--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We want to be all things, not just to…" description: "\"We want to be all things, not just to gain power over things...how infantile!\" — Frederick Lenz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/479/frederick-lenz-8_all-things_we-want-to-be-all-things-not-just-to-gai_698249.jpg" --- # We want to be all things, not just to gain power over… ![“We want to be all things, not just to gain power over things...how infantile!” quote by Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/479/frederick-lenz-8_all-things_we-want-to-be-all-things-not-just-to-gai_698249.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/479/frederick-lenz-8_all-things_we-want-to-be-all-things-not-just-to-gai_698249.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/479/frederick-lenz-8_all-things_we-want-to-be-all-things-not-just-to-gai_698249.jpg) > “We want to be all things, not just to gain power over things...how infantile!” [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques the desire to dominate everything, calling it childish and suggesting humility over control. **In simple terms:** Seeking power over everything is childish. Key Takeaway Embrace humility instead of domination. Themes humility power control childishness Mood reflective critical Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - personal relationships - leadership - ethical decision making - self‑reflection Key Concepts philosophy ego growth Questions to Reflect On - How does seeking control affect your relationships? - When is humility more effective than authority? A Different Perspective Power can be necessary for responsibility; balance is key. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Buddhism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/) ## Related quotes > [Buddhism teaches us not to want things, not to avoid things, not to be upset by the loss. In the I Ching, there's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/buddhism-teaches-us-not-to-want-things-not-to-avoid-things-not-to-be/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you were in a perfected state of consciousness, you would only see perfection in all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-were-in-a-perfected-state-of-consciousness-you-would-only-see/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The yoga of knowledge is the yoga of perfection. It is the end and the beginning of all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-yoga-of-knowledge-is-the-yoga-of-perfection-it-is-the-end-and-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Is there Chance? No. There is karma. Karma causes all things to happen. There is only one thing karma cannot decide, and that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/is-there-chance-no-there-is-karma-karma-causes-all-things-to-happen/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The experience of going to the other side to nirvana clarifies and simplifies your view of all things. You see the world with greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-experience-of-going-to-the-other-side-to-nirvana-clarifies-and/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [What you focus on you become. So always focus on that which is highest, brightest, happiest and most noble of all things, enlightenment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/what-you-focus-on-you-become-so-always-focus-on-that-which-is-highest/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [It is possible to exert a power over all things, all beings. But we must begin with intent always.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/it-is-possible-to-exert-a-power-over-all-things-all-beings-but-we/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [When you stop all thought, the battle is won. Everything is still and peaceful. You will come to see the eternal voidness of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/when-you-stop-all-thought-the-battle-is-won-everything-is-still-and/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [When you understand dharma, when you see its perfect perfection, shining both in and beyond all things, you will be freed from all misunderstandings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/when-you-understand-dharma-when-you-see-its-perfect-perfection/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Enlightenment means having no human mind, no limitations. Your awareness is eternity, timeless, infinite, beyond boundaries, and yet it exists within all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightenment-means-having-no-human-mind-no-limitations-your/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Karma has always existed, as have you, I, and all things in this wonderful universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-has-always-existed-as-have-you-i-and-all-things-in-this/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [With the power of one's will we stop thought and move into alternate forms of perception. We gain that power through practicing very, very,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/with-the-power-of-one-s-will-we-stop-thought-and-move-into-alternate/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [An enlightened teacher teaches you how to gain power. They give you power. They teach you how to shape it so that it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/an-enlightened-teacher-teaches-you-how-to-gain-power-they-give-you/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You can gain power by avoidance. You can gain power by doing certain things. You can gain much more power by meditating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-gain-power-by-avoidance-you-can-gain-power-by-doing-certain/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [As you gain control of the mind, you gain control of life and you gain control of your time. It all works together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/as-you-gain-control-of-the-mind-you-gain-control-of-life-and-you-gain/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More by Frederick Lenz > [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You can draw power from everything in your life. In order to do that, everything has to be set up in a proper way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-draw-power-from-everything-in-your-life-in-order-to-do-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-the-most-miraculous-thing-is-learning-i-get-out-of-the-way/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs, faces the passing human generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sound-man-immune-as-to-a-sacrifice-of-straw-dogs-faces-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Karma means changing planes of reality or changing fields of attention. There will be perhaps a resulting physical action stemming from the change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-means-changing-planes-of-reality-or-changing-fields-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Why waste your time being around people who drag you down? You don't live forever, at least in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/why-waste-your-time-being-around-people-who-drag-you-down-you-don-t/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everybody here is so caught up in the game of life they don't see death. They don't see beyond their deaths. They are on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everybody-here-is-so-caught-up-in-the-game-of-life-they-don-t-see/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Explore all 4,399 Frederick Lenz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More All things quotes > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [To explicate the uses of the Brain seems as difficult a task as to paint the Soul, of which it is commonly said, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-willis/to-explicate-the-uses-of-the-brain-seems-as-difficult-a-task-as-to/) [Thomas Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-willis/) > [A tree is a self: it is 'unseen shaping' more than it is leaves or bark, roots or cellulose or fruit ... What this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-swimme/a-tree-is-a-self-it-is-unseen-shaping-more-than-it-is-leaves-or-bark/) [Brian Swimme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-swimme/) > [Dear God, I trust that no matter what happens in my life, it is for my highest good. And no matter what happens in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/dear-god-i-trust-that-no-matter-what-happens-in-my-life-it-is-for-my/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [Moderation, honey, in all things but love and chocolate. That's my motto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bretton/moderation-honey-in-all-things-but-love-and-chocolate-that-s-my-motto/) [Barbara Bretton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bretton/) > [There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nayler/there-is-a-spirit-which-i-feel-that-delights-to-do-no-evil-nor-to/) James Nayler > [What greater weakness can there be than not to know what is the source of one's being, of one's life, of one's senses, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/what-greater-weakness-can-there-be-than-not-to-know-what-is-the/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, as it pleases him, for he can do all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/the-lord-gives-and-the-lord-takes-away-as-it-pleases-him-for-he-can/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/time-which-wears-down-and-diminishes-all-things-augments-and/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [Standing as a witness in all things means being kind in all things, being the first to say hello, being the first to smile,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-d-nadauld/standing-as-a-witness-in-all-things-means-being-kind-in-all-things/) [Margaret D. 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