---
title: "1 Improbability Quotes By Ursula Goodenough"
description: "1 Improbability quotes by Ursula Goodenough. Plus more from Ursula Goodenough and more Improbability sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15d/ursula-goodenough-28376_affection_i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self_1404872.png"
---

> [I have come to understand that the self, my self, is inherently sacred. By virtue of its own improbability, its own miracle, its own emergence. And so I lift up my head, and I bear my own witness, with affection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self-my-self-is-inherently-sacred/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15d/ursula-goodenough-28376_affection_i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self_1404872.png)

## Other authors on Improbability

## More by Ursula Goodenough

> [Early humans, bursting with questions about Nature but with limited understanding of its dynamics, explained things in terms of supernatural persons and person-animals who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/early-humans-bursting-with-questions-about-nature-but-with-limited/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [The most reliable joy is to be out of doors, to be a creature among other creatures. I find it very restful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-most-reliable-joy-is-to-be-out-of-doors-to-be-a-creature-among/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [Human consensus does not generate reality. Were it able to do so, the Sun would have taken to orbiting the Earth some time ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/human-consensus-does-not-generate-reality-were-it-able-to-do-so-the/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [Reverence is the sense that there is something larger than the self, larger even than the human, to which one accords respect and awe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/reverence-is-the-sense-that-there-is-something-larger-than-the-self/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [Perhaps we should all settle down and think about what's good in the world and what we want to do here. If we find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/perhaps-we-should-all-settle-down-and-think-about-what-s-good-in-the/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [The evolution of the cosmos invokes in me a sense of mystery; the increase in biodiversity invokes the response of humility; and an understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-evolution-of-the-cosmos-invokes-in-me-a-sense-of-mystery-the/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [I have come to understand that the self, my self, is inherently sacred. By virtue of its own improbability, its own miracle, its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self-my-self-is-inherently-sacred/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [The biochemistry and biophysics are the notes required for life; they conspire, collectively, to generate the real unit of life, the organism. The intermediate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-biochemistry-and-biophysics-are-the-notes-required-for-life-they/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [Human memory, they say, is like a coat closet: The most enduring outcome of a formal education is that it creates rows of coat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/human-memory-they-say-is-like-a-coat-closet-the-most-enduring-outcome/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [“Life, we can now say, is getting something to happen against the odds, and remembering how to do it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/life-we-can-now-say-is-getting-something-to-happen-against-the-odds/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [It is as we respond to the understandings and feelings inherent in . . . art that we acquire much of our truth, much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/it-is-as-we-respond-to-the-understandings-and-feelings-inherent-in/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [The religious naturalist is provisioned with tales of natural emergence that are, to my mind, far more magical than traditional miracles. Emergence is inherent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-religious-naturalist-is-provisioned-with-tales-of-natural/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [The Big Bang, the formation of sars and planets, the origin and evolution of life on this planet, the advent of human consciousness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-big-bang-the-formation-of-sars-and-planets-the-origin-and/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [It seems far simpler to go ahead and say that the epic is a fantastic myth, that happens to be true of the material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/it-seems-far-simpler-to-go-ahead-and-say-that-the-epic-is-a-fantastic/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

> [The concept of an independent spiritual realm does not augment, for me, the magic of the mystical dimension, whereas to think of this dimension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-concept-of-an-independent-spiritual-realm-does-not-augment-for-me/)

[Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbability/ursula-goodenough/#itemlist",
            "name": "1 Improbability Quotes By Ursula Goodenough",
            "numberOfItems": 1,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I have come to understand that the self, my self, is inherently sacred. By virtue of its own improbability, its own miracle, its own emergence. And so I lift up my head, and I bear my own witness, with affection and tenderness and respect. And in so doing, I sanctify myself with my own grace.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Ursula Goodenough"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self-my-self-is-inherently-sacred/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15d/ursula-goodenough-28376_affection_i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self_1404872.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15d/ursula-goodenough-28376_affection_i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self_1404872.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15d/ursula-goodenough-28376_affection_i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self_1404872.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I have come to understand that the self, my self, is inherently sacred. By virtue of its own improbability…” — Ursula Goodenough",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbability/ursula-goodenough/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbability/ursula-goodenough/",
            "name": "Improbability Quotes by Ursula Goodenough",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbability/ursula-goodenough/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15d/ursula-goodenough-28376_affection_i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self_1404872.png"
            },
            "description": "1 Improbability quotes by Ursula Goodenough. Plus more from Ursula Goodenough and more Improbability sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbability/ursula-goodenough/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbability/ursula-goodenough/#breadcrumb",
            "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": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Improbability",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbability/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Ursula Goodenough",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbability/ursula-goodenough/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```