--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One comprehends oneself in order not to…" description: "\"One comprehends oneself in order not to be preoccupied with oneself.\" — Irvin D. Yalom" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fa/irvin-d-yalom-1519_oneself_one-comprehends-oneself-in-order-not-to_3003450.png" --- # One comprehends oneself in order not to be preoccupied… ![“One comprehends oneself in order not to be preoccupied with oneself.” quote by Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fa/irvin-d-yalom-1519_oneself_one-comprehends-oneself-in-order-not-to_3003450.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fa/irvin-d-yalom-1519_oneself_one-comprehends-oneself-in-order-not-to_3003450.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fa/irvin-d-yalom-1519_oneself_one-comprehends-oneself-in-order-not-to_3003450.png) > “One comprehends oneself in order not to be preoccupied with oneself.” [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self‑understanding reduces self‑absorption, allowing focus beyond personal concerns. **In simple terms:** Understanding yourself lessens self‑preoccupation. Key Takeaway Cultivate self‑awareness to broaden perspective. Themes self‑knowledge existentialism psychology Mood contemplative calm Type therapeutic philosophical When to use this quote - therapy sessions - mindfulness practice Key Concepts introspection personal growth Questions to Reflect On - How does self‑awareness affect relationships? - What practices deepen self‑understanding? A Different Perspective Self‑knowledge can lead to existential anxiety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comprehends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comprehends-298149/) [Comprehends Oneself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comprehends-oneself-4779328/) [Oneself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself/) [Oneself Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself-order-3636495/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Preoccupied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preoccupied/) [Preoccupied Oneself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preoccupied-oneself-4779329/) ## Related quotes > [SPIRITUAL EXERCISES whereby to conquer oneself, and order one's life, without being influenced in one's decision by any inordinate affection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/spiritual-exercises-whereby-to-conquer-oneself-and-order-one-s-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Because there are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/because-there-are-three-classes-of-intellects-one-which-comprehends/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [The bed comprehends our whole life, for we were born in it, we live in it, and we shall die in it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-maupassant/the-bed-comprehends-our-whole-life-for-we-were-born-in-it-we-live-in/) [Guy de Maupassant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-maupassant/) > [We cannot comprehend what comprehends us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/we-cannot-comprehend-what-comprehends-us/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Now the gardener is the one who has seen everything ruined so many times that (even as his pain increases with each loss) he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-mitchell/now-the-gardener-is-the-one-who-has-seen-everything-ruined-so-many/) [Henry Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-mitchell/) > [A person of definite character and purpose who comprehends our way of thought is sure to exert power over us. He cannot altogether be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/a-person-of-definite-character-and-purpose-who-comprehends-our-way-of/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [The more one knows, the more one comprehends, the more one realizes that everything turns in a circle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-more-one-knows-the-more-one-comprehends-the-more-one-realizes/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [God, move that man on into the place where he comprehends what Christianity is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-g-lake/god-move-that-man-on-into-the-place-where-he-comprehends-what/) [John G. Lake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-g-lake/) > [Thus understanding and love, that is, the knowledge of and delight in the truth, are, as it were, the two arms of the soul,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-of-clairvaux/thus-understanding-and-love-that-is-the-knowledge-of-and-delight-in/) [Bernard of Clairvaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-of-clairvaux/) > [There is nothing of evil in life for him who rightly comprehends that death is no evil; to know how to die delivers us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/there-is-nothing-of-evil-in-life-for-him-who-rightly-comprehends-that/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [“What is seen is not the Truth What is cannot be said Trust comes not without seeing Nor understanding without words The wise comprehends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kabir/what-is-seen-is-not-the-truth-what-is-cannot-be-said-trust-comes-not/) [Kabir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kabir/) > [Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-van-beethoven/art-who-comprehends-her-with-whom-can-one-consult-concerning-this/) [Ludwig van Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-van-beethoven/) > [Ability comprehends the power of doing in general, without specifying the quality or degree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-crabbe/ability-comprehends-the-power-of-doing-in-general-without-specifying/) [George Crabbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-crabbe/) > [“It’s not like we’re at a community college and God is at an Ivy League school. It’s like we’re at a community college and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-altrogge/it-s-not-like-we-re-at-a-community-college-and-god-is-at-an-ivy/) [Stephen Altrogge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-altrogge/) > [“People generally suppose that they don't understand one another very well, and that is true; they don't. But some things they communicate easily and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/people-generally-suppose-that-they-don-t-understand-one-another-very/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More by Irvin D. Yalom > [“ALAS, IF ALL HUMANS WERE WISE AND HAD MORE GOOD WILL THE WORLD WOULD BE A PARADISE NOW IT IS MOSTLY A HELL”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/alas-if-all-humans-were-wise-and-had-more-good-will-the-world-would/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [I dream of a love that is more than two people craving to possess one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/i-dream-of-a-love-that-is-more-than-two-people-craving-to-possess-one/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Ümitsizlik özfarkındalık uğruna ödenen bedeldir.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/mitsizlik-zfark-ndal-k-u-runa-denen-bedeldir/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [Therapists need to have a long experience in personal therapy to see what it's like to be on the other side of the couch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/therapists-need-to-have-a-long-experience-in-personal-therapy-to-see/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Beginning therapists must learn that there are times to sit in silence, sometimes in silent communion, sometimes simply while waiting for patients' thoughts to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/beginning-therapists-must-learn-that-there-are-times-to-sit-in/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [If one is to learn to live with the dead, one must first learn to live with the living!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/if-one-is-to-learn-to-live-with-the-dead-one-must-first-learn-to-live/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [Specialness as a primary mode of death transcendence takes a number of other maladaptive forms. The drive for power is not uncommonly motivated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/specialness-as-a-primary-mode-of-death-transcendence-takes-a-number/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Exactly. We know that the great Goethe carried a copy of Spinoza’s Ethics in his pocket for a year. Imagine that—an entire year! And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/exactly-we-know-that-the-great-goethe-carried-a-copy-of-spinoza-s/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Hope is the worst of evils because it protracts torment.” “Your”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/hope-is-the-worst-of-evils-because-it-protracts-torment-your/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [Mature love is loving, not being loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/mature-love-is-loving-not-being-loved/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [Absolute power, as we have always known, corrupts absolutely; it corrupts because it does not do the trick for the individual. Reality always creeps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/absolute-power-as-we-have-always-known-corrupts-absolutely-it/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Indeed, the capacity to tolerate uncertainty is a prerequisite for the profession. Though the public may believe that therapists guide patients systematically and sure-handedly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/indeed-the-capacity-to-tolerate-uncertainty-is-a-prerequisite-for-the/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“Rollo May quipped that anxiety about nothing tries to become anxiety about something. In other words, anxiety about nothingness quickly attaches itself to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/rollo-may-quipped-that-anxiety-about-nothing-tries-to-become-anxiety/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“I often urge patients to project themselves into the future and to consider how they can live now so that five years hence they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/i-often-urge-patients-to-project-themselves-into-the-future-and-to/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [When people don't have any curiosity about themselves, that is always a bad sign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/when-people-don-t-have-any-curiosity-about-themselves-that-is-always/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) [Explore all 184 Irvin D. Yalom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) ## More Oneself quotes > [To refer even in passing to unpublished or struggling authors and their problems is to put oneself at some risk, so I will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley-amis/to-refer-even-in-passing-to-unpublished-or-struggling-authors-and/) [Kingsley Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley-amis/) > [One must not let oneself be overwhelmed by sadness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-must-not-let-oneself-be-overwhelmed-by-sadness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-believe-that-one-defines-oneself-by-reinvention/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [My experience has been that work is almost the best way to pull oneself out of the depths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/my-experience-has-been-that-work-is-almost-the-best-way-to-pull/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [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/) > [ The self is defined psychologically as the psychic totality of the individual. Anything that a \[person\] postulates as being a greater totality than \[oneself\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-self-is-defined-psychologically-as-the-psychic-totality-of-the/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [One should identify oneself with the universe itself. Everything that is less than the universe is subjected to suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/one-should-identify-oneself-with-the-universe-itself-everything-that/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [But if you will recall the history of our civil troubles, you will see half the nation bathe itself, out of piety, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/but-if-you-will-recall-the-history-of-our-civil-troubles-you-will-see/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [One's own religion is after all a matter between oneself and one's Maker and no one else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-s-own-religion-is-after-all-a-matter-between-oneself-and-one-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Consider the core of the mind to be a wagon, with will-power to be carried about in it. Push it to a place where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takuan-soho/consider-the-core-of-the-mind-to-be-a-wagon-with-will-power-to-be/) [Takuan Soho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takuan-soho/) > [Poems come from ordinary experiences and objects, I think. Out of memory - a dress I lent my daughter on her way back to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/poems-come-from-ordinary-experiences-and-objects-i-think-out-of/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [To write is to make oneself the echo of what cannot cease speaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/to-write-is-to-make-oneself-the-echo-of-what-cannot-cease-speaking/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [How one hates to think of oneself as alone. How one avoids it. It seems to imply rejection or unpopularity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/how-one-hates-to-think-of-oneself-as-alone-how-one-avoids-it-it-seems/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [Thinking of the future, establishing aims for oneself, having preferences-all this presupposes a belief in freedom, even if one occasionally ascertains that one doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/thinking-of-the-future-establishing-aims-for-oneself-having/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) [Browse all 2,178 Oneself quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One comprehends oneself in order not to be preoccupied with oneself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Irvin D. 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