--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you identify with a mental position…" description: "\"If you identify with a mental position, then if you are wrong, your mind-based sense of self is seriously threatened with annihilation. So you as the e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29d/eckhart-tolle-81_annihilation_if-you-identify-with-a-mental-position-t_1792088.jpg" --- # If you identify with a mental position, then if you are… ![“If you identify with a mental position, then if you are wrong, your mind-based sense of self is seriously threatened with annihilation. So you as the ego cannot afford to be wrong. To be wrong is to die. Wars have been fought over this, and countless relationships have broken down.” quote by Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29d/eckhart-tolle-81_annihilation_if-you-identify-with-a-mental-position-t_1792088.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29d/eckhart-tolle-81_annihilation_if-you-identify-with-a-mental-position-t_1792088.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29d/eckhart-tolle-81_annihilation_if-you-identify-with-a-mental-position-t_1792088.jpg) > “If you identify with a mental position, then if you are wrong, your mind-based sense of self is seriously threatened with annihilation. So you as the ego cannot afford to be wrong. To be wrong is to die. Wars have been fought over this, and countless relationships have broken down.” [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Identifying with mental positions makes ego vulnerable; admitting error threatens self-concept, leading to conflict and relational breakdowns. **In simple terms:** Ego fears being wrong. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty, stay open to learning. Themes ego identity vulnerability conflict Mood contemplative inquisitive Type psychological spiritual When to use this quote - personal growth - therapy - teamwork - political debate - education Key Concepts psychology self-awareness mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How does fear of being wrong shape your decisions? - What practices help you stay open to correction? A Different Perspective Ego resistance can limit learning and cooperation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Annihilation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/annihilation/) [Annihilation Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/annihilation-ego-1955275/) [Broken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken/) [Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) [Identify Mental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identify-mental-1955276/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Mental Position](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-position-1955274/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Position](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/position/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Sense of self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-of-self/) [Sense Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-self-236246/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Wrong Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrong-mind-1114303/) ## Related quotes > [“There is nothing that strengthens the ego more than being right. Being right is identification with a mental position - a perspective, an opinion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/there-is-nothing-that-strengthens-the-ego-more-than-being-right-being/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [It's the first company to build the mental position that has the upper hand, not the first company to make the product. IBM didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-ries/it-s-the-first-company-to-build-the-mental-position-that-has-the/) [Al Ries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-ries/) > [An ethicist is someone who sees something wrong with whatever you have in mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-minsky/an-ethicist-is-someone-who-sees-something-wrong-with-whatever-you/) [Marvin Minsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-minsky/) > [There is nothing wrong with my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-nothing-wrong-with-my-mind/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A wrong mind-set is like bad soil that restricts a plant’s growth. Similarly, limiting beliefs about ‘what we deserve’ hinder our growth. They stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hina-hashmi/a-wrong-mind-set-is-like-bad-soil-that-restricts-a-plant-s-growth/) [Hina Hashmi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hina-hashmi/) > [An ethicist is somebody who sees something wrong with whatever you have in mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-minsky/an-ethicist-is-somebody-who-sees-something-wrong-with-whatever-you/) [Marvin Minsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-minsky/) > [His hustle was wrong, his mind was his own, but the man lived alone, oh, Superfly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-mayfield/his-hustle-was-wrong-his-mind-was-his-own-but-the-man-lived-alone-oh/) [Curtis Mayfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-mayfield/) > [Singularity shows something wrong in the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/singularity-shows-something-wrong-in-the-mind/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Forgiveness happens naturally when you see that it has no purpose other than to strengthen a false sense of self, to keep the ego…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/forgiveness-happens-naturally-when-you-see-that-it-has-no-purpose/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When one child says to another, "I can do this, I bet you can't"; "My dad has a bigger car than yours"; or, "My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-one-child-says-to-another-i-can-do-this-i-bet-you-can-t-my-dad/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When your sense of self is no longer tied to thought, is no longer conceptual, there is a depth of feeling, of sensing, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-your-sense-of-self-is-no-longer-tied-to-thought-is-no-longer/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“The first thing to remember is this: As long as you make an identity for yourself out of the pain, you cannot become free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-first-thing-to-remember-is-this-as-long-as-you-make-an-identity/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“There is something that matters more than any of those things and that is finding the essence of who you are beyond that short-lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/there-is-something-that-matters-more-than-any-of-those-things-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Through being "right", you feel superior and through feeling superior you strengthen your sense of self. In reality, of course, you are only strengthening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/through-being-right-you-feel-superior-and-through-feeling-superior/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Every individual is in touch with the deeper level of being, the aware consciousness. If these humans form groups, they do not derive their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/every-individual-is-in-touch-with-the-deeper-level-of-being-the-aware/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## More by Eckhart Tolle > [“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/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“A powerful spiritual practice is consciously to allow the diminishment of ego when it happens without attempting to restore it. I recommend that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/a-powerful-spiritual-practice-is-consciously-to-allow-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [To become aware of the subtlety of nature you need to be alert. The moment you become alert you become still... thinking subsides. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/to-become-aware-of-the-subtlety-of-nature-you-need-to-be-alert-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When you are not honoring the present moment by allowing it to be, you are creating drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-are-not-honoring-the-present-moment-by-allowing-it-to-be-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [On a deeper level you are already complete. When you realize that, there is a joyous energy behind what you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/on-a-deeper-level-you-are-already-complete-when-you-realize-that/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/life-will-give-you-whatever-experience-is-most-helpful-for-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [You may not yet be able to bring your unconscious mind activity into awareness as thoughts, but it will always be reflected in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-may-not-yet-be-able-to-bring-your-unconscious-mind-activity-into/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“War is a mind-set, and all action that comes out of such a mind-set will either strengthen the enemy, the perceived evil, or, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/war-is-a-mind-set-and-all-action-that-comes-out-of-such-a-mind-set/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Whenever you step out of the noise of thinking, that is meditation, and a different state of consciousness arises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/whenever-you-step-out-of-the-noise-of-thinking-that-is-meditation-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Get the inside right, and the outside will take care of itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/get-the-inside-right-and-the-outside-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [It is very hard to tell when I started to be a spiritual teacher. There was a time when occasionally somebody would come and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/it-is-very-hard-to-tell-when-i-started-to-be-a-spiritual-teacher/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalized sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-spend-their-entire-life-imprisoned-within-the-confines-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Let the end of the world be inside you, then you don't need to fear the end of the world out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/let-the-end-of-the-world-be-inside-you-then-you-don-t-need-to-fear/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Jeste li zabrinuti? Razmišljate li često: »Što bi bilo da sam...?« To znači da ste se poistovjetili s umom, koji se projicira u neku…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/jeste-li-zabrinuti-razmi-ljate-li-esto-to-bi-bilo-da-sam-to-zna-i-da/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) [Explore all 1,493 Eckhart Tolle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## More Annihilation quotes > [The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe... All is registered in the 'boundless heart' of the bodhisattva. Through our deepest and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-macy/the-heart-that-breaks-open-can-contain-the-whole-universe-all-is/) [Joanna Macy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-macy/) > [The highest ideal of cure is the rapid, gentle and permanent restoration of health; that is, the lifting and annihilation of the disease in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hahnemann/the-highest-ideal-of-cure-is-the-rapid-gentle-and-permanent/) [Samuel Hahnemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hahnemann/) > [To fight is to face death once more, perhaps the total annihilation of their kind. But to run... is that not also a kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/to-fight-is-to-face-death-once-more-perhaps-the-total-annihilation-of/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [I'm not afraid of anything other than spiritual annihilation. Where your soul is sucked into the void.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crispian-mills/i-m-not-afraid-of-anything-other-than-spiritual-annihilation-where/) [Crispian Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crispian-mills/) > [“The breath had become as much a trick as breathing. Things were not dual merely, but multiple. I had become a cage of mirrors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/the-breath-had-become-as-much-a-trick-as-breathing-things-were-not/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why,--when it did not seem worthwhile to be glad or sorry, to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/there-were-days-when-she-was-unhappy-she-did-not-know-why-when-it-did/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [I've crossed some kind of invisible line. I feel as if I've come to a place I never thought I'd have to come to.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-carver/i-ve-crossed-some-kind-of-invisible-line-i-feel-as-if-i-ve-come-to-a/) [Raymond Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-carver/) > [We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship, dependent on it's vulnerable reserves of air and soil, all committed, for our safety, to it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/we-travel-together-passengers-on-a-little-spaceship-dependent-on-it-s/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [Liberty is to faction, what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be a less folly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/liberty-is-to-faction-what-air-is-to-fire-an-aliment-without-which-it/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Today I will once more be a prophet. 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