---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are constantly telling ourselves what…"
description: "\"We are constantly telling ourselves what we most want to know, and at the same time are deaf to it. Why does envy have such a fierce bite? Why do we fa..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/bonnie-friedman-26515_bites_we-are-constantly-telling-ourselves-what_2450875.jpg"
---

#  We are constantly telling ourselves what we most want to…

![“We are constantly telling ourselves what we most want to know, and at the same time are deaf to it. Why does envy have such a fierce bite? Why do we fall silent or get worried just as our story is about to spring out of our control and into its own life? Whose shadow falls across the page?” quote by Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/bonnie-friedman-26515_bites_we-are-constantly-telling-ourselves-what_2450875.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/bonnie-friedman-26515_bites_we-are-constantly-telling-ourselves-what_2450875.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/bonnie-friedman-26515_bites_we-are-constantly-telling-ourselves-what_2450875.jpg)

> “We are constantly telling ourselves what we most want to know, and at the same time are deaf to it. Why does envy have such a fierce bite? Why do we fall silent or get worried just as our story is about to spring out of our control and into its own life? Whose shadow falls across the page?”

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

People often chase what they think they want while ignoring deeper truths, leading to envy and silence when reality shifts.

**In simple terms:** We chase desires while missing deeper truths.

Key Takeaway

Listen to inner signals before acting.

Themes

desire envy self‑deception awareness

Mood

reflective introspective

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- career decisions
- relationship choices
- creative projects
- personal growth
- mindfulness practice

Key Concepts

psychology of desire cognitive bias shadow self

Questions to Reflect On

- What desire are you ignoring?
- How does silence reveal hidden fears?

A Different Perspective

Envy can blind judgment and cause inaction.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Crafts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crafts/) [Envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy/) [Jealousy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jealousy/) [Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/)

## Related quotes

> [“How does envy destroy our safety? By spoiling any chance to be loved. When we envy, we resent those who have something to offer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cloud/how-does-envy-destroy-our-safety-by-spoiling-any-chance-to-be-loved/)

[Henry Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cloud/)

> [“For pride and avarice and envy are the three fierce sparks that set all hearts ablaze.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/for-pride-and-avarice-and-envy-are-the-three-fierce-sparks-that-set/)

[Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/)

> [So on the one hand in school you're teachers are constantly telling you that you can be whatever it is you want to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheena-iyengar/so-on-the-one-hand-in-school-you-re-teachers-are-constantly-telling/)

[Sheena Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheena-iyengar/)

> [“Why didn’t this one say this, or tell someone that, or let anyone know she or he was so unhappy, so lonely, so scared?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/why-didn-t-this-one-say-this-or-tell-someone-that-or-let-anyone-know/)

[Will Schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [I'm constantly telling young people that their voices and stories are important. Making a movie is such a large-scale, intense operation that imagining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-decker/i-m-constantly-telling-young-people-that-their-voices-and-stories-are/)

[Josephine Decker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-decker/)

> [I have been constantly telling people to encourage people, to question the unquestioned and not to be ashamed to bring up new ideas, new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ratan-tata/i-have-been-constantly-telling-people-to-encourage-people-to-question/)

[Ratan Tata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ratan-tata/)

> [Our intonations contain our philosophy of life, what each of us is constantly telling himself about things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/our-intonations-contain-our-philosophy-of-life-what-each-of-us-is/)

[Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/)

> [“i am constantly telling him that i'm not sure the laws of sex and the city apply when there's no sex and there's no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-am-constantly-telling-him-that-i-m-not-sure-the-laws-of-sex-and-the/)

[David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/)

> [A soul-based workplace asks things of me that I didn't even know I had. It's constantly telling me that I belong to something large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-whyte/a-soul-based-workplace-asks-things-of-me-that-i-didn-t-even-know-i/)

[David Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-whyte/)

> [One of the things I'm constantly telling my students is that they're never going to write a poem everyone gets, or if they do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberto-gonzalez/one-of-the-things-i-m-constantly-telling-my-students-is-that-they-re/)

[Rigoberto Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberto-gonzalez/)

> [“Lahiri's characters, just like people all around us, are constantly telling each other important things, but not necessarily in words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-schwalbe/lahiri-s-characters-just-like-people-all-around-us-are-constantly/)

[will schwalbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-schwalbe/)

> [I don't bite you know ... unless it's called for,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-hepburn/i-don-t-bite-you-know-unless-it-s-called-for/)

[Audrey Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-hepburn/)

> [In every country dogges bite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/in-every-country-dogges-bite/)

[George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/)

> [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/)

[Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/)

> [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

## More by Bonnie Friedman

> [our finest writing will certainly come from what is unregenerate in ourselves. It will come from the part that is obdurate, unbanishable, immune to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/our-finest-writing-will-certainly-come-from-what-is-unregenerate-in/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [To gain the book, one must give up all hope for the book. It is the only way the book can get written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/to-gain-the-book-one-must-give-up-all-hope-for-the-book-it-is-the/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [“Daily life is always extraordinary when rendered precisely. We can unlock our lives with a pencil tip.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/daily-life-is-always-extraordinary-when-rendered-precisely-we-can/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [What is this thing that has us chewing at our own selves, grating ourselves against our own sharp sieve? It is the act of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/what-is-this-thing-that-has-us-chewing-at-our-own-selves-grating/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [“We should be told: Write fast, write close to the bone, write for ten hours straight until you’re not thinking in words anymore, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/we-should-be-told-write-fast-write-close-to-the-bone-write-for-ten/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [Daily life is always extraordinary when rendered precisely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/daily-life-is-always-extraordinary-when-rendered-precisely/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [“An unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/an-unhurried-sense-of-time-is-in-itself-a-form-of-wealth/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [The antidote to envy is one's own work. Always one's own work. Not the thinking about it. Not the assessing of it. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/the-antidote-to-envy-is-one-s-own-work-always-one-s-own-work-not-the/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [Fiction structures an experience for the reader to live through. ... That is why people read: to have experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/fiction-structures-an-experience-for-the-reader-to-live-through-that/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [Successful writers are not the ones who write the best sentences. They are the ones who keep writing. They are the ones who discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/successful-writers-are-not-the-ones-who-write-the-best-sentences-they/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [How we learn is what we learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/how-we-learn-is-what-we-learn/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [Successful writers are not the ones who write the best sentences. They are the ones who keep writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/successful-writers-are-not-the-ones-who-write-the-best-sentences-they-2/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [Writing teaches writing. Your writing will teach you how to write if you work hard enough and have enough faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/writing-teaches-writing-your-writing-will-teach-you-how-to-write-if/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [Envy is one of the scorpions of the mind, often having little to do with the objective, external world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/envy-is-one-of-the-scorpions-of-the-mind-often-having-little-to-do/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

> [“Every day I must prove to myself I am a writer. The knowledge goes away in my sleep. What I wrote yesterday was paltry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/every-day-i-must-prove-to-myself-i-am-a-writer-the-knowledge-goes/)

[Bonnie Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

[Explore all 21 Bonnie Friedman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/)

## More Bites quotes

> [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/)

[Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/)

> [In every country dogges bite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/in-every-country-dogges-bite/)

[George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/)

> [I don't bite you know ... unless it's called for,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-hepburn/i-don-t-bite-you-know-unless-it-s-called-for/)

[Audrey Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-hepburn/)

> [While you're playing cards with a regular guy or having a bite to eat with him, he seems a peaceable, good-humoured and not entirely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/while-you-re-playing-cards-with-a-regular-guy-or-having-a-bite-to-eat/)

[Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/)

> [The way to get through anything mentally painful is to take it a little at a time. The mind can't handle dealing with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-de-sena/the-way-to-get-through-anything-mentally-painful-is-to-take-it-a/)

[Joe De Sena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-de-sena/)

> [Experience is the only real teacher and if you keep a diary you get three bites at educating yourself - when it happens, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-benn/experience-is-the-only-real-teacher-and-if-you-keep-a-diary-you-get/)

[Tony Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-benn/)

> [“If mankind's destined to bite the bullet, let's bite it and be damned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-shan/if-mankind-s-destined-to-bite-the-bullet-let-s-bite-it-and-be-damned/)

[Darren Shan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-shan/)

> [Our legal system, including the police, is anti-Dalit and anti-poor. The death penalty laws' wrathful majesty, in blood-shot equality, deals the fatal blow on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-r-krishna-iyer/our-legal-system-including-the-police-is-anti-dalit-and-anti-poor-the/)

V. R. Krishna Iyer

> [I have known a very good, fisher angle diligently four or six hours for a river carp, and not have a bite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/izaak-walton/i-have-known-a-very-good-fisher-angle-diligently-four-or-six-hours/)

[Izaak Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/izaak-walton/)

> [If someone sits and stares at you while you eat, you won't even eat the way you normally do, because it'll make you so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-chappelle/if-someone-sits-and-stares-at-you-while-you-eat-you-won-t-even-eat/)

[Dave Chappelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-chappelle/)

> [Zen is not interested in high-flown statements; it wants its pupil to bite his apple and not discuss it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bancroft/zen-is-not-interested-in-high-flown-statements-it-wants-its-pupil-to/)

[Anne Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bancroft/)

> [“If you step in a nest of snakes, does it matter who bites you first?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/if-you-step-in-a-nest-of-snakes-does-it-matter-who-bites-you-first/)

[George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/)

> [When you are dealing with a mass movement, as opposed to a quote-unquote "elite," you are talking to people who don't have time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-hamilton/when-you-are-dealing-with-a-mass-movement-as-opposed-to-a-quote/)

[Rebecca Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-hamilton/)

> [Every bite you eat stays in mouth for two minutes, for two hours in stomach and for two month on hips.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-dior/every-bite-you-eat-stays-in-mouth-for-two-minutes-for-two-hours-in/)

[Christian Dior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-dior/)

Browse all 556 Bites quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "We are constantly telling ourselves what we most want to know, and at the same time are deaf to it. Why does envy have such a fierce bite? Why do we fall silent or get worried just as our story is about to spring out of our control and into its own life? Whose shadow falls across the page?",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Bonnie Friedman"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/we-are-constantly-telling-ourselves-what-we-most-want-to-know-and-at/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Bites"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/we-are-constantly-telling-ourselves-what-we-most-want-to-know-and-at/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/bonnie-friedman-26515_bites_we-are-constantly-telling-ourselves-what_2450875.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/bonnie-friedman-26515_bites_we-are-constantly-telling-ourselves-what_2450875.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/bonnie-friedman-26515_bites_we-are-constantly-telling-ourselves-what_2450875.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“We are constantly telling ourselves what we most want to know, and at the same time are deaf to it. Why does…” — Bonnie Friedman",
                "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": "Bonnie Friedman",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-friedman/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "We are constantly telling ourselves what...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/we-are-constantly-telling-ourselves-what-we-most-want-to-know-and-at/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-friedman/we-are-constantly-telling-ourselves-what-we-most-want-to-know-and-at/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
