--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When we enter into any relationship with…" description: "\"When we enter into any relationship with the premise that we are empty and the other person will fill us in, we are sure to fail. We can only win when ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/alan-cohen-1112_empty_when-we-enter-into-any-relationship-with_1217519.png" --- # When we enter into any relationship with the premise that… ![“When we enter into any relationship with the premise that we are empty and the other person will fill us in, we are sure to fail. We can only win when we proceed from wholeness.” quote by Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/alan-cohen-1112_empty_when-we-enter-into-any-relationship-with_1217519.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/alan-cohen-1112_empty_when-we-enter-into-any-relationship-with_1217519.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/alan-cohen-1112_empty_when-we-enter-into-any-relationship-with_1217519.png) > “When we enter into any relationship with the premise that we are empty and the other person will fill us in, we are sure to fail. We can only win when we proceed from wholeness.” [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Relationships fail when we seek others to complete us; true success comes from inner wholeness before connecting. **In simple terms:** Be whole before seeking partnership. Key Takeaway Cultivate self‑completion first. Themes relationships wholeness self‑growth Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical self‑help When to use this quote - therapy - personal development - dating advice Key Concepts self‑actualization dependence Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance self‑sufficiency with intimacy? - What practices foster inner wholeness? A Different Perspective Self‑reliance can become isolation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Relationship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relationship/) [Relationships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relationships/) [Wholeness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wholeness/) [Winning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winning/) ## Related quotes > [We cannot fail to win unless we fail to try.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-clancy/we-cannot-fail-to-win-unless-we-fail-to-try/) [Tom Clancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-clancy/) > [If you dont fail to try, you cant fail to win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/if-you-dont-fail-to-try-you-cant-fail-to-win/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [“doesn’t teach. Winning rewards. You can only really learn from failure. And in the end, after you have taken a prolonged physical and psychological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aisha-tyler/doesn-t-teach-winning-rewards-you-can-only-really-learn-from-failure/) [Aisha Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aisha-tyler/) > [Don't be afraid to fail. Anything that I've ever attempted I was always willing to fail. You can't always win, but don't be afraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-schwarzenegger/don-t-be-afraid-to-fail-anything-that-i-ve-ever-attempted-i-was/) [Arnold Schwarzenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-schwarzenegger/) > [If I fail more than you do, I win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/if-i-fail-more-than-you-do-i-win/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [“They do everything to make you fail; but when you win they all start kissing your shoes to be part of the game.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/they-do-everything-to-make-you-fail-but-when-you-win-they-all-start/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [When you feel WHOLE, things come to enhance your WHOLEness. When you feel broken, things come to enhance your brokenness. That's why you CANNOT…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/when-you-feel-whole-things-come-to-enhance-your-wholeness-when-you/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [The feeling, "this can't be it", is a very powerful form of prayer. It's the agony of the separated self longing for reunion with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/the-feeling-this-can-t-be-it-is-a-very-powerful-form-of-prayer-it-s/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [The purpose of prayer is not to change God's mind, which always knows your wholeness and your deservingness. The purpose of prayer is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/the-purpose-of-prayer-is-not-to-change-god-s-mind-which-always-knows/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [As you recognize that you already own the wholeness you seek, and no one outside you can give you more than you already are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/as-you-recognize-that-you-already-own-the-wholeness-you-seek-and-no/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [People who do not need to please are irresistible because they radiate wholeness, a rare delicacy in a world of hungry hearts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/people-who-do-not-need-to-please-are-irresistible-because-they/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [The skilful disputant well knows that he never has his enemy at more advantage than when, by allowing the premises, he shows him arguing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/the-skilful-disputant-well-knows-that-he-never-has-his-enemy-at-more/) [William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) > [The premises being thus settled, I proceed to observe that the concatenation of self-existence, proceeding in a reciprocal duplicate ratio, naturally produces a problematical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/the-premises-being-thus-settled-i-proceed-to-observe-that-the/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [One of the problems with industrialism is that it's based on the premise of more and more. It has to keep expanding to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dora-russell/one-of-the-problems-with-industrialism-is-that-it-s-based-on-the/) [Dora Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dora-russell/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) ## More by Alan Cohen > [When you protect yourself from pain, be sure you do not protect yourself from love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/when-you-protect-yourself-from-pain-be-sure-you-do-not-protect/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Anyone in a state of seeking can never be happy. Only those who are constantly finding are fulfilled. And finding is not something that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/anyone-in-a-state-of-seeking-can-never-be-happy-only-those-who-are/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [“You cannot be other than you are. Thank God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/you-cannot-be-other-than-you-are-thank-god/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Evaluate every act by whether it brings you greater life, or deadens you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/evaluate-every-act-by-whether-it-brings-you-greater-life-or-deadens/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Put aside ambition for public recognition, and simply do what you do because it feels good inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/put-aside-ambition-for-public-recognition-and-simply-do-what-you-do/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [“When you finally give up striving, you will be left with what you have been striving for.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/when-you-finally-give-up-striving-you-will-be-left-with-what-you-have/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [“newspaper ads for lost pets and earthquakes that soon follow. Other studies indicate a higher rate of last-minute cancellations for airplane flights that crash.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/newspaper-ads-for-lost-pets-and-earthquakes-that-soon-follow-other/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [“Quit using your creative power to formulate questions. You can just as easily—more easily— use it to formulate answers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/quit-using-your-creative-power-to-formulate-questions-you-can-just-as/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > ['How can I be more like you?' she asked the guru. 'The best way to be more like me is to be more like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/how-can-i-be-more-like-you-she-asked-the-guru-the-best-way-to-be-more/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Turmoil is a call for awakening. Every challenge, great or small, is moving you to look deeper and draw forth the highest in you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/turmoil-is-a-call-for-awakening-every-challenge-great-or-small-is/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [The difficulties of life do not keep you from greatness. They show you to its door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/the-difficulties-of-life-do-not-keep-you-from-greatness-they-show-you/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [What a doctor or healer tells you is a reflection of the beliefs and expectations you hold. Change your beliefs and you change the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/what-a-doctor-or-healer-tells-you-is-a-reflection-of-the-beliefs-and/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Quit planning your dream and start living it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/quit-planning-your-dream-and-start-living-it/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [The more you invest in your happiness, the more happiness will invest in you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/the-more-you-invest-in-your-happiness-the-more-happiness-will-invest/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) > [Joy is the wild card of life; it supersedes every other formula for success. If you can find a way to create joy, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cohen/joy-is-the-wild-card-of-life-it-supersedes-every-other-formula-for/) [Alan Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) [Explore all 290 Alan Cohen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cohen/) ## More Empty quotes > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [No sane local official who has hung up an empty stocking over the municipal fireplace is going to shoot Santa Claus just before a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-smith/no-sane-local-official-who-has-hung-up-an-empty-stocking-over-the/) [Al Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-smith/) > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [“Joe!” he groaned, attempting to speak clearly. “Joe! Good ol’ Joe!” “Captain, you’re drunk!” Lofflin said, stating the obvious while trying to keep his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-engela/joe-he-groaned-attempting-to-speak-clearly-joe-good-ol-joe-captain/) [Christina Engela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-engela/) > [Why chase after thoughts, which are superficial ripples of present awareness? Rather look directly into the naked, empty nature of thoughts; then there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamgon-kongtrul/why-chase-after-thoughts-which-are-superficial-ripples-of-present/) Jamgon Kongtrul > [Education turns an empty mind into an open mind. It turns information into behavioural transformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shiv-khera/education-turns-an-empty-mind-into-an-open-mind-it-turns-information/) [Shiv Khera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shiv-khera/) > [He that humbles himself shall be preserved entire. He that bends shall be made straight. He that is empty shall be filled. He that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/he-that-humbles-himself-shall-be-preserved-entire-he-that-bends-shall/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Our real nature is not our imaginary, limited ego. Our true nature is vast, all-comprehensive, and intangible as empty space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anagarika-govinda/our-real-nature-is-not-our-imaginary-limited-ego-our-true-nature-is/) [Anagarika Govinda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anagarika-govinda/) > [Adults look upon a child as something empty that is to be filled through their own efforts, as something inert and helpless for which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/adults-look-upon-a-child-as-something-empty-that-is-to-be-filled/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [I don't see the future as bright, language-wise. I see it as a glass half empty - and evaporating quickly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cavett/i-don-t-see-the-future-as-bright-language-wise-i-see-it-as-a-glass/) [Dick Cavett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cavett/) > [I get letters every year from women who think Valentine's Day is an empty exercise, but are ironically pretty exercised when their boyfriends neglect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-savage/i-get-letters-every-year-from-women-who-think-valentine-s-day-is-an/) [Dan Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-savage/) Browse all 3,081 Empty quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When we enter into any relationship with the premise that we are empty and the other person will fill us in, we are sure to fail. 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