--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reading was a kind of freedom, the only…" description: "\"“Reading was a kind of freedom, the only one I could give”\" — Sue Monk Kidd" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/sue-monk-kidd-404_freedom_reading-was-a-kind-of-freedom-the-only-o_388805.png" --- # Reading was a kind of freedom, the only one I could give ![“Reading was a kind of freedom, the only one I could give” quote by Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/sue-monk-kidd-404_freedom_reading-was-a-kind-of-freedom-the-only-o_388805.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/sue-monk-kidd-404_freedom_reading-was-a-kind-of-freedom-the-only-o_388805.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/sue-monk-kidd-404_freedom_reading-was-a-kind-of-freedom-the-only-o_388805.png) > ““Reading was a kind of freedom, the only one I could give”” [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading provides a unique sense of freedom that the author can offer to others. **In simple terms:** Reading is a personal liberty. Key Takeaway Share books to empower others. Themes freedom reading generosity Mood inspirational hopeful Type literary personal When to use this quote - education - therapy - personal growth - community building Key Concepts literature psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can you make reading accessible? - What books have freed you? A Different Perspective Not all have equal access to reading. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Kind Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind-freedom-482341/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-kind-724453/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“Reading is a kind of magic that transforms the world around you”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel/reading-is-a-kind-of-magic-that-transforms-the-world-around-you/) [Rachel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel/) > [A reading is a kind of communion. The poet articulates the semi-known for the tribe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/a-reading-is-a-kind-of-communion-the-poet-articulates-the-semi-known/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [People are starting to refer to 'The Giver' as a classic, but I don't know how that is defined. But if it means that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/people-are-starting-to-refer-to-the-giver-as-a-classic-but-i-don-t/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“She found it quite easy to interpret builders' estimates and do VAT calculations. She'd got some books from the library, and found finance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett-neil-gaiman/she-found-it-quite-easy-to-interpret-builders-estimates-and-do-vat/) [Terry Pratchett Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett-neil-gaiman/) > [“Books are not only the arbitrary sum of our dreams, and our memory. They also give us the model of self-transcendence. Some people think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/books-are-not-only-the-arbitrary-sum-of-our-dreams-and-our-memory/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I learned to write by reading the kind of books I wished I'd written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-learned-to-write-by-reading-the-kind-of-books-i-wished-i-d-written/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-really-important-kind-of-freedom-involves-attention-and-awareness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There's a special kind of freedom sisters enjoy. Freedom to share innermost thoughts, to ask a favor, to show their true feelings. The freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-a-special-kind-of-freedom-sisters-enjoy-freedom-to-share/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-most-important-kind-of-freedom-is-to-be-what-you-really-are-you-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“His own exclamation: “Women should be free—as free as we are,” struck to the root of a problem that it was agreed in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/his-own-exclamation-women-should-be-free-as-free-as-we-are-struck-to/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“In an instant, she was free from this small commitment and any kind of freedom feels good. She much preferred that invites came faceless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-baker/in-an-instant-she-was-free-from-this-small-commitment-and-any-kind-of/) [Ani Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-baker/) > [Having a kid is getting a certain kind of freedom in a way because you can't be self-obsessed anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-caffey/having-a-kid-is-getting-a-certain-kind-of-freedom-in-a-way-because/) [Charlotte Caffey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-caffey/) > [Yoga allows you to find a new kind of freedom that you may not have known even existed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-k-s-iyengar/yoga-allows-you-to-find-a-new-kind-of-freedom-that-you-may-not-have/) [B.K.S. Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-k-s-iyengar/) > [The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You give up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/the-most-important-kind-of-freedom-is-to-be-what-you-really-are-you/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [The only kind of freedom that the mob can imagine is freedom to annoy and oppress its betters, and that is precisely the kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-kind-of-freedom-that-the-mob-can-imagine-is-freedom-to-annoy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Sue Monk Kidd > [“But benevolent patriarchy is still patriarchy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/but-benevolent-patriarchy-is-still-patriarchy/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“It's part of our overall Body Negation Program.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/it-s-part-of-our-overall-body-negation-program/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“That was the thing mauma and I loved, our time with the quilts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/that-was-the-thing-mauma-and-i-loved-our-time-with-the-quilts/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [In recent years my understanding of God had evolved into increasingly remote abstractions. I'd come to think of God in terms like Divine Reality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/in-recent-years-my-understanding-of-god-had-evolved-into-increasingly/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“The mermaids came to me finally, in the pink hours of my life. They are my consolation. For them I dove with arms outstretched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-mermaids-came-to-me-finally-in-the-pink-hours-of-my-life-they-are/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“The bag contained a pair of white cotton gloves stained the color of age.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-bag-contained-a-pair-of-white-cotton-gloves-stained-the-color-of/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [I eventually found that the soul is more than an immortal commodity to win and save. It is the repository of the inner divine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-eventually-found-that-the-soul-is-more-than-an-immortal-commodity/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Readiness for dying arrives by attending the smallest moment and finding the eternal inside of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/readiness-for-dying-arrives-by-attending-the-smallest-moment-and/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“I sat at her desk and turned one page after another, staring at what looked like bits and pieces of black lace laid cross…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-sat-at-her-desk-and-turned-one-page-after-another-staring-at-what/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [The translucence that comes when life hardens into a bead of such cruel perfection you see it with the purest clarity. Everything suddenly there--life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/the-translucence-that-comes-when-life-hardens-into-a-bead-of-such/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“There's no pain on earth that doesn't require a benevolent witness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/there-s-no-pain-on-earth-that-doesn-t-require-a-benevolent-witness/) [sue monk kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“afflicted with the worst female curse on earth, the need to mold myself to expectations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/afflicted-with-the-worst-female-curse-on-earth-the-need-to-mold/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Her forbidden bath all those months ago still hung leaden between us, though Handful didn't seem the least bit ashamed by my discovery of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/her-forbidden-bath-all-those-months-ago-still-hung-leaden-between-us/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Why should God’s perfection be based on having an unchanging nature?” I asked. “Isn’t flexibility more perfect than stasis?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/why-should-god-s-perfection-be-based-on-having-an-unchanging-nature-i/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) [Explore all 584 Sue Monk Kidd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) ## More Freedom quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [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/) > [Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/elections-belong-to-the-people-it-s-their-decision-if-they-decide-to/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [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/) > [We live in the greatest country in the world because of the veterans who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom and the security…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-husted/we-live-in-the-greatest-country-in-the-world-because-of-the-veterans/) [Jon Husted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-husted/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [“No one was more surprised than I to realize that my newfound freedom had been purchased by giving up on eternity and settling for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-jessop/no-one-was-more-surprised-than-i-to-realize-that-my-newfound-freedom/) [Carolyn Jessop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-jessop/) > [“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“In any case, white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-any-case-white-people-who-had-robbed-black-people-of-their-liberty/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [I don't want to be famous famous. I'm happy on the second tier, where I have autonomy on a professional level but I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-reece/i-don-t-want-to-be-famous-famous-i-m-happy-on-the-second-tier-where-i/) [Gabrielle Reece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-reece/) [Browse all 30,110 Freedom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Reading was a kind of freedom, the only one I could give”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sue Monk Kidd" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/reading-was-a-kind-of-freedom-the-only-one-i-could-give/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Freedom" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/reading-was-a-kind-of-freedom-the-only-one-i-could-give/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/sue-monk-kidd-404_freedom_reading-was-a-kind-of-freedom-the-only-o_388805.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/sue-monk-kidd-404_freedom_reading-was-a-kind-of-freedom-the-only-o_388805.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/820/sue-monk-kidd-404_freedom_reading-was-a-kind-of-freedom-the-only-o_388805.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Reading was a kind of freedom, the only one I could give” — Sue Monk Kidd", "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": "Sue Monk Kidd", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Reading was a kind of freedom,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/reading-was-a-kind-of-freedom-the-only-one-i-could-give/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/reading-was-a-kind-of-freedom-the-only-one-i-could-give/#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 } } ] } ```