--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everybody is dealing with how much of…" description: "\"Everybody is dealing with how much of their own aliveness they can bear and how much they need to anesthetize themselves.\" — Adam Phillips" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea4/adam-phillips-18270_aliveness_everybody-is-dealing-with-how-much-of-th_1454253.png" --- # Everybody is dealing with how much of their own aliveness… ![“Everybody is dealing with how much of their own aliveness they can bear and how much they need to anesthetize themselves.” quote by Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea4/adam-phillips-18270_aliveness_everybody-is-dealing-with-how-much-of-th_1454253.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea4/adam-phillips-18270_aliveness_everybody-is-dealing-with-how-much-of-th_1454253.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea4/adam-phillips-18270_aliveness_everybody-is-dealing-with-how-much-of-th_1454253.png) > “Everybody is dealing with how much of their own aliveness they can bear and how much they need to anesthetize themselves.” [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People balance how much vitality they can handle against the desire to numb themselves. **In simple terms:** Balancing life energy and numbness. Key Takeaway Recognize when you’re avoiding feeling. Themes psychology self‑awareness emotions Mood reflective introspective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - daily stress - mental health counseling - creative work - personal relationships Key Concepts existentialism self‑care Questions to Reflect On - What parts of yourself are you numbing? - How can you increase your capacity for aliveness? A Different Perspective Over‑anesthetizing can lead to disengagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aliveness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aliveness/) [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) ## Related quotes > [You know, everybody is dealing with issues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-springfield/you-know-everybody-is-dealing-with-issues/) [Rick Springfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-springfield/) > [Living in a culture that prefers to shut out the dark, avoid shadows, and anesthetize pain means that many people are isolated. ... Family,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-wittig-albert/living-in-a-culture-that-prefers-to-shut-out-the-dark-avoid-shadows/) [Susan Wittig Albert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-wittig-albert/) > [If you have an ability, you want to exercise it, not anesthetize it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marty-nemko/if-you-have-an-ability-you-want-to-exercise-it-not-anesthetize-it/) [Marty Nemko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marty-nemko/) > [Images anesthetize. An event known through photographs certainly becomes more real than it would have been if one had never seen the photographs ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/images-anesthetize-an-event-known-through-photographs-certainly/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We live in an age where many things are working hard to conk us out and anesthetize us. Anything we can do to shake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devendra-banhart/we-live-in-an-age-where-many-things-are-working-hard-to-conk-us-out/) [Devendra Banhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devendra-banhart/) > [“Your pain is reminding you that the gift of life is tender and precious. Suffering cuts to the quick of aliveness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/your-pain-is-reminding-you-that-the-gift-of-life-is-tender-and/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > […find freedom, aliveness, and power not from what contains, locates, or protects us, but from what dissolves, reveals, and expands us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/find-freedom-aliveness-and-power-not-from-what-contains-locates-or/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [The peace that comes with surrendered action turns to a sense of aliveness when you actually enjoy what you are doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-peace-that-comes-with-surrendered-action-turns-to-a-sense-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Escape is a process, not a pill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kempton/escape-is-a-process-not-a-pill/) [Beth Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kempton/) > [“That we find freedom, aliveness and power not from what contains, locates, or protects us but from what dissolves, reveals and expands us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/that-we-find-freedom-aliveness-and-power-not-from-what-contains/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [“The enchantment of being here at all, alive and aware, is a gift too often considered a problem. Simply feeling the aliveness—the unique suchness—of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-saltzman/the-enchantment-of-being-here-at-all-alive-and-aware-is-a-gift-too/) Robert Saltzman > [I am sure everyone has had the experience of reading a book and finding it vibrating with aliveness, with colour and immediacy. And then,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-am-sure-everyone-has-had-the-experience-of-reading-a-book-and/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“this feeling of alive is not so easy to experience. Even although life is a thing that seems to have some kind of weight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/this-feeling-of-alive-is-not-so-easy-to-experience-even-although-life/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [Somehow, when we no longer feel in control, we become available to deeper aliveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-moss/somehow-when-we-no-longer-feel-in-control-we-become-available-to/) [Richard Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-moss/) > [Exercising leadership is an expression of your aliveness... But when you cover yourself up, you risk losing something as well. In the struggle to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-a-heifetz/exercising-leadership-is-an-expression-of-your-aliveness-but-when-you/) [Ronald A. Heifetz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-a-heifetz/) ## More by Adam Phillips > [“Writers as diverse as Wordsworth and Freud, as Blake and Dickens have all hypothesized that the turbulence and intensity we feel as young children…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/writers-as-diverse-as-wordsworth-and-freud-as-blake-and-dickens-have/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [Transgression is a quest for solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/transgression-is-a-quest-for-solitude/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [The vocabulary of one’s self-criticism is so impoverished and clichéd. We are at our most stupid in our self-hatred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/the-vocabulary-of-one-s-self-criticism-is-so-impoverished-and-clich-d/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [The big secret about Art is that no one wants it to be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/the-big-secret-about-art-is-that-no-one-wants-it-to-be-true/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [“Indeed psychoanalysis makes sense only as part of the larger cultural conversation in the arts that became known as modernism. Vienna, where Freud lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/indeed-psychoanalysis-makes-sense-only-as-part-of-the-larger-cultural/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [“If you want to be with somebody who gets you, you prefer collusion to desire, safety to excitement (sometimes good things to prefer but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/if-you-want-to-be-with-somebody-who-gets-you-you-prefer-collusion-to/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [“Anger, then, is only for the engaged; for those with projects that matter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/anger-then-is-only-for-the-engaged-for-those-with-projects-that-matter/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [“Finding hate-objects may be every bit as essential as finding love-objects, but if one can tolerate some of one's badness -- meaning recognize it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/finding-hate-objects-may-be-every-bit-as-essential-as-finding-love/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [Sanity, as the project of keeping ourselves recognizably human, therefore has to limit the range of human experience. To keep faith with recognition we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/sanity-as-the-project-of-keeping-ourselves-recognizably-human/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [“So there is something perhaps more difficult to conceive of, sometimes born of resignation and sometimes not- a life in which not getting it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/so-there-is-something-perhaps-more-difficult-to-conceive-of-sometimes/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [ The child..will try to make himself..independent of other people. .. Excesses of appetite are self-cures for feelings of hopelessness. ..The child \[uses\] ‘doubt about… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/the-child-will-try-to-make-himself-independent-of-other-people/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [To grow up is to discover what one is unequal to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/to-grow-up-is-to-discover-what-one-is-unequal-to/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [There is nothing more terrorizing than the possibility that nothing is hidden. There is nothing more scandalous than a happy marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/there-is-nothing-more-terrorizing-than-the-possibility-that-nothing/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [There is always a ..belief that by destroying the thing that we love we destroy our needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/there-is-always-a-belief-that-by-destroying-the-thing-that-we-love-we/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) > [I am always true to myself, that is the problem. Who else could I be true to?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/i-am-always-true-to-myself-that-is-the-problem-who-else-could-i-be/) [Adam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) [Explore all 32 Adam Phillips quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/) ## More Aliveness quotes > [Exercising leadership is an expression of your aliveness... But when you cover yourself up, you risk losing something as well. In the struggle to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-a-heifetz/exercising-leadership-is-an-expression-of-your-aliveness-but-when-you/) [Ronald A. Heifetz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-a-heifetz/) > [Somehow, when we no longer feel in control, we become available to deeper aliveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-moss/somehow-when-we-no-longer-feel-in-control-we-become-available-to/) [Richard Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-moss/) > [“this feeling of alive is not so easy to experience. Even although life is a thing that seems to have some kind of weight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/this-feeling-of-alive-is-not-so-easy-to-experience-even-although-life/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [I am sure everyone has had the experience of reading a book and finding it vibrating with aliveness, with colour and immediacy. And then,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-am-sure-everyone-has-had-the-experience-of-reading-a-book-and/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“The enchantment of being here at all, alive and aware, is a gift too often considered a problem. Simply feeling the aliveness—the unique suchness—of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-saltzman/the-enchantment-of-being-here-at-all-alive-and-aware-is-a-gift-too/) Robert Saltzman > [“That we find freedom, aliveness and power not from what contains, locates, or protects us but from what dissolves, reveals and expands us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/that-we-find-freedom-aliveness-and-power-not-from-what-contains/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [“Escape is a process, not a pill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kempton/escape-is-a-process-not-a-pill/) [Beth Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kempton/) > [The peace that comes with surrendered action turns to a sense of aliveness when you actually enjoy what you are doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-peace-that-comes-with-surrendered-action-turns-to-a-sense-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > […find freedom, aliveness, and power not from what contains, locates, or protects us, but from what dissolves, reveals, and expands us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/find-freedom-aliveness-and-power-not-from-what-contains-locates-or/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [“Your pain is reminding you that the gift of life is tender and precious. Suffering cuts to the quick of aliveness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/your-pain-is-reminding-you-that-the-gift-of-life-is-tender-and/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [To me, wholeness is the key to aliveness. It is more than just physical vitality, it is radiance, coming from being at one with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-moss/to-me-wholeness-is-the-key-to-aliveness-it-is-more-than-just-physical/) [Richard Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-moss/) > [I tell myself it's a virtue, my failure to sleep in my own house, or at all. I tell myself that I spend more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-julavits/i-tell-myself-it-s-a-virtue-my-failure-to-sleep-in-my-own-house-or-at/) [Heidi Julavits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-julavits/) > [“When negative feelings move upon you, reflect, and recognize the danger of feeding those feelings and keeping them alive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/when-negative-feelings-move-upon-you-reflect-and-recognize-the-danger/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [“COMING FORTH INTO THE LIGHT I was born the day I thought: What is? What was? And What if? I was transformed the day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/coming-forth-into-the-light-i-was-born-the-day-i-thought-what-is-what/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [“The splendor of that moment, its transcendent glory and aliveness, haunted him. He could thrust it aside by day, but it poisoned his dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-weber/the-splendor-of-that-moment-its-transcendent-glory-and-aliveness/) [David Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-weber/) [Browse all 39 Aliveness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aliveness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everybody is dealing with how much of their own aliveness they can bear and how much they need to anesthetize themselves.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Phillips" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/everybody-is-dealing-with-how-much-of-their-own-aliveness-they-can/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aliveness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/everybody-is-dealing-with-how-much-of-their-own-aliveness-they-can/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea4/adam-phillips-18270_aliveness_everybody-is-dealing-with-how-much-of-th_1454253.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea4/adam-phillips-18270_aliveness_everybody-is-dealing-with-how-much-of-th_1454253.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea4/adam-phillips-18270_aliveness_everybody-is-dealing-with-how-much-of-th_1454253.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everybody is dealing with how much of their own aliveness they can bear and how much they need to…” — Adam Phillips", "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": "Adam Phillips", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-phillips/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Everybody is dealing with how much...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/everybody-is-dealing-with-how-much-of-their-own-aliveness-they-can/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-phillips/everybody-is-dealing-with-how-much-of-their-own-aliveness-they-can/#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 } } ] } ```