---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's hard to fight an enemy who has…"
description: "\"It's hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.\" — Sally Kempton"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cf/sally-kempton-47949_enemy_it-s-hard-to-fight-an-enemy-who-has-outp_3111921.jpg"
---

#  It's hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.

![“It's hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.” quote by Sally Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cf/sally-kempton-47949_enemy_it-s-hard-to-fight-an-enemy-who-has-outp_3111921.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cf/sally-kempton-47949_enemy_it-s-hard-to-fight-an-enemy-who-has-outp_3111921.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cf/sally-kempton-47949_enemy_it-s-hard-to-fight-an-enemy-who-has-outp_3111921.jpg)

> “It's hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.”

[Sally Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-kempton/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

External pressures can dominate our thoughts, making internal conflict harder than any outward battle.

**In simple terms:** Your mind can be the toughest battlefield.

Key Takeaway

Recognize and challenge intrusive thoughts.

Themes

psychology conflict selfcontrol

Mood

anxious reflective

Type

advice motivational

When to use this quote

- stressful work
- personal relationships
- decision making

Key Concepts

cognitive bias mental intrusion

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you identify mental “outposts”?
- What strategies help reclaim mental space?

A Different Perspective

Mindset alone may not overcome deep-seated beliefs.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Enemy Outposts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy-outposts-904890/) [Fight Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fight-enemy-653308/) [Hard Fight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-fight/) [Outposts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outposts-2212463/)

## Related quotes

> [It's hard to fight an enemy which has outposts in your head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mrthrill/it-s-hard-to-fight-an-enemy-which-has-outposts-in-your-head/)

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> [“It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head. —Sally Kempton”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-allen/it-is-hard-to-fight-an-enemy-who-has-outposts-in-your-head-sally/)

[David Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-allen/)

> [Like buried treasures, the outposts of the universe have beckoned to the adventurous from immemorial times...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-ellery-hale/like-buried-treasures-the-outposts-of-the-universe-have-beckoned-to-2/)

[George Ellery Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-ellery-hale/)

> [I think life is hard at the combat outposts, and anything that distracts us from supporting them, in my mind, is something that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-a-mcchrystal/i-think-life-is-hard-at-the-combat-outposts-and-anything-that/)

[Stanley A. McChrystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-a-mcchrystal/)

> [Everyone you fight may not be your enemy, likewise everyone that helps you may not be your friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/everyone-you-fight-may-not-be-your-enemy-likewise-everyone-that-helps/)

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> [We had to fight the enemy without in the Falklands. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/we-had-to-fight-the-enemy-without-in-the-falklands-we-always-have-to/)

[Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/)

> [Air power and military are meant to fight the enemy and not your own citizens... How do you differentiate a Maoist?... It will create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kishore-chandra-deo/air-power-and-military-are-meant-to-fight-the-enemy-and-not-your-own/)

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> [“Soon you shall be landing In the battleground, ensure you have the right weapons to fight the enemy; ensure you know your enemy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pushpa-rana/soon-you-shall-be-landing-in-the-battleground-ensure-you-have-the/)

[Pushpa Rana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pushpa-rana/)

> [“Distrust yourself, and sleep before you fight, ‘Tis not too late to-morrow to be brave. —John Armstrong, Art of Preserving Health. Bk. iv, 1.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-g-laufenberg/distrust-yourself-and-sleep-before-you-fight-tis-not-too-late-to/)

[Keith G. Laufenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-g-laufenberg/)

> [“Why fight the enemy when you could food them?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-rossi/why-fight-the-enemy-when-you-could-food-them/)

[Veronica Rossi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-rossi/)

> [If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/if-we-wish-to-fight-the-enemy-can-be-forced-to-an-engagement-even/)

[Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/)

> [If we fight our enemy using the same inhumane and morally bankrupt techniques that we are trying to stop, we will simply become what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-markey/if-we-fight-our-enemy-using-the-same-inhumane-and-morally-bankrupt/)

[Ed Markey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-markey/)

> [Non-violence does not signify that man must not fight against the enemy, and by enemy is meant the evil which men do, not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/non-violence-does-not-signify-that-man-must-not-fight-against-the/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/you-must-not-fight-too-often-with-one-enemy-or-you-will-teach-him-all/)

[Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/)

> [To fight an enemy properly, you have to know what they are. Ignorance is defeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-bear/to-fight-an-enemy-properly-you-have-to-know-what-they-are-ignorance/)

[Greg Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-bear/)

## More by Sally Kempton

> [Men have laid down the rules and definitions by which the world is run, and one of the objects of their definitions is woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-kempton/men-have-laid-down-the-rules-and-definitions-by-which-the-world-is/)

[Sally Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-kempton/)

> [Self-love depressed becomes self-loathing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-kempton/self-love-depressed-becomes-self-loathing/)

[Sally Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-kempton/)

> [“When men imagine a female uprising, they imagine a world in which women rule men as men have ruled women.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-kempton/when-men-imagine-a-female-uprising-they-imagine-a-world-in-which/)

[Sally Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-kempton/)

> [I became a feminist as an alternative to becoming a masochist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-kempton/i-became-a-feminist-as-an-alternative-to-becoming-a-masochist/)

[Sally Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-kempton/)

> [“In the external world, she is the force of evolution, the erotic thrust at the heart of life. She is the intrinsic creative drive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-kempton/in-the-external-world-she-is-the-force-of-evolution-the-erotic-thrust/)

[Sally Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-kempton/)

> [Men define intelligence, men define usefulness, men tell us what is beautiful, men even tell us what is womanly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-kempton/men-define-intelligence-men-define-usefulness-men-tell-us-what-is/)

[Sally Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-kempton/)

> [“If there is to be a future, it will wear a crown of feminine design. AUROBINDO GHOSE”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-kempton/if-there-is-to-be-a-future-it-will-wear-a-crown-of-feminine-design/)

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[Explore all 8 Sally Kempton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-kempton/)

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> [Shall there be truth between us, as two men? Not as friends, but as enemies and equals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/shall-there-be-truth-between-us-as-two-men-not-as-friends-but-as/)

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> [Fear is a man's worst enemy, but love is a man's most powerful weapon against anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fear-is-a-man-s-worst-enemy-but-love-is-a-man-s-most-powerful-weapon/)

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[A.K. Hasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-k-hasan/)

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[Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/)

> [Pain held no terror for him. Pain was, if not friend, then family, something he had grown up with in his crèche, learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-bacigalupi/pain-held-no-terror-for-him-pain-was-if-not-friend-then-family/)

[Paolo Bacigalupi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-bacigalupi/)

> [To achieve victory we must mass our forces at the hub of all power &amp; movement. The enemy's 'Center of Gravity'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-achieve-victory-we-must-mass-our-forces-at-the-hub-of-all-power/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I don't see why we and the Chinese should have to be enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-don-t-see-why-we-and-the-chinese-should-have-to-be-enemies/)

[Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/)

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[Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/)

> [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/)

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