--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Freeing hostages is like putting up a…" description: "\"Freeing hostages is like putting up a stage set, which you do with the captors, agreeing on each piece as you slowly put it together; then you leave an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c23/terry-waite-54408_dignity_freeing-hostages-is-like-putting-up-a-st_2255584.png" --- # Freeing hostages is like putting up a stage set, which you… ![“Freeing hostages is like putting up a stage set, which you do with the captors, agreeing on each piece as you slowly put it together; then you leave an exit through which both the captor and the captive can walk with sincerity and dignity.” quote by Terry Waite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c23/terry-waite-54408_dignity_freeing-hostages-is-like-putting-up-a-st_2255584.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c23/terry-waite-54408_dignity_freeing-hostages-is-like-putting-up-a-st_2255584.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c23/terry-waite-54408_dignity_freeing-hostages-is-like-putting-up-a-st_2255584.png) > “Freeing hostages is like putting up a stage set, which you do with the captors, agreeing on each piece as you slowly put it together; then you leave an exit through which both the captor and the captive can walk with sincerity and dignity.” [Terry Waite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-waite/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Negotiating freedom requires collaborative staging, allowing both captor and captive to exit with dignity. **In simple terms:** Freedom is built together. Key Takeaway Co‑create exit plans with respect. Themes conflict resolution humanity dignity Mood serious hopeful Type strategic humanitarian When to use this quote - hostage crises - peace talks - mediation - trust building Key Concepts negotiation collaboration Questions to Reflect On - How can mutual respect be fostered in negotiations? - What safeguards ensure dignity for all parties? A Different Perspective Power imbalances may hinder true collaboration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dignity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) [Hostages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hostages/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Sincerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sincerity/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [When death gives us a long lease of life, it takes as hostages all those whom we have loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-curchod/when-death-gives-us-a-long-lease-of-life-it-takes-as-hostages-all/) [Suzanne Curchod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-curchod/) > [I remember the last three days that I was president, I never went to bed at all. I never went to bed until we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/i-remember-the-last-three-days-that-i-was-president-i-never-went-to/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [All schoolchildren are hostages to red tape and fiscal insufficiency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosellen-brown/all-schoolchildren-are-hostages-to-red-tape-and-fiscal-insufficiency/) [Rosellen Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosellen-brown/) > [In my family, misery didn't just love company, it wanted hostages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-stahl/in-my-family-misery-didn-t-just-love-company-it-wanted-hostages/) [Jerry Stahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-stahl/) > [“He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-that-hath-wife-and-children-hath-given-hostages-to-fortune/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Because when you kill 300 people, 400 people, who have nothing to do with the provocations Hezbollah staged, but you do it in effect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/because-when-you-kill-300-people-400-people-who-have-nothing-to-do/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [We're all time's captives, hostages to eternity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/we-re-all-time-s-captives-hostages-to-eternity/) [Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/) > [Perhaps one of the more noteworthy trends of our time is the occupation of buildings accompanied by the taking of hostages. The perpetrators of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/perhaps-one-of-the-more-noteworthy-trends-of-our-time-is-the/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [Terrorists don't take black hostages. That's the truth. I have yet to see one of us on the news reading a hostage letter. Like,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-chappelle/terrorists-don-t-take-black-hostages-that-s-the-truth-i-have-yet-to/) [Dave Chappelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-chappelle/) > [I would have promised those terrorists a trip to Disneyland if it would have gotten the hostages released. I thank God they were satisfied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-north/i-would-have-promised-those-terrorists-a-trip-to-disneyland-if-it/) [Oliver North](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-north/) > [No commandment surpasses the one concerning the liberation of hostages, for they are among the starving, the thirsting, the stripped, always in danger of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/no-commandment-surpasses-the-one-concerning-the-liberation-of/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [“The goal with hostages is to gradually lower expectations; in nonhostage crises, it's to lower emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-cullen/the-goal-with-hostages-is-to-gradually-lower-expectations-in/) [Dave Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-cullen/) > [President Carter famously said the hostages were the first thing he thought about in the morning and the last thing he thought about at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/president-carter-famously-said-the-hostages-were-the-first-thing-he/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [I have a wife, I have sons; all these hostages have I given to fortune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-l-lucas/i-have-a-wife-i-have-sons-all-these-hostages-have-i-given-to-fortune/) [F. L. Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-l-lucas/) > [If I were to be taken hostage, I would not plead for release nor would I want my government to be blackmailed. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/if-i-were-to-be-taken-hostage-i-would-not-plead-for-release-nor-would/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) ## More by Terry Waite > [Sometimes the wheels of justice grind slowly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-waite/sometimes-the-wheels-of-justice-grind-slowly/) [Terry Waite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-waite/) > [If one can understand why people behave as they do then often the road to forgiveness is opened. Not only is forgiveness essential for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-waite/if-one-can-understand-why-people-behave-as-they-do-then-often-the/) [Terry Waite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-waite/) > [At the end of the day, love and compassion will win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-waite/at-the-end-of-the-day-love-and-compassion-will-win/) [Terry Waite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-waite/) > [If you are bitter, it will eat you up and do you much more damage than the people who have hurt you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-waite/if-you-are-bitter-it-will-eat-you-up-and-do-you-much-more-damage-than/) [Terry Waite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-waite/) > [The terrible thing about TERRORISM is that ultimately it destroys those who practice it. Slowly but surely, as they try to extinguish life in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-waite/the-terrible-thing-about-terrorism-is-that-ultimately-it-destroys/) [Terry Waite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-waite/) [Explore all 6 Terry Waite quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-waite/) ## More Dignity quotes > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [I take the responsibility of playing another ethnicity very, very seriously, and I promise myself and those people that I will represent them with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-curtis/i-take-the-responsibility-of-playing-another-ethnicity-very-very/) [Cliff Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-curtis/) > [One achieves true human dignity only when one serves. Only he is great who subjects himself to taking part in the achievement of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-antonio-primo-de-rivera/one-achieves-true-human-dignity-only-when-one-serves-only-he-is-great/) Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera > [I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malala-yousafzai/i-speak-not-for-myself-but-so-those-without-a-voice-can-be-heard/) [Malala Yousafzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malala-yousafzai/) > [Use every man according to his desert and who should 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honor and dignity, the less they deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/use-every-man-according-to-his-desert-and-who-should-scape-whipping/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [The dignity of man is in free choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-frisch/the-dignity-of-man-is-in-free-choice/) [Max Frisch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-frisch/) > [One of the things I love about Africa is the amount of dignity and respect and humility you see all the time. You don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-scott/one-of-the-things-i-love-about-africa-is-the-amount-of-dignity-and/) [Jill Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-scott/) > [It is well for a man when he has learned to endure what he cannot change, and to give up with dignity what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/it-is-well-for-a-man-when-he-has-learned-to-endure-what-he-cannot/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Daily contact with some teachers is itself all-sided ethical education for the child without a spoken precept. Here, too, the real advantage of male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/daily-contact-with-some-teachers-is-itself-all-sided-ethical/) [G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/) > [A man, as a man, could arrive at all the dignity that a man was capable of obtaining or receiving; but it needed a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor/a-man-as-a-man-could-arrive-at-all-the-dignity-that-a-man-was-capable/) [John Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor/) > [There is something to be said for anyone who sits alone with dignity and silently begs for God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-is-something-to-be-said-for-anyone-who-sits-alone-with-dignity/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [I just remember that disturbing feeling of walking into that prison, the complete loss of privacy, the complete loss of stimulation, dignity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/i-just-remember-that-disturbing-feeling-of-walking-into-that-prison/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [Henry Kissinger may have wished I had presented him as a combination of Charles DeGaulle and Disraeli, but I didn't…out of respect for DeGaulle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/henry-kissinger-may-have-wished-i-had-presented-him-as-a-combination/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [The dignity of a woman's life is infinite, her status immeasurable, her capacity unbounded, her role divine...In the fast changing world of today her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/the-dignity-of-a-woman-s-life-is-infinite-her-status-immeasurable-her/) [Maharishi Mahesh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/) [Browse all 3,116 Dignity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Freeing hostages is like putting up a stage set, which you do with the captors, agreeing on each piece as you slowly put it together; then you leave an exit through which both the captor and the captive can walk with sincerity and dignity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Terry Waite" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-waite/freeing-hostages-is-like-putting-up-a-stage-set-which-you-do-with-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dignity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-waite/freeing-hostages-is-like-putting-up-a-stage-set-which-you-do-with-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c23/terry-waite-54408_dignity_freeing-hostages-is-like-putting-up-a-st_2255584.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c23/terry-waite-54408_dignity_freeing-hostages-is-like-putting-up-a-st_2255584.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c23/terry-waite-54408_dignity_freeing-hostages-is-like-putting-up-a-st_2255584.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Freeing hostages is like putting up a stage set, which you do with the captors, agreeing on each piece as…” — Terry Waite", "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 Waite", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-waite/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Freeing hostages is like putting up...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-waite/freeing-hostages-is-like-putting-up-a-stage-set-which-you-do-with-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-waite/freeing-hostages-is-like-putting-up-a-stage-set-which-you-do-with-the/#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 } } ] } ```