"When one door is closed, don't you know, another is open"
About this Quote
The intent is restorative, but not naive. Doors don’t close in Marley’s world because the universe is doing spring cleaning; they close because systems, poverty, and politics slam them shut. Reggae, especially in Marley’s era, is full of that dual charge: naming the pressure without letting it define the future. The “another is open” isn’t magic, it’s agency - the possibility of a new path if you keep moving, keep looking, keep believing you’re entitled to one.
Context sharpens the subtext. Marley came up in postcolonial Jamaica amid economic strain and political violence, then became a global voice for the dispossessed. Read there, the line becomes communal counsel: resilience as a shared practice, not a private mood. It works because it compresses hardship and forward motion into one breath, making hope sound less like escapism and more like a beat you can actually live to.
Quote Details
| Topic | New Beginnings |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Marley, Bob. (2026, January 14). When one door is closed, don't you know, another is open. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-one-door-is-closed-dont-you-know-another-is-5139/
Chicago Style
Marley, Bob. "When one door is closed, don't you know, another is open." FixQuotes. January 14, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-one-door-is-closed-dont-you-know-another-is-5139/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"When one door is closed, don't you know, another is open." FixQuotes, 14 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-one-door-is-closed-dont-you-know-another-is-5139/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.













