--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life is to be lived, not controlled, and…" description: "\"Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.\" — Ralph Ellison" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ralph-ellison-2676_defeat_life-is-to-be-lived-not-controlled-and-h_2471966.png" --- # Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won… ![“Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.” quote by Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ralph-ellison-2676_defeat_life-is-to-be-lived-not-controlled-and-h_2471966.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ralph-ellison-2676_defeat_life-is-to-be-lived-not-controlled-and-h_2471966.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ralph-ellison-2676_defeat_life-is-to-be-lived-not-controlled-and-h_2471966.png) > “Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.” [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life should be embraced actively, not dominated by control, and humanity thrives when we continue to engage despite inevitable defeat. **In simple terms:** Live fully, resist domination, and keep playing despite loss. Key Takeaway Embrace resilience and agency in the face of adversity. Themes existence resilience humanity agency defeat Mood hopeful determined Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - personal development - creative pursuits - social movements - overcoming challenges Key Concepts existentialism psychology philosophy of action Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to “play” in defeat? - How can we balance control and freedom? A Different Perspective The notion may overlook structural constraints that limit individual agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certain Defeat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain-defeat-770417/) [Controlled Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/controlled-humanity-770416/) [Defeat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeat/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Humanity Won](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity-won-770415/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) ## Related quotes > [America is woven of many strands; I would recognize them and let it so remain. It's 'winner take nothing' that is the great truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/america-is-woven-of-many-strands-i-would-recognize-them-and-let-it-so-2/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-lafayette/humanity-has-won-its-battle-liberty-now-has-a-country/) [Marquis de Lafayette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-lafayette/) > [There is nothing more certain than the defeat of the man who gives up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-a-sheehan/there-is-nothing-more-certain-than-the-defeat-of-the-man-who-gives-up/) [George A. Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-a-sheehan/) > [Nothing is more certain than the defeat of a man who gives up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-a-sheehan/nothing-is-more-certain-than-the-defeat-of-a-man-who-gives-up/) [George A. Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-a-sheehan/) > [“There was no guarantee of victory if I remained the same or just tried to be myself, but there was certain defeat in pretending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-w-lord/there-was-no-guarantee-of-victory-if-i-remained-the-same-or-just/) [J. W. Lord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-w-lord/) > [The power of good is shown not by triumphantly conquering evil, but by continuing to resist evil while facing certain defeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-hamilton/the-power-of-good-is-shown-not-by-triumphantly-conquering-evil-but-by/) [Edith Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-hamilton/) > [The word 'defeat' is not to be found in my dictionary, and everyone who is selected as a recruit in my army may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-word-defeat-is-not-to-be-found-in-my-dictionary-and-everyone-who/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Power, for the writer…lies in his ability to reveal if only a little bit more about the complexity of humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/power-for-the-writer-lies-in-his-ability-to-reveal-if-only-a-little/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-must-not-lose-faith-in-humanity-humanity-is-like-an-ocean-if-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [He is not humanity deified. He is not Godhead humanized. He is God. He is man. He is all that God is, and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/he-is-not-humanity-deified-he-is-not-godhead-humanized-he-is-god-he/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [“I now know that deep within the human concept is something dark, selfish, and completely willing to do whatever is necessary to support the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-west/i-now-know-that-deep-within-the-human-concept-is-something-dark/) [Melissa West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-west/) > [“Is there any holy beings like human beings?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/is-there-any-holy-beings-like-human-beings/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) ## More by Ralph Ellison > [“Civil wars...are the best wars for the writer...because they have a way of continuing long afterwl wars between nations are resolved; because, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/civil-wars-are-the-best-wars-for-the-writer-because-they-have-a-way/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“But what a feeling can come over a man just from seeing the things he believes in and hopes for symbolized in the concrete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/but-what-a-feeling-can-come-over-a-man-just-from-seeing-the-things-he/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [I suspect that all the agony that goes into writing is borne precisely because the writer longs for acceptance-but it must be acceptance on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/i-suspect-that-all-the-agony-that-goes-into-writing-is-borne/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [Everywhere I've turned somebody has wanted to sacrifice me for my own good—only /they/ were the ones who benefited. And now we start on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/everywhere-i-ve-turned-somebody-has-wanted-to-sacrifice-me-for-my-own/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [Power, for the writer…lies in his ability to reveal if only a little bit more about the complexity of humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/power-for-the-writer-lies-in-his-ability-to-reveal-if-only-a-little/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [...and yet I am what they think I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/and-yet-i-am-what-they-think-i-am/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [And while the ice was melting to form a flood in which I threatened to drown I awoke one afternoon to find that my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/and-while-the-ice-was-melting-to-form-a-flood-in-which-i-threatened/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“Do they come to bury the others or to be entombed to give life or to receive it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/do-they-come-to-bury-the-others-or-to-be-entombed-to-give-life-or-to/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“They could laugh at him but they couldn't ignore him”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/they-could-laugh-at-him-but-they-couldn-t-ignore-him/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [Commercial rock 'n' roll music is a brutalization of the stream of contemporary Negro church music an obscene looting of a cultural expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/commercial-rock-n-roll-music-is-a-brutalization-of-the-stream-of/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“All dreamers and sleepwalkers must pay the price, and even the invisible victim is responsible for the fate of all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/all-dreamers-and-sleepwalkers-must-pay-the-price-and-even-the/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“Those two spots are among the darkest of our whole civilization--pardon me, our whole culture (an important distinction, I've heard)--which might sound like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/those-two-spots-are-among-the-darkest-of-our-whole-civilization/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [“Above the decorous walking around me, sounds of footsteps leaving the verandas of far-flung buildings and moving toward the walks and over the walks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/above-the-decorous-walking-around-me-sounds-of-footsteps-leaving-the/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone's way but my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/and-my-problem-was-that-i-always-tried-to-go-in-everyone-s-way-but-my/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [I am one of the most irresponsible beings that ever lived. Irresponsibility is part of my invisibility; any way you face it, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/i-am-one-of-the-most-irresponsible-beings-that-ever-lived/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) [Explore all 154 Ralph Ellison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) ## More Defeat quotes > [A poor self-image is the magnifying glass that can transform a trivial mistake or an imperfection into an overwhelming symbol of personal defeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-d-burns/a-poor-self-image-is-the-magnifying-glass-that-can-transform-a/) [David D. Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-d-burns/) > [Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-ochs/even-though-you-can-t-expect-to-defeat-the-absurdity-of-the-world-you/) [Phil Ochs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-ochs/) > [The devil has been defeated, stop trying to defeat him. What we have left is the fight of faith, and it's a good fight!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-oyakhilome/the-devil-has-been-defeated-stop-trying-to-defeat-him-what-we-have/) [Chris Oyakhilome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-oyakhilome/) > [If Pete’s (Sampras) child is a girl, my son will like her; if he’s a boy, my son will defeat him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-agassi/if-pete-s-sampras-child-is-a-girl-my-son-will-like-her-if-he-s-a-boy/) [Andre Agassi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-agassi/) > [All our efforts to defeat poverty and pursue sustainable development will be in vain if environmental degradation and natural resource depletion continue unabated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/all-our-efforts-to-defeat-poverty-and-pursue-sustainable-development/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [Defeat furnishes good material to the poets and the artists, but none of us care to have the glory of the conquered apply to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-glaspell/defeat-furnishes-good-material-to-the-poets-and-the-artists-but-none/) [Susan Glaspell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-glaspell/) > [“We don't have to defeat any individual but our own self.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avijeet-das/we-don-t-have-to-defeat-any-individual-but-our-own-self/) [Avijeet Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avijeet-das/) > [“Defeat is a disease, and victory is the cure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defeat-is-a-disease-and-victory-is-the-cure/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The glow of victory and the harsh chill of defeat are two sides of the same coin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-lenartowicz/the-glow-of-victory-and-the-harsh-chill-of-defeat-are-two-sides-of/) [Maria Lenartowicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-lenartowicz/) > [After a big defeat, any player feels affected - it is about how long he needs to recover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerardo-martino/after-a-big-defeat-any-player-feels-affected-it-is-about-how-long-he/) [Gerardo Martino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerardo-martino/) > [I have clearly said we faced terrorist enemies who use Islam to justify slaughtering innocent people and we have to stop them and we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-have-clearly-said-we-faced-terrorist-enemies-who-use-islam-to/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [We know from this book entitled... What is it? Surrendered? Succumbed? I can never remember the title perform. And we learn from this book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/we-know-from-this-book-entitled-what-is-it-surrendered-succumbed-i/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [The ultimate aim of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gichin-funakoshi/the-ultimate-aim-of-karate-lies-not-in-victory-or-defeat-but-in-the/) [Gichin Funakoshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gichin-funakoshi/) > [It has never been more critical that a leader step forward to accelerate our understanding of cancer - and champion the effort to finally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-j-dzau/it-has-never-been-more-critical-that-a-leader-step-forward-to/) [Victor J. Dzau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-j-dzau/) > [“It would seem no matter how progressive we get there are always those few who are backwards in their ways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solange-nicole/it-would-seem-no-matter-how-progressive-we-get-there-are-always-those/) [Solange nicole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solange-nicole/) [Browse all 2,603 Defeat quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeat/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Ellison" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/life-is-to-be-lived-not-controlled-and-humanity-is-won-by-continuing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Defeat" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/life-is-to-be-lived-not-controlled-and-humanity-is-won-by-continuing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ralph-ellison-2676_defeat_life-is-to-be-lived-not-controlled-and-h_2471966.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ralph-ellison-2676_defeat_life-is-to-be-lived-not-controlled-and-h_2471966.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/ralph-ellison-2676_defeat_life-is-to-be-lived-not-controlled-and-h_2471966.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.” — Ralph Ellison", "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": "Ralph Ellison", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Life is to be lived, not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/life-is-to-be-lived-not-controlled-and-humanity-is-won-by-continuing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/life-is-to-be-lived-not-controlled-and-humanity-is-won-by-continuing/#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 } } ] } ```