--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is only one decision you need to…" description: "\"There is only one decision you need to make: You are either working at your Freedom or you are accepting your bondage.\" — Robert Adams" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/robert-adams-4362_accepting_there-is-only-one-decision-you-need-to-m_475784.png" --- # There is only one decision you need to make: You are… ![“There is only one decision you need to make: You are either working at your Freedom or you are accepting your bondage.” quote by Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/robert-adams-4362_accepting_there-is-only-one-decision-you-need-to-m_475784.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/robert-adams-4362_accepting_there-is-only-one-decision-you-need-to-m_475784.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/robert-adams-4362_accepting_there-is-only-one-decision-you-need-to-m_475784.png) > “There is only one decision you need to make: You are either working at your Freedom or you are accepting your bondage.” [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freedom is a choice between self‑directed work and accepting oppression. **In simple terms:** Choose work or accept bondage. Key Takeaway Pursue autonomy through purposeful work. Themes freedom choice responsibility Mood motivational philosophical Type self‑help political When to use this quote - career decisions - political activism - personal growth Key Concepts existentialism self‑determination Questions to Reflect On - What work gives you freedom? - How do you resist bondage? A Different Perspective External constraints may limit true freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accepting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) [Accepting Bondage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting-bondage-4101467/) [Bondage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bondage/) [Decision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decision/) [Decision making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decision-making/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Freedom Accepting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-accepting-2381000/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Working Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-freedom-4101468/) [Your freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your-freedom/) ## Related quotes > [Freedom is indivisible, and either we are working for freedom or you are working for the sake of your self-interests and I am working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-jordan/freedom-is-indivisible-and-either-we-are-working-for-freedom-or-you/) [June Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-jordan/) > [“The highest and most fruitful form of human freedom is found in accepting, even more than in dominating. We show the greatness of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/the-highest-and-most-fruitful-form-of-human-freedom-is-found-in/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [The key to freedom is accepting my own autonomy as an individual, and respecting the autonomy of other individuals, with all of what that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-ward-richardson/the-key-to-freedom-is-accepting-my-own-autonomy-as-an-individual-and/) [Benjamin Ward Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-ward-richardson/) > [As you live out your desolation, you can be either unhappy or happy. Having that choice is what constitutes your freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/as-you-live-out-your-desolation-you-can-be-either-unhappy-or-happy/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Let him who looks for a monument to Washington look around the United States. Your freedom, your independence, your national power, your prosperity, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lajos-kossuth/let-him-who-looks-for-a-monument-to-washington-look-around-the-united/) [Lajos Kossuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lajos-kossuth/) > [There goes your freedom of choice, there goes the last human voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-petty/there-goes-your-freedom-of-choice-there-goes-the-last-human-voice/) [Tom Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-petty/) > [The oppression of it, the sense of helplessness, and really being part of a system and a bureaucracy that is arbitrary. I never thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenji-kohan/the-oppression-of-it-the-sense-of-helplessness-and-really-being-part/) [Jenji Kohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenji-kohan/) > [But if you move fast, you can have your freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pavone/but-if-you-move-fast-you-can-have-your-freedom/) [Chris Pavone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pavone/) > [Your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/your-freedom-when-it-loses-its-fetters-becomes-itself-the-fetter-of-a/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Those who remain content easily remain small: small are their joys, small are their ecstasies, small are their silences, small is their being. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/those-who-remain-content-easily-remain-small-small-are-their-joys/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [In the arts, you simply cannot secure your bread and your freedom of action too. You cannot be a hostile critic of society and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/in-the-arts-you-simply-cannot-secure-your-bread-and-your-freedom-of/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [The divine within you is stronger than anything that is without you. Therefore, be not afraid of anything. Rely on your own Inner Self,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sivananda/the-divine-within-you-is-stronger-than-anything-that-is-without-you/) [Sivananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sivananda/) > [Become aware of your aloneness - which is a reality. And it is so beautiful to experience it, to feel it, because it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/become-aware-of-your-aloneness-which-is-a-reality-and-it-is-so/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [My gift to you will be to take away your freedom of choice for a while. Freedom can be very unhealthy and unproductive. Instead,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-filipacchi/my-gift-to-you-will-be-to-take-away-your-freedom-of-choice-for-a/) [Amanda Filipacchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-filipacchi/) > [It is everyone's right to achieve this state of ones evolution and everything necessary is already inbuilt. But as I respect your freedom, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/it-is-everyone-s-right-to-achieve-this-state-of-ones-evolution-and/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) ## More by Robert Adams > [Among the most compelling truths in some of the early photographs is their implication of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/among-the-most-compelling-truths-in-some-of-the-early-photographs-is/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [Philosophy can forsake too easily the details of experience… many writers and painters have demonstrated that thinking long about what art is or ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/philosophy-can-forsake-too-easily-the-details-of-experience-many/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [The experience of life that you and I have is pretty much a jigsaw puzzle in the box: Day-to-day experiences of disconnected pieces that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/the-experience-of-life-that-you-and-i-have-is-pretty-much-a-jigsaw/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [“Everything is simplicity there is nothing to do. There is no place to go. There is no thing to become. You are that, just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/everything-is-simplicity-there-is-nothing-to-do-there-is-no-place-to/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [When art is defined by Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, you've got a society that's impoverished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/when-art-is-defined-by-damien-hirst-and-jeff-koons-you-ve-got-a/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [When photographers get beyond copying the achievements of others, or just repeating their own accidental first successes, they learn that they do not know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/when-photographers-get-beyond-copying-the-achievements-of-others-or/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [A lake that is noisy cannot reflect anything](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/a-lake-that-is-noisy-cannot-reflect-anything/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [No one, though has to go to college to make or understand or enjoy art. Wonderful artists and critics - some of the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/no-one-though-has-to-go-to-college-to-make-or-understand-or-enjoy-art/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [Still photographs often differ from life more by their silence than by the immobility of their subjects. Landscape pictures tend to converge with life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/still-photographs-often-differ-from-life-more-by-their-silence-than/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [Almost all photographers have incurred large expenses in the pursuit of tiny audiences, finding that the wonder they'd hoped to share is something few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/almost-all-photographers-have-incurred-large-expenses-in-the-pursuit/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [You've always been free. You've always been bright and shining. Everything else is just nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/you-ve-always-been-free-you-ve-always-been-bright-and-shining/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [The thing that keeps you scrambling over the rocks, risking snakes, and swatting at the flies is the view. It is only your enjoyment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/the-thing-that-keeps-you-scrambling-over-the-rocks-risking-snakes-and/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [Why is Form beautiful? Because, I think, it helps us confront our worst fear: the suspicion that life may be chaos and that therefore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/why-is-form-beautiful-because-i-think-it-helps-us-confront-our-worst/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [All land, no matter what has happened to it, has over it a grace, an absolutely persistent beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/all-land-no-matter-what-has-happened-to-it-has-over-it-a-grace-an/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [The only things that distinguish the photographer from everybody else are his pictures: they alone are the basis for our special interest in him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/the-only-things-that-distinguish-the-photographer-from-everybody-else/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) [Explore all 112 Robert Adams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) ## More Accepting quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/this-duo-inside-of-me-causes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-live-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [It takes an unusually philosophic mind to accept that all one’s suffering might be to no end, really, in the larger scheme of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-an-unusually-philosophic-mind-to-accept-that-all-one-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/) [Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. Believe in good fortune, divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-murphy/whatever-your-conscious-mind-assumes-and-believes-to-be-true-your/) [Joseph Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-murphy/) > [Losing someone is easy, but accepting it is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/losing-someone-is-easy-but-accepting-it-is-hard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [As my films are born at the moment when they are reflected into another person's mind and memories, there are no misconceptions. I totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirjo-honkasalo/as-my-films-are-born-at-the-moment-when-they-are-reflected-into/) [Pirjo Honkasalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirjo-honkasalo/) [Browse all 6,788 Accepting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is only one decision you need to make: You are either working at your Freedom or you are accepting your bondage.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Adams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/there-is-only-one-decision-you-need-to-make-you-are-either-working-at/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accepting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/there-is-only-one-decision-you-need-to-make-you-are-either-working-at/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/robert-adams-4362_accepting_there-is-only-one-decision-you-need-to-m_475784.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/robert-adams-4362_accepting_there-is-only-one-decision-you-need-to-m_475784.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca7/robert-adams-4362_accepting_there-is-only-one-decision-you-need-to-m_475784.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is only one decision you need to make: You are either working at your Freedom or you are accepting…” — Robert Adams", "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": "Robert Adams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is only one decision you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/there-is-only-one-decision-you-need-to-make-you-are-either-working-at/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/there-is-only-one-decision-you-need-to-make-you-are-either-working-at/#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 } } ] } ```