--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The subject who speaks is situated in…" description: "\"The subject who speaks is situated in relation to the other. This privilege of the other ceases to be incomprehensible once we admit that the first fac..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fde/claudia-rankine-10349_cease_the-subject-who-speaks-is-situated-in-re_608028.jpg" --- # The subject who speaks is situated in relation to the… ![“The subject who speaks is situated in relation to the other. This privilege of the other ceases to be incomprehensible once we admit that the first fact of existence is neither being in itself nor being for itself but being for the other, in other words, that human existence is a creature. By…” quote by Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fde/claudia-rankine-10349_cease_the-subject-who-speaks-is-situated-in-re_608028.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fde/claudia-rankine-10349_cease_the-subject-who-speaks-is-situated-in-re_608028.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fde/claudia-rankine-10349_cease_the-subject-who-speaks-is-situated-in-re_608028.jpg) > “The subject who speaks is situated in relation to the other. This privilege of the other ceases to be incomprehensible once we admit that the first fact of existence is neither being in itself nor being for itself but being for the other, in other words, that human existence is a creature. By offering a word, the subject putting himself forward lays himself open and, in a sense, prays.” [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The self defines itself through the other, and speaking is an act of exposing oneself to the other. **In simple terms:** We become through others; speaking opens us. Key Takeaway Embrace dialogue that reveals self. Themes identity language otherness Mood introspective provocative Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - counseling - teaching - artistic performance - public discourse Key Concepts Existentialism phenomenology social theory Questions to Reflect On - How does listening shape your identity? - What risks do you take when you speak? A Different Perspective Speaking may be misinterpreted or ignored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cease/) [Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Existence Creature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-creature-4943808/) [Existence Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-words-1457996/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Human existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-existence/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Lays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lays/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Offering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/offering/) [Praying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praying/) [Privilege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privilege/) [Relation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relation/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Subject Speaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subject-speaks-4943807/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) ## Related quotes > [“Validate my existence with your words and I will speak to you all the day long.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/validate-my-existence-with-your-words-and-i-will-speak-to-you-all-the/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“God who spoke the world into existence with words is, in fact, the source of meaning of all words. My journey toward that discovery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-swallow-prior/god-who-spoke-the-world-into-existence-with-words-is-in-fact-the/) [Karen Swallow Prior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-swallow-prior/) > [“Diamond Sutra says, 'Make no formed conceptions about the realness of existence nor about the unrealness of existence," or words like that. Handcuffs will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/diamond-sutra-says-make-no-formed-conceptions-about-the-realness-of/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“Language is the key to creation. Without it there would be nothing. 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If for true revelation a man must be told all the truth, then farewell to revelation; yea,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/no-revelation-can-be-other-than-partial-if-for-true-revelation-a-man/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## More by Claudia Rankine > [I don't know about forgiving, but it's an "I'm still here." And it's not just because I have nowhere else to go. It's because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-don-t-know-about-forgiving-but-it-s-an-i-m-still-here-and-it-s-not/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [So you're just moving along and suddenly you get this moment that breaks your ability to continue, and yet you continue. I wanted those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/so-you-re-just-moving-along-and-suddenly-you-get-this-moment-that/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [“because white men can't police their imagination black people are dying”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/because-white-men-can-t-police-their-imagination-black-people-are/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [Whereas if you were writing an op-ed piece or an essay, somebody would be asking, "What's your point?" 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It's what we can't do for each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/define-loneliness-yes-it-s-what-we-can-t-do-for-each-other/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [I asked a lot of friends and people I'd meet, "Can you tell me a story of a micro-aggression that happened to you in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-asked-a-lot-of-friends-and-people-i-d-meet-can-you-tell-me-a-story/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [“The past is a life sentence, a blunt instrument aimed at tomorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/the-past-is-a-life-sentence-a-blunt-instrument-aimed-at-tomorrow/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [Where is the safest place when that place / must be someplace other than in the body?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/where-is-the-safest-place-when-that-place-must-be-someplace-other/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [The worst injury is feeling you don't belong so much / to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/the-worst-injury-is-feeling-you-don-t-belong-so-much-to-you/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [I’m not investigating race as much as I’m investigating intimacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-m-not-investigating-race-as-much-as-i-m-investigating-intimacy/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [I am invested in keeping present the forgotten bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-am-invested-in-keeping-present-the-forgotten-bodies/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [If you admit to being racist, it says you acknowledge that you are being driven by projections and stereotypes that were formed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/if-you-admit-to-being-racist-it-says-you-acknowledge-that-you-are/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [“I asked another friend what it's like being the mother of a black son. "The condition of black life is one of mourning," she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-asked-another-friend-what-it-s-like-being-the-mother-of-a-black-son/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [The truce is that. You forgive all of these moments because you're constantly waiting for the moment when you will be seen. As an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/the-truce-is-that-you-forgive-all-of-these-moments-because-you-re/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) [Explore all 66 Claudia Rankine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) ## More Cease quotes > [So long as we fear the outside world, we must cease to think of Swaraj.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/so-long-as-we-fear-the-outside-world-we-must-cease-to-think-of-swaraj/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [In the name of Jerusalem. If I forget the extermination of the Jews, may my right hand wither, may my tongue stick to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/menachem-begin/in-the-name-of-jerusalem-if-i-forget-the-extermination-of-the-jews/) [Menachem Begin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/menachem-begin/) > [But if you will recall the history of our civil troubles, you will see half the nation bathe itself, out of piety, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/but-if-you-will-recall-the-history-of-our-civil-troubles-you-will-see/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [Metallica's the only band i've ever been in. I'm not sure that when it ends in five, ten years, I'm going to put an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lars-ulrich/metallica-s-the-only-band-i-ve-ever-been-in-i-m-not-sure-that-when-it/) [Lars Ulrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lars-ulrich/) > [Cease speaking of enemies when an achievement can kindle a great light. Solitude will transmit the message better than the murmurs of crowds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-roerich/cease-speaking-of-enemies-when-an-achievement-can-kindle-a-great/) [Nicholas Roerich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-roerich/) > [Without a function, we cease to be. So, I will write till I die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farley-mowat/without-a-function-we-cease-to-be-so-i-will-write-till-i-die/) [Farley Mowat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farley-mowat/) > [We have won an armistice on a single battlefield, not peace in our world. We may not now relax our guard nor cease our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/we-have-won-an-armistice-on-a-single-battlefield-not-peace-in-our/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [My child, seek those things which make for peace. Cease to stir up the King against the Church, and urge upon him a better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-child-seek-those-things-which-make-for-peace-cease-to-stir-up-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To write is to make oneself the echo of what cannot cease speaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/to-write-is-to-make-oneself-the-echo-of-what-cannot-cease-speaking/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [When fear ceases to scare you, it cannot stay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/when-fear-ceases-to-scare-you-it-cannot-stay/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [We may argue eloquently that 'Honesty is the best Policy' - unfortunately, the moment honesty is adopted for the sake of policy it mysteriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/we-may-argue-eloquently-that-honesty-is-the-best-policy-unfortunately/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [He who ceases to pray ceases to prosper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gurney-benham/he-who-ceases-to-pray-ceases-to-prosper/) [William Gurney Benham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gurney-benham/) > [For we must share, if we would keep, that blessing from above; ceasing to give, we cease to have; such is the law of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-chenevix-trench/for-we-must-share-if-we-would-keep-that-blessing-from-above-ceasing/) [Richard Chenevix Trench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-chenevix-trench/) > [When men are unhappy, they do not imagine they can ever cease to be so; and when some calamity has fallen on them, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/when-men-are-unhappy-they-do-not-imagine-they-can-ever-cease-to-be-so/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) [Browse all 1,358 Cease quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cease/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The subject who speaks is situated in relation to the other. 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