--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An act of naming should quite rightly…" description: "\"An act of naming should quite rightly enable me to call any-thing a self-portrait, not only any drawing, 'portrait' or not, but everything that happens..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/jacques-derrida-3948_drawing_an-act-of-naming-should-quite-rightly-en_2467304.jpg" --- # An act of naming should quite rightly enable me to call… ![“An act of naming should quite rightly enable me to call any-thing a self-portrait, not only any drawing, 'portrait' or not, but everything that happens to me, that I can affect, or that affects me.” quote by Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/jacques-derrida-3948_drawing_an-act-of-naming-should-quite-rightly-en_2467304.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/jacques-derrida-3948_drawing_an-act-of-naming-should-quite-rightly-en_2467304.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/jacques-derrida-3948_drawing_an-act-of-naming-should-quite-rightly-en_2467304.jpg) > “An act of naming should quite rightly enable me to call any-thing a self-portrait, not only any drawing, 'portrait' or not, but everything that happens to me, that I can affect, or that affects me.” [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Naming oneself transforms personal experience into a self-portrait, linking identity with actions and influences. **In simple terms:** Naming creates a self-portrait of one’s life. Key Takeaway Use naming to reflect on identity. Themes philosophy identity language Mood reflective introspective Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - personal journaling - therapy - creative writing Key Concepts Self-construction semiotics autobiography Questions to Reflect On - How does naming shape self-understanding? - Can we rename ourselves? A Different Perspective Naming can be limiting if imposed externally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Drawing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawing/) [Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [Naming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naming/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Portrait Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/portrait-happens-723866/) [Portraits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/portraits/) [Portraiture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/portraiture/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self portrait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-portrait/) [Self portrait photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-portrait-photography/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Thing Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-self-723865/) ## Related quotes > [I loathe my own face, and I've done self-portraits because I've had nobody else to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/i-loathe-my-own-face-and-i-ve-done-self-portraits-because-i-ve-had/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [In a sense, every work you do is a self-portrait because your paintings always reveal more about you than about your subject. 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I recognize that I love — you — by this: you leave in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/the-wound-can-have-should-only-have-just-one-proper-name-i-recognize/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [Everything is arranged so that it be this way, this is what is called culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/everything-is-arranged-so-that-it-be-this-way-this-is-what-is-called/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [But can one not conceive of a presence, and of a presence to itself of the subject before speech or signs, a presence to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/but-can-one-not-conceive-of-a-presence-and-of-a-presence-to-itself-of/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [“It goes without saying that these effects do not suffice to annul the necessity for a “change of terrain.” It also goes without saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/it-goes-without-saying-that-these-effects-do-not-suffice-to-annul-the/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [In philosophy, you have to reckon with the implicit level of an accumulated reserve, and thus with a very great number of relays, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/in-philosophy-you-have-to-reckon-with-the-implicit-level-of-an/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [During the fifteen or twenty years in which I tried - it was not always easy with publishers, newspapers, etc. - to forbid photographs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/during-the-fifteen-or-twenty-years-in-which-i-tried-it-was-not-always/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) [Explore all 118 Jacques Derrida quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) ## More Drawing quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [My drawing not that goog but alwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slowly-fading/my-drawing-not-that-goog-but-alwell/) [Slowly\_fading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slowly-fading/) > [The director's job should give you a sense of music without drawing attention to itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hackford/the-director-s-job-should-give-you-a-sense-of-music-without-drawing/) [Taylor Hackford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hackford/) > [It is the common defect of modern art study. 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