--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is important is not what someone is…" description: "\"What is important is not what someone is but what he is waiting for. Not the events of life but its possibilities.\" — Dorothee Solle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/316/dorothee-solle-24665_events_what-is-important-is-not-what-someone-is_171501.jpg" --- # What is important is not what someone is but what he is… ![“What is important is not what someone is but what he is waiting for. Not the events of life but its possibilities.” quote by Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/316/dorothee-solle-24665_events_what-is-important-is-not-what-someone-is_171501.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/316/dorothee-solle-24665_events_what-is-important-is-not-what-someone-is_171501.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/316/dorothee-solle-24665_events_what-is-important-is-not-what-someone-is_171501.jpg) > “What is important is not what someone is but what he is waiting for. Not the events of life but its possibilities.” [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Identity is less important than what one as for; focus on potential and future possibilities rather than static labels. **In simple terms:** Future possibilities matter more than current identity. Key Takeaway Focus on aspirations, not labels. Themes purpose possibility future orientation Mood hopeful curious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - personal growth - creative projects - spiritual seeking Key Concepts existentialism goal setting Questions to Reflect On - What are you waiting for? - How do possibilities shape your actions? A Different Perspective May downplay the influence of current circumstances. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Possibilities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibilities/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) ## Related quotes > [We read to find life, in all its possibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/we-read-to-find-life-in-all-its-possibilities/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [“When you have no preconceived notion of what you are good at, you are open to life's many possibilities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamaria-g-powell/when-you-have-no-preconceived-notion-of-what-you-are-good-at-you-are/) Kamaria G. Powell > [It seems to me that awakening to the full potential of what your life might be - beyond the possibilities of your own family,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gioia/it-seems-to-me-that-awakening-to-the-full-potential-of-what-your-life/) [Dana Gioia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gioia/) > [Sometimes what we learn and who we become in the process of waiting is even more important than what were waiting for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-what-we-learn-and-who-we-become-in-the-process-of-waiting/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Who you become while you're waiting is as important as what you're waiting for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/who-you-become-while-you-re-waiting-is-as-important-as-what-you-re/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [Death is so terribly final, while life is full of possibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-so-terribly-final-while-life-is-full-of-possibilities/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Every second the Universe divides into possibilities and most of those possibilities never happen. It is not a uni-verse -- there is more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/every-second-the-universe-divides-into-possibilities-and-most-of/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [ Europe has what we \[Americans\] do not have yet, a sense of the mysterious and inexorable limits of life, a sense, in a word,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/europe-has-what-we-americans-do-not-have-yet-a-sense-of-the/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [“I never want to be a passive observer of life's possibilities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-pierce/i-never-want-to-be-a-passive-observer-of-life-s-possibilities/) Courtney Pierce > [“What they display, these students who don't arrive in the reading room until nine, or even later, is a kind of daring. They play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanne-rstavik/what-they-display-these-students-who-don-t-arrive-in-the-reading-room/) [Hanne Ørstavik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanne-rstavik/) > [Your life is full of possibilities. Don't be discouraged by what seems like dead end. Every moment in your life carries infinite possibilities, just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/your-life-is-full-of-possibilities-don-t-be-discouraged-by-what-seems/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Stop living the life with possibilities and probabilities, live the life with certainties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/stop-living-the-life-with-possibilities-and-probabilities-live-the/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Europe has what we do not have yet, a sense of the mysterious and inexorable limits of life, a sense, in a word, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/europe-has-what-we-do-not-have-yet-a-sense-of-the-mysterious-and/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [If you're willing to take risks, Twitter is a vast amusement park of interesting life possibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-palmer/if-you-re-willing-to-take-risks-twitter-is-a-vast-amusement-park-of/) [Amanda Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-palmer/) > [I have a very, very good life. I'm grateful for all of my friends, my family and the life that I have, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raquel-welch/i-have-a-very-very-good-life-i-m-grateful-for-all-of-my-friends-my/) [Raquel Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raquel-welch/) ## More by Dorothee Solle > [To be content with the world as it is is to be dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/to-be-content-with-the-world-as-it-is-is-to-be-dead/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [A language that takes our emotions seriously and gives them real weight in our lives encourages us to think and be and act differently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/a-language-that-takes-our-emotions-seriously-and-gives-them-real/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [Religion is made up of unrestrained wishes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/religion-is-made-up-of-unrestrained-wishes/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [God has no other hands than ours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/god-has-no-other-hands-than-ours/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [God has no other hands than ours. If the sick are to be healed, it is our hands that will heal them. If the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/god-has-no-other-hands-than-ours-if-the-sick-are-to-be-healed-it-is/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [“We are afraid of religion because it interprets rather than observance. Religion does not confirm that there are hungry people in the world; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/we-are-afraid-of-religion-because-it-interprets-rather-than/) [Dorothee Sölle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [With the disappearance of God the Ego moves forward to become the sole divinity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/with-the-disappearance-of-god-the-ego-moves-forward-to-become-the/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [The more people anticipate the elimination of suffering the less strength they have actually to oppose it. Whoever deals with his personal suffering only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/the-more-people-anticipate-the-elimination-of-suffering-the-less/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [Our whole life consists of despairing of an answer and seeking an answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/our-whole-life-consists-of-despairing-of-an-answer-and-seeking-an/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [Really living like Christ will not mean reward, social recognition, and an assured income, but difficulties, discrimination, solitude, anxiety. Here, too, the basic experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/really-living-like-christ-will-not-mean-reward-social-recognition-and/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [If my hands are fully occupied in holding on to something, I can neither give nor receive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/if-my-hands-are-fully-occupied-in-holding-on-to-something-i-can/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [There is no wrong suffering. There is imaginary, sham, feigned, simulated, pretended suffering. But the assertion that someone suffers for the right or wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/there-is-no-wrong-suffering-there-is-imaginary-sham-feigned-simulated/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [All fundamentalist theologians make the ordinances of creation an essential part of creation and absolutize them. Women belong at home, fulfil their life through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/all-fundamentalist-theologians-make-the-ordinances-of-creation-an/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [Religion does not confirm that there are hungry people in the world; it interprets the hungry to be our brethren whom we allow to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/religion-does-not-confirm-that-there-are-hungry-people-in-the-world/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) > [For me as a woman pride is not really sin, but rather something that I still have to learn. The male conception of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothee-solle/for-me-as-a-woman-pride-is-not-really-sin-but-rather-something-that-i/) [Dorothee Solle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) [Explore all 23 Dorothee Solle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothee-solle/) ## More Events quotes > [History is, in its essentials, the science of change. It knows and it teaches that it is impossible to find two events that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-bloch/history-is-in-its-essentials-the-science-of-change-it-knows-and-it/) [Marc Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-bloch/) > [My political views have never made me insensitive to the pain and suffering caused to the innocent victims of events such as the Warrington…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-fox/my-political-views-have-never-made-me-insensitive-to-the-pain-and/) [Claire Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-fox/) > [Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/teaching-children-about-the-natural-world-should-be-seen-as-one-of/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [In any event, it is one thing to assert, then or now, that the Iraq war was ill-advised. It is quite another to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-silberman/in-any-event-it-is-one-thing-to-assert-then-or-now-that-the-iraq-war/) [Laurence Silberman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-silberman/) > [I wasn’t like, boo hoo, Bin Laden’s dead, but I wasn’t jumping. America’s a very nationalistic country, and in episodes like that of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-scahill/i-wasn-t-like-boo-hoo-bin-laden-s-dead-but-i-wasn-t-jumping-america-s/) [Jeremy Scahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-scahill/) > [Sometimes I am a collector of data, and only a collector, and am likely to be gross and miserly, piling up notes, pleased with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fort/sometimes-i-am-a-collector-of-data-and-only-a-collector-and-am-likely/) [Charles Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fort/) > [Things happen too quickly, crisis follows crisis, the soil of our minds is perpetually disturbed. Each of us, to relieve his feelings, broadcasts his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-struther/things-happen-too-quickly-crisis-follows-crisis-the-soil-of-our-minds/) [Jan Struther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-struther/) > [Do we make ourselves into what we become or is it built into our genes, into the fate spun for us by whatever shapes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-bruchac/do-we-make-ourselves-into-what-we-become-or-is-it-built-into-our/) [Joseph Bruchac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-bruchac/) > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The future and the past are equally meaningless because they are nebulous entities, times that do not exist, containing events which have no echo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lebbon/the-future-and-the-past-are-equally-meaningless-because-they-are/) [Tim Lebbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lebbon/) > [History employs evolution to structure biological events in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/history-employs-evolution-to-structure-biological-events-in-time/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Sporting events like the Olympics have developed and maintained a clear message of promoting gender equality as an essential criterion in the success of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-attias/sporting-events-like-the-olympics-have-developed-and-maintained-a/) [Richard Attias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-attias/) > [There remains an experience of incomparable value . . . to see the great events of world history from below; from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/there-remains-an-experience-of-incomparable-value-to-see-the-great/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [It's really a pity that there are observers who view political events like comic strips. There has to be a Zorro, there has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sankara/it-s-really-a-pity-that-there-are-observers-who-view-political-events/) [Thomas Sankara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sankara/) > [Everything is not black-and-white . I'm really interested in the gray area - not justifying it, not glorifying it, not condoning it, but at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-washington/everything-is-not-black-and-white-i-m-really-interested-in-the-gray/) [Isaiah Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-washington/) [Browse all 5,384 Events quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What is important is not what someone is but what he is waiting for. 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