Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker's desire to leave office feels like wanting suicide but being murdered instead, highlighting the absurdity of their situation.
In plain terms
Quitting felt so desirable that staying against his will felt like a murder of his freedom.
What can you take from it?
Resignation can feel like relief compared to staying.

Where it applies

  • job dissatisfaction
  • political office
  • career change

Putting it to work

  • recognize burnout
  • plan exit strategies

Questions to consider

  • When did you feel trapped in a role?
  • Is resignation ever a relief?

Another view

The metaphor is extreme and may not apply to all workplace situations.

More from Nathaniel Hawthorne

  1. The moment when a man's head drops off is seldom or never, I am inclined to think, precisely the most agreeable of his life. Nevertheless, like the greater par…

    Permalink to quote #36
  2. The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest p…

    Permalink to quote #38
  3. If a man, sitting all alone, cannot dream strange things, and make them look like truth, he need never try to write romances.

    Permalink to quote #35

Related quotes

  1. He had a sense of irony that ruled his life, made it impossible for him to use his considerable brains in any kind of serious job. Kind of like me.

    Neal StephensonNeal Stephenson quote #24
  2. Many people quit looking for work when they find a job.

    Steven WrightSteven Wright quote #117
  3. The coolest thing I've gotten to do in the past few years is guest star on Sesame Street.

    Norah JonesNorah Jones quote #1