--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We were determined by public opinions of…" description: "\"We were determined by public opinions of us. Would we think we existed without outside confirmation? And how long would we live apart from others befor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/347/doris-grumbach-34632_confirmation_we-were-determined-by-public-opinions-of_714281.png" --- # We were determined by public opinions of us. Would we… ![“We were determined by public opinions of us. Would we think we existed without outside confirmation? And how long would we live apart from others before we began to doubt our existence?” quote by Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/347/doris-grumbach-34632_confirmation_we-were-determined-by-public-opinions-of_714281.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/347/doris-grumbach-34632_confirmation_we-were-determined-by-public-opinions-of_714281.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/347/doris-grumbach-34632_confirmation_we-were-determined-by-public-opinions-of_714281.png) > “We were determined by public opinions of us. Would we think we existed without outside confirmation? And how long would we live apart from others before we began to doubt our existence?” [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Questions how external validation shapes identity and existential certainty. **In simple terms:** We rely on others to confirm we exist. Key Takeaway Seek internal validation over external approval. Themes identity social influence existentialism Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career choices - relationships - social media - loneliness Key Concepts self‑concept social proof Questions to Reflect On - Do you feel your sense of self depends on others? - How might you cultivate inner certainty? A Different Perspective External validation can be necessary for social cohesion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conformity/) [Determined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/determined/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Non conformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/non-conformity/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Public opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-opinion/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I think that people just have this core desire to express who they are. And I think that's always existed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/i-think-that-people-just-have-this-core-desire-to-express-who-they/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > [I have been looking for god for fifty years and I think if he had existed I should have discovered him](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/i-have-been-looking-for-god-for-fifty-years-and-i-think-if-he-had/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [I think I existed on four hours sleep a night for four years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-hamilton/i-think-i-existed-on-four-hours-sleep-a-night-for-four-years/) [Linda Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-hamilton/) > [“If you want to go public with your opinions, then someone is going to judge you a moron. And there is always a risk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-kramnick/if-you-want-to-go-public-with-your-opinions-then-someone-is-going-to/) Isaac Kramnick > [I never even believed in happiness. I didn't think it existed. Now look at me. I'm ready to believe in just about anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-hoffman/i-never-even-believed-in-happiness-i-didn-t-think-it-existed-now-look/) [Alice Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-hoffman/) > [I don't like to think of myself as just a person. I don't think I am. I think I existed before, and I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bray-wyatt/i-don-t-like-to-think-of-myself-as-just-a-person-i-don-t-think-i-am-i/) [Bray Wyatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bray-wyatt/) > [Searching for the self when I was entirely alone was hazardous. What if I found not so much a great emptiness as a space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/searching-for-the-self-when-i-was-entirely-alone-was-hazardous-what/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) > [I will ignore u so hard that you will doubt your own existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-will-ignore-u-so-hard-that-you-will-doubt-your-own-existence/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The evil in the world must not make me doubt the existence of God. There could be no evil if there were no God.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-evil-in-the-world-must-not-make-me-doubt-the-existence-of-god/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“To doubt the existence of God is the greatest delusion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita-2/to-doubt-the-existence-of-god-is-the-greatest-delusion/) Lailah Gifty, Akita > [“Sitting there on the heather, on our planetary grain, I shrank from the abysses that opened up on every side, and in the future.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/sitting-there-on-the-heather-on-our-planetary-grain-i-shrank-from-the/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [“In the real world it is meaningless to doubt existence; the doubt itself demonstrates the existence of the doubter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rhodes/in-the-real-world-it-is-meaningless-to-doubt-existence-the-doubt/) [Richard Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rhodes/) > [And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/and-if-there-were-a-god-i-think-it-very-unlikely-that-he-would-have/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“If you doubt the existence of God, look in the mirror, and if you are still in doubt after that, look within.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/if-you-doubt-the-existence-of-god-look-in-the-mirror-and-if-you-are/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [The death of a child is the greatest reason to doubt the existence of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/the-death-of-a-child-is-the-greatest-reason-to-doubt-the-existence-of/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) ## More by Doris Grumbach > [Writers are entirely egocentric. To them, few things in their lives have meaning or importance unless they give promise of serving some creative purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/writers-are-entirely-egocentric-to-them-few-things-in-their-lives/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) > [These short stories establish Sontag's originality . . . her unique vision, her success with experiments in the form . . . Sontag makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/these-short-stories-establish-sontag-s-originality-her-unique-vision/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) > [Praise requires constant renewal and expansion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/praise-requires-constant-renewal-and-expansion/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) > [What others regard as retreat from them or rejection of them is not those things at all but instead a breeding ground for greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/what-others-regard-as-retreat-from-them-or-rejection-of-them-is-not/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) > [My eyes glaze over at a writer solving tiny problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/my-eyes-glaze-over-at-a-writer-solving-tiny-problems/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) > [Having a book is somewhat like having a baby, as many woman writers have observed before me: the conception, the long preparation, the wait,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/having-a-book-is-somewhat-like-having-a-baby-as-many-woman-writers/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) > [Talk uses up ideas. Once I have spoken them aloud, they are lost to me, dissipated into the noisy air like smoke. Only if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/talk-uses-up-ideas-once-i-have-spoken-them-aloud-they-are-lost-to-me/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) > [Searching for the self when I was entirely alone was hazardous. What if I found not so much a great emptiness as a space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/searching-for-the-self-when-i-was-entirely-alone-was-hazardous-what/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) > [A hand up is worthier than one's own fist grasping a higher rung of the ladder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/a-hand-up-is-worthier-than-one-s-own-fist-grasping-a-higher-rung-of/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) > [Old age is somewhat like dieting. Every day there is less of us to be observed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/old-age-is-somewhat-like-dieting-every-day-there-is-less-of-us-to-be/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) > [one keeps one's friends better when one is alone. The corollary to this is that one loses one's friends, slowly, when one sees them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/one-keeps-one-s-friends-better-when-one-is-alone-the-corollary-to/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) > [My old friend, water, my good companion, my beloved mother and father: I am its most natural offspring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/my-old-friend-water-my-good-companion-my-beloved-mother-and-father-i/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) > [The reason that extended solitude seemed so hard to endure was not that we missed others but that we began to wonder if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-grumbach/the-reason-that-extended-solitude-seemed-so-hard-to-endure-was-not/) [Doris Grumbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) [Explore all 14 Doris Grumbach quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-grumbach/) ## More Confirmation quotes > [The question for the Republicans running the confirmation hearings in the United States Senate is whose rules are they going to use?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-o-donnell/the-question-for-the-republicans-running-the-confirmation-hearings-in/) [Lawrence O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-o-donnell/) > [Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins is an essential covenant to make with the Lord. Faith and repentance precede this ordinance. Confirmation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-theodore-tuttle/baptism-by-immersion-for-the-remission-of-sins-is-an-essential/) [A. Theodore Tuttle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-theodore-tuttle/) > [The realization that my problem was one that concerned all men, a problem of living and thinking, suddenly swept over me and I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/the-realization-that-my-problem-was-one-that-concerned-all-men-a/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [The human understanding, when any preposition has been once laid down... forces everything else to add fresh support and confirmation; and although more cogent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/the-human-understanding-when-any-preposition-has-been-once-laid-down/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [“I was living for one thing only, and that was to confirm my own lack of feeling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-was-living-for-one-thing-only-and-that-was-to-confirm-my-own-lack/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Instead of using this space to pretend the newly released CIA 'torture' report confirms that the United States is the most evil nation in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-limbaugh/instead-of-using-this-space-to-pretend-the-newly-released-cia-torture/) [David Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-limbaugh/) > [I am not myself free or human until or unless I recognize the freedom and humanity of all my fellowmen... I am truly free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/i-am-not-myself-free-or-human-until-or-unless-i-recognize-the-freedom/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [Had Christ not risen we could not believe Him to be what He declared Himself when He "made Himself equal with God." But He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-b-warfield/had-christ-not-risen-we-could-not-believe-him-to-be-what-he-declared/) [B. B. Warfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-b-warfield/) > [I write to withdraw as a nominee to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. ... I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-miers/i-write-to-withdraw-as-a-nominee-to-serve-as-an-associate-justice-on/) Harriet Miers > [No senator's vote, except for the declaration of war or the authorization for the use of force, is more important than the confirmation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlen-specter/no-senator-s-vote-except-for-the-declaration-of-war-or-the/) [Arlen Specter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlen-specter/) > [Even before the hearings that led to confirmation of Chief Justice Roberts, senators were saying they were reserving judgment on how they would vote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-perino/even-before-the-hearings-that-led-to-confirmation-of-chief-justice/) [Dana Perino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-perino/) > [When a spectator approaches a painting with his own particular set of filters or theories, be they historical, political, intellectual or whatever - he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-portway/when-a-spectator-approaches-a-painting-with-his-own-particular-set-of/) [Douglas Portway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-portway/) > [“I have known friendship love, parental love, romantic love, family love and unrequited love in my life time, but the only love that made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-alder/i-have-known-friendship-love-parental-love-romantic-love-family-love/) [Shannon Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-alder/) > [There's no confirmation process for the staffers that the president puts around him at the White House. Those are the people he chooses to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-page/there-s-no-confirmation-process-for-the-staffers-that-the-president/) [Susan Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-page/) > [The prayer of faith is a prayer willing to believe and prevail for God's answer in a situation that is utterly impossible. Regardless of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wesley-l-duewel/the-prayer-of-faith-is-a-prayer-willing-to-believe-and-prevail-for/) [Wesley L Duewel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wesley-l-duewel/) Browse all 222 Confirmation quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We were determined by public opinions of us. Would we think we existed without outside confirmation? 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