--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A collection to which nothing can be…" description: "\"A collection to which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be removed is, in fact, dead!\" — Sigmund Freud" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/sigmund-freud-360_collecting_a-collection-to-which-nothing-can-be-add_1846148.jpg" --- # A collection to which nothing can be added and from which… ![“A collection to which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be removed is, in fact, dead!” quote by Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/sigmund-freud-360_collecting_a-collection-to-which-nothing-can-be-add_1846148.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/sigmund-freud-360_collecting_a-collection-to-which-nothing-can-be-add_1846148.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/sigmund-freud-360_collecting_a-collection-to-which-nothing-can-be-add_1846148.jpg) > “A collection to which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be removed is, in fact, dead!” [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A system that cannot evolve or adapt is effectively lifeless. **In simple terms:** Stagnant systems die. Key Takeaway Encourage growth and change. Themes stagnation death adaptation Mood reflective critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - organizations - software - personal development - ecosystems - cultural institutions Key Concepts psychology systems theory Questions to Reflect On - How can you introduce change without losing identity? - What signs indicate a system is becoming dead? A Different Perspective Even static entities can retain value if preserved. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Collecting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collecting/) [Collection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collection/) [Collection Added](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collection-added-2390533/) [Collections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collections/) [Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead/) [Fact Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fact-dead-1711111/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Removed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/removed/) ## Related quotes > [Eventually, a collection ceases to be a personal indulgence and assumes its own identity. In fact, it becomes a thing in its own right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-hodgkin/eventually-a-collection-ceases-to-be-a-personal-indulgence-and/) [Howard Hodgkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-hodgkin/) > [“The fact is, I have been dead so long and it has been simply such a grim shoving of the hours behind me…since the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-fact-is-i-have-been-dead-so-long-and-it-has-been-simply-such-a/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [An aristocracy in a republic is like a chicken whose head has been cut off: it may run about in a lively way, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mitford/an-aristocracy-in-a-republic-is-like-a-chicken-whose-head-has-been/) [Nancy Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mitford/) > [This is what those who haven’t crossed the tropic of grief often fail to understand: the fact that someone is dead may mean that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/this-is-what-those-who-haven-t-crossed-the-tropic-of-grief-often-fail/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [By then she was dead. In fact, she may have been dead a while ago. Physically, several seconds ago, mentally, ages ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koushun-takami/by-then-she-was-dead-in-fact-she-may-have-been-dead-a-while-ago/) [Koushun Takami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koushun-takami/) > [“Another girl?” Charlie drew closer. “Yes, as a matter of fact. Been dead for a couple of days, probably killed two nights ago.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-cawthon/another-girl-charlie-drew-closer-yes-as-a-matter-of-fact-been-dead/) [Scott Cawthon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-cawthon/) > [I've always loved records, even when I was a kid, my parents would buy me records instead of a lot of the other toys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mayer-hawthorne/i-ve-always-loved-records-even-when-i-was-a-kid-my-parents-would-buy/) [Mayer Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mayer-hawthorne/) > [My first collection was made from sheets that my grandmother, who lived in Normandy, had been collecting for a long time. There are a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-theyskens/my-first-collection-was-made-from-sheets-that-my-grandmother-who/) [Olivier Theyskens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-theyskens/) > [Your home should tell the story of who you are, and be a collection of what you love brought together under one roof.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-berkus/your-home-should-tell-the-story-of-who-you-are-and-be-a-collection-of/) [Nate Berkus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-berkus/) > [A good art collection is emblematic of the people collecting it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-furnish/a-good-art-collection-is-emblematic-of-the-people-collecting-it/) [David Furnish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-furnish/) > [I started collecting baseball cards and basketball cards when I was younger. I have a CD collection that turned into a DVD collection, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marques-houston/i-started-collecting-baseball-cards-and-basketball-cards-when-i-was/) [Marques Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marques-houston/) > [Nothing scares me more than people with some doll collection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-lagerfeld/nothing-scares-me-more-than-people-with-some-doll-collection/) [Karl Lagerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-lagerfeld/) > [A good collection is more than just the sum of its parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/a-good-collection-is-more-than-just-the-sum-of-its-parts/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [I didn't grow up in one of those restrictive Christian households where you couldn't do this or that. We were brought up with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yolanda-adams/i-didn-t-grow-up-in-one-of-those-restrictive-christian-households/) [Yolanda Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yolanda-adams/) > [I have a large watch collection, and classic watches are especially important to me. I had a silver Rolex, and I actually gave it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-berkus/i-have-a-large-watch-collection-and-classic-watches-are-especially/) [Nate Berkus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-berkus/) ## More by Sigmund Freud > [Anatomy is destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/anatomy-is-destiny/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Woe to you, my Princess, when I come. I will kiss you quite red and feed you till you are plump. And if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/woe-to-you-my-princess-when-i-come-i-will-kiss-you-quite-red-and-feed/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [I take up the standpoint that the tendency to aggression is an innate, independent, instinctual disposition in man, and I come back now to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/i-take-up-the-standpoint-that-the-tendency-to-aggression-is-an-innate/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Ko postavlja pitanje o smislu zivota,s njegovim libidom nije nesto u redu.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/ko-postavlja-pitanje-o-smislu-zivota-s-njegovim-libidom-nije-nesto-u/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“When it comes to the small matters in life one should think long and hard, but when it comes to the big ones -whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/when-it-comes-to-the-small-matters-in-life-one-should-think-long-and/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [We like to forget that in fact everything in our life is chance, from our genesis out of the encounter of spermatozoon and egg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/we-like-to-forget-that-in-fact-everything-in-our-life-is-chance-from/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [We should picture the instrument that carries our mental functioning as resembling a compound microscope or photographic apparatus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/we-should-picture-the-instrument-that-carries-our-mental-functioning/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The religions of mankind must be classed among the mass-delusions of this kind. No one, needless to say, who shares a delusion ever recognizes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-religions-of-mankind-must-be-classed-among-the-mass-delusions-of/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [It seems to be my fate to discover only the obvious: that children have sexual feelings, which every nurse maid knows; and that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/it-seems-to-be-my-fate-to-discover-only-the-obvious-that-children/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The first requisite of civilization is that of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-first-requisite-of-civilization-is-that-of-justice/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Actually, the substitution of the reality-principle for the pleasure-principle denotes no dethronement of the pleasure-principle, but only a safeguarding of it. A momentary pleasure,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/actually-the-substitution-of-the-reality-principle-for-the-pleasure/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/dreams-are-often-most-profound-when-they-seem-the-most-crazy/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Against the suffering which may come upon one from human relationships the readiest safeguard is voluntary isolation, keeping oneself aloof from other people. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/against-the-suffering-which-may-come-upon-one-from-human/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [There is to my mind no doubt that the concept of beautiful had its roots in sexual excitation and that its original meaning was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/there-is-to-my-mind-no-doubt-that-the-concept-of-beautiful-had-its/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The voice of the intellect is soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing. Ultimately, after endless rebuffs, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-voice-of-the-intellect-is-soft-one-but-it-does-not-rest-until-it/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) [Explore all 608 Sigmund Freud quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) ## More Collecting quotes > [I've always been interested in photographs, collecting them not systematically but randomly. They get lost, then turn up again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-photographs-collecting-them-not/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Taking photos is a form of collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/taking-photos-is-a-form-of-collecting/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [If you're feeling fancy free, come wander through the world with me, and any place we chance to be, will be a rendezvous. Two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-mancini/if-you-re-feeling-fancy-free-come-wander-through-the-world-with-me/) [Henry Mancini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-mancini/) > [I found so-called great art too pompous, too stiff. What at this time was called minor art was freer, more imaginative, more open to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lipchitz/i-found-so-called-great-art-too-pompous-too-stiff-what-at-this-time/) [Jacques Lipchitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lipchitz/) > [My real first job was delivering newspapers with I was 15. I would ride my bike around and chuck papers at people's houses. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/my-real-first-job-was-delivering-newspapers-with-i-was-15-i-would/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [I didn't really grow up a comic book fanatic. I was a big baseball player, and my passion in life, in third grade, was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ritchson/i-didn-t-really-grow-up-a-comic-book-fanatic-i-was-a-big-baseball/) [Alan Ritchson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ritchson/) > [I don't know who had the training of you," he continued doggedly, "but your morals are shocking. You spent a night in my bed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loretta-chase/i-don-t-know-who-had-the-training-of-you-he-continued-doggedly-but/) [Loretta Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loretta-chase/) > [...You can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/you-can-go-your-whole-life-collecting-days-and-none-will-outweigh-the/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Instead of collecting things and staying in one space, I want to collect experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kesh/instead-of-collecting-things-and-staying-in-one-space-i-want-to/) [Kesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kesh/) > [I started collecting couture when I was about 10 or 11 years old, and the very first piece I bought was a Balenciaga suit from 1962.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamish-bowles/i-started-collecting-couture-when-i-was-about-10-or-11-years-old-and/) [Hamish Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamish-bowles/) > [I imagine the wave of water colliding with the rock and spilling over the tile floor, collecting around my shoes. Doing a little at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-imagine-the-wave-of-water-colliding-with-the-rock-and-spilling-over/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [I needed more knowledge in rigging and knotting. I started collecting books on knots and really learning more and more. That's how it started.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippe-petit/i-needed-more-knowledge-in-rigging-and-knotting-i-started-collecting/) [Philippe Petit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippe-petit/) > [Physics is the only real science. The rest are just stamp collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-rutherford/physics-is-the-only-real-science-the-rest-are-just-stamp-collecting/) [Ernest Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-rutherford/) > [Some prescient American collectors, including Vicki and Kent Logan and Mera and Donald Rubell, began collecting Chinese art before 2000 with a genuine passion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arne-glimcher/some-prescient-american-collectors-including-vicki-and-kent-logan-and/) [Arne Glimcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arne-glimcher/) > [If I collected all the diamonds in the world, I'd have no 'income' but I'd have a lot of 'assets'. Would my company be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vinod-khosla/if-i-collected-all-the-diamonds-in-the-world-i-d-have-no-income-but-i/) [Vinod Khosla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vinod-khosla/) [Browse all 493 Collecting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collecting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A collection to which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be removed is, in fact, dead!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sigmund Freud" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/a-collection-to-which-nothing-can-be-added-and-from-which-nothing-can/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Collecting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/a-collection-to-which-nothing-can-be-added-and-from-which-nothing-can/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/sigmund-freud-360_collecting_a-collection-to-which-nothing-can-be-add_1846148.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/sigmund-freud-360_collecting_a-collection-to-which-nothing-can-be-add_1846148.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9e/sigmund-freud-360_collecting_a-collection-to-which-nothing-can-be-add_1846148.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A collection to which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be removed is, in fact, dead!” — Sigmund Freud", "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": "Sigmund Freud", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A collection to which nothing can...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/a-collection-to-which-nothing-can-be-added-and-from-which-nothing-can/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/a-collection-to-which-nothing-can-be-added-and-from-which-nothing-can/#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 } } ] } ```