--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are things about us that make us…" description: "\"There are things about us that make us who we are, personality traits, or capacities that we have, or knowledge we possess or that we don't possess, ha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d0/ian-bogost-9716_capacity_there-are-things-about-us-that-make-us-w_1710854.jpg" --- # There are things about us that make us who we are… ![“There are things about us that make us who we are, personality traits, or capacities that we have, or knowledge we possess or that we don't possess, habits we have that are good or bad.” quote by Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d0/ian-bogost-9716_capacity_there-are-things-about-us-that-make-us-w_1710854.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d0/ian-bogost-9716_capacity_there-are-things-about-us-that-make-us-w_1710854.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d0/ian-bogost-9716_capacity_there-are-things-about-us-that-make-us-w_1710854.jpg) > “There are things about us that make us who we are, personality traits, or capacities that we have, or knowledge we possess or that we don't possess, habits we have that are good or bad.” [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Explores how traits, capacities, knowledge, and habits shape identity, both positively and negatively. **In simple terms:** Our traits, knowledge, and habits define us. Key Takeaway Reflect on personal makeup. Themes identity self traits knowledge habits Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - career choices - learning new skills - habit formation - self‑assessment Key Concepts psychology philosophy self‑development Questions to Reflect On - Which habits shape you most? - Can you change core traits? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on traits can ignore change potential. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Capacity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capacity/) [Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habit/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Habits Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits-good-602001/) [Make Personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-personality-520879/) [Personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personality/) [Personality traits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personality-traits/) [Possess Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possess-habits-1245483/) [Traits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traits/) [Who we are](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who-we-are/) ## Related quotes > [There are personality traits, or baggage from their backgrounds, goals that they have and the first thing I need to do is understand and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/there-are-personality-traits-or-baggage-from-their-backgrounds-goals/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [In just 200 tweets we can assess and identify 52 different personality traits of a customer. We ran an analysis over 500,000 people and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandy-carter/in-just-200-tweets-we-can-assess-and-identify-52-different/) [Sandy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandy-carter/) > [I play Hank Hansen, a real guy. 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I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-zylka/i-guess-that-s-the-oddest-personality-trait-for-me-i-m-too-dumb-and/) [Chris Zylka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-zylka/) > [“The wonderful world of human relationships is a rich mixture of backgrounds, perceptions, habits, preferences, behaviors, and motivators. These differences can create barriers to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/the-wonderful-world-of-human-relationships-is-a-rich-mixture-of/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [“My personality traits don’t determine my destiny, they inform it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bogel/my-personality-traits-don-t-determine-my-destiny-they-inform-it/) [Anne Bogel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bogel/) > [I remember being in the same position as Ruby, when I no longer believed in God as I was raised to believe. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-m-soehnlein/i-remember-being-in-the-same-position-as-ruby-when-i-no-longer/) [K. M. Soehnlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-m-soehnlein/) > [There are quite a few honest songwriters out there writing about relationships and their own personality traits. But for some reason, once they step…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bragg/there-are-quite-a-few-honest-songwriters-out-there-writing-about/) [Billy Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bragg/) > [Obama's personality traits, coupled with his extreme-leftist agenda, make him particularly dangerous to the American ideal and to the preservation of our founding principles,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-limbaugh/obama-s-personality-traits-coupled-with-his-extreme-leftist-agenda/) [David Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-limbaugh/) > [More than any other personality trait, my mother seemed to be ruled by anger and sadness. She seemed to hate being a mother. Watching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merrill-markoe/more-than-any-other-personality-trait-my-mother-seemed-to-be-ruled-by/) [Merrill Markoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merrill-markoe/) > [My best personality trait that I think I'm very approachable. And my worst is that I can be moody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrique-iglesias/my-best-personality-trait-that-i-think-i-m-very-approachable-and-my/) [Enrique Iglesias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrique-iglesias/) ## More by Ian Bogost > [I think the most important way to understand play is that it's this property that's in things. Like there's play in a mechanism. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/i-think-the-most-important-way-to-understand-play-is-that-it-s-this/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [Once you get yourself on that path where you're willing to find something delightful in laundry and in dishwashers, it means that you train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/once-you-get-yourself-on-that-path-where-you-re-willing-to-find/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [Our ideas of happiness, gratification, contentment, satisfaction, all demand that those feelings come from within us. If you flip that on its head and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/our-ideas-of-happiness-gratification-contentment-satisfaction-all/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [When we use this word fun, it sort of bangs up the ordinary and the extraordinary altogether.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/when-we-use-this-word-fun-it-sort-of-bangs-up-the-ordinary-and-the/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [We think we want enjoyment, and that enjoyment is incompatible with work, and somehow we have to import the pleasure into these miserable experiences.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/we-think-we-want-enjoyment-and-that-enjoyment-is-incompatible-with/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [You can experience play at work, not because you're messing around or wasting time or something, but because you're looking really deeply and seriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/you-can-experience-play-at-work-not-because-you-re-messing-around-or/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [Actually a lot of the supposedly serious and meaningful and worthwhile content on the podcast or on the television is no more or less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/actually-a-lot-of-the-supposedly-serious-and-meaningful-and/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [I think a lot of the misery that people experience comes from that sensation of boundlessness, of infinite possibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/i-think-a-lot-of-the-misery-that-people-experience-comes-from-that/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [There's just an enormous vast universe of possible intrigue out there and why not pay attention to it? Because then you're not burdened with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/there-s-just-an-enormous-vast-universe-of-possible-intrigue-out-there/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [Generally speaking, when people use the word fun, it's like a placeholder. You know, "How was your evening?" "Oh it was fun."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/generally-speaking-when-people-use-the-word-fun-it-s-like-a/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [Wouldn't we all rather have the possibility of finding pleasure and delight in literally anything we might encounter? Instead of assuming that actually there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/wouldn-t-we-all-rather-have-the-possibility-of-finding-pleasure-and/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [Fun has to do with habitual activities but then also terrifically novel or unusual ones. It works as a sort of strange milkshake of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/fun-has-to-do-with-habitual-activities-but-then-also-terrifically/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [“Irony keeps reality at a distance. It has become our primary method for combatting the external world’s incompatibility with our own desires. Today’s irony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/irony-keeps-reality-at-a-distance-it-has-become-our-primary-method/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [Play isn't you being clever, or finding a trick, or finding a way of covering over your own misery, or persuading someone to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/play-isn-t-you-being-clever-or-finding-a-trick-or-finding-a-way-of/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [To me, being able to find gratification in more venues, rather than greater gratification in a few, seems like a much more sane way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/to-me-being-able-to-find-gratification-in-more-venues-rather-than/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) [Explore all 70 Ian Bogost quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) ## More Capacity quotes > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [And you can't complain about kissing Emma Watson. Isn't that what everyone in the world wants to do? I've known Emma for a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-redmayne/and-you-can-t-complain-about-kissing-emma-watson-isn-t-that-what/) [Eddie Redmayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-redmayne/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [I was only operating at about 80% of my capacity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-lomu/i-was-only-operating-at-about-80-of-my-capacity/) [Jonah Lomu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-lomu/) > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [Assuming normal winter weather, we currently anticipate the coal markets to remain difficult through 2015; while we always strive to operate a full capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-craft/assuming-normal-winter-weather-we-currently-anticipate-the-coal/) [Joe Craft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-craft/) > [Disappointment contains an appointment for doing much better. High expectations mean your higher capacity and belief in abilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasneem-hameed/disappointment-contains-an-appointment-for-doing-much-better-high/) [Tasneem Hameed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasneem-hameed/) > [For years mental health professionals taught people that they could be psychologically healthy without social support, that “unless you love yourself, no one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-d-perry/for-years-mental-health-professionals-taught-people-that-they-could/) [Bruce D. 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