--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In my new freedom I remember thinking: If…" description: "\"“In my new freedom I remember thinking: If one knows what he wants to do, others will not only not stand in the way but will lend a hand from simple cu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/walker-percy-1958_curiosity_in-my-new-freedom-i-remember-thinking-if_689351.png" --- # In my new freedom I remember thinking: If one knows what… ![“In my new freedom I remember thinking: If one knows what he wants to do, others will not only not stand in the way but will lend a hand from simple curiosity and amazement.” quote by Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/walker-percy-1958_curiosity_in-my-new-freedom-i-remember-thinking-if_689351.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/walker-percy-1958_curiosity_in-my-new-freedom-i-remember-thinking-if_689351.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/walker-percy-1958_curiosity_in-my-new-freedom-i-remember-thinking-if_689351.png) > ““In my new freedom I remember thinking: If one knows what he wants to do, others will not only not stand in the way but will lend a hand from simple curiosity and amazement.”” [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True freedom invites others to support you out of curiosity and admiration when you clearly know your purpose, turning personal conviction into communal assistance. **In simple terms:** Knowing your purpose draws help from others. Key Takeaway Define your goals and let others be inspired to assist. Themes purpose freedom community support Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - creative collaborations - volunteering - leadership initiatives Key Concepts self‑actualization social influence shared vision Questions to Reflect On - What purpose drives you? - How can you invite support without assuming it? A Different Perspective Assuming others will help may overlook practical constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Curiosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) ## Related quotes > [“Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/stand-out-someone-has-to-it-is-easy-to-follow-along-it-can-feel/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [Freedom, remember, is not the same as liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/freedom-remember-is-not-the-same-as-liberty/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [“My biggest hope for this work is that it will help others to remember the sacrifices made for our freedom, and even more so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-neven-pugh/my-biggest-hope-for-this-work-is-that-it-will-help-others-to-remember/) J. Neven-Pugh > [Nothing puts a greater obstacle in the way of the progress of knowledge than thinking that one knows what one does not yet know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/nothing-puts-a-greater-obstacle-in-the-way-of-the-progress-of/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [Thinking of him he knows who he is!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-urs-4ever/thinking-of-him-he-knows-who-he-is/) Im\_urs\_4ever > [One does one's thinking before one knows what one is to think about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-does-one-s-thinking-before-one-knows-what-one-is-to-think-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Don’t ever think you know what’s right for the other person. He might start thinking he knows what’s right for you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-s-williams/don-t-ever-think-you-know-what-s-right-for-the-other-person-he-might/) Paul S. Williams > [The human condition is defined by periods of not knowing as much as one wants and is crowned by moments of thinking one knows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-dansky/the-human-condition-is-defined-by-periods-of-not-knowing-as-much-as/) [Martin Dansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-dansky/) > [There's a certain kind of existential freedom that comes to people who realize that all the things that they hold onto and that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-logue/there-s-a-certain-kind-of-existential-freedom-that-comes-to-people/) [Donal Logue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-logue/) > [Wherever liberty as we understand it has been destroyed, this has almost always been done in the name of some new freedom promised to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/wherever-liberty-as-we-understand-it-has-been-destroyed-this-has/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [“I am not ready to die, But I am learning to trust death As I have trusted life. I am moving Toward a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-am-not-ready-to-die-but-i-am-learning-to-trust-death-as-i-have/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Russians have a new freedom, but as long as they don't express that freedom on a public platform.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-almond/russians-have-a-new-freedom-but-as-long-as-they-don-t-express-that/) [Marc Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-almond/) > [Many of them had a better time than they ever had in their lives because they were discovering the new freedom - the less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/many-of-them-had-a-better-time-than-they-ever-had-in-their-lives/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [“Every time I learn more about my beginnings, I experience a new freedom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zara-phillips/every-time-i-learn-more-about-my-beginnings-i-experience-a-new-freedom/) [Zara Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zara-phillips/) > [“she would be free of mundane care, she was a pure will towards right. She had sold herself, but she had a new freedom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence-2/she-would-be-free-of-mundane-care-she-was-a-pure-will-towards-right/) [D.H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence-2/) ## More by Walker Percy > [“Do you know what he told me after lying under a cliff for thirty six hours with two inches of his femur sticking out?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/do-you-know-what-he-told-me-after-lying-under-a-cliff-for-thirty-six/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [Americans are the nicest, most generous, and sentimental people on earth. Yet Americans have killed more unborn children than any nation in history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/americans-are-the-nicest-most-generous-and-sentimental-people-on/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“The real wonder is not that the Cosmos is now seen as wonderful but that it is not. Despite its inconceivable vastness, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/the-real-wonder-is-not-that-the-cosmos-is-now-seen-as-wonderful-but/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“Ours is the only civilization in history which has enshrined mediocrity as its national ideal. Others have been corrupt, but leave it to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/ours-is-the-only-civilization-in-history-which-has-enshrined/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [ \[In art\] you are telling the reader or the listener or the viewer something he already knows but which he doesn't quite know that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/in-art-you-are-telling-the-reader-or-the-listener-or-the-viewer/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“People usually told him the same joke two or three times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/people-usually-told-him-the-same-joke-two-or-three-times/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [For the world is broken, sundered, busted down the middle, self ripped from self and man pasted back together as mythical monster, half angel,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/for-the-world-is-broken-sundered-busted-down-the-middle-self-ripped/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [Nobody but a Southerner knows the wrenching rinsing sadness of the cities of the North.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/nobody-but-a-southerner-knows-the-wrenching-rinsing-sadness-of-the/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“For me, all signifiers fit me, one as well as another. I am rascal, hero, craven, brave, treacherous, loyal, at once the secret hero…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/for-me-all-signifiers-fit-me-one-as-well-as-another-i-am-rascal-hero/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“But the expectation of the self, to be informed in its nothingness--if only I can get out of this old place and into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/but-the-expectation-of-the-self-to-be-informed-in-its-nothingness-if/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [Nothing remains but desire, and desire comes howling down Elysian Fields like a mistral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/nothing-remains-but-desire-and-desire-comes-howling-down-elysian/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“A variant of the amnesic-plot device is the inadvertent return of the amnesiac to home territory, where he is welcomed by a lovely woman,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/a-variant-of-the-amnesic-plot-device-is-the-inadvertent-return-of-the/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [A novel is what you call something that won't sell if you call it poems or short stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/a-novel-is-what-you-call-something-that-won-t-sell-if-you-call-it/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life. To become aware of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/the-search-is-what-anyone-would-undertake-if-he-were-not-sunk-in-the/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [“Am I, in my search, a hundred miles ahead of my fellow Americans or a hundred miles behind them? That is to say: Have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/am-i-in-my-search-a-hundred-miles-ahead-of-my-fellow-americans-or-a/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) [Explore all 194 Walker Percy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) ## More Curiosity quotes > [I'm a strange mixture of my mother's curiosity; my father, who grew up the son of the manse in a Presbyterian family, who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/i-m-a-strange-mixture-of-my-mother-s-curiosity-my-father-who-grew-up/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [“Metal makes everything magical. Just ask a unicorn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sybrina-durant/metal-makes-everything-magical-just-ask-a-unicorn/) [Sybrina Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sybrina-durant/) > [ We have no clear ideas of the agency of \[demonic\] spirits, nor is it necessary. The Scripture says little to satisfy our curiosity; but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-newton/we-have-no-clear-ideas-of-the-agency-of-demonic-spirits-nor-is-it/) [John Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-newton/) > [The four Cs of making dreams come true: Curiosity, Courage, Consistency, Confidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/the-four-cs-of-making-dreams-come-true-curiosity-courage-consistency/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [Curiosity Can Kill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anison/curiosity-can-kill/) [Anison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anison/) > [“So curious you must be. Like little calves poking their heads through the fence with big eyes and a headful of curiosity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carew-papritz/so-curious-you-must-be-like-little-calves-poking-their-heads-through/) [Carew Papritz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carew-papritz/) > [ “\[T\]he question "What is everything?" has no meaning, even though it seems to be profound. \[...\] The point is, perhaps, that I am not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-watts/t-he-question-what-is-everything-has-no-meaning-even-though-it-seems/) [Alan W. Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-watts/) > [ By profession a biologist, \[Thomas Henry Huxley\] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/by-profession-a-biologist-thomas-henry-huxley-covered-in-fact-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [How do we know that we have a right to kill creatures that we are so little above, as dogs, for our curiosity or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/how-do-we-know-that-we-have-a-right-to-kill-creatures-that-we-are-so/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Be curious not judge mental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknow/be-curious-not-judge-mental/) Unknow > [There is nothing so carking as the pangs of unsatisfied curiosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/there-is-nothing-so-carking-as-the-pangs-of-unsatisfied-curiosity/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) > [Curiosity is the essence of human existence. 'Who are we? Where are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going?'... I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/curiosity-is-the-essence-of-human-existence-who-are-we-where-are-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometimes curiosity is a poison, not only for those who drink it but for everyone around it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-norman-lippert/sometimes-curiosity-is-a-poison-not-only-for-those-who-drink-it-but/) [G. Norman Lippert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-norman-lippert/) > [As long as your curiosity is greater than your fear, you will move forward!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/as-long-as-your-curiosity-is-greater-than-your-fear-you-will-move/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it sure has earned a lot of people graduate degrees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-irving/curiosity-may-have-killed-the-cat-but-it-sure-has-earned-a-lot-of/) Robyn Irving [Browse all 2,721 Curiosity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In my new freedom I remember thinking: If one knows what he wants to do, others will not only not stand in the way but will lend a hand from simple curiosity and amazement.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Walker Percy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/in-my-new-freedom-i-remember-thinking-if-one-knows-what-he-wants-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Curiosity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/in-my-new-freedom-i-remember-thinking-if-one-knows-what-he-wants-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/walker-percy-1958_curiosity_in-my-new-freedom-i-remember-thinking-if_689351.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/walker-percy-1958_curiosity_in-my-new-freedom-i-remember-thinking-if_689351.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/walker-percy-1958_curiosity_in-my-new-freedom-i-remember-thinking-if_689351.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In my new freedom I remember thinking: If one knows what he wants to do, others will not only not stand in…” — Walker Percy", "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": "Walker Percy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In my new freedom I remember...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/in-my-new-freedom-i-remember-thinking-if-one-knows-what-he-wants-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/in-my-new-freedom-i-remember-thinking-if-one-knows-what-he-wants-to/#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 } } ] } ```