--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The way you get to know yourself is by…" description: "\"The way you get to know yourself is by the expressions on other people's faces, because that's the only thing that you can see, unless you carry a mirr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/gil-scott-heron-9568_expression_the-way-you-get-to-know-yourself-is-by-t_1065592.jpg" --- # The way you get to know yourself is by the expressions on… ![“The way you get to know yourself is by the expressions on other people's faces, because that's the only thing that you can see, unless you carry a mirror about.” quote by Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/gil-scott-heron-9568_expression_the-way-you-get-to-know-yourself-is-by-t_1065592.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/gil-scott-heron-9568_expression_the-way-you-get-to-know-yourself-is-by-t_1065592.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/gil-scott-heron-9568_expression_the-way-you-get-to-know-yourself-is-by-t_1065592.jpg) > “The way you get to know yourself is by the expressions on other people's faces, because that's the only thing that you can see, unless you carry a mirror about.” [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suggests self understanding comes from observing others’ reactions, as we lack a literal mirror. **In simple terms:** Learn about yourself by watching others. Key Takeaway Observe others to reflect on self. Themes self‑knowledge observation reflection Mood introspective analytical Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - interpersonal relationships - therapy sessions - team dynamics - public speaking Key Concepts psychology social perception identity formation Questions to Reflect On - How do others’ expressions reveal your hidden traits? - What limits arise when relying solely on external cues? A Different Perspective May ignore internal introspection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carry Mirror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carry-mirror-1595956/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Expressions People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expressions-people-2626165/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Faces Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces-thing-2626164/) [Know yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-yourself/) [Mirror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirror/) [Mirrors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirrors/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-faces/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [The way you get to know yourself is by the expression on other people's faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/the-way-you-get-to-know-yourself-is-by-the-expression-on-other-people/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [Why on earth do you carry a mirror around with you?” “It's purely a defensive device. We seldom quarrel, and this is one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-sturgeon/why-on-earth-do-you-carry-a-mirror-around-with-you-it-s-purely-a/) [Theodore Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-sturgeon/) > [There's always so much more that can be conveyed on screen visually in the expressions of people's faces, in their bodies, in their body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-shelton/there-s-always-so-much-more-that-can-be-conveyed-on-screen-visually/) [Lynn Shelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-shelton/) > [I love to draw people's faces. I do that all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mischa-barton/i-love-to-draw-people-s-faces-i-do-that-all-the-time/) [Mischa Barton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mischa-barton/) > [It's not easy to put a smile on people's faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/varun-dhawan/it-s-not-easy-to-put-a-smile-on-people-s-faces/) [Varun Dhawan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/varun-dhawan/) > [Very Painful Experience to studies of people's faces are on the move, Atleast there appears a face shining with happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/very-painful-experience-to-studies-of-people-s-faces-are-on-the-move/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [I think I need to go to the eye doctor, everywhere I look I see people with two-faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-e/i-think-i-need-to-go-to-the-eye-doctor-everywhere-i-look-i-see-people/) [Chelsea E](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-e/) > [“Now I will walk, as if I had an end in view, across the room, to the balcony under the awning. I see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/now-i-will-walk-as-if-i-had-an-end-in-view-across-the-room-to-the/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [People with two faces, don't they ever get tired of acting and lying ???](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jooj/people-with-two-faces-don-t-they-ever-get-tired-of-acting-and-lying/) [Jooj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jooj/) > [I'm always singing and dancing and getting up in people's faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taye-diggs/i-m-always-singing-and-dancing-and-getting-up-in-people-s-faces/) [Taye Diggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taye-diggs/) > [I like bringing smiles to people's faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jai-rodriguez/i-like-bringing-smiles-to-people-s-faces/) [Jai Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jai-rodriguez/) > [boredom has a tendency to bring out the worst in people's faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rona-jaffe/boredom-has-a-tendency-to-bring-out-the-worst-in-people-s-faces/) [Rona Jaffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rona-jaffe/) > [I've known people whose faces rested naturally in a smile and I'm certain their lives were much different because of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-hull/i-ve-known-people-whose-faces-rested-naturally-in-a-smile-and-i-m/) [Jonathan Hull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-hull/) > [“Stupid people. Their faces are gonna get stuck that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melyssa-winchester/stupid-people-their-faces-are-gonna-get-stuck-that-way/) [Melyssa Winchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melyssa-winchester/) > [Poor and afflicted and oppressed people have faces, and we are required to look squarely into them. We can't love what we won't experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mairs/poor-and-afflicted-and-oppressed-people-have-faces-and-we-are/) [Nancy Mairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mairs/) ## More by Gil Scott-Heron > [Oftentimes, the way it seems to be is that our artists in particular point themselves out as spokesmen for a certain constituency in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/oftentimes-the-way-it-seems-to-be-is-that-our-artists-in-particular/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [I was one of the first three black students to go to an all-white school in Tennessee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/i-was-one-of-the-first-three-black-students-to-go-to-an-all-white/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [A good poet feels what his community feels. Like if you stub your toe, the rest of your body hurts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/a-good-poet-feels-what-his-community-feels-like-if-you-stub-your-toe/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [I find it not just strange but almost ridiculous that people could take a song like the one I was doing and interpret it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/i-find-it-not-just-strange-but-almost-ridiculous-that-people-could/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [Womenfolk raised me and I was full-grown before I knew I came from a broken home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/womenfolk-raised-me-and-i-was-full-grown-before-i-knew-i-came-from-a/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [If you aren't having no fun, die, because you're running a worthless program, far as I'm concerned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/if-you-aren-t-having-no-fun-die-because-you-re-running-a-worthless/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [I have a novel that I can write. It's about three soldiers from Somalia. Some babies have been disappearing up on 144th Street, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/i-have-a-novel-that-i-can-write-it-s-about-three-soldiers-from/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [ I work hard at it \[delivery of lyrics\], just like I worked hard at getting my masters degree. It's not just something I sit… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/i-work-hard-at-it-delivery-of-lyrics-just-like-i-worked-hard-at/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [Your life has to consist of more than 'Black people should unite.' You hope they do, but not twenty-four hours a day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/your-life-has-to-consist-of-more-than-black-people-should-unite-you/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [You should be able to do anything you can afford as an adult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/you-should-be-able-to-do-anything-you-can-afford-as-an-adult/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [You know what has made me the happiest I've ever been? Seeing my son and daughter graduate from college. More than wanting them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/you-know-what-has-made-me-the-happiest-i-ve-ever-been-seeing-my-son/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [I've always had questions about what it meant to be a protester, to be in the minority. Are the people who are trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/i-ve-always-had-questions-about-what-it-meant-to-be-a-protester-to-be/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [I was a piano player before I was a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/i-was-a-piano-player-before-i-was-a-poet/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [I cannot afford to watch Fox News.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/i-cannot-afford-to-watch-fox-news/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [I think a whole lot of stuff gets by people - I could name half a dozen groups that do songs that are openly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/i-think-a-whole-lot-of-stuff-gets-by-people-i-could-name-half-a-dozen/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) [Explore all 71 Gil Scott-Heron quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) ## More Expression quotes > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [Instead of asking a girl how she feels, try looking through her recently listened to songs. The lyrics are the answer to all your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/instead-of-asking-a-girl-how-she-feels-try-looking-through-her/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Our fashion for us, it's an expression; first of all of life, I put all of myself in my fashion. Sometimes it's good, sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefano-gabbana/our-fashion-for-us-it-s-an-expression-first-of-all-of-life-i-put-all/) [Stefano Gabbana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefano-gabbana/) > [We can see nothing whatever of the soul unless it is visible in the expression of the countenance; one might call the faces at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/we-can-see-nothing-whatever-of-the-soul-unless-it-is-visible-in-the/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [Early experience shapes the structure and function of the brain. This reveals the fundamental way in which gene expression is determined by experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-siegel/early-experience-shapes-the-structure-and-function-of-the-brain-this/) [Daniel J. Siegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-siegel/) > [Singing has always seemed to me the most perfect means of expression. It is so spontaneous. And after singing, I think the violin. Since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/singing-has-always-seemed-to-me-the-most-perfect-means-of-expression/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [Every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/every-genuine-expression-of-love-grows-out-of-a-consistent-and-total/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Nick looked vaguely homicidal, but that was sort of his default expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-rees-brennan/nick-looked-vaguely-homicidal-but-that-was-sort-of-his-default/) [Sarah Rees Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-rees-brennan/) > [They are the gateway for our modern esthetic development, the prophets of the new time. They are most of all, the primitives of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/they-are-the-gateway-for-our-modern-esthetic-development-the-prophets/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [The mountain receives our expressions and becomes part of us; we imprint our memories upon it and trust it with out dearest divisions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-barcott/the-mountain-receives-our-expressions-and-becomes-part-of-us-we/) [Bruce Barcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-barcott/) > [In science, the most exciting expression isn’t ‘Eureka!’ It’s ‘Huh?’](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hawley/in-science-the-most-exciting-expression-isn-t-eureka-it-s-huh/) [Michael Hawley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hawley/) > [A commitment to lifelong learning is a natural expression of the practice of living consciously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/a-commitment-to-lifelong-learning-is-a-natural-expression-of-the/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) [Browse all 5,024 Expression quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The way you get to know yourself is by the expressions on other people's faces, because that's the only thing that you can see, unless you carry a mirror about.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gil Scott-Heron" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/the-way-you-get-to-know-yourself-is-by-the-expressions-on-other/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Expression" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/the-way-you-get-to-know-yourself-is-by-the-expressions-on-other/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/gil-scott-heron-9568_expression_the-way-you-get-to-know-yourself-is-by-t_1065592.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/gil-scott-heron-9568_expression_the-way-you-get-to-know-yourself-is-by-t_1065592.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/gil-scott-heron-9568_expression_the-way-you-get-to-know-yourself-is-by-t_1065592.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The way you get to know yourself is by the expressions on other people's faces, because that's the only…” — Gil Scott-Heron", "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": "Gil Scott-Heron", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The way you get to know...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/the-way-you-get-to-know-yourself-is-by-the-expressions-on-other/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/the-way-you-get-to-know-yourself-is-by-the-expressions-on-other/#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 } } ] } ```