--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Forget it all, I told myself, escape into…" description: "\"“Forget it all, I told myself, escape into your mind and your work, into the place where you are only your living, breathing self, not a citizen of any..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/stefan-zweig-811_escape_forget-it-all-i-told-myself-escape-into_1506340.jpg" --- # Forget it all, I told myself, escape into your mind and… ![“Forget it all, I told myself, escape into your mind and your work, into the place where you are only your living, breathing self, not a citizen of any state, not a stake in that infernal game, the place where only what reason you have can still work to some reasonable effect in a world gone mad.” quote by Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/stefan-zweig-811_escape_forget-it-all-i-told-myself-escape-into_1506340.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/stefan-zweig-811_escape_forget-it-all-i-told-myself-escape-into_1506340.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/stefan-zweig-811_escape_forget-it-all-i-told-myself-escape-into_1506340.jpg) > ““Forget it all, I told myself, escape into your mind and your work, into the place where you are only your living, breathing self, not a citizen of any state, not a stake in that infernal game, the place where only what reason you have can still work to some reasonable effect in a world gone mad.”” [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Escaping into inner self and work offers rational refuge amidst societal chaos. **In simple terms:** Find refuge in mind and work. Key Takeaway Cultivate inner focus. Themes solitude creativity resilience Mood contemplative determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing - research - meditation - artistic practice Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance inner work with societal involvement? - What practices keep your mind rational? A Different Perspective Isolation can become avoidance; external engagement also matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Escape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/escape/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [The hardest prison to escape is in your mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-hardest-prison-to-escape-is-in-your-mind/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wandering thoughts is the sin nature of us trying to escape what we should keep our mind on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anastasia-blanchard/wandering-thoughts-is-the-sin-nature-of-us-trying-to-escape-what-we/) [Anastasia Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anastasia-blanchard/) > [It is not possible either to trick or escape the mind of Zeus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesiod/it-is-not-possible-either-to-trick-or-escape-the-mind-of-zeus/) [Hesiod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesiod/) > [Escape from your mind boundaries ,for a few moments let your heart show you the LIFE you deserve!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laylablack/escape-from-your-mind-boundaries-for-a-few-moments-let-your-heart/) Laylablack > [We can't escape from the world anymore; we can't escape from the mind. We need to enter surrender while we are in the world.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/we-can-t-escape-from-the-world-anymore-we-can-t-escape-from-the-mind/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [The mind must work with the heart, never against it, only when they work as one, will you be able to see the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-mind-must-work-with-the-heart-never-against-it-only-when-they/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“How can the heart and mind work together? The mind wants logic and to travel in straight lines, while the heart wants to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-duce/how-can-the-heart-and-mind-work-together-the-mind-wants-logic-and-to/) [Gillian Duce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-duce/) > [A Witch's work is mind work and utilizes powerful metaphors, allegories, and images that unlock the powers of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-cabot/a-witch-s-work-is-mind-work-and-utilizes-powerful-metaphors/) [Laurie Cabot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-cabot/) > [The human MIND seems to work best in the presence of reality. The brain that contains the problem probably also contains the solution. IF…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-kline/the-human-mind-seems-to-work-best-in-the-presence-of-reality-the/) [Nancy Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-kline/) > [Prayer and humility, along with a hatred for sin, produces a ‘mind to work.’ ‘So built we the wall; and all the wall was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wilkerson/prayer-and-humility-along-with-a-hatred-for-sin-produces-a-mind-to/) [David Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wilkerson/) > [If your mind is at work, we're in danger of reproducing another cliche. If we can keep our minds out of it and our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-falk/if-your-mind-is-at-work-we-re-in-danger-of-reproducing-another-cliche/) [Peter Falk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-falk/) > [Don't use your mind for a filing cabinet. Use your mind to work out problems and find answers; file away good ideas in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/don-t-use-your-mind-for-a-filing-cabinet-use-your-mind-to-work-out/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [What you picture in your mind, your mind will go to work to accomplish. When you change your pictures you automatically change your performance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/what-you-picture-in-your-mind-your-mind-will-go-to-work-to-accomplish/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [I learned that if you want to get somewhere, you just make up your mind and work like hell til you get there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-e-hinton/i-learned-that-if-you-want-to-get-somewhere-you-just-make-up-your/) [S. E. Hinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-e-hinton/) > [I have a single track mind. I work on an idea for a long time. It's like getting acquainted with a person, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/i-have-a-single-track-mind-i-work-on-an-idea-for-a-long-time-it-s/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) ## More by Stefan Zweig > [“Madness,” he exclaimed to himself, in astonishment, faltering. “Madness! What do they want? Once again, once again!” War once again, war that had so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/madness-he-exclaimed-to-himself-in-astonishment-faltering-madness/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [It is never until one realizes that one means something to others that one feels there is any point or purpose in one's own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/it-is-never-until-one-realizes-that-one-means-something-to-others/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“And if I am asked today to advise a young writer who has not yet made up his mind what way to go, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/and-if-i-am-asked-today-to-advise-a-young-writer-who-has-not-yet-made/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“Live and let live” was the famous Viennese motto, which today still seems to me to be more humane than all the categorical imperatives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/live-and-let-live-was-the-famous-viennese-motto-which-today-still/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“Değerli olan her zaman için gerçeğin yarısı değil, tamamıdır.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/de-erli-olan-her-zaman-i-in-ger-e-in-yar-s-de-il-tamam-d-r/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [One never gets to know a person's character better than by watching his behavior during decisive moments… It is always only danger which forces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/one-never-gets-to-know-a-person-s-character-better-than-by-watching/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [Names have a mysterious transforming power. Like a ring on a finger, a name may at first seem merely accidental, committing you to nothing;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/names-have-a-mysterious-transforming-power-like-a-ring-on-a-finger-a/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [There is no sense to a sacrifice after you come to feel that it is a sacrifice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/there-is-no-sense-to-a-sacrifice-after-you-come-to-feel-that-it-is-a/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [No guilt is forgotten so long as the conscience still knows of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/no-guilt-is-forgotten-so-long-as-the-conscience-still-knows-of-it/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [Nothing that has ever been thought and said with a clear mind and pure ethical strength is totally in vain; even if it comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/nothing-that-has-ever-been-thought-and-said-with-a-clear-mind-and/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [It is the way of youth that each fresh piece of knowledge of life should go to its head, and that once uplifted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/it-is-the-way-of-youth-that-each-fresh-piece-of-knowledge-of-life/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“The truths that he finds may in the coming months or even the coming years be truths no more. He must be forever searching.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/the-truths-that-he-finds-may-in-the-coming-months-or-even-the-coming/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [The union of opposites, in so far as they are really complementary, always results in the most perfect harmony; and the seemingly incongruous is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/the-union-of-opposites-in-so-far-as-they-are-really-complementary/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [The sight of a wedding always has a disturbing effect on young girls; at such moments a mysterious sense of solidarity with their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/the-sight-of-a-wedding-always-has-a-disturbing-effect-on-young-girls/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“Lightly, caressingly, Marie Antoinette picked up the crown as a gift. She was still too young to know that life never gives anything for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/lightly-caressingly-marie-antoinette-picked-up-the-crown-as-a-gift-2/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) [Explore all 267 Stefan Zweig quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) ## More Escape quotes > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [Growing up in Iceland, it was very beautiful, very safe, but quite isolated. There was something about jazz music that had a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laufey/growing-up-in-iceland-it-was-very-beautiful-very-safe-but-quite/) [Laufey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laufey/) > [“Those who contemplate never escape the doubt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-mankell/those-who-contemplate-never-escape-the-doubt/) [Henning Mankell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-mankell/) > [“Then from those profound slumbers we awake in a dawn, not knowing who we are, being nobody, newly born, ready for anything, the brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-from-those-profound-slumbers-we-awake-in-a-dawn-not-knowing-who/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [I think my attitudes about the past are very traditional. You can't ignore history; you can't escape it even if you want to. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gehry/i-think-my-attitudes-about-the-past-are-very-traditional-you-can-t/) [Frank Gehry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gehry/) > [Music and sleep are two of the greatest ways to escape from everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/music-and-sleep-are-two-of-the-greatest-ways-to-escape-from-everything/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Music is my escape from all the problems in life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailin-cui/music-is-my-escape-from-all-the-problems-in-life/) Kailin Cui > [Wherever you escape, the truth will find you! Always be prepared to meet with it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/wherever-you-escape-the-truth-will-find-you-always-be-prepared-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“I think the best way to escape your head isn’t to think about things that aren’t real, it’s to think about things that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-brooks/i-think-the-best-way-to-escape-your-head-isn-t-to-think-about-things/) [Ben Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-brooks/) > [“You could say she hid there, in the words, an escape within an escape...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aurelie-sheehan/you-could-say-she-hid-there-in-the-words-an-escape-within-an-escape/) Aurelie Sheehan > [Life will drag us kicking and screaming to our destiny if we try to escape it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-villoldo/life-will-drag-us-kicking-and-screaming-to-our-destiny-if-we-try-to/) [Alberto Villoldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-villoldo/) > [How did you escape? (Syd) I fought my way out in a manner that would have made Rambo proud. And when I got home…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/how-did-you-escape-syd-i-fought-my-way-out-in-a-manner-that-would/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [There are reasons people seek escape in books, and one of those reasons is that the boundary of what can happen is beyond what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/there-are-reasons-people-seek-escape-in-books-and-one-of-those/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [“Well, I like to know where I'm going before I try to get there. It's a mistake to try to execute a plan before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-barry/well-i-like-to-know-where-i-m-going-before-i-try-to-get-there-it-s-a/) [Max Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-barry/) > [“If poetry is an escape into the woods, then music is the journey back home.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akash-mandal/if-poetry-is-an-escape-into-the-woods-then-music-is-the-journey-back/) [Akash Mandal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akash-mandal/) [Browse all 1,660 Escape quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/escape/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Forget it all, I told myself, escape into your mind and your work, into the place where you are only your living, breathing self, not a citizen of any state, not a stake in that infernal game, the place where only what reason you have can still work to some reasonable effect in a world gone mad.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stefan Zweig" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/forget-it-all-i-told-myself-escape-into-your-mind-and-your-work-into/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Escape" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/forget-it-all-i-told-myself-escape-into-your-mind-and-your-work-into/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/stefan-zweig-811_escape_forget-it-all-i-told-myself-escape-into_1506340.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/stefan-zweig-811_escape_forget-it-all-i-told-myself-escape-into_1506340.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/472/stefan-zweig-811_escape_forget-it-all-i-told-myself-escape-into_1506340.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Forget it all, I told myself, escape into your mind and your work, into the place where you are only your…” — Stefan Zweig", "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 Zweig", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Forget it all, I told myself,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/forget-it-all-i-told-myself-escape-into-your-mind-and-your-work-into/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/forget-it-all-i-told-myself-escape-into-your-mind-and-your-work-into/#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 } } ] } ```