--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How true it was that one needed to be…" description: "\"“How true it was that one needed to be seen by others to be sure of one's own existence.”\" — A.S. Byatt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfa/a-s-byatt-5275_existence_how-true-it-was-that-one-needed-to-be-se_2833407.png" --- # How true it was that one needed to be seen by others to be… ![“How true it was that one needed to be seen by others to be sure of one's own existence.” quote by A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfa/a-s-byatt-5275_existence_how-true-it-was-that-one-needed-to-be-se_2833407.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfa/a-s-byatt-5275_existence_how-true-it-was-that-one-needed-to-be-se_2833407.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfa/a-s-byatt-5275_existence_how-true-it-was-that-one-needed-to-be-se_2833407.png) > ““How true it was that one needed to be seen by others to be sure of one's own existence.”” [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. One must be seen by others to confirm their own existence. **In simple terms:** Recognition validates self‑identity. Key Takeaway Seek authentic self‑validation. Themes identity recognition existence Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - social media - relationships - career - artistic expression Key Concepts social psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do you find inner validation? - When does seeking approval become harmful? A Different Perspective External validation can be unreliable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [“were true, then they needed each other just as much as they needed air to breathe. “Mr. Mayfield—Jett?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-reed/were-true-then-they-needed-each-other-just-as-much-as-they-needed-air/) [J.C. Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-reed/) > [“(she told me her name, though she might have seen, I am sure, that I was simply dying not to know it)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-findlater/she-told-me-her-name-though-she-might-have-seen-i-am-sure-that-i-was/) Mary Findlater > [I think I'm one of those people that needed to be seen by someone else to see myself. But then on the other hand,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicky-krieps/i-think-i-m-one-of-those-people-that-needed-to-be-seen-by-someone/) [Vicky Krieps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicky-krieps/) > [“You looked like you’d been trying to fade away. I thought you were a woman who needed to be seen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moira-rogers/you-looked-like-you-d-been-trying-to-fade-away-i-thought-you-were-a/) [Moira Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moira-rogers/) > [“I did not need to be perfect to be loved. I only needed to be seen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-thornhill/i-did-not-need-to-be-perfect-to-be-loved-i-only-needed-to-be-seen/) Grace Thornhill > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/universities-are-the-cathedrals-of-the-modern-age-they-shouldn-t-have/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [It does not seem to me to be sufficiently recognized everywhere among the officials that the existence or non-existence of our people and Empire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-von-hindenburg/it-does-not-seem-to-me-to-be-sufficiently-recognized-everywhere-among/) [Paul von Hindenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-von-hindenburg/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) ## More by A.S. Byatt > [“...bleached by darkness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/bleached-by-darkness/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“Above his head at street level, he saw an angled aileron of a scarlet Porsche, its jaunty fin more or less at the upper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/above-his-head-at-street-level-he-saw-an-angled-aileron-of-a-scarlet/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“Why do you go cold?" He kept his voice gentle. "I - I've analysed it. Because I have the sort of good looks I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/why-do-you-go-cold-he-kept-his-voice-gentle-i-i-ve-analysed-it/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“She was a thinking child, and worked this out. It hurt her, unlike most knowledge, which was strength and pleasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/she-was-a-thinking-child-and-worked-this-out-it-hurt-her-unlike-most/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“Those words . . . national and portrait. They were both to do with identity: the identity of a culture (place, language and history),…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/those-words-national-and-portrait-they-were-both-to-do-with-identity/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“All these are true and none. The place is there Is what we name it, and is not. It is .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/all-these-are-true-and-none-the-place-is-there-is-what-we-name-it-and/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“He had been taught that language was essentially inadequate, that it could never speak what was there, that it only spoke itself. He thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/he-had-been-taught-that-language-was-essentially-inadequate-that-it/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“ We must come to grief and regret anyway - and I for one would rather regret the reality than its phantasm, knowledge than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/we-must-come-to-grief-and-regret-anyway-and-i-for-one-would-rather/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“Roland had learned to see himself, theoretically, as a crossing-place for a number of systems, all loosely connected. He had been trained to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/roland-had-learned-to-see-himself-theoretically-as-a-crossing-place/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“She thought human thoughts and stone thoughts. The latter were slow, patchily coloured, textured and extreme, both hot and cold. They did not translate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/she-thought-human-thoughts-and-stone-thoughts-the-latter-were-slow/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“…it will be possible, in the time of the wolf, to kill the gods.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/it-will-be-possible-in-the-time-of-the-wolf-to-kill-the-gods/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“She looked, quickly, quickly, it was better than before, thanked him and averted her eyes. She came to trust him with her disintegration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/she-looked-quickly-quickly-it-was-better-than-before-thanked-him-and/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“This is where I have always been coming to. Since my time began. And when I go away from here, this will be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/this-is-where-i-have-always-been-coming-to-since-my-time-began-and/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“...I have always believed I cd diagnose this state of being in love, which they regard as most particular, as inspired by item, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/i-have-always-believed-i-cd-diagnose-this-state-of-being-in-love/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [“The children mingled with the adults, and spoke and were spoken to. Children in these families, at the end of the nineteenth century, were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/the-children-mingled-with-the-adults-and-spoke-and-were-spoken-to/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) [Explore all 99 A.S. Byatt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) ## More Existence quotes > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [It does not seem to me to be sufficiently recognized everywhere among the officials that the existence or non-existence of our people and Empire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-von-hindenburg/it-does-not-seem-to-me-to-be-sufficiently-recognized-everywhere-among/) [Paul von Hindenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-von-hindenburg/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/universities-are-the-cathedrals-of-the-modern-age-they-shouldn-t-have/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Browse all 7,646 Existence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“How true it was that one needed to be seen by others to be sure of one's own existence.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "A.S. 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