--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As human beings we are made to surpass…" description: "\"As human beings we are made to surpass ourselves and are truly ourselves only when transcending ourselves.\" — Huston Smith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/480/huston-smith-2415_human-beings_as-human-beings-we-are-made-to-surpass-o_3058709.png" --- # As human beings we are made to surpass ourselves and are… ![“As human beings we are made to surpass ourselves and are truly ourselves only when transcending ourselves.” quote by Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/480/huston-smith-2415_human-beings_as-human-beings-we-are-made-to-surpass-o_3058709.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/480/huston-smith-2415_human-beings_as-human-beings-we-are-made-to-surpass-o_3058709.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/480/huston-smith-2415_human-beings_as-human-beings-we-are-made-to-surpass-o_3058709.png) > “As human beings we are made to surpass ourselves and are truly ourselves only when transcending ourselves.” [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Transcending self reveals true humanity; self‑overcoming is essential. **In simple terms:** Self‑transcendence defines humanity. Key Takeaway Seek to transcend yourself. Themes spirituality self‑growth humanity Mood contemplative hopeful Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - meditation - service - leadership - personal development Key Concepts philosophy religion Questions to Reflect On - What does transcending self mean to you? - How can you practice it daily? A Different Perspective Self‑loss can be confusing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) ## Related quotes > [Conservative politics is truly transcending age, race, gender.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-paulina-luna/conservative-politics-is-truly-transcending-age-race-gender/) [Anna Paulina Luna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-paulina-luna/) > [If a human being is filled with happiness and positivity, this is what they radiate out into the world. We each affect our environment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lynch/if-a-human-being-is-filled-with-happiness-and-positivity-this-is-what/) [David Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lynch/) > [Lose/Win people bury a lot of feelings. And unexpressed feelings come forth later in uglier ways. Psychosomatic illnesses often are the reincarnation of cumulative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/lose-win-people-bury-a-lot-of-feelings-and-unexpressed-feelings-come/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Flowers that are so pathetic in their beauty, frail as the clouds, and in their coloring as gorgeous as the heavens, had through thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-de-quincey/flowers-that-are-so-pathetic-in-their-beauty-frail-as-the-clouds-and/) [Thomas de Quincey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-de-quincey/) > [“Transcending reality by exploring it one story at a time...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-cutrera/transcending-reality-by-exploring-it-one-story-at-a-time/) Barbara Cutrera > [See, when I paint, it is an experience that, at its best, is transcending reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/see-when-i-paint-it-is-an-experience-that-at-its-best-is-transcending/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [A large plural society cannot be governed without recognizing that, transcending its plural interests, there is a rational order with a superior common law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/a-large-plural-society-cannot-be-governed-without-recognizing-that/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [In the name of celibacy, sex has been repressed for centuries and you have become just full of sexuality. Rather than transcending it you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/in-the-name-of-celibacy-sex-has-been-repressed-for-centuries-and-you/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“There is no transcending our minds, only using them optimally.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vironika-tugaleva/there-is-no-transcending-our-minds-only-using-them-optimally/) [Vironika Tugaleva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vironika-tugaleva/) > [I strive to express the spiritual nature of the Universe. Painting for me is a dynamic balance and wholeness of life; it is mysterious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-pousette-dart/i-strive-to-express-the-spiritual-nature-of-the-universe-painting-for/) Richard Pousette-Dart > [There was a band very early on in our class, and I played in that band and as a teenager, I continued. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-obel/there-was-a-band-very-early-on-in-our-class-and-i-played-in-that-band/) [Agnes Obel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-obel/) > [Catholicity seized on man... and the mystics, transcending all, taught him to ascend on high with the wings of contemplation the Ladder of Jacob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-donoso-cortes/catholicity-seized-on-man-and-the-mystics-transcending-all-taught-him/) Juan Donoso Cortes > [“Pleasure is no longer empty and pain is no longer deadly when God is the transcending reason for all of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-daigle/pleasure-is-no-longer-empty-and-pain-is-no-longer-deadly-when-god-is/) Sara Daigle > [The pace of science forces the pace of technique. Theoretical physics forces atomic energy on us; the successful production of the fission bomb forces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-pace-of-science-forces-the-pace-of-technique-theoretical-physics/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [Instinct is like Nature herself - prodigiously conservative, and yet transcending her own historical conditions in her acts of creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/instinct-is-like-nature-herself-prodigiously-conservative-and-yet/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) ## More by Huston Smith > [“The Transcendent was my morning meal, we had the Eternal at lunch, and I ate a slice of the Infinite at dinner.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/the-transcendent-was-my-morning-meal-we-had-the-eternal-at-lunch-and/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [The first koan do not have rational answers. They are techniques devised over the millennia for triggering an actual experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/the-first-koan-do-not-have-rational-answers-they-are-techniques/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [We all carry it within us: supreme strength, the fullness of wisdom, unquenchable joy. It is never thwarted, and cannot be destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/we-all-carry-it-within-us-supreme-strength-the-fullness-of-wisdom/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [A nation can assume that the addition of the words "under God" to its pledge of allegiance gives evidence that its citizens actually believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/a-nation-can-assume-that-the-addition-of-the-words-under-god-to-its/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [“Some friends accused me of whoring after the Infinite. Well, what better whoredom is there?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/some-friends-accused-me-of-whoring-after-the-infinite-well-what/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [Imagine a man besottedly in love: he won't waste time speculating whether other women equally merit his affection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/imagine-a-man-besottedly-in-love-he-won-t-waste-time-speculating/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [“If my opinion that substance requires a true unity were founded only on a definition I had formulated in opposition to common usage, \*then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/if-my-opinion-that-substance-requires-a-true-unity-were-founded-only/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [The New Age movement looks like a mixed bag. I see much in it that seems good: It's optimistic; it's enthusiastic; it has the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/the-new-age-movement-looks-like-a-mixed-bag-i-see-much-in-it-that/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [Science can prove nothing about God, because God lies outside its province.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/science-can-prove-nothing-about-god-because-god-lies-outside-its/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [I had assumed that Bush's seemingly inflexible policy to support Sharon was for political reasons of his getting elected. But as to whether he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/i-had-assumed-that-bush-s-seemingly-inflexible-policy-to-support/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [The Buddha is in me, the Buddha is in you. Live up to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/the-buddha-is-in-me-the-buddha-is-in-you-live-up-to-it/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [“How many planes there are, we do not know. The levels of nature that science discriminates give us no clue, for these all pertain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/how-many-planes-there-are-we-do-not-know-the-levels-of-nature-that/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [So always, if we look back, concern for face-to-face morality, and its modern emphasis on justice as well, have historically evolved as religious issues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/so-always-if-we-look-back-concern-for-face-to-face-morality-and-its/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [All -isms end up in schisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/all-isms-end-up-in-schisms/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [Most of the book deals with things we already know yet never learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/most-of-the-book-deals-with-things-we-already-know-yet-never-learn/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) [Explore all 167 Huston Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) ## More Human beings quotes > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) Kenan Malik > [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/) [Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/) > [Gambling has held human beings in thrall for millennia. It has been engaged in everywhere, from the dregs of society to the most respectable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-l-bernstein/gambling-has-held-human-beings-in-thrall-for-millennia-it-has-been/) [Peter L. Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-l-bernstein/) > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [What is music? Music is language. A human being wants to express ideas in this language, but not ideas that can be translated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/what-is-music-music-is-language-a-human-being-wants-to-express-ideas/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [“Is there any holy beings like human beings?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/is-there-any-holy-beings-like-human-beings/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [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/) > [I recognize I am essentially a failed human being in the sense that I can't possibly live up to the expectations of an Almighty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-recognize-i-am-essentially-a-failed-human-being-in-the-sense-that-i/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A composer knows that music is written by human beings for human beings and that music is a continuation of life, not something separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanns-eisler/a-composer-knows-that-music-is-written-by-human-beings-for-human/) Hanns Eisler > [“According to this model, human beings are, at least in one aspect, sensation-receiving machines; and although our receptory apparatus is competent to select and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cruce-stark/according-to-this-model-human-beings-are-at-least-in-one-aspect/) Cruce Stark > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Human beings seek community, and permanent openness is hard to sustain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/human-beings-seek-community-and-permanent-openness-is-hard-to-sustain/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) [Browse all 6,948 Human beings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As human beings we are made to surpass ourselves and are truly ourselves only when transcending ourselves.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Huston Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/as-human-beings-we-are-made-to-surpass-ourselves-and-are-truly/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Human beings" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/as-human-beings-we-are-made-to-surpass-ourselves-and-are-truly/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/480/huston-smith-2415_human-beings_as-human-beings-we-are-made-to-surpass-o_3058709.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/480/huston-smith-2415_human-beings_as-human-beings-we-are-made-to-surpass-o_3058709.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/480/huston-smith-2415_human-beings_as-human-beings-we-are-made-to-surpass-o_3058709.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As human beings we are made to surpass ourselves and are truly ourselves only when transcending ourselves.” — Huston Smith", "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": "Huston Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "As human beings we are made...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/as-human-beings-we-are-made-to-surpass-ourselves-and-are-truly/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/as-human-beings-we-are-made-to-surpass-ourselves-and-are-truly/#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 } } ] } ```