--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The bond between a man and his profession…" description: "\"The bond between a man and his profession is similar to that which ties him to his country; it is just as complex, often ambivalent, and in general it ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/110/primo-levi-2751_ambivalent_the-bond-between-a-man-and-his-professio_2913404.jpg" --- # The bond between a man and his profession is similar to… ![“The bond between a man and his profession is similar to that which ties him to his country; it is just as complex, often ambivalent, and in general it is understood completely only when it is broken: by exile or emigration in the case of one's country, by retirement in the case of a trade or…” quote by Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/110/primo-levi-2751_ambivalent_the-bond-between-a-man-and-his-professio_2913404.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/110/primo-levi-2751_ambivalent_the-bond-between-a-man-and-his-professio_2913404.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/110/primo-levi-2751_ambivalent_the-bond-between-a-man-and-his-professio_2913404.jpg) > “The bond between a man and his profession is similar to that which ties him to his country; it is just as complex, often ambivalent, and in general it is understood completely only when it is broken: by exile or emigration in the case of one's country, by retirement in the case of a trade or profession.” [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Professional identity mirrors national identity; both become clear only when disrupted by exile or retirement. **In simple terms:** Identity revealed by loss. Key Takeaway Recognize ties to work. Themes identity profession exile Mood reflective thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - career transition - immigration - retirement planning Key Concepts sociology psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you prepare for identity shifts? - What supports resilience after loss? A Different Perspective Disruption can cause crisis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambivalent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambivalent/) [Broken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken/) [Career](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/career/) [Cases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cases/) [Complex Ambivalent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complex-ambivalent-4206972/) [Complexes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexes/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Emigration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emigration/) [Exile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exile/) [Exile Emigration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exile-emigration-4206971/) [Funny retirement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny-retirement/) [Man Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-profession-1855250/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Military](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/military/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) [Retirement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/retirement/) [Ties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ties/) [Trade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trade/) [Trade Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trade-profession-4206973/) [Understood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understood/) ## Related quotes > [It's a question of economics. If you're paid the same as a man, which now you are in this profession, you're equal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-rigg/it-s-a-question-of-economics-if-you-re-paid-the-same-as-a-man-which/) [Diana Rigg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-rigg/) > [This is still a man's profession, with a lot of men who intellectually and emotionally have not accepted that the military could be women's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-korb/this-is-still-a-man-s-profession-with-a-lot-of-men-who-intellectually/) [Lawrence Korb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-korb/) > [To become an able and successful man in any profession, three things are necessary, nature, study and practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/to-become-an-able-and-successful-man-in-any-profession-three-things/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [How wonderful it is to be the man who is in the profession of making you happy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-wonderful-it-is-to-be-the-man-who-is-in-the-profession-of-making/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thoughts on the Merits of Work The worst of work nowadays is what happens to people when they cease to work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/thoughts-on-the-merits-of-work-the-worst-of-work-nowadays-is-what/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Introverts listen better, they assess risks more carefully, they can be wiser managers. It's not for nothing that the Silicon Valley billionaires are so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-kluger/introverts-listen-better-they-assess-risks-more-carefully-they-can-be/) [Jeffrey Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-kluger/) > [Art is one of the few careers without a mandatory retirement age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-cameron/art-is-one-of-the-few-careers-without-a-mandatory-retirement-age/) [Julia Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-cameron/) > [Adultery itself in its principle is many times nothing but a curious inquisition after, and envy of another man's enclosed pleasures: and there have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-taylor/adultery-itself-in-its-principle-is-many-times-nothing-but-a-curious/) [Jeremy Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-taylor/) > [There's an enormous number of managers who have retired on the job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/there-s-an-enormous-number-of-managers-who-have-retired-on-the-job/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [When you retire, you switch bosses - from the one who hired you to the one who married you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-perret/when-you-retire-you-switch-bosses-from-the-one-who-hired-you-to-the/) [Gene Perret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-perret/) > [Retirement: That's when you return from work one day and say, "Hi, Honey, I'm home - forever."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-perret/retirement-that-s-when-you-return-from-work-one-day-and-say-hi-honey/) [Gene Perret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-perret/) > [In my retirement I go for a short swim at least once or twice every day. It's either that or buy a new golf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-perret/in-my-retirement-i-go-for-a-short-swim-at-least-once-or-twice-every/) [Gene Perret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-perret/) > [We have to thank God for this retirement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgil/we-have-to-thank-god-for-this-retirement/) [Virgil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgil/) > [Retirement is wonderful. It's doing nothing without worrying about getting caught at it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-perret/retirement-is-wonderful-it-s-doing-nothing-without-worrying-about/) [Gene Perret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-perret/) > [For retirement brings repose, and repose allows a kindly judgment of all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sharp-williams/for-retirement-brings-repose-and-repose-allows-a-kindly-judgment-of/) [John Sharp Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sharp-williams/) ## More by Primo Levi > [I too entered the Lager as a nonbeliever, and as a nonbeliever I was liberated and have lived to this day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/i-too-entered-the-lager-as-a-nonbeliever-and-as-a-nonbeliever-i-was/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [Man is a centaur, a tangle of flesh and mind, divine inspiration and dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/man-is-a-centaur-a-tangle-of-flesh-and-mind-divine-inspiration-and/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [Our ignorance allowed us to live, as you are in the mountains, and your rope is frayed and about to break, but you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/our-ignorance-allowed-us-to-live-as-you-are-in-the-mountains-and-your/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [“Válka, to je hlavně velký zmatek, na poli i v lidských hlavách: často člověk ani nechápe, kdo vlastně vítězí a kdo prohrává, o tom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/v-lka-to-je-hlavn-velk-zmatek-na-poli-i-v-lidsk-ch-hlav-ch-asto-lov-k/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [“An extreme case of the distortion of the memory of a committed guilty act is found in its suppression. Here, too, the borderline between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/an-extreme-case-of-the-distortion-of-the-memory-of-a-committed-guilty/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [“It was the shame we knew so well, the shame that drowned us after the selections, and every time we had to watch, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/it-was-the-shame-we-knew-so-well-the-shame-that-drowned-us-after-the/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [An enemy who sees the error of his ways ceases to be an enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/an-enemy-who-sees-the-error-of-his-ways-ceases-to-be-an-enemy/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [“Willingly or not we come to terms with power, forgetting that we are all in the ghetto, that the ghetto is walled in, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/willingly-or-not-we-come-to-terms-with-power-forgetting-that-we-are/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [Nothing can be said: nothing sure, nothing probable, nothing honest. Better to err through omission than through commission: better to refrain from steering the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/nothing-can-be-said-nothing-sure-nothing-probable-nothing-honest/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [“We were also born," Line said abruptly. Mendel questioned her with a look, and Line tried to clarify her thought: "Born, expelled. Russia conceived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/we-were-also-born-line-said-abruptly-mendel-questioned-her-with-a/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [“They are the typical product of the structure of the German Lager: if one offers a position of privilege to a few individuals in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/they-are-the-typical-product-of-the-structure-of-the-german-lager-if/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [Anyone who has obeyed nature by transmitting a piece of gossip experiences the explosive relief that accompanies the satisfying of a primary need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/anyone-who-has-obeyed-nature-by-transmitting-a-piece-of-gossip/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [I beg the reader not to go in search of messages. It is a term that I detest because it distresses me greatly, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/i-beg-the-reader-not-to-go-in-search-of-messages-it-is-a-term-that-i/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [“One of them declared: 'Doing this work, one either goes crazy the first day or gets accustomed to it.' Another, though: 'Certainly I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/one-of-them-declared-doing-this-work-one-either-goes-crazy-the-first/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [For me chemistry represented an indefinite cloud of future potentialities which enveloped my life to come in black volutes torn by fiery flashes, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/for-me-chemistry-represented-an-indefinite-cloud-of-future/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) [Explore all 130 Primo Levi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) ## More Ambivalent quotes > [“I find it ironic that someone so ambivalent about living fights so hard to survive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-grover-swank/i-find-it-ironic-that-someone-so-ambivalent-about-living-fights-so/) [Denise Grover Swank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-grover-swank/) > [Americans have always had an ambivalent attitude toward intelligence. When they feel threatened, they want a lot of it, and when they don't, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-a-walters/americans-have-always-had-an-ambivalent-attitude-toward-intelligence/) [Vernon A. Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-a-walters/) > [When you 'make good,' you find out who your real friends are. You find out pretty quick. And it's a very ambivalent feeling, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-camp/when-you-make-good-you-find-out-who-your-real-friends-are-you-find/) [Greg Camp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-camp/) > [There is scarcely room for doubt that something in the psychological relation of a mother-in-law to a son-in-law breeds hostility between them and makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/there-is-scarcely-room-for-doubt-that-something-in-the-psychological/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The attitude of the American public toward the external projection of American power has been much more ambivalent. The public supported America's engagement in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/the-attitude-of-the-american-public-toward-the-external-projection-of/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [Gollum was so interesting to me because he's morally ambivalent, and I love the notion of a quest that is to lose something. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/gollum-was-so-interesting-to-me-because-he-s-morally-ambivalent-and-i/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [The American public is somewhat ambivalent about what they expect out of thenational forest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-regula/the-american-public-is-somewhat-ambivalent-about-what-they-expect-out/) [Ralph Regula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-regula/) > [What does it mean then to live with one another? It can be unhappy, it can be wretched, it can be ambivalent, it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/what-does-it-mean-then-to-live-with-one-another-it-can-be-unhappy-it/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“The unconscious operation of the attachment system via internal working models probably plays an important part in the choice of marital partner and relationship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-holmes/the-unconscious-operation-of-the-attachment-system-via-internal/) [Jeremy Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-holmes/) > [I'd like to see a much more open Monarchy, myself. 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They (groups like the Islamic State) have no ideology beyond violence and chaos and the slaughter of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/it-s-time-to-stop-being-ambivalent-they-groups-like-the-islamic-state/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [We all have ambivalent feelings toward work ... We try to avoid it, and yet we seem to require it for our emotional well-being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-florman/we-all-have-ambivalent-feelings-toward-work-we-try-to-avoid-it-and/) [Samuel Florman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-florman/) > [I worked with fantastic actors, fantastic directors. People I would never otherwise have met. Was I limited? Yes. Did I use it as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valeria-golino/i-worked-with-fantastic-actors-fantastic-directors-people-i-would/) [Valeria Golino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valeria-golino/) [Browse all 89 Ambivalent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambivalent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The bond between a man and his profession is similar to that which ties him to his country; it is just as complex, often ambivalent, and in general it is understood completely only when it is broken: by exile or emigration in the case of one's country, by retirement in the case of a trade or profession.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Primo Levi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/the-bond-between-a-man-and-his-profession-is-similar-to-that-which/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambivalent" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/the-bond-between-a-man-and-his-profession-is-similar-to-that-which/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/110/primo-levi-2751_ambivalent_the-bond-between-a-man-and-his-professio_2913404.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/110/primo-levi-2751_ambivalent_the-bond-between-a-man-and-his-professio_2913404.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/110/primo-levi-2751_ambivalent_the-bond-between-a-man-and-his-professio_2913404.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The bond between a man and his profession is similar to that which ties him to his country; it is just as…” — Primo Levi", "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": "Primo Levi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The bond between a man and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/the-bond-between-a-man-and-his-profession-is-similar-to-that-which/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/the-bond-between-a-man-and-his-profession-is-similar-to-that-which/#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 } } ] } ```