--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The ego doesn't know that the source of…" description: "\"The ego doesn't know that the source of all energy is within you, so it seeks it outside.\" — Eckhart Tolle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65f/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-doesn-t-know-that-the-source-of_2610893.jpg" --- # The ego doesn't know that the source of all energy is… ![“The ego doesn't know that the source of all energy is within you, so it seeks it outside.” quote by Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65f/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-doesn-t-know-that-the-source-of_2610893.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65f/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-doesn-t-know-that-the-source-of_2610893.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65f/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-doesn-t-know-that-the-source-of_2610893.jpg) > “The ego doesn't know that the source of all energy is within you, so it seeks it outside.” [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. The ego seeks external validation because it is unaware of internal energy. **In simple terms:** Ego looks outside for energy it already has inside. Key Takeaway Turn inward to find true power. Themes spirituality self-awareness psychology Mood reflective calm Type spiritual motivational When to use this quote - personal growth - therapy - meditation - coaching Key Concepts mindfulness inner energy Questions to Reflect On - How can you recognize ego-driven cravings? - What practices help you access inner energy? A Different Perspective Relying on external sources can lead to dependency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Graduation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/graduation/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) ## Related quotes > [Most people's lives are run by desire and fear. Desire is the need to add something to yourself in order to be yourself more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-s-lives-are-run-by-desire-and-fear-desire-is-the-need-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Wisdom comes with the ability to be still. Just look and just listen. No more is needed. Being still, looking, and listening activates the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/wisdom-comes-with-the-ability-to-be-still-just-look-and-just-listen/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [That stillness and vastness that enables the Universe to be, is not just out there in space...it is also within you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/that-stillness-and-vastness-that-enables-the-universe-to-be-is-not/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [I cannot tell you any spiritual truth that deep within you don't know already. All I can do is remind you of what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/i-cannot-tell-you-any-spiritual-truth-that-deep-within-you-don-t-know/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [You accept whatever happens in the present moment, the only place where it can happen. Internally, you fully accept what is happening, and what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-accept-whatever-happens-in-the-present-moment-the-only-place/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [The Truth is far more all-encompassing than the mind could ever comprehend. No thought can encapsulate the Truth. At best, it can point to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-truth-is-far-more-all-encompassing-than-the-mind-could-ever/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When you look upon another human being and feel great love toward them, or when you contemplate beauty in nature and something within you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-look-upon-another-human-being-and-feel-great-love-toward/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [God is not a personality outside of you. What God is, is inextricably part of what you are. God is the dimension of depth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/god-is-not-a-personality-outside-of-you-what-god-is-is-inextricably/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Feeling will get you closer to the truth of who you are than thinking. I cannot tell you anything that deep within you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/feeling-will-get-you-closer-to-the-truth-of-who-you-are-than-thinking/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When you say “yes” to the “isness” of life, when you accept this moment as it is, you can feel a sense of spaciousness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-say-yes-to-the-isness-of-life-when-you-accept-this-moment-as/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When you say, 'I enjoy doing this or that', it is really a misperception. It makes it appear that the joy comes from what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-say-i-enjoy-doing-this-or-that-it-is-really-a-misperception/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Scientists will eventually stop flailing around with solar power and focus their efforts on harnessing the only truly unlimited source of energy on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/scientists-will-eventually-stop-flailing-around-with-solar-power-and/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) > [If aliens did visit us, I'd be embarrassed to tell them we still dig fossil fuels from the ground as a source of energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/if-aliens-did-visit-us-i-d-be-embarrassed-to-tell-them-we-still-dig/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“We all came from the same source and it's energy in form of light shining in every consciousness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-zebian/we-all-came-from-the-same-source-and-it-s-energy-in-form-of-light/) [Dave Zebian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-zebian/) > [Whatever is not an energy source, is an energy sink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/whatever-is-not-an-energy-source-is-an-energy-sink/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) ## 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 Ego quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/for-us-who-are-now-in-power-we-need-to-be-challenged-to-serve-the/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) > [I love playing ego and insecurity combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carrey/i-love-playing-ego-and-insecurity-combined/) [Jim Carrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carrey/) > [“sometimes when everything seems at its worst when all conspires and gnaws and the hours, days, weeks years seem wasted – stretched there upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/sometimes-when-everything-seems-at-its-worst-when-all-conspires-and/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I'm a straight shooter, and most of the time my ego doesn't interrupt my relationships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-macht/i-m-a-straight-shooter-and-most-of-the-time-my-ego-doesn-t-interrupt/) [Gabriel Macht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-macht/) > [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/) > [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“There are two kinds of people: goal-oriented and ego-oriented. Goal-oriented people work together and get things gone. Ego-oriented people don’t work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charbel-tadros/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-goal-oriented-and-ego-oriented-goal/) [Charbel Tadros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charbel-tadros/) > [Heart surgeons do not have the world's smallest egos: when you ask them to name the world's three leading practitioners, they never can remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/heart-surgeons-do-not-have-the-world-s-smallest-egos-when-you-ask/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [I hate acting when I see it. I don't want to feel it, I don't want to see it, I want to be taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-hauer/i-hate-acting-when-i-see-it-i-don-t-want-to-feel-it-i-don-t-want-to/) [Rutger Hauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-hauer/) > [It's a constant man-ego-check going on in the streets, in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/it-s-a-constant-man-ego-check-going-on-in-the-streets-in-this-world/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [“... a man doesn't like to have his ego popped, especially when he prides himself on his sagacity, and then to be proved wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/a-man-doesn-t-like-to-have-his-ego-popped-especially-when-he-prides/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [Our real nature is not our imaginary, limited ego. Our true nature is vast, all-comprehensive, and intangible as empty space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anagarika-govinda/our-real-nature-is-not-our-imaginary-limited-ego-our-true-nature-is/) [Anagarika Govinda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anagarika-govinda/) > [The man of wisdom is devoid of ego even though he may appear to use it. His vacant or fasting mind is neither doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramesh-s-balsekar/the-man-of-wisdom-is-devoid-of-ego-even-though-he-may-appear-to-use/) [Ramesh S Balsekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramesh-s-balsekar/) > [Show me success without ego!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivana-trump/show-me-success-without-ego/) [Ivana Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivana-trump/) [Browse all 3,462 Ego quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The ego doesn't know that the source of all energy is within you, so it seeks it outside.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eckhart Tolle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-ego-doesn-t-know-that-the-source-of-all-energy-is-within-you-so/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ego" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-ego-doesn-t-know-that-the-source-of-all-energy-is-within-you-so/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65f/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-doesn-t-know-that-the-source-of_2610893.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65f/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-doesn-t-know-that-the-source-of_2610893.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65f/eckhart-tolle-81_ego_the-ego-doesn-t-know-that-the-source-of_2610893.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The ego doesn't know that the source of all energy is within you, so it seeks it outside.” — Eckhart Tolle", "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": "Eckhart Tolle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The ego doesn't know that the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-ego-doesn-t-know-that-the-source-of-all-energy-is-within-you-so/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-ego-doesn-t-know-that-the-source-of-all-energy-is-within-you-so/#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 } } ] } ```