--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you live in a system that is…" description: "\"If you live in a system that is suppressive, you don't walk upright, you always go with your head down.\" — Stefan Heym" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afa/stefan-heym-20654_ifs_if-you-live-in-a-system-that-is-suppress_1757439.jpg" --- # If you live in a system that is suppressive, you don't… ![“If you live in a system that is suppressive, you don't walk upright, you always go with your head down.” quote by Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afa/stefan-heym-20654_ifs_if-you-live-in-a-system-that-is-suppress_1757439.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afa/stefan-heym-20654_ifs_if-you-live-in-a-system-that-is-suppress_1757439.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afa/stefan-heym-20654_ifs_if-you-live-in-a-system-that-is-suppress_1757439.jpg) > “If you live in a system that is suppressive, you don't walk upright, you always go with your head down.” [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Living under oppression forces people to hide their confidence and conform, suppressing authentic expression. **In simple terms:** Oppression makes you hide your true self. Key Takeaway Resist systems that force conformity. Themes oppression conformity self‑expression Mood somber defiant Type political philosophical When to use this quote - authoritarian regimes - workplace cultures - social movements Key Concepts social control psychological impact Questions to Reflect On - How do you maintain dignity under pressure? - What risks are worth taking to stand tall? A Different Perspective Resistance can be dangerous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Live Suppressive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-suppressive-1660870/) [Suppressive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suppressive-1660871/) [Upright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/upright/) [Upright Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/upright-head-1660869/) [Walk Upright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walk-upright-1542741/) [Walks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walks/) ## Related quotes > [A truly Suppressive Person or group has no rights of any kind and actions taken against them are not punishable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/a-truly-suppressive-person-or-group-has-no-rights-of-any-kind-and/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [“Human beings wear clothing and walk upright, but when you take that away, we're nothing but monkeys.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-tezuka/human-beings-wear-clothing-and-walk-upright-but-when-you-take-that/) [Osamu Tezuka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-tezuka/) > [“What then drove forward the evolution of the massive human brain during those 2 million years? Frankly, we don’t know. Another singular human trait…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/what-then-drove-forward-the-evolution-of-the-massive-human-brain/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [Every decision is liberating, even if it leads to disaster. Otherwise, why do so many people walk upright and with open eyes into their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-canetti/every-decision-is-liberating-even-if-it-leads-to-disaster-otherwise-2/) [Elias Canetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elias-canetti/) > [“I apologise for my friend's rudeness, he just learned how to to walk upright last year.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-l-mathewson/i-apologise-for-my-friend-s-rudeness-he-just-learned-how-to-to-walk/) [R.L. Mathewson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-l-mathewson/) > [“Every decision is liberating, even if it leads to disaster. Otherwise, why do so many people walk upright and with open arms into their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-canetti/every-decision-is-liberating-even-if-it-leads-to-disaster-otherwise/) [Elias Canetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elias-canetti/) > [We got new advice as to what motivated man to walk upright: to free his hands for masturbation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-wagner/we-got-new-advice-as-to-what-motivated-man-to-walk-upright-to-free/) [Jane Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-wagner/) > [A snake will always be a snake, even if you put a chain around its neck and try to make it walk upright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-alther/a-snake-will-always-be-a-snake-even-if-you-put-a-chain-around-its/) [Lisa Alther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-alther/) > [We are proud because from the beginning of this nation man can walk upright no matter who he is or who she is. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-david-eisenhower/we-are-proud-because-from-the-beginning-of-this-nation-man-can-walk/) [Dwight David Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-david-eisenhower/) > [Why are we proud? We are proud, first of all, because from the beginning of this Nation, a man can walk upright, no matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/why-are-we-proud-we-are-proud-first-of-all-because-from-the-beginning/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [I had an upright - it took me years and years to get enough bread to get it. I'm from Florida, so one morning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaco-pastorius/i-had-an-upright-it-took-me-years-and-years-to-get-enough-bread-to/) [Jaco Pastorius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaco-pastorius/) > [When I was first starting out, you'd have to bang an old upright piano and stick a mike in it and it would always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-winter/when-i-was-first-starting-out-you-d-have-to-bang-an-old-upright-piano/) [Edgar Winter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-winter/) > [“To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/to-seek-out-the-upright-no-fall-but-preceded-by-a-declination-he-took/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [There is only one position for an artist anywhere; and that is upright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/there-is-only-one-position-for-an-artist-anywhere-and-that-is-upright/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [A man should be upright, not kept upright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/a-man-should-be-upright-not-kept-upright/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) ## More by Stefan Heym > [A great number of people in the East German parts had been Nazis, so the change of mind was not altogether there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/a-great-number-of-people-in-the-east-german-parts-had-been-nazis-so/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [Show me one place where a whole government is concerned with a book of a writer and is concerned enough to suppress it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/show-me-one-place-where-a-whole-government-is-concerned-with-a-book/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [You must have, if socialism was to succeed, a socialism with lots of democratic elements in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/you-must-have-if-socialism-was-to-succeed-a-socialism-with-lots-of/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [I not only saw the possibility of nuclear war, I feared it very much. If they started a military conflagration, it would automatically lead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/i-not-only-saw-the-possibility-of-nuclear-war-i-feared-it-very-much/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [I defended myself at the first opportunity I had, which was a meeting of writers in which I proved that Honecker had based his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/i-defended-myself-at-the-first-opportunity-i-had-which-was-a-meeting/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [People who were not active in the intellectual life of the country could go on without feeling restricted, except they could not go where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/people-who-were-not-active-in-the-intellectual-life-of-the-country/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [I certainly hoped that in the Eastern part of Germany, what was just beginning to be called the German Democratic Republic, you would develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/i-certainly-hoped-that-in-the-eastern-part-of-germany-what-was-just/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [Even in West Germany in the beginning, people wanted a kind of socialism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/even-in-west-germany-in-the-beginning-people-wanted-a-kind-of/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [I did not oppose unification, I knew unification would have to come, but not in the form in which it did come. There were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/i-did-not-oppose-unification-i-knew-unification-would-have-to-come/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [And of course, in West Germany, they made every effort that people who came from the East would get jobs and would get a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/and-of-course-in-west-germany-they-made-every-effort-that-people-who/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [The Wall was the actual symbol of a defeat, of inferiority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/the-wall-was-the-actual-symbol-of-a-defeat-of-inferiority/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [I was in psychological warfare in World War II, so I know psychological warfare when I see it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/i-was-in-psychological-warfare-in-world-war-ii-so-i-know/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [In the question of peace, people spoke up and demonstrated for peace and against the threat of war, the threat of atomic war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/in-the-question-of-peace-people-spoke-up-and-demonstrated-for-peace/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [Today, when we live in a what is called Western democracy here... you're not taken seriously all the time. You can write what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/today-when-we-live-in-a-what-is-called-western-democracy-here-you-re/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) > [If we had had time and the occasion to develop a new socialism in the GDR, socialism with a human face, with democracy, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/if-we-had-had-time-and-the-occasion-to-develop-a-new-socialism-in-the/) [Stefan Heym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) [Explore all 26 Stefan Heym quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/) ## More Ifs quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. If you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-helgoe/if-you-ask-an-introvert-a-question-wait-until-she-thinks-about-it/) [Laurie Helgoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-helgoe/) > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-clark/obviously-if-you-don-t-love-life-you-can-t-enjoy-an-oyster/) [Eleanor Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-clark/) > [If I don't have pressure, I don't function.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/if-i-don-t-have-pressure-i-don-t-function/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [If you restore a car, and you're making money, then you're doing it wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/if-you-restore-a-car-and-you-re-making-money-then-you-re-doing-it/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [If we gave up our freedom as the price of security, we would no longer be the great nation that we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/if-we-gave-up-our-freedom-as-the-price-of-security-we-would-no-longer/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-sarabhai/but-we-are-convinced-that-if-we-are-to-play-a-meaningful-role/) [Vikram Sarabhai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-sarabhai/) > [The thing about hitting kids is, think about if you were doing the same thing to another adult. Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) [Browse all 94,303 Ifs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you live in a system that is suppressive, you don't walk upright, you always go with your head down.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stefan Heym" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/if-you-live-in-a-system-that-is-suppressive-you-don-t-walk-upright/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ifs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/if-you-live-in-a-system-that-is-suppressive-you-don-t-walk-upright/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afa/stefan-heym-20654_ifs_if-you-live-in-a-system-that-is-suppress_1757439.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afa/stefan-heym-20654_ifs_if-you-live-in-a-system-that-is-suppress_1757439.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afa/stefan-heym-20654_ifs_if-you-live-in-a-system-that-is-suppress_1757439.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you live in a system that is suppressive, you don't walk upright, you always go with your head down.” — Stefan Heym", "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": "Stefan Heym", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-heym/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you live in a system...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/if-you-live-in-a-system-that-is-suppressive-you-don-t-walk-upright/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-heym/if-you-live-in-a-system-that-is-suppressive-you-don-t-walk-upright/#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 } } ] } ```