--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The principle was, death should not be…" description: "\"The principle was, death should not be entered like some snug harbor. It should be an unambiguous refusal to surrender.\" — Thomas Keneally" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d88/thomas-keneally-10113_death_the-principle-was-death-should-not-be-en_1652635.jpg" --- # The principle was, death should not be entered like some… ![“The principle was, death should not be entered like some snug harbor. It should be an unambiguous refusal to surrender.” quote by Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d88/thomas-keneally-10113_death_the-principle-was-death-should-not-be-en_1652635.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d88/thomas-keneally-10113_death_the-principle-was-death-should-not-be-en_1652635.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d88/thomas-keneally-10113_death_the-principle-was-death-should-not-be-en_1652635.jpg) > “The principle was, death should not be entered like some snug harbor. It should be an unambiguous refusal to surrender.” [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Facing death requires a clear, unwavering resolve to not give up, rather than seeking comfort. **In simple terms:** Death demands steadfast resolve, not comfort. Key Takeaway Embrace resolve, reject surrender. Themes courage resilience mortality Mood somber determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - battlefield - terminal illness - legal defense - personal crisis Key Concepts Existentialism willpower Questions to Reflect On - How do you maintain clarity when confronting mortality? - What does surrender look like in your life? A Different Perspective Even with resolve, fear and doubt can linger. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Harbors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harbors/) [Principle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principle/) [Principle Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principle-death-671032/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Refusal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refusal/) [Refusal Surrender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refusal-surrender-671031/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Surrender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrender/) [Unambiguous Refusal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unambiguous-refusal-671033/) ## Related quotes > [The deepest and most organic death is death in solitude, when even light becomes a principle of death. In such moments you will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-deepest-and-most-organic-death-is-death-in-solitude-when-even/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is only one meditation - the rigorous refusal to harbor thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/there-is-only-one-meditation-the-rigorous-refusal-to-harbor-thoughts/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [The church is a sort of hospital for men's souls, and as full of quackery as the hospital for their bodies. Those who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-church-is-a-sort-of-hospital-for-men-s-souls-and-as-full-of/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, floods, oil spills and radioactive fallout cause massive death of people, pigs, bats and birds. These disasters also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-stamets/disasters-such-as-earthquakes-tsunamis-volcanoes-floods-oil-spills/) [Paul Stamets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-stamets/) > [Now, men think, with regard to their conduct, that, if they were to lift themselves up gigantically and commit some crashing sin, they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/now-men-think-with-regard-to-their-conduct-that-if-they-were-to-lift/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [I've set a clear doctrine: America makes no distinction between the terrorists and the countries that harbor them. If you harbor a terrorist, you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-ve-set-a-clear-doctrine-america-makes-no-distinction-between-the/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [He who harbors hatred and bitterness injures himself far more than the one towards whom he manifests these evil propensities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-o-mckay/he-who-harbors-hatred-and-bitterness-injures-himself-far-more-than/) [David O. McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-o-mckay/) > [It was the kind of town that made you feel like Humphrey Bogart: you came in on a bumpy little plane, and, for some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/it-was-the-kind-of-town-that-made-you-feel-like-humphrey-bogart-you/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [If liberals had been in charge of the Arizona memorial, it would probably have featured an exhaustive exhibit about the internment of Japanese Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-charen/if-liberals-had-been-in-charge-of-the-arizona-memorial-it-would/) [Mona Charen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-charen/) > [The cross of Christ is the sweetest burden that I ever bore; it is such a burden as wings are to a bird, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-rutherford/the-cross-of-christ-is-the-sweetest-burden-that-i-ever-bore-it-is/) [Samuel Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-rutherford/) > [I never slept as soundly as the night following Pearl Harbor. For I knew that The American Race would now be entering the war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-never-slept-as-soundly-as-the-night-following-pearl-harbor-for-i/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Seek opportunity, not security. A boat in the harbor is safe, but in time its bottom will rot out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/seek-opportunity-not-security-a-boat-in-the-harbor-is-safe-but-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Frostpine made a face. Lifting the cup, he dumped its contents down his throat. “Auugghh!” he yelled, his voice stronger than it had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamora-pierce/frostpine-made-a-face-lifting-the-cup-he-dumped-its-contents-down-his/) [Tamora Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamora-pierce/) > [I think Kafka was right when he said that for a modern, secular, nonreligious man, state bureaucracy is the only remaining contact with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/i-think-kafka-was-right-when-he-said-that-for-a-modern-secular/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [The crisis of our diminishing water resources is just as severe (if less obviously immediate) as any wartime crisis we have ever faced. Our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-wright/the-crisis-of-our-diminishing-water-resources-is-just-as-severe-if/) [Jim Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-wright/) ## More by Thomas Keneally > [“In a fallen world, it was hard to do unambiguous good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/in-a-fallen-world-it-was-hard-to-do-unambiguous-good/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [In a way Australia is like Catholicism. The company is sometimes questionable and the landscape is grotesque. But you always come back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/in-a-way-australia-is-like-catholicism-the-company-is-sometimes/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [“Vina e un vis, mila e singura realitate.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/vina-e-un-vis-mila-e-singura-realitate/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [And I was very interested in the priesthood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/and-i-was-very-interested-in-the-priesthood/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [“She yawns for men and not with her mouth. She weeps for men and not with her eyes. She drinks men down, she is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/she-yawns-for-men-and-not-with-her-mouth-she-weeps-for-men-and-not/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [“If Frau Rasch, in the last and fullest days of her husband’s power in Brno, had idly—during a party, say; a musical recital at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/if-frau-rasch-in-the-last-and-fullest-days-of-her-husband-s-power-in/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [Um, what I found though about the Christian Brothers is this: that they were certainly muscular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/um-what-i-found-though-about-the-christian-brothers-is-this-that-they/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [So I was very close to ordination. I was delighted to be ordained a deacon, which is the last step between, before becoming a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/so-i-was-very-close-to-ordination-i-was-delighted-to-be-ordained-a/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [ “He \[Rabbi Menasha Levartov\] was one of those men who, even in the years of peace, would have advised his congregation that while God… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/he-rabbi-menasha-levartov-was-one-of-those-men-who-even-in-the-years/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [“Paradox is beloved of novelists. The despised savior, the humane whore, the selfish man suddenly munificent, the wise fool, and the cowardly hero. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/paradox-is-beloved-of-novelists-the-despised-savior-the-humane-whore/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [“We humbly beg your kind applause,” murmured Mary Brenham, with a creative frown that reminded Ralph of Betsey Alicia and made him sharply aware…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/we-humbly-beg-your-kind-applause-murmured-mary-brenham-with-a/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [“In the mind of a true snob there are certain limited criteria to denote the value of human existence. Jimmie's criteria were: home, hearth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/in-the-mind-of-a-true-snob-there-are-certain-limited-criteria-to/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [“The dogs were really keening now, like Irish widows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/the-dogs-were-really-keening-now-like-irish-widows/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [And it is a folly to try to craft a novel for the screen, to write a novel with a screen contract in mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/and-it-is-a-folly-to-try-to-craft-a-novel-for-the-screen-to-write-a/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [The List is Life.", Schindler's List](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/the-list-is-life-schindler-s-list/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) [Explore all 63 Thomas Keneally quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [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/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [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/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) [J. Anthony Torino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-anthony-torino/) > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) [Alan W. Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-powers/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The principle was, death should not be entered like some snug harbor. It should be an unambiguous refusal to surrender.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Keneally" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/the-principle-was-death-should-not-be-entered-like-some-snug-harbor/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Death" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/the-principle-was-death-should-not-be-entered-like-some-snug-harbor/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d88/thomas-keneally-10113_death_the-principle-was-death-should-not-be-en_1652635.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d88/thomas-keneally-10113_death_the-principle-was-death-should-not-be-en_1652635.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d88/thomas-keneally-10113_death_the-principle-was-death-should-not-be-en_1652635.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The principle was, death should not be entered like some snug harbor. It should be an unambiguous refusal to…” — Thomas Keneally", "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": "Thomas Keneally", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The principle was, death should not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/the-principle-was-death-should-not-be-entered-like-some-snug-harbor/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/the-principle-was-death-should-not-be-entered-like-some-snug-harbor/#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 } } ] } ```