggled-fought-3338564/) ## Related quotes > [The old people, they struggled, they fought the elements, they fought everything was against them here. The river, the summers and the heat. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-johnson/the-old-people-they-struggled-they-fought-the-elements-they-fought/) [Calvin Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-johnson/) > [September 11 awoke us to the threat of terrorism. It was forever bookmarked in our history as the day when life as Americans knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-forbes/september-11-awoke-us-to-the-threat-of-terrorism-it-was-forever/) [Randy Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-forbes/) > [You look at the Russian side: They're defending their territory from the beginning. They move west to destroy the Nazis. And they take out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-stone/you-look-at-the-russian-side-they-re-defending-their-territory-from/) [Oliver Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-stone/) > [They were a strange and mercantile people, these Americans. One never knew what they might come up with next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-willig/they-were-a-strange-and-mercantile-people-these-americans-one-never/) [Lauren Willig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-willig/) > [If Americans knew how to deal with other people, they could bring peace to the world. Alas, they have not learned enough yet. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nguyen-cao-ky/if-americans-knew-how-to-deal-with-other-people-they-could-bring/) [Nguyen Cao Ky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nguyen-cao-ky/) > [I've struggled in my life. I've had hard times, but I kept pressing on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwyane-wade/i-ve-struggled-in-my-life-i-ve-had-hard-times-but-i-kept-pressing-on/) [Dwyane Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwyane-wade/) > [I have to certainly stand for life. I know that there are some who disagree, and I respect their point of view. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mourdock/i-have-to-certainly-stand-for-life-i-know-that-there-are-some-who/) [Richard Mourdock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mourdock/) > [Both my parents were actors and they struggled, so I was raised with that. Being raised in this industry from a young age definitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camila-morrone/both-my-parents-were-actors-and-they-struggled-so-i-was-raised-with/) [Camila Morrone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camila-morrone/) > [“She picked up her book and tried to read but it was heavy in her hands. She struggled to hold it, wanting to finish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-penny/she-picked-up-her-book-and-tried-to-read-but-it-was-heavy-in-her/) [Louise Penny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-penny/) > [I have made mistakes, but I didn't make them again. Even when I struggled, I promised myself never to submit in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-blachowicz/i-have-made-mistakes-but-i-didn-t-make-them-again-even-when-i/) [Jan Blachowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-blachowicz/) > [I wanted to set 'Heading Out' in a real world, a concept I originally struggled with, as I don't have a proper job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-perkins/i-wanted-to-set-heading-out-in-a-real-world-a-concept-i-originally/) [Sue Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-perkins/) > [I was just a toddler when my dad died in a car crash. With my mum, Eunice, being a young widow with a large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-mortimer/i-was-just-a-toddler-when-my-dad-died-in-a-car-crash-with-my-mum/) [Bob Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-mortimer/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [Like many teens, I struggled with my body and looks, but my despair was amplified by the expectations of cisnormativity and the gender binary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-mock/like-many-teens-i-struggled-with-my-body-and-looks-but-my-despair-was/) [Janet Mock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-mock/) > [I struggled and I did theater for 10 years, for 15 years, I tried to get little parts here and there in TV shows.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-tupper/i-struggled-and-i-did-theater-for-10-years-for-15-years-i-tried-to/) [James Tupper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-tupper/) ## More by Pete Seeger > [Honest songs aren't written for money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/honest-songs-aren-t-written-for-money/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [My father, Charles Seeger, got me into the Communist movement. He backed out around '38. I drifted out in the 50's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/my-father-charles-seeger-got-me-into-the-communist-movement-he-backed/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [In the sixties, during the Vietnam war, when anarchists and pacifists and socialists, Democrats and Republicans, decent-hearted Americans, all recoiled with horror at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/in-the-sixties-during-the-vietnam-war-when-anarchists-and-pacifists/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [Now somebody will ask me, Pete, how can you prove these songs really make a difference? And I have to confess I can't prove…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/now-somebody-will-ask-me-pete-how-can-you-prove-these-songs-really/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [The truth is a rabbit in a bramble patch. All you can do is circle around and say it's somewhere in there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/the-truth-is-a-rabbit-in-a-bramble-patch-all-you-can-do-is-circle/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [I was about 16 years old years when my father took me to a square dance festival in North Carolina. For the first time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/i-was-about-16-years-old-years-when-my-father-took-me-to-a-square/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [It was Rachel Carson's famous book 'Silent Spring' that got me involved with the environment. I read it in The New Yorker, in installments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/it-was-rachel-carson-s-famous-book-silent-spring-that-got-me-involved/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [When you play the 12-string guitar, you spend half your life tuning the instrument and the other half playing it out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/when-you-play-the-12-string-guitar-you-spend-half-your-life-tuning/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [Folks out in the country couldn't afford to pay for anybody else to make music. They had to make their own. So the peasantry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/folks-out-in-the-country-couldn-t-afford-to-pay-for-anybody-else-to/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [If there's something wrong, speak up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/if-there-s-something-wrong-speak-up/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [This world is so full of hypocrisy, the only way you can be honest is to be a hermit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/this-world-is-so-full-of-hypocrisy-the-only-way-you-can-be-honest-is/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [There is a big, beautiful world that could be destroyed by selfishness and foolishness. We musicians have it within our power to help save…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/there-is-a-big-beautiful-world-that-could-be-destroyed-by-selfishness/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [And the people in the houses All went to the University And they got put in boxes Little boxes all the same, Little boxes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/and-the-people-in-the-houses-all-went-to-the-university-and-they-got/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [A good song reminds us what we're fighting for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/a-good-song-reminds-us-what-we-re-fighting-for/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [Most conservatives just want to turn back the clock to a time before the income tax - 100 years or so. I would like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/most-conservatives-just-want-to-turn-back-the-clock-to-a-time-before/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) [Explore all 196 Pete Seeger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) ## More Felt quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [I have long felt that the way to keep children out of trouble is to keep them interested in things. Lecturing to children is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/i-have-long-felt-that-the-way-to-keep-children-out-of-trouble-is-to/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [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/) > [Hackney gets a bit of a bad rap, but it's the only place I've ever lived that felt like a community. I know my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-horgan/hackney-gets-a-bit-of-a-bad-rap-but-it-s-the-only-place-i-ve-ever/) [Sharon Horgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-horgan/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [The more I read about feeding times, sleep times and waking-up times, the more inadequate and miserable I felt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-porter/the-more-i-read-about-feeding-times-sleep-times-and-waking-up-times/) [Gail Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-porter/) > [I have touched with a sense of art some people-they felt the love and the life. Can you offer me anything to compare to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-cassatt/i-have-touched-with-a-sense-of-art-some-people-they-felt-the-love-and/) [Mary Cassatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-cassatt/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [When I made it, I still didn't wave the flag and say, Yeah go Asian people. I do want people to know that about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-hugo/when-i-made-it-i-still-didn-t-wave-the-flag-and-say-yeah-go-asian/) [Chad Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-hugo/) > [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/) [Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/) > [My life was incoherent to me. I felt it quivering, spitting out broken teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/my-life-was-incoherent-to-me-i-felt-it-quivering-spitting-out-broken/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [I felt pretty good growing up. I didnt feel a lot of prejudice or racism. But I do remember, if there was going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-henry-hwang/i-felt-pretty-good-growing-up-i-didnt-feel-a-lot-of-prejudice-or/) [David Henry Hwang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-henry-hwang/) > [I never felt like running away from my dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paresh-rawal/i-never-felt-like-running-away-from-my-dreams/) [Paresh Rawal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paresh-rawal/) > [When I discovered drama, I felt a connection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-fearon/when-i-discovered-drama-i-felt-a-connection/) [Ray Fearon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-fearon/) [Browse all 9,592 Felt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Many Americans knew their lives and their souls were being struggled for, and they fought for it. And I felt I should carry on.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Seeger" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/many-americans-knew-their-lives-and-their-souls-were-being-struggled/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Felt" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/many-americans-knew-their-lives-and-their-souls-were-being-struggled/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/pete-seeger-1942_felt_many-americans-knew-their-lives-and-thei_1604253.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/pete-seeger-1942_felt_many-americans-knew-their-lives-and-thei_1604253.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/985/pete-seeger-1942_felt_many-americans-knew-their-lives-and-thei_1604253.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Many Americans knew their lives and their souls were being struggled for, and they fought for it. And I felt…” — Pete Seeger", "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": "Pete Seeger", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Many Americans knew their lives and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/many-americans-knew-their-lives-and-their-souls-were-being-struggled/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/many-americans-knew-their-lives-and-their-souls-were-being-struggled/#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 } } ] } ```