--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have never thought I could take it, not…" description: "\"I have never thought I could take it, not even for the children. It is all I have wanted to do, to stand between them and and pain. But I come from a l..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/sharon-olds-8682_children_i-have-never-thought-i-could-take-it-not_2947541.jpg" --- # I have never thought I could take it, not even for the… ![“I have never thought I could take it, not even for the children. It is all I have wanted to do, to stand between them and and pain. But I come from a long line of women who put themselves first.” quote by Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/sharon-olds-8682_children_i-have-never-thought-i-could-take-it-not_2947541.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/sharon-olds-8682_children_i-have-never-thought-i-could-take-it-not_2947541.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60b/sharon-olds-8682_children_i-have-never-thought-i-could-take-it-not_2947541.jpg) > “I have never thought I could take it, not even for the children. It is all I have wanted to do, to stand between them and and pain. But I come from a long line of women who put themselves first.” [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She sacrifices herself for children despite a lineage of self‑prioritizing women. **In simple terms:** She puts children before herself, breaking family patterns. Key Takeaway Prioritize care for others when needed. Themes family sacrifice generational patterns Mood empathetic reflective Type poetic psychological When to use this quote - parenting - caregiving - family counseling Key Concepts maternal instinct role reversal Questions to Reflect On - How do we break harmful family cycles? - What drives self‑sacrifice? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) ## Related quotes > [“Reason doesn't always stand up to pain and come out the victor. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-a-bartol/reason-doesn-t-always-stand-up-to-pain-and-come-out-the-victor/) [Amy A. Bartol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-a-bartol/) > [There is a great line of women stretching out behind you into the past, and you have to seek them out and find them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/there-is-a-great-line-of-women-stretching-out-behind-you-into-the/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I come from a long line of women who like shoes to a fault.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-lister-jones/i-come-from-a-long-line-of-women-who-like-shoes-to-a-fault/) [Zoe Lister-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-lister-jones/) > [“How would you draw the line between women with something and women with nothing in them?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/how-would-you-draw-the-line-between-women-with-something-and-women/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [There was my mom and I had a wife for a long time and now there is my fianc-e. Eileen is in a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-ashby/there-was-my-mom-and-i-had-a-wife-for-a-long-time-and-now-there-is-my/) Jeffrey Ashby > [“This was the dangerous line women had to walk. Curiosity versus consequences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-brant/this-was-the-dangerous-line-women-had-to-walk-curiosity-versus/) [Marilyn Brant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-brant/) > [“You are one woman in an endless line of women who were chosen to love more passionately than others, be committed to justice more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-nachampassack-maloney/you-are-one-woman-in-an-endless-line-of-women-who-were-chosen-to-love/) [Mandy Nachampassack-Maloney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-nachampassack-maloney/) > [“Pain Must & Will Come”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tiffany/pain-must-will-come/) [John Tiffany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tiffany/) > [The more pain I train myself to stand, the more I learn. You are afraid of pain now, Unk, but you won't learn anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/the-more-pain-i-train-myself-to-stand-the-more-i-learn-you-are-afraid/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Never take too much care on someone, because you won't be able to stand the pain when they start avoiding you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-take-too-much-care-on-someone-because-you-won-t-be-able-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“He could stand pain, himself. He just couldn't stand hers”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/he-could-stand-pain-himself-he-just-couldn-t-stand-hers/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [Brother, stand the pain. Escape the poison of your impulses. The sky will bow to your beauty, if you do. Learn to light the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/brother-stand-the-pain-escape-the-poison-of-your-impulses-the-sky/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [A human being can stand any amount of pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/a-human-being-can-stand-any-amount-of-pain/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [I can't stand pain� it hurts me!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daffy-duck/i-can-t-stand-pain-it-hurts-me/) [Daffy Duck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daffy-duck/) > [Never quit! It gives those who stand with you too much pain and those who stand against you too much satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/never-quit-it-gives-those-who-stand-with-you-too-much-pain-and-those/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) ## More by Sharon Olds > [Poems come from ordinary experiences and objects, I think. Out of memory - a dress I lent my daughter on her way back to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/poems-come-from-ordinary-experiences-and-objects-i-think-out-of/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [There are some fine books and essays about that. Lewis Hyde has written about alcoholism and poets and the role that society gives its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/there-are-some-fine-books-and-essays-about-that-lewis-hyde-has/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [I'm not asking a poem to carry a lot of rocks in its pockets. Just being an ordinary observer and liver and feeler and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/i-m-not-asking-a-poem-to-carry-a-lot-of-rocks-in-its-pockets-just/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [“How do they do it, the ones who make love without love? How do they come to the come to the come to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/how-do-they-do-it-the-ones-who-make-love-without-love-how-do-they/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [She'd crack A joke sharp as a tin lid Hot from the teeth of the can-opener, And cackle her crack-corn laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/she-d-crack-a-joke-sharp-as-a-tin-lid-hot-from-the-teeth-of-the-can/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [If I wrote in a sonnet form, I would be distorting. Or if I had some great new idea for line breaks and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/if-i-wrote-in-a-sonnet-form-i-would-be-distorting-or-if-i-had-some/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [Many poets write books. They'll tell you: Well, I've got my next book, but there are two poems I need to write, one about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/many-poets-write-books-they-ll-tell-you-well-i-ve-got-my-next-book/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [“as if languagelessness was a step up, in evolution, from the chatter of consciousness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/as-if-languagelessness-was-a-step-up-in-evolution-from-the-chatter-of/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [Maybe we can use a metaphor for it, out of dance. I think for many years I was aware of the need, in dance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/maybe-we-can-use-a-metaphor-for-it-out-of-dance-i-think-for-many/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [Who wants to put together something that will bear some relationship to the vision or memory or experience or story or idea or dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/who-wants-to-put-together-something-that-will-bear-some-relationship/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [“I put my arms around a trunk and squeezed it, then I lay down on my father's grave.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/i-put-my-arms-around-a-trunk-and-squeezed-it-then-i-lay-down-on-my/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [“...the liquor like fire in his hand”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/the-liquor-like-fire-in-his-hand/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [I'm probably so out of it at my age that I don't know what people think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/i-m-probably-so-out-of-it-at-my-age-that-i-don-t-know-what-people/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [“Some people think I should be over my ex by now — maybe I thought I might have been over him more by now.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/some-people-think-i-should-be-over-my-ex-by-now-maybe-i-thought-i/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [Maybe in order to understand sex fully/one has to risk being destroyed by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/maybe-in-order-to-understand-sex-fully-one-has-to-risk-being/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) [Explore all 78 Sharon Olds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. 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You are surrounded by nature - cats, dogs, birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/my-school-was-one-of-the-most-beautiful-places-a-child-can-grow-up-in/) [Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/) > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors, young and old, seem to be afflicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/a-lesser-complaint-hair-extensions-there-are-moments-on-all-my/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [As a child, I had a lot of older gay men taking care of me. There's a trust there. I feel like little girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/as-a-child-i-had-a-lot-of-older-gay-men-taking-care-of-me-there-s-a/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? 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