--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The self-surmounter can never put up with…" description: "\"The self-surmounter can never put up with the man who has ceased to be dissatisfied with himself.\" — Colin Wilson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/colin-wilson-8331_dissatisfied_the-self-surmounter-can-never-put-up-wit_2159047.jpg" --- # The self-surmounter can never put up with the man who has… ![“The self-surmounter can never put up with the man who has ceased to be dissatisfied with himself.” quote by Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/colin-wilson-8331_dissatisfied_the-self-surmounter-can-never-put-up-wit_2159047.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/colin-wilson-8331_dissatisfied_the-self-surmounter-can-never-put-up-wit_2159047.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/colin-wilson-8331_dissatisfied_the-self-surmounter-can-never-put-up-wit_2159047.jpg) > “The self-surmounter can never put up with the man who has ceased to be dissatisfied with himself.” [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A person who no longer feels discontent cannot tolerate someone who still seeks self-improvement. **In simple terms:** Self‑satisfied people reject those still striving. Key Takeaway Accept that contentment can breed intolerance. Themes self‑satisfaction intolerance personal growth Mood reflective critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - relationships - self‑development - team dynamics - leadership - conflict resolution Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does contentment affect empathy? - Can you value others' growth while being content? A Different Perspective Self‑satisfaction may blind one to others' needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) ## Related quotes > [“A man who has ceased to learn ought not to wander around loose in these dangerous times”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-m-coady/a-man-who-has-ceased-to-learn-ought-not-to-wander-around-loose-in/) M.M. Coady > [The man who has ceased to fear has ceased to care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-h-bradley/the-man-who-has-ceased-to-fear-has-ceased-to-care/) [F. H. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-h-bradley/) > [Man ceased to be an ape, vanquished the ape, on the day the first book was written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-helps/man-ceased-to-be-an-ape-vanquished-the-ape-on-the-day-the-first-book/) [Arthur Helps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-helps/) > [When he (man) ceased any longer to heed the words of the seers and prophets, science lovingly brought forth the radio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-giraudoux/when-he-man-ceased-any-longer-to-heed-the-words-of-the-seers-and/) [Jean Giraudoux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-giraudoux/) > [“How hard it is to become a man again when one has ceased to be a man." -The Lost Steps”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejo-carpentier/how-hard-it-is-to-become-a-man-again-when-one-has-ceased-to-be-a-man/) [Alejo Carpentier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejo-carpentier/) > [The man who has ceased to learn ought not to be allowed to wander around loose in these dangerous days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-coady/the-man-who-has-ceased-to-learn-ought-not-to-be-allowed-to-wander/) Moses Coady > [Jacob wrote that the true poet 'is like a man who is happy anywhere, in endless measure, if he is allowed to look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/jacob-wrote-that-the-true-poet-is-like-a-man-who-is-happy-anywhere-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I feel like I'm moving from a world where I was creating fantasies that weren't real inside - and very often feeling really dissatisfied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-rice/i-feel-like-i-m-moving-from-a-world-where-i-was-creating-fantasies/) [Damien Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-rice/) > [The inspiration to write? Perhaps it's not so much inspiration, as a NEED to write. I get itchy and guilty and dissatisfied when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-brown/the-inspiration-to-write-perhaps-it-s-not-so-much-inspiration-as-a/) [Eric Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-brown/) > [God will cleanse your sins if you yourself are dissatisfied with yourself and will keep on changing until you are perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/god-will-cleanse-your-sins-if-you-yourself-are-dissatisfied-with/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [Many of the factors that we think will cause motivation, such as fair pay and a good manager, won't make you love your job.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/many-of-the-factors-that-we-think-will-cause-motivation-such-as-fair/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [It is no easy task to walk this earth and find peace. Inside of us, it would seem, something is at odds with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-rolheiser/it-is-no-easy-task-to-walk-this-earth-and-find-peace-inside-of-us-it/) [Ronald Rolheiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-rolheiser/) > [Marriages are always moving from one season to another. Sometimes we find ourselves in winter--discouraged, detached, and dissatisfied; other times we experience springtime, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/marriages-are-always-moving-from-one-season-to-another-sometimes-we/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [Research is an organized method of trying to find out what you are going to do after you cannot do what you are doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/research-is-an-organized-method-of-trying-to-find-out-what-you-are/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [It is a sweet thing that we serve a dissatisfied God who has destinations in mind for us that we would never choose for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-david-tripp/it-is-a-sweet-thing-that-we-serve-a-dissatisfied-god-who-has/) [Paul David Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-david-tripp/) ## More by Colin Wilson > [“Man is not a 'fixed and limited animal whose nature is absolutely constant'. He changed drastically when he developed 'divided consciousness' to cope with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/man-is-not-a-fixed-and-limited-animal-whose-nature-is-absolutely/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [“As to Gurdjieff's power to renew his own energies, its essence had been understood by psychologists of the nineteenth century, decades before the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/as-to-gurdjieff-s-power-to-renew-his-own-energies-its-essence-had/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [The mystical impulse in men is somehow a desire to possess the universe. In women, it's a desire to be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-mystical-impulse-in-men-is-somehow-a-desire-to-possess-the/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [The exploration of oneself is usually also an exploration of the world at large, of other writers, a process of comparison with oneself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-exploration-of-oneself-is-usually-also-an-exploration-of-the/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [“There is in Shaw, as in Gurdjieff and Nietzsche, a recognition of the immense effort of Will that is necessary to express even a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/there-is-in-shaw-as-in-gurdjieff-and-nietzsche-a-recognition-of-the/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [I was aggressively nonpolitical. I believed that people who make a fuss about politics do so because their heads are too empty to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/i-was-aggressively-nonpolitical-i-believed-that-people-who-make-a/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Christianity was an epidemic rather than a religion. It appealed to fear, hysteria and ignorance. It spread across the Western world, not because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/christianity-was-an-epidemic-rather-than-a-religion-it-appealed-to/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [When I open my eyes in the morning, I am not confronted by a world, but by a million possible worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/when-i-open-my-eyes-in-the-morning-i-am-not-confronted-by-a-world-but/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Religion, mysticism and magic all spring from the same basic 'feeling' about the universe: a sudden feeling of meaning, which human beings sometimes 'pick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/religion-mysticism-and-magic-all-spring-from-the-same-basic-feeling/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Man is brilliant at solving problems; but solving them only makes him the victim of his own childishness and laziness. It is this recognition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/man-is-brilliant-at-solving-problems-but-solving-them-only-makes-him/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [It was Rousseau who was largely responsible for the problem by giving currency to the idea that freedom can exist without responsibility and discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/it-was-rousseau-who-was-largely-responsible-for-the-problem-by-giving/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [If I'd stayed on in London and carried on going to literary parties, it would have wrecked me as a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/if-i-d-stayed-on-in-london-and-carried-on-going-to-literary-parties/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Imagination should be used, not to escape reality but to create it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/imagination-should-be-used-not-to-escape-reality-but-to-create-it/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [If you asked me what is the basis of all my work, it's the feeling there's something basically wrong with human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/if-you-asked-me-what-is-the-basis-of-all-my-work-it-s-the-feeling/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [The sheer volume of evidence for survival after death is so immense that to ignore it is like standing at the foot of Mount…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-sheer-volume-of-evidence-for-survival-after-death-is-so-immense/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) [Explore all 81 Colin Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) ## More Dissatisfied quotes > [It is a sweet thing that we serve a dissatisfied God who has destinations in mind for us that we would never choose for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-david-tripp/it-is-a-sweet-thing-that-we-serve-a-dissatisfied-god-who-has/) [Paul David Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-david-tripp/) > [Research is an organized method of trying to find out what you are going to do after you cannot do what you are doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/research-is-an-organized-method-of-trying-to-find-out-what-you-are/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Marriages are always moving from one season to another. Sometimes we find ourselves in winter--discouraged, detached, and dissatisfied; other times we experience springtime, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/marriages-are-always-moving-from-one-season-to-another-sometimes-we/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [It is no easy task to walk this earth and find peace. Inside of us, it would seem, something is at odds with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-rolheiser/it-is-no-easy-task-to-walk-this-earth-and-find-peace-inside-of-us-it/) [Ronald Rolheiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-rolheiser/) > [Many of the factors that we think will cause motivation, such as fair pay and a good manager, won't make you love your job.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/many-of-the-factors-that-we-think-will-cause-motivation-such-as-fair/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [God will cleanse your sins if you yourself are dissatisfied with yourself and will keep on changing until you are perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/god-will-cleanse-your-sins-if-you-yourself-are-dissatisfied-with/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [The inspiration to write? Perhaps it's not so much inspiration, as a NEED to write. I get itchy and guilty and dissatisfied when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-brown/the-inspiration-to-write-perhaps-it-s-not-so-much-inspiration-as-a/) [Eric Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-brown/) > [I feel like I'm moving from a world where I was creating fantasies that weren't real inside - and very often feeling really dissatisfied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-rice/i-feel-like-i-m-moving-from-a-world-where-i-was-creating-fantasies/) [Damien Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-rice/) > [As a reformer the liberal is dissatisfied with things as they are because they violate his exceptionally tender conscience… Liberalism does not advocate change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-barton-perry/as-a-reformer-the-liberal-is-dissatisfied-with-things-as-they-are/) [Ralph Barton Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-barton-perry/) > [Jacob wrote that the true poet 'is like a man who is happy anywhere, in endless measure, if he is allowed to look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/jacob-wrote-that-the-true-poet-is-like-a-man-who-is-happy-anywhere-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you're dissatisfied anywhere, New York is the place to be. If you're unhappy at college in Topeka, I don't know what there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-mckay/if-you-re-dissatisfied-anywhere-new-york-is-the-place-to-be-if-you-re/) [Nellie McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-mckay/) > [Well I DO want to go up into space, but more than that, I'm dissatisfied with the fact that humans have only gone to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takafumi-horie/well-i-do-want-to-go-up-into-space-but-more-than-that-i-m/) [Takafumi Horie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takafumi-horie/) > [A willing, cheerful worker, with his heart in his job, will turn out more work and more satisfactory work in 44 hours than an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/a-willing-cheerful-worker-with-his-heart-in-his-job-will-turn-out/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [A regular council was held with the Indians, who had come in on their ponies, and speeches were made on both sides through an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-regular-council-was-held-with-the-indians-who-had-come-in-on-their/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I am a strong believer in the ability of human beings to change for the better. I am a strong believer in trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-am-a-strong-believer-in-the-ability-of-human-beings-to-change-for/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) Browse all 217 Dissatisfied quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The self-surmounter can never put up with the man who has ceased to be dissatisfied with himself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Colin Wilson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-self-surmounter-can-never-put-up-with-the-man-who-has-ceased-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dissatisfied" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-self-surmounter-can-never-put-up-with-the-man-who-has-ceased-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/colin-wilson-8331_dissatisfied_the-self-surmounter-can-never-put-up-wit_2159047.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/colin-wilson-8331_dissatisfied_the-self-surmounter-can-never-put-up-wit_2159047.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/colin-wilson-8331_dissatisfied_the-self-surmounter-can-never-put-up-wit_2159047.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The self-surmounter can never put up with the man who has ceased to be dissatisfied with himself.” — Colin Wilson", "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": "Colin Wilson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The self-surmounter can never put up...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-self-surmounter-can-never-put-up-with-the-man-who-has-ceased-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-self-surmounter-can-never-put-up-with-the-man-who-has-ceased-to/#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 } } ] } ```