--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had taken a partner once before—but…" description: "\"I had taken a partner once before—but, damnation, no matter how many times you get your fingers burned, you have to trust people. Otherwise you are a h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/robert-a-heinlein-209_burned_i-had-taken-a-partner-once-before-but-da_169553.jpg" --- # I had taken a partner once before—but, damnation, no… ![“I had taken a partner once before—but, damnation, no matter how many times you get your fingers burned, you have to trust people. Otherwise you are a hermit in a cave, sleeping with one eye open.” quote by Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/robert-a-heinlein-209_burned_i-had-taken-a-partner-once-before-but-da_169553.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/robert-a-heinlein-209_burned_i-had-taken-a-partner-once-before-but-da_169553.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b8/robert-a-heinlein-209_burned_i-had-taken-a-partner-once-before-but-da_169553.jpg) > “I had taken a partner once before—but, damnation, no matter how many times you get your fingers burned, you have to trust people. Otherwise you are a hermit in a cave, sleeping with one eye open.” [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Trust is essential for collaboration; without it, one becomes isolated and constantly defensive. **In simple terms:** Trust needed to avoid isolation. Key Takeaway Build trust, avoid becoming a hermit. Themes trust collaboration isolation vigilance Mood cautious reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - team projects - new friendships - networking events Key Concepts social risk psychological safety Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance trust with self‑protection? - What risks do you take when trusting others? A Different Perspective Trust can be broken, leading to vulnerability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Caves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/caves/) [Damnation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/damnation/) [Hermits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hermits/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Trust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trust/) ## Related quotes > [There is an old, old story about a theologian who was asked to reconcile the Doctrine of Divine Mercy with the doctrine of infant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/there-is-an-old-old-story-about-a-theologian-who-was-asked-to/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [There have always been hermits: people who want to get away from other humans. Literally, some of the first extant books and poems found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-finkel/there-have-always-been-hermits-people-who-want-to-get-away-from-other/) [Michael Finkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-finkel/) > [Taking food alone tends to make one hard and coarse. Those accustomed to it must lead a Spartan life if they are not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/taking-food-alone-tends-to-make-one-hard-and-coarse-those-accustomed/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [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/) > [I sometimes wonder what those of us who are writers would become in a nonliterary culture - storytellers? Hermits?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/i-sometimes-wonder-what-those-of-us-who-are-writers-would-become-in-a/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [I think up until '71 or '72, Herman's Hermits had our second and third Number One records in 1969 and 1970. You know, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-noone/i-think-up-until-71-or-72-herman-s-hermits-had-our-second-and-third/) [Peter Noone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-noone/) > [The people who know God well—mystics, hermits, prayerful people, those who risk everything to find God—always meet a lover, not a dictator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/the-people-who-know-god-well-mystics-hermits-prayerful-people-those/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [I'm a 48-year-old writer who can remember being a 10-year-old writer and who expects someday to be an 80-year-old writer. I'm also comfortably asocial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-a-48-year-old-writer-who-can-remember-being-a-10-year-old-writer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To retire to the monastery, or the woods, or the sea, is to escape from the sharp suggestions that spur on ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/to-retire-to-the-monastery-or-the-woods-or-the-sea-is-to-escape-from/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [Hey, over here! Have your picture taken with a reclusive author! Today only, we'll throw in a free autograph! But wait, there's more!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/hey-over-here-have-your-picture-taken-with-a-reclusive-author-today/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [You cannot succeed by yourself. It's hard to find a rich hermit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/you-cannot-succeed-by-yourself-it-s-hard-to-find-a-rich-hermit/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [“The hermit, without access to the news of the day, owes it to himself to be up to date on the doings of ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvain-tesson/the-hermit-without-access-to-the-news-of-the-day-owes-it-to-himself/) [Sylvain Tesson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvain-tesson/) > [I, who so love a hermit life for a good part of the day, find myself living in public, and almost losing my identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-blackwell/i-who-so-love-a-hermit-life-for-a-good-part-of-the-day-find-myself/) [Elizabeth Blackwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-blackwell/) > [HERMIT, n. A person whose vices and follies are not sociable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/hermit-n-a-person-whose-vices-and-follies-are-not-sociable/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [And then you came along and you spoke to me and nobody had looked me in the eye for years. (...) But I remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/and-then-you-came-along-and-you-spoke-to-me-and-nobody-had-looked-me/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) ## More by Robert A. Heinlein > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind your own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ninety-percent-of-all-human-wisdom-is-the-ability-to-mind-your-own/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If we blow ourselves up we will do it by misapplication of science; if we manage to keep from blowing ourselves up, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-we-blow-ourselves-up-we-will-do-it-by-misapplication-of-science-if/) [Robert A. 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Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/no-statement-should-be-believed-because-it-is-made-by-an-authority/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“Some people are ants by nature; they have to work, even when it’s useless. Few people have a talent for constructive laziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/some-people-are-ants-by-nature-they-have-to-work-even-when-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“The instinct to survive is human nature itself, and every aspect of our personalities derives from it. Anything that conflicts with the survival instinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-instinct-to-survive-is-human-nature-itself-and-every-aspect-of/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“I tried to dig out of the computer a call directory for Luna. But it was still sulking. I could not get it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-tried-to-dig-out-of-the-computer-a-call-directory-for-luna-but-it/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“this has more aspects than a cat has hair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/this-has-more-aspects-than-a-cat-has-hair/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Never own more than you can carry in both hands at a dead run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-own-more-than-you-can-carry-in-both-hands-at-a-dead-run/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“In Wilson's scale of evaluations breakfast rated just after life itself and ahead of the chance of immortality." ~ By His Bootstraps / Robert A. Heinlein”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/in-wilson-s-scale-of-evaluations-breakfast-rated-just-after-life/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ignorance-is-curable-stupid-is-forever/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Explore all 888 Robert A. 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Now what I am suggesting is that we've advanced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleese/years-ago-we-would-have-been-burned-for-this-now-what-i-am-suggesting/) [John Cleese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleese/) > [The life of men and women is so cheap and property is so sacred. There are so many of us for one job it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-schneiderman/the-life-of-men-and-women-is-so-cheap-and-property-is-so-sacred-there/) [Rose Schneiderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-schneiderman/) > [Promoting the use of sustainable and renewable rainforest products can help to stop rainforest devastation. The rainforests are much more valuable alive than cut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kilham/promoting-the-use-of-sustainable-and-renewable-rainforest-products/) [Chris Kilham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kilham/) > [I would be a traitor to these poor burned bodies if I came here to talk good fellowship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-schneiderman/i-would-be-a-traitor-to-these-poor-burned-bodies-if-i-came-here-to/) [Rose Schneiderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-schneiderman/) > [I checked out all types of tobacco trying to find one that would be easiest to live with, I ended up using pipe tobacco.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-strathairn/i-checked-out-all-types-of-tobacco-trying-to-find-one-that-would-be/) [David Strathairn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-strathairn/) > [“Looks delicious," he lied. "A mite crispy along the edges - but then, I like it that way." Incredulous eyes met his own. 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