--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A person who can really be called an…" description: "\"A person who can really be called an unselfish person, has no place in life.\" — Ivy Compton-Burnett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cb/ivy-compton-burnett-10491_life_a-person-who-can-really-be-called-an-uns_235840.jpg" --- # A person who can really be called an unselfish person, has… ![“A person who can really be called an unselfish person, has no place in life.” quote by Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cb/ivy-compton-burnett-10491_life_a-person-who-can-really-be-called-an-uns_235840.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cb/ivy-compton-burnett-10491_life_a-person-who-can-really-be-called-an-uns_235840.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cb/ivy-compton-burnett-10491_life_a-person-who-can-really-be-called-an-uns_235840.jpg) > “A person who can really be called an unselfish person, has no place in life.” [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A truly selfless individual lacks personal boundaries, making it impossible to sustain a balanced life. **In simple terms:** Selflessness without limits harms personal well‑being. Key Takeaway Maintain healthy self‑interest. Themes selflessness balance personal boundaries Mood reflective serious Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - relationships - career - family life - volunteering Key Concepts psychology ethics well‑being Questions to Reflect On - How do you set limits on helping others? - What boundaries protect your own growth? A Different Perspective Extreme self‑sacrifice can lead to burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Place in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/place-in-life/) [Selfishness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfishness/) ## Related quotes > [A strong, brave man is born each month, each year God gives a sage to men, A poet each ten years, perhaps, but an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ridgely-torrence/a-strong-brave-man-is-born-each-month-each-year-god-gives-a-sage-to/) [Ridgely Torrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ridgely-torrence/) > [“Some of our friends are our friends only because we used to be friends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-of-our-friends-are-our-friends-only-because-we-used-to-be-friends/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“The selfish thing to do was to play to everyone’s needs to feel accepted. The unselfish thing to do was to be the person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-gutteridge/the-selfish-thing-to-do-was-to-play-to-everyone-s-needs-to-feel/) Rene Gutteridge > [“It is not selfishness or unselfishness that distinguishes love from non-love; it is the aim of the action.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/it-is-not-selfishness-or-unselfishness-that-distinguishes-love-from/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [Customs are generally unselfish. Habits are nearly always selfish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/customs-are-generally-unselfish-habits-are-nearly-always-selfish/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We can accomplish almost anything within our ability if we but think we can! 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There's no place in life for losers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-dunkle/that-s-my-conscience-we-all-have-one-mine-never-lets-me-settle-for/) [Elena Dunkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-dunkle/) > [Don't let the incidents which take place in life bring you low. And certainly don't whine. You can be brought low, that's OK, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/don-t-let-the-incidents-which-take-place-in-life-bring-you-low-and/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [It is the University's function to turn out well-balanced persons with an understanding of themselves and of their place in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-massey/it-is-the-university-s-function-to-turn-out-well-balanced-persons/) [Vincent Massey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-massey/) > [We encounter the grinding wheels that sharpen our mental blades many places in life. Adversity, school, parents, spiritual guides, books, experience are all sharpening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-kall/we-encounter-the-grinding-wheels-that-sharpen-our-mental-blades-many/) [Rob Kall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-kall/) > [“We are all looking for a place in life, somewhere we fit. It’s not a place that changes who we are or what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-young/we-are-all-looking-for-a-place-in-life-somewhere-we-fit-it-s-not-a/) [Samantha Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-young/) > [“Poor Chameli. Born an anomaly and abandoned at birth. God knows what she must have gone through as a child. How many times must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faiqa-mansab/poor-chameli-born-an-anomaly-and-abandoned-at-birth-god-knows-what/) [Faiqa Mansab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faiqa-mansab/) > [“I cite too the ordinary fears of mortality the inspection of a fast-growing mole on the side of the nose blood in the stool…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow-2/i-cite-too-the-ordinary-fears-of-mortality-the-inspection-of-a-fast/) [E.L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow-2/) ## More by Ivy Compton-Burnett > [Our desires have a way of getting bigger with our incomes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/our-desires-have-a-way-of-getting-bigger-with-our-incomes/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [I never know why self-sacrifice is noble. Why is it better to sacrifice oneself than someone else?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/i-never-know-why-self-sacrifice-is-noble-why-is-it-better-to/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [My youth is escaping without giving me anything it owes me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/my-youth-is-escaping-without-giving-me-anything-it-owes-me/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [It will be a beautiful family talk, mean and worried and full of sorrow and spite and excitement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/it-will-be-a-beautiful-family-talk-mean-and-worried-and-full-of/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [“People do not like to lose their lives. That is the reason why they should not take other people's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/people-do-not-like-to-lose-their-lives-that-is-the-reason-why-they/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [Never is a long word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/never-is-a-long-word/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [We do not discuss the members of our family to their faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/we-do-not-discuss-the-members-of-our-family-to-their-faces/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [The plot is not very important to me, though a novel must have one, of course. It's just a line to hang the washing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/the-plot-is-not-very-important-to-me-though-a-novel-must-have-one-of/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [Time is not a great healer. It is an indifferent and perfunctory one. Sometimes it does not heal at all. And sometimes when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/time-is-not-a-great-healer-it-is-an-indifferent-and-perfunctory-one/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [There are different kinds of wrong. The people sinned against are not always the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/there-are-different-kinds-of-wrong-the-people-sinned-against-are-not/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [Pushing forty? She's hanging on for dear life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/pushing-forty-she-s-hanging-on-for-dear-life/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [Well, Buttermere, this is a day that is good to live and breathe in, that makes a man feel in his prime. Standing here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/well-buttermere-this-is-a-day-that-is-good-to-live-and-breathe-in/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [Civilized life exacts its toll.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/civilized-life-exacts-its-toll/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [We none of us talk to people as we do behind their backs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/we-none-of-us-talk-to-people-as-we-do-behind-their-backs/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) > [There isn't much to say. I haven't been at all deedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/there-isn-t-much-to-say-i-haven-t-been-at-all-deedy/) [Ivy Compton-Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) [Explore all 65 Ivy Compton-Burnett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) Deanna L. Lawlis > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A person who can really be called an unselfish person, has no place in life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ivy Compton-Burnett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/a-person-who-can-really-be-called-an-unselfish-person-has-no-place-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/a-person-who-can-really-be-called-an-unselfish-person-has-no-place-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cb/ivy-compton-burnett-10491_life_a-person-who-can-really-be-called-an-uns_235840.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cb/ivy-compton-burnett-10491_life_a-person-who-can-really-be-called-an-uns_235840.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cb/ivy-compton-burnett-10491_life_a-person-who-can-really-be-called-an-uns_235840.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A person who can really be called an unselfish person, has no place in life.” — Ivy Compton-Burnett", "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": "Ivy Compton-Burnett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-compton-burnett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A person who can really be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/a-person-who-can-really-be-called-an-unselfish-person-has-no-place-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-compton-burnett/a-person-who-can-really-be-called-an-unselfish-person-has-no-place-in/#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 } } ] } ```