--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've been given something for a while…" description: "\"“I've been given something for a while, and the price of it is that I have to give it back.”\" — Terry Pratchett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/terry-pratchett-19_quote_i-ve-been-given-something-for-a-while-an_2131818.jpg" --- # I've been given something for a while, and the price of it… ![“I've been given something for a while, and the price of it is that I have to give it back.” quote by Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/terry-pratchett-19_quote_i-ve-been-given-something-for-a-while-an_2131818.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/terry-pratchett-19_quote_i-ve-been-given-something-for-a-while-an_2131818.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/terry-pratchett-19_quote_i-ve-been-given-something-for-a-while-an_2131818.jpg) > ““I've been given something for a while, and the price of it is that I have to give it back.”” [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Every gift carries a cost; you must repay what you receive. **In simple terms:** All gifts have a price. Key Takeaway Accept responsibility for what you receive. Themes responsibility reciprocity balance Mood thoughtful serious Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - friendship - career advancement - community service Key Concepts ethical duty karma Questions to Reflect On - What obligations arise from your blessings? - How do you ensure fair exchange? A Different Perspective Ignoring the cost can lead to entitlement and imbalance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [Before you give up ask yourself if you've given it ALL you've got because chances are you haven't](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/before-you-give-up-ask-yourself-if-you-ve-given-it-all-you-ve-got/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [Losing is no disgrace if you've given your best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-palmer/losing-is-no-disgrace-if-you-ve-given-your-best/) [Jim Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-palmer/) > [I've not given them (the poor people of Bihar) heaven, but I've given them a voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lalu-prasad-yadav/i-ve-not-given-them-the-poor-people-of-bihar-heaven-but-i-ve-given/) [Lalu Prasad Yadav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lalu-prasad-yadav/) > [I've given you my best, but why does she get the best of you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-given-you-my-best-but-why-does-she-get-the-best-of-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've given everything I've got as attorney general.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-beshear/i-ve-given-everything-i-ve-got-as-attorney-general/) [Andy Beshear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-beshear/) > [I've always given people the benefit of the doubt until they prove me otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-kodjoe/i-ve-always-given-people-the-benefit-of-the-doubt-until-they-prove-me/) [Boris Kodjoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-kodjoe/) > [Thankyou for the happines you've given to my life especially those times when I was wasted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/redeyeen/thankyou-for-the-happines-you-ve-given-to-my-life-especially-those/) Redeyeen > [I've lived my life in a way that I feel would be an example to young women and I've always given my best in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-margolis/i-ve-lived-my-life-in-a-way-that-i-feel-would-be-an-example-to-young/) [Cindy Margolis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-margolis/) > [I know it's near the end and when it's over I want to be able to say to myself - not anyone else -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kell-brook/i-know-it-s-near-the-end-and-when-it-s-over-i-want-to-be-able-to-say/) [Kell Brook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kell-brook/) > [I have given to some Republicans, I've given to some Democrats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-bankman-fried/i-have-given-to-some-republicans-i-ve-given-to-some-democrats/) [Sam Bankman-Fried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-bankman-fried/) > [I've given up, damn the dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-walker/i-ve-given-up-damn-the-dawn/) [Clay Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-walker/) > [Immigration has been good for this country; I know the value of it - hopefully I've given something back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theo-paphitis/immigration-has-been-good-for-this-country-i-know-the-value-of-it/) [Theo Paphitis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theo-paphitis/) > [I've given everything I can possible to the game, on and off the field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmitt-smith/i-ve-given-everything-i-can-possible-to-the-game-on-and-off-the-field/) [Emmitt Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmitt-smith/) > [“For as long as I've known you, you've given me a part of you that you haven't given to anyone else. And now I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priscilla-glenn/for-as-long-as-i-ve-known-you-you-ve-given-me-a-part-of-you-that-you/) [Priscilla Glenn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priscilla-glenn/) > [America, I've given you all and now I'm nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/america-i-ve-given-you-all-and-now-i-m-nothing/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) ## More by Terry Pratchett > [“This one’s mental.’ ‘Eccentric.’ ‘What’s the difference?’ ‘A bag of cash.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/this-one-s-mental-eccentric-what-s-the-difference-a-bag-of-cash/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“But I did not return until half past four this morning and I distinctly remember stubbing my toe on the stairs. I am as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/but-i-did-not-return-until-half-past-four-this-morning-and-i/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Someone broke from the scrum and, punching and kicking, staggered towards the Klatchian goal. "Isn't that man your butler?" said Ahmed. "Yes." "One of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/someone-broke-from-the-scrum-and-punching-and-kicking-staggered/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [It's an interesting fact that fewer than 17 % of Real cats end their lives with the same name they started with. Much family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/it-s-an-interesting-fact-that-fewer-than-17-of-real-cats-end-their/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [You can't trust folk songs. They always sneak up on you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-can-t-trust-folk-songs-they-always-sneak-up-on-you/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Either dragons should exist completely or fail to exist at all, he felt. A dragon only half-existing was worse than the extremes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/either-dragons-should-exist-completely-or-fail-to-exist-at-all-he/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Magrat wondered what it was like, spending your whole life doing something you didn’t want to do. Like being dead, she considered, only worse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/magrat-wondered-what-it-was-like-spending-your-whole-life-doing/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [A hardback's harder at Christmas time because that's a good hardback buying time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/a-hardback-s-harder-at-christmas-time-because-that-s-a-good-hardback/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“There were more old people. The world was full of them,' said the wizard. 'Yes, I know. And now it's full of young people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-were-more-old-people-the-world-was-full-of-them-said-the-wizard/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Hobson was big and heavyset, but not exactly fat; he was probably what you’d get if you shaved a bear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/hobson-was-big-and-heavyset-but-not-exactly-fat-he-was-probably-what/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“There is a night that never comes to an end… The clock of the world turns under its own shadow. Midnight is a moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-is-a-night-that-never-comes-to-an-end-the-clock-of-the-world/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“You'd like Freedom, Truth, and Justice, wouldn't you, Comrade Sergeant?' said Reg encouragingly. 'I'd like a hard-boiled egg,' said Vimes, shaking the match out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-d-like-freedom-truth-and-justice-wouldn-t-you-comrade-sergeant/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“You are not apprehensive, are you? I can't detect no trace of fear none whatsoever Roomy cranium all possible videos of all possible outcomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-are-not-apprehensive-are-you-i-can-t-detect-no-trace-of-fear-none/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Imagination, not intelligence, made us human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/imagination-not-intelligence-made-us-human/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Explore all 3,328 Terry Pratchett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## More Given quotes > [I could not limit my values and pursuits to what makes others comfortable. Being possessed by a promise I live without options. I will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/i-could-not-limit-my-values-and-pursuits-to-what-makes-others/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [A low-minded person should not be given good advice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/a-low-minded-person-should-not-be-given-good-advice/) [Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/) > [The old charters of Massachusetts, Virginia, and the Carolinas had given title to strips of territory extending from the Atlantic westward to the Pacific.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-bushnell-hart/the-old-charters-of-massachusetts-virginia-and-the-carolinas-had/) [Albert Bushnell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-bushnell-hart/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [Susan B. Anthony must be turning in her grave if she knew that millions of women who have the right to vote are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-m-kunin/susan-b-anthony-must-be-turning-in-her-grave-if-she-knew-that/) [Madeleine M. Kunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-m-kunin/) > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [If life were like a competitive race, some people would be given a flying start and others would line up with weights tied to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mardy-grothe/if-life-were-like-a-competitive-race-some-people-would-be-given-a/) [Mardy Grothe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mardy-grothe/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Music is one of the ways by which you can know everything which is going on in the world. You can feel... through music...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-simone/music-is-one-of-the-ways-by-which-you-can-know-everything-which-is/) [Nina Simone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-simone/) > [Today, at Harvard, any student with the currently fashionable color of skin is given rights denied to students of the currently unfashionable color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-capp/today-at-harvard-any-student-with-the-currently-fashionable-color-of/) [Al Capp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-capp/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [God has given believers the responsibility of spreading the Gospel to all the world, and we need to use all at our disposal to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-epp/god-has-given-believers-the-responsibility-of-spreading-the-gospel-to/) [Theodore Epp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-epp/) Browse all 10,948 Given quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I've been given something for a while, and the price of it is that I have to give it back.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Terry Pratchett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/i-ve-been-given-something-for-a-while-and-the-price-of-it-is-that-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Given" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/i-ve-been-given-something-for-a-while-and-the-price-of-it-is-that-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/terry-pratchett-19_quote_i-ve-been-given-something-for-a-while-an_2131818.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/terry-pratchett-19_quote_i-ve-been-given-something-for-a-while-an_2131818.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/630/terry-pratchett-19_quote_i-ve-been-given-something-for-a-while-an_2131818.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I've been given something for a while, and the price of it is that I have to give it back.” — Terry Pratchett", "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": "Terry Pratchett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I've been given something for a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/i-ve-been-given-something-for-a-while-and-the-price-of-it-is-that-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/i-ve-been-given-something-for-a-while-and-the-price-of-it-is-that-i/#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 } } ] } ```