--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I myself am my only obstacle to…" description: "\"“I myself am my only obstacle to perfection,” wrote Kierkegaard.”\" — George Sheehan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aea/george-sheehan-23131_quote_i-myself-am-my-only-obstacle-to-perfecti_870306.jpg" --- # I myself am my only obstacle to perfection,” wrote… ![“I myself am my only obstacle to perfection,” wrote Kierkegaard.” quote by George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aea/george-sheehan-23131_quote_i-myself-am-my-only-obstacle-to-perfecti_870306.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aea/george-sheehan-23131_quote_i-myself-am-my-only-obstacle-to-perfecti_870306.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aea/george-sheehan-23131_quote_i-myself-am-my-only-obstacle-to-perfecti_870306.jpg) > ““I myself am my only obstacle to perfection,” wrote Kierkegaard.”” [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self-imposed mental barriers hinder personal growth and achievement. **In simple terms:** Your mind can block your progress. Key Takeaway Identify and overcome internal obstacles. Themes self-doubt perfectionism mental barriers growth Mood motivational introspective Type self-help philosophical When to use this quote - sports performance - career development - creative projects - personal goals Key Concepts Psychology self-help Questions to Reflect On - What internal obstacles limit you? - How can you reframe self-criticism? A Different Perspective External factors also influence outcomes, not just mindset. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfection/) ## Related quotes > [“I am poor—you are my riches; dark—you are my light; I own nothing, need nothing. And how could I own anything? After all, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-ren-kierkegaard/i-am-poor-you-are-my-riches-dark-you-are-my-light-i-own-nothing-need/) [Søren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-ren-kierkegaard/) > [Kierkegaard was by far the most profound thinker of the last century. Kierkegaard was a saint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/kierkegaard-was-by-far-the-most-profound-thinker-of-the-last-century/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [ But, inevitably, as he \[Kierkegaard\] approaches what we might call his Christocentric climax many readers drop off. Many scholars just leave that part of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-pattison/but-inevitably-as-he-kierkegaard-approaches-what-we-might-call-his/) [George Pattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-pattison/) > [“I never really saw the celerity of your heart When steadily fighting off the Kierkegaardian part I listened to Plutarch While you threw out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/i-never-really-saw-the-celerity-of-your-heart-when-steadily-fighting/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [What Kierkegaard said about love is also true of creativity: every person must start at the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/what-kierkegaard-said-about-love-is-also-true-of-creativity-every/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [I ... had what Kierkegaard called 'the sickness of infinitude,' wandering from one path to another with no real recognition that I was embarked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-had-what-kierkegaard-called-the-sickness-of-infinitude-wandering/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [“I venture to say Kierkegaard meant that truth has lost its force with us and horrible pain and evil must teach it to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-venture-to-say-kierkegaard-meant-that-truth-has-lost-its-force-with/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“It was not surprising that after the war Dostoevsky was linked to Kierkegaard as a prophet of social resignation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-jay/it-was-not-surprising-that-after-the-war-dostoevsky-was-linked-to/) Martin Jay > [Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's a paradox here! Kierkegaard's own indirect communication proposes that we start with the experience of those who don't believe and meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-pattison/perhaps-unsurprisingly-there-s-a-paradox-here-kierkegaard-s-own/) [George Pattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-pattison/) > [“What is particularly striking about his reconstruction and criticisms of the traditional account of friendship is that he finds it deficient not only by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-smith/what-is-particularly-striking-about-his-reconstruction-and-criticisms/) Graham Smith > [“And therefore, all of those for whom authentic transformation has deeply unseated their souls must, I believe, wrestle with the profound moral obligation to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/and-therefore-all-of-those-for-whom-authentic-transformation-has/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [“I would have liked to say, "I'm a doctor," to those who asked me what I did, doctors being the current purveyors of magic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-would-have-liked-to-say-i-m-a-doctor-to-those-who-asked-me-what-i/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“as in Heinrich Heine’s (a contemporary of Kierkegaard’s) well-known saying that one should value above everything else ‘freedom, equality and crab soup’. ‘Crab soup’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/as-in-heinrich-heine-s-a-contemporary-of-kierkegaard-s-well-known/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“As Kierkegaard said, “To venture causes anxiety; not to venture is to lose oneself.” I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregg-krech/as-kierkegaard-said-to-venture-causes-anxiety-not-to-venture-is-to/) [Gregg Krech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregg-krech/) > [“My love consumes me. Only my voice is left, a voice which has fallen in love with you whispers to you everywhere that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-ren-kierkegaard/my-love-consumes-me-only-my-voice-is-left-a-voice-which-has-fallen-in/) [Søren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-ren-kierkegaard/) ## More by George Sheehan > [“The runner is coming to know, or will know if he runs enough...that the universe is the smallest divisible unit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-runner-is-coming-to-know-or-will-know-if-he-runs-enough-that-the/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Courage, then, has nothing to do with a single act of bravery. Courage is how one lives, not one specific incident. Just as mortal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/courage-then-has-nothing-to-do-with-a-single-act-of-bravery-courage/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“When I was young, I was afflicted with what my aunt called “convenient deafness.” I still am. I have the ability to tune out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/when-i-was-young-i-was-afflicted-with-what-my-aunt-called-convenient/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“The 5-year-old sees that Paradise correctly, not in technology but in the fairy story, in the great myths that control and guide our lives.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-5-year-old-sees-that-paradise-correctly-not-in-technology-but-in/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“There were a lot of people in the service,” says Dickey, “who cried when they were discharged because they knew they would have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/there-were-a-lot-of-people-in-the-service-says-dickey-who-cried-when/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“The trouble with this country,” the late John Berryman once told fellow poet James Dickey, “is that a man can live his entire life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-trouble-with-this-country-the-late-john-berryman-once-told-fellow/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Running is just such a monestary-- a retreat, a place to commune with God and yourself, a place for psychological and spiritual renewal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/running-is-just-such-a-monestary-a-retreat-a-place-to-commune-with/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Disease, then, is one of those bad experiences that turns information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom. The bad experiences that make you love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/disease-then-is-one-of-those-bad-experiences-that-turns-information/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“If you think that life has passed you by, or, even worse, that you are living someone else’s life, you can still prove the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/if-you-think-that-life-has-passed-you-by-or-even-worse-that-you-are/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Boredom, like beauty, is in the mind of the beholder. ’There is no such thing as an uninteresting subject,’ said Chesterton. ’The only thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/boredom-like-beauty-is-in-the-mind-of-the-beholder-there-is-no-such/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Thomas Merton, another solitary, understood that. The beginning of freedom, he wrote, is not liberation from the body but liberation from the mind. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/thomas-merton-another-solitary-understood-that-the-beginning-of/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“I am a lonely figure when I run the roads. People wonder how far I have come, how far I have to go. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/i-am-a-lonely-figure-when-i-run-the-roads-people-wonder-how-far-i/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Writing, someone said, is turning blood into ink.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/writing-someone-said-is-turning-blood-into-ink/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“Anyone with a sense of humor can see that life is a joke, not a tragedy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/anyone-with-a-sense-of-humor-can-see-that-life-is-a-joke-not-a-tragedy/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) > [“The athlete doesn’t stop smoking and start training. He starts training and finds he has stopped smoking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/the-athlete-doesn-t-stop-smoking-and-start-training-he-starts/) [George Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) [Explore all 25 George Sheehan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/) ## More Kierkegaard quotes > [“I am poor—you are my riches; dark—you are my light; I own nothing, need nothing. And how could I own anything? After all, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-ren-kierkegaard/i-am-poor-you-are-my-riches-dark-you-are-my-light-i-own-nothing-need/) [Søren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-ren-kierkegaard/) > [“As Kierkegaard said, “To venture causes anxiety; not to venture is to lose oneself.” I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregg-krech/as-kierkegaard-said-to-venture-causes-anxiety-not-to-venture-is-to/) [Gregg Krech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregg-krech/) > [“as in Heinrich Heine’s (a contemporary of Kierkegaard’s) well-known saying that one should value above everything else ‘freedom, equality and crab soup’. ‘Crab soup’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/as-in-heinrich-heine-s-a-contemporary-of-kierkegaard-s-well-known/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“I would have liked to say, "I'm a doctor," to those who asked me what I did, doctors being the current purveyors of magic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-would-have-liked-to-say-i-m-a-doctor-to-those-who-asked-me-what-i/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“And therefore, all of those for whom authentic transformation has deeply unseated their souls must, I believe, wrestle with the profound moral obligation to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/and-therefore-all-of-those-for-whom-authentic-transformation-has/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [“What is particularly striking about his reconstruction and criticisms of the traditional account of friendship is that he finds it deficient not only by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-smith/what-is-particularly-striking-about-his-reconstruction-and-criticisms/) Graham Smith > [Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's a paradox here! Kierkegaard's own indirect communication proposes that we start with the experience of those who don't believe and meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-pattison/perhaps-unsurprisingly-there-s-a-paradox-here-kierkegaard-s-own/) [George Pattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-pattison/) > [“It was not surprising that after the war Dostoevsky was linked to Kierkegaard as a prophet of social resignation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-jay/it-was-not-surprising-that-after-the-war-dostoevsky-was-linked-to/) Martin Jay > [“I venture to say Kierkegaard meant that truth has lost its force with us and horrible pain and evil must teach it to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/i-venture-to-say-kierkegaard-meant-that-truth-has-lost-its-force-with/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [I ... had what Kierkegaard called 'the sickness of infinitude,' wandering from one path to another with no real recognition that I was embarked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-had-what-kierkegaard-called-the-sickness-of-infinitude-wandering/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [What Kierkegaard said about love is also true of creativity: every person must start at the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/what-kierkegaard-said-about-love-is-also-true-of-creativity-every/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [“I never really saw the celerity of your heart When steadily fighting off the Kierkegaardian part I listened to Plutarch While you threw out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/i-never-really-saw-the-celerity-of-your-heart-when-steadily-fighting/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [ But, inevitably, as he \[Kierkegaard\] approaches what we might call his Christocentric climax many readers drop off. Many scholars just leave that part of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-pattison/but-inevitably-as-he-kierkegaard-approaches-what-we-might-call-his/) [George Pattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-pattison/) > [Kierkegaard was by far the most profound thinker of the last century. Kierkegaard was a saint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/kierkegaard-was-by-far-the-most-profound-thinker-of-the-last-century/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [“My love consumes me. Only my voice is left, a voice which has fallen in love with you whispers to you everywhere that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-ren-kierkegaard/my-love-consumes-me-only-my-voice-is-left-a-voice-which-has-fallen-in/) [Søren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-ren-kierkegaard/) Browse all 68 Kierkegaard quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I myself am my only obstacle to perfection,” wrote Kierkegaard.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Sheehan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/i-myself-am-my-only-obstacle-to-perfection-wrote-kierkegaard/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Kierkegaard" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/i-myself-am-my-only-obstacle-to-perfection-wrote-kierkegaard/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aea/george-sheehan-23131_quote_i-myself-am-my-only-obstacle-to-perfecti_870306.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aea/george-sheehan-23131_quote_i-myself-am-my-only-obstacle-to-perfecti_870306.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aea/george-sheehan-23131_quote_i-myself-am-my-only-obstacle-to-perfecti_870306.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I myself am my only obstacle to perfection,” wrote Kierkegaard.” — George Sheehan", "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": "George Sheehan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sheehan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I myself am my only obstacle...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/i-myself-am-my-only-obstacle-to-perfection-wrote-kierkegaard/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sheehan/i-myself-am-my-only-obstacle-to-perfection-wrote-kierkegaard/#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 } } ] } ```