--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do not wish to remove from my present…" description: "\"I do not wish to remove from my present prison to a prison a little larger. I wish to break all prisons.\" — Ralph Waldo Emerson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/469/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_anarchy_i-do-not-wish-to-remove-from-my-present_2613052.png" --- # I do not wish to remove from my present prison to a prison… ![“I do not wish to remove from my present prison to a prison a little larger. I wish to break all prisons.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/469/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_anarchy_i-do-not-wish-to-remove-from-my-present_2613052.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/469/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_anarchy_i-do-not-wish-to-remove-from-my-present_2613052.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/469/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_anarchy_i-do-not-wish-to-remove-from-my-present_2613052.png) > “I do not wish to remove from my present prison to a prison a little larger. I wish to break all prisons.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The desire is to dismantle all oppressive systems rather than replace one confinement with another larger one. **In simple terms:** Break all prisons, not just swap them. Key Takeaway Aim to dismantle systemic oppression. Themes freedom justice activism Mood determined urgent Type political philosophical When to use this quote - activism - policy reform - community organizing Key Concepts anarchism human rights systemic critique Questions to Reflect On - What structures do you see as prisons today? - How can we replace confinement with liberation? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anarchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchy/) [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [Prisons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisons/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [“Some men seem to know exactly where their opportunities lie; they break prisons and cross whole Siberias to pursue them. One room holds me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/some-men-seem-to-know-exactly-where-their-opportunities-lie-they/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“Newton: but a lot of the guys here were in prison before they came here and they’ll still be in prison when they leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-bates/newton-but-a-lot-of-the-guys-here-were-in-prison-before-they-came/) [Laura Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-bates/) > [We're all in prison. All of us are in prison, but some of us have a key.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/we-re-all-in-prison-all-of-us-are-in-prison-but-some-of-us-have-a-key/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [A lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight — and when they come out, they’re gay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/a-lot-of-people-who-go-into-prison-go-into-prison-straight-and-when/) [Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/) > [They released me early because I was a threat to the prison. The whole prison was on lockdown. It was actually really scary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khloe-kardashian/they-released-me-early-because-i-was-a-threat-to-the-prison-the-whole/) [Khloe Kardashian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khloe-kardashian/) > [The cruelest prison of all is the prison of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piri-thomas/the-cruelest-prison-of-all-is-the-prison-of-the-mind/) [Piri Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piri-thomas/) > [There is, on the whole, nothing on earth intended for innocent people so horrible as a school. To begin with, it is a prison.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/there-is-on-the-whole-nothing-on-earth-intended-for-innocent-people/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Veels vithin veels, a prison in a prison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/veels-vithin-veels-a-prison-in-a-prison/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [People always think about what prison is. What prison really is - it's not a physical challenge, it's mental.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hill-harper/people-always-think-about-what-prison-is-what-prison-really-is-it-s/) [Hill Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hill-harper/) > [“A comfortable prison was still a prison.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/a-comfortable-prison-was-still-a-prison/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The percentage of Americans in the prison system, Prison system, has doubled since 1985](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serj-tankian/the-percentage-of-americans-in-the-prison-system-prison-system-has/) [Serj Tankian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/serj-tankian/) > [“The world of the Takers is one vast prison, and except for a handful of Leavers scattered across the world, the entire human race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-quinn/the-world-of-the-takers-is-one-vast-prison-and-except-for-a-handful/) [Daniel Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-quinn/) > [“No, by God, it is false! It wasn't a minuet that we stepped; it was a prison - a prison full of screaming hysterics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ford-madox-ford/no-by-god-it-is-false-it-wasn-t-a-minuet-that-we-stepped-it-was-a/) [Ford Madox Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ford-madox-ford/) > [“No matter how well meaning and astute the investigators are or how well-researched, witnessed and documented the incidents of cruelty are, a prison is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-k-horii/no-matter-how-well-meaning-and-astute-the-investigators-are-or-how/) Gayle K. Horii > [Remove all the traffic lights, yellow lines, one-way systems and road markings, and let blissful anarchy prevail. I imagine it would produce a kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadie-jones/remove-all-the-traffic-lights-yellow-lines-one-way-systems-and-road/) [Sadie Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadie-jones/) ## More by Ralph Waldo Emerson > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-then-creative-reading-as-well-as-creative-writing-when-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The order of things consents to virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-order-of-things-consents-to-virtue/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Life only avails, not the having lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/life-only-avails-not-the-having-lived/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-child-reminds-us-that-playtime-is-an-essential-part-of-our-daily/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [No man can be criticised but by a greater than he. Do not, then, read the reviews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/no-man-can-be-criticised-but-by-a-greater-than-he-do-not-then-read/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I am; therefore, I had nothing better to do than to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-am-therefore-i-had-nothing-better-to-do-than-to-think/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-a-library-we-are-surrounded-by-many-hundreds-of-dear-friends-but/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-compensations-of-calamity-are-made-apparent-to-the-understanding/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Explore all 4,802 Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More Anarchy quotes > [I'm in a business where there's complete anarchy. You can't control it - you can only react to it. The control that people traditionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sorrell/i-m-in-a-business-where-there-s-complete-anarchy-you-can-t-control-it/) [Martin Sorrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sorrell/) > [The "health, education, and welfare" section of government is another boondoggle. First we manufacture indigent and superfluous people by legal monopolies in land, money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurance-labadie/the-health-education-and-welfare-section-of-government-is-another/) [Laurance Labadie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurance-labadie/) > [The law is the collective organization of the individual's right to lawful defense of his life, liberty and property. When it is used for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-law-is-the-collective-organization-of-the-individual-s-right-to/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [So far I'm still standing on 'Sons of Anarchy' but all the rest of the people on the show have me in their crosshairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-pileggi/so-far-i-m-still-standing-on-sons-of-anarchy-but-all-the-rest-of-the/) Mitch Pileggi > [“Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science and Bad Religion in a World Without God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/anarchy-evolution-faith-science-and-bad-religion-in-a-world-without/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [Perhaps it is this theory of all work and no play that has made the Marxist such a very dull boy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-read/perhaps-it-is-this-theory-of-all-work-and-no-play-that-has-made-the/) [Herbert Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-read/) > [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [In morals as in politics anarchy is not for the weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/in-morals-as-in-politics-anarchy-is-not-for-the-weak/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [I think that if you run a big company, you've got to, four or five times a year, just say, 'Hey team, look, here's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-immelt/i-think-that-if-you-run-a-big-company-you-ve-got-to-four-or-five/) [Jeffrey R. Immelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-immelt/) > [Where you have no religion, you are sure to have no government, for as religion disappears, anarchy takes place and fixes a compleat Hell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-morgan/where-you-have-no-religion-you-are-sure-to-have-no-government-for-as/) [Daniel Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-morgan/) > [What a comfort it is to feel that amid the chaos and anarchy which sweep the surface, God is holding fast the foundations on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-b-meyer/what-a-comfort-it-is-to-feel-that-amid-the-chaos-and-anarchy-which/) [F.B. Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-b-meyer/) > [“An anarchist government somehow creates an impression in the hearts of citizens that no one cares.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/an-anarchist-government-somehow-creates-an-impression-in-the-hearts/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Would you like to do something good for the future of the human race; well, start killing some of its powerful members.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-brown/would-you-like-to-do-something-good-for-the-future-of-the-human-race/) [William C. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-brown/) > [“twenty-three years of RFRAs to produce anarchy,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corvino/twenty-three-years-of-rfras-to-produce-anarchy/) [John Corvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corvino/) > [Freedom is that faculty that enlarges the usefulness of all other faculties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/freedom-is-that-faculty-that-enlarges-the-usefulness-of-all-other/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) [Browse all 795 Anarchy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I do not wish to remove from my present prison to a prison a little larger. 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