--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I identify myself in language, but only…" description: "\"I identify myself in language, but only by losing myself in it like an object. What is realised in my history is not the past definite of what was, sin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d50/jacques-lacan-11942_becoming_i-identify-myself-in-language-but-only-b_682789.jpg" --- # I identify myself in language, but only by losing myself… ![“I identify myself in language, but only by losing myself in it like an object. What is realised in my history is not the past definite of what was, since it is no more, or even the present perfect of what has been in what I am, but the future anterior of what I shall have been for what I am in the…” quote by Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d50/jacques-lacan-11942_becoming_i-identify-myself-in-language-but-only-b_682789.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d50/jacques-lacan-11942_becoming_i-identify-myself-in-language-but-only-b_682789.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d50/jacques-lacan-11942_becoming_i-identify-myself-in-language-but-only-b_682789.jpg) > “I identify myself in language, but only by losing myself in it like an object. What is realised in my history is not the past definite of what was, since it is no more, or even the present perfect of what has been in what I am, but the future anterior of what I shall have been for what I am in the process of becoming.” [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Language shapes identity by dissolving the self into a symbolic object, linking past, present, and future selves. **In simple terms:** Language defines us by losing ourselves in it. Key Takeaway Embrace language as a tool for self‑formation. Themes identity language psychoanalysis Mood introspective analytical Type philosophical psychoanalytic When to use this quote - writing therapy - creative expression - personal narrative - academic study Key Concepts symbolic order subjectivity temporal self Questions to Reflect On - How does language limit your sense of self? - Can you reclaim agency within language? A Different Perspective Language can also constrain self‑perception and create alienation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Becoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becoming/) [Definite Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/definite-present-5398732/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lacan/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Language Losing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language-losing-5398734/) [Losing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/losing/) [Losing myself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/losing-myself/) [Object Realised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/object-realised-5398735/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Past Definite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-definite-5398733/) [Perfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfect/) [Present Perfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-perfect-997662/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) ## Related quotes > [“From an analytic point of view, the only thing one can be guilty of is having given ground relative to one’s desire (Seminar 7, 319)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/from-an-analytic-point-of-view-the-only-thing-one-can-be-guilty-of-is/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [...Desire, a function central to all human experience, is the desire for nothing nameable. And at the same time this desire lies at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/desire-a-function-central-to-all-human-experience-is-the-desire-for/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [“All sorts of things in this world behave like mirrors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/all-sorts-of-things-in-this-world-behave-like-mirrors/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [The audience wants you present, not perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-lacroix/the-audience-wants-you-present-not-perfect/) [Darren LaCroix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-lacroix/) > [“The present was perfect and I was going to stay in it for as long as possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-g-bailey/the-present-was-perfect-and-i-was-going-to-stay-in-it-for-as-long-as/) [Alison G. 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The present is the most perfect gift you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-g-bailey/you-don-t-need-to-be-perfect-in-your-life-but-always-be-present-in-it/) [Alison G. Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-g-bailey/) > [“What Althusser does… is to rethink the concept of ideology in terms of Lacan’s ‘imaginary’. For the relation of an individual subject to society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/what-althusser-does-is-to-rethink-the-concept-of-ideology-in-terms-of/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“Language, the unconscious, the parents, the symbolic order: these terms in Lacan are not exactly synonymous, but they are intimately allied. They are sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/language-the-unconscious-the-parents-the-symbolic-order-these-terms/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“Lacan, as we have seen in our discussion of Freud, regards the unconscious as structured like a language. This is not only because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/lacan-as-we-have-seen-in-our-discussion-of-freud-regards-the/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Lacan is a tyrant who must be driven from our shores. Narrowly trained English professors who know nothing of art history or popular culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/lacan-is-a-tyrant-who-must-be-driven-from-our-shores-narrowly-trained/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) ## More by Jacques Lacan > [The narration, in fact, doubles the drama with a commentary without which no mise en scene would be possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/the-narration-in-fact-doubles-the-drama-with-a-commentary-without/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Symptoms, those you believe you recognize, seem to you irrational because you take them in an isolated manner, and you want to interpret them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lacan/symptoms-those-you-believe-you-recognize-seem-to-you-irrational/) [Jacques Lacan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lacan/) > [Writings scatter to the winds blank checks in an insane charge. 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