--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For people sometimes believed that it was…" description: "\"For people sometimes believed that it was safer to live with complaints, was necessary to cooperate with grief, was all right to become an accomplice i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c4/toni-cade-bambara-14357_accomplices_for-people-sometimes-believed-that-it-wa_2982899.jpg" --- # For people sometimes believed that it was safer to live… ![“For people sometimes believed that it was safer to live with complaints, was necessary to cooperate with grief, was all right to become an accomplice in self-ambush... Take heart to flat out decide to be well and stride into the future sane and whole.” quote by Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c4/toni-cade-bambara-14357_accomplices_for-people-sometimes-believed-that-it-wa_2982899.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c4/toni-cade-bambara-14357_accomplices_for-people-sometimes-believed-that-it-wa_2982899.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c4/toni-cade-bambara-14357_accomplices_for-people-sometimes-believed-that-it-wa_2982899.jpg) > “For people sometimes believed that it was safer to live with complaints, was necessary to cooperate with grief, was all right to become an accomplice in self-ambush... Take heart to flat out decide to be well and stride into the future sane and whole.” [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It encourages moving from passive suffering to active self‑care and future‑oriented living. **In simple terms:** It urges choosing health and forward‑looking action over complaint. Key Takeaway Embrace well‑being and purposeful progress. Themes self‑care resilience future healing Mood hopeful empowering Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - mental health - personal development - community building Key Concepts personal agency psychological health Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take toward personal wholeness? - How does community support enhance resilience? A Different Perspective Self‑care alone may not address systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accomplice Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accomplice-self-4647341/) [Accomplices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accomplices/) [Ambush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambush/) [Believed Safer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believed-safer-4647339/) [Blame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blame/) [Complaints](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complaints/) [Cooperate Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cooperate-grief-4647337/) [Flats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flats/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Necessary Cooperate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessary-cooperate-4647338/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Sane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sane/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self Ambush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-ambush-4647340/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Stride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stride/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [People often believed they were safer in the light, thinking monsters only came out at night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cj-roberts/people-often-believed-they-were-safer-in-the-light-thinking-monsters-3/) [CJ Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cj-roberts/) > [“People often believed they were safer in the light, thinking monsters only came out at night. But safety – like light – is a façade.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-roberts/people-often-believed-they-were-safer-in-the-light-thinking-monsters-2/) [C.J. Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-roberts/) > [“People often believed they were safer in the light, thinking monsters only came out at night. But safety – like light – is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-roberts/people-often-believed-they-were-safer-in-the-light-thinking-monsters/) [C.J. Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-roberts/) > [TAKE HEART TO FLAT OUT DECIDE TO BE WELL AND STRIDE INTO THE FUTURE, SANE AND WHOLE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/take-heart-to-flat-out-decide-to-be-well-and-stride-into-the-future/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [“Grief is an ambush. You’re walking along feeling fine, look down, see a leaf, and begin to weep. —Jack”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/grief-is-an-ambush-you-re-walking-along-feeling-fine-look-down-see-a/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [The only rule Muslims know is to win. It does not matter how. All rules can be broken as long as they win the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-sina/the-only-rule-muslims-know-is-to-win-it-does-not-matter-how-all-rules/) [Ali Sina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-sina/) > [We stand there, quiet. My questions all seem wrong: How did you get so old? Was it all at once, in a day, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/we-stand-there-quiet-my-questions-all-seem-wrong-how-did-you-get-so/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [ What would things been like \[in Russia\] if during periods of mass arrests people had not simply sat there, paling with terror at every… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/what-would-things-been-like-in-russia-if-during-periods-of-mass/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Some fell by laudanum, and some by steel, and death in ambush lay in every pill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-garth/some-fell-by-laudanum-and-some-by-steel-and-death-in-ambush-lay-in/) [Samuel Garth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-garth/) > [“Okay then, we’re set” he thought. “Come and get it”. The enemy, his enemy, were walking into the classic football ambush and they didn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dougie-brimson/okay-then-we-re-set-he-thought-come-and-get-it-the-enemy-his-enemy/) [Dougie Brimson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dougie-brimson/) > [“Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, often violently, just like love. It”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davidson/accidents-ambush-the-unsuspecting-often-violently-just-like-love-it/) [Andrew Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davidson/) > [Ideally a painter (and, generally, an artist) should not become conscious of his insights: without taking the detour through his reflective processes, and incomprehensibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/ideally-a-painter-and-generally-an-artist-should-not-become-conscious/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [I like pacifists and people who have a heavy emotional identification with deathism and war would probably call me a pacifist, but I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/i-like-pacifists-and-people-who-have-a-heavy-emotional-identification/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [“That was the cruelty of memory. The way it could ambush you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-d-leclaire/that-was-the-cruelty-of-memory-the-way-it-could-ambush-you/) [Anne D. LeClaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-d-leclaire/) > [“You can easily discern whether someone is truly interested to learn & know when s/he asks you or cornering and ambushing you to stumble...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/assegid-habtewold/you-can-easily-discern-whether-someone-is-truly-interested-to-learn/) [Assegid Habtewold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/assegid-habtewold/) ## More by Toni Cade Bambara > [... in a capitalist society a man is expected to be an aggressive, uncompromising, factual, lusty, intelligent provider of goods,and the woman, a retiring,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/in-a-capitalist-society-a-man-is-expected-to-be-an-aggressive/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [Old folks are the nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/old-folks-are-the-nation/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [And what is religion, you might ask. It's a technology of living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/and-what-is-religion-you-might-ask-it-s-a-technology-of-living/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [My responsibility to myself, my neighbors, my family and the human family is to try to tell the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/my-responsibility-to-myself-my-neighbors-my-family-and-the-human/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [An artist represents an oppressed people and makes revolution irresistible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/an-artist-represents-an-oppressed-people-and-makes-revolution/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [Writing is one of the ways I participate in transformation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/writing-is-one-of-the-ways-i-participate-in-transformation/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [Medication without explanation is obscene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/medication-without-explanation-is-obscene/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [The dream is real, my friends. The failure to realize it is the only unreality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/the-dream-is-real-my-friends-the-failure-to-realize-it-is-the-only/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [I tend to agree that celibacy for a time is worth considering, for sex is dirty if all it means is winning a man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/i-tend-to-agree-that-celibacy-for-a-time-is-worth-considering-for-sex/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [“I am one beautiful and powerful son of a bitch,' he told himself. 'Smart as a whip, respected, prosperous, beloved and valuable. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/i-am-one-beautiful-and-powerful-son-of-a-bitch-he-told-himself-smart/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [The job of the writer is to make revolution irresistible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/the-job-of-the-writer-is-to-make-revolution-irresistible/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [There are times ... when any visitor - in person, by phone, by mail - is an intruder, a burglar, a space hogger, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/there-are-times-when-any-visitor-in-person-by-phone-by-mail-is-an/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [“As a culture worker who belongs to an oppressed people my job is to make revolution irresistible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/as-a-culture-worker-who-belongs-to-an-oppressed-people-my-job-is-to/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [TAKE HEART TO FLAT OUT DECIDE TO BE WELL AND STRIDE INTO THE FUTURE, SANE AND WHOLE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/take-heart-to-flat-out-decide-to-be-well-and-stride-into-the-future/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [It's a dismally lonely business, writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/it-s-a-dismally-lonely-business-writing/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) [Explore all 47 Toni Cade Bambara quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) ## More Accomplices quotes > [It takes little or nothing to undo reputations, the merest trifle makes and remakes them, it is simply a question of finding the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/it-takes-little-or-nothing-to-undo-reputations-the-merest-trifle/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [Americans will not allow any Islamic regime to reach the position of governance except if it is an accomplice to the Americans, just like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayman-al-zawahiri/americans-will-not-allow-any-islamic-regime-to-reach-the-position-of/) [Ayman al-Zawahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayman-al-zawahiri/) > [And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo - that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/and-this-is-the-forbidden-truth-the-unspeakable-taboo-that-evil-is/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Insecurity is miserable. That's the bottom line. We don't need it. We don't want it. And we really can live without it. So what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/insecurity-is-miserable-that-s-the-bottom-line-we-don-t-need-it-we/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [An American professor complained that a crypto-Marxist like me was invited in the USA, and I was denounced by the press in Eastern European…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/an-american-professor-complained-that-a-crypto-marxist-like-me-was/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion. And whenever those twin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/and-the-past-held-only-this-wisdom-that-love-was-a-damaging-mistake-2/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [You're only a victim once. The next time you're an accomplice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-judd/you-re-only-a-victim-once-the-next-time-you-re-an-accomplice/) [Naomi Judd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-judd/) > [Then one day I realized that a false picture of the German camps had been created and that the problem of the concentration camps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-rassinier/then-one-day-i-realized-that-a-false-picture-of-the-german-camps-had/) [Paul Rassinier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-rassinier/) > [And what is an authentic madman? It is a man who preferred to become mad, in the socially accepted sense of the word, rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonin-artaud/and-what-is-an-authentic-madman-it-is-a-man-who-preferred-to-become/) [Antonin Artaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonin-artaud/) > [The injustice of defeat lies in the fact that its most innocent victims are made to look like heartless accomplices. It is impossible to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-injustice-of-defeat-lies-in-the-fact-that-its-most-innocent/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Simply because, one hand, there are the haters, The hater has power. All we can do is oppose it, or one becomes an accomplice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/simply-because-one-hand-there-are-the-haters-the-hater-has-power-all/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [I have never seen more Senators express discontent with their jobs…I think the major cause is that, deep down in our hearts, we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-danforth/i-have-never-seen-more-senators-express-discontent-with-their-jobs-i/) [John C. Danforth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-danforth/) > [You give up the world line by line. Stoically. And then one day you realize that your courage is farcical. It doesn't mean anything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-give-up-the-world-line-by-line-stoically-and-then-one-day-you/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [We become accomplices in evil every time we seek to soothe the unslakable appetites of the crime family that sits in Pyongyang.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/we-become-accomplices-in-evil-every-time-we-seek-to-soothe-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [When struck on one cheek to turn the other, is really joining a conspiracy to secure the triumph of brutality. To agree not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/when-struck-on-one-cheek-to-turn-the-other-is-really-joining-a/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) [Browse all 95 Accomplices quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accomplices/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For people sometimes believed that it was safer to live with complaints, was necessary to cooperate with grief, was all right to become an accomplice in self-ambush... 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