--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And this is what it means to be able to…" description: "\"“And this is what it means to be able to see yourself as a sinner: far from “seeing yourself as a sinner” being some sort of moralistic demand that you..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc8/james-alison-39107_failure_and-this-is-what-it-means-to-be-able-to_1760398.jpg" --- # And this is what it means to be able to see yourself as a… ![“And this is what it means to be able to see yourself as a sinner: far from “seeing yourself as a sinner” being some sort of moralistic demand that you browbeat yourself and come up with a list of alleged failings, being able to see yourself as a sinner is merely the sign that you are able to hold…” quote by James Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc8/james-alison-39107_failure_and-this-is-what-it-means-to-be-able-to_1760398.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc8/james-alison-39107_failure_and-this-is-what-it-means-to-be-able-to_1760398.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc8/james-alison-39107_failure_and-this-is-what-it-means-to-be-able-to_1760398.jpg) > ““And this is what it means to be able to see yourself as a sinner: far from “seeing yourself as a sinner” being some sort of moralistic demand that you browbeat yourself and come up with a list of alleged failings, being able to see yourself as a sinner is merely the sign that you are able to hold yourself peacefully and realistically as being who you are, non-defensively, because you know yourself loved. You are no longer frightened of being seen to be, or actually being, a failure.”” [James Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-alison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeing oneself as a sinner means accepting reality without self‑defense, rooted in self‑love, not fear of failure. **In simple terms:** Accept self‑acceptance;‑ defensiveness, rooted love. Key Takeaway Practice honest self‑acceptance. Themes self acceptance identity psychology spirituality Mood introspective encouraging Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - counseling - spiritual retreats - personal journaling Key Concepts self‑compassion existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does self‑love change self‑criticism? - What practices foster non‑defensive self‑view? A Different Perspective Self‑acceptance can be hindered by cultural shame. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able Sinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able-sinner-1686945/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Seeing Sinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing-sinner-1686944/) [Seeing yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing-yourself/) [Sinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sinner/) [Sinner Merely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sinner-merely-1686946/) [Sinner Sort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sinner-sort-1686947/) ## Related quotes > [I have no quarrel with people seeing me as a sinner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-cuomo/i-have-no-quarrel-with-people-seeing-me-as-a-sinner/) [Mario Cuomo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-cuomo/) > [“The first thing you need to do is stop seeing yourself through the eyes of those you’ve left behind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-first-thing-you-need-to-do-is-stop-seeing-yourself-through-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Children need to see themselves in books. They need to see their gender. They need to see their color, hair texture, their disability, themselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-robinson/children-need-to-see-themselves-in-books-they-need-to-see-their/) [Christian Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-robinson/) > [A lot of times, people say that people read to escape. 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JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [“You have to start seeing yourself as a product of your lifestyle - because you are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-edwardes/you-have-to-start-seeing-yourself-as-a-product-of-your-lifestyle/) [Dan Edwardes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-edwardes/) > [“Seeing yourself in print is such an amazing concept: you can get so much attention without having to actually show up somewhere. While others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/seeing-yourself-in-print-is-such-an-amazing-concept-you-can-get-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by James Alison > [Give people a common enemy, and you will give them a common identity. Deprive them of an enemy and you will deprive them of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-alison/give-people-a-common-enemy-and-you-will-give-them-a-common-identity/) [James Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-alison/) > [I'm not sure that I've ever been drawn to the academic life as such. Theology has been a matter of survival for me. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-alison/i-m-not-sure-that-i-ve-ever-been-drawn-to-the-academic-life-as-such/) [James Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-alison/) > [I think I have quite traditional views on original sin, grace, and the real but difficult nature of we humans being able to learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-alison/i-think-i-have-quite-traditional-views-on-original-sin-grace-and-the/) [James Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-alison/) > [The silence of those in positions of influence in the church who know, or have a strong suspicion, that being gay is a nonpathological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-alison/the-silence-of-those-in-positions-of-influence-in-the-church-who-know/) [James Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-alison/) > [My own belief is that being gay is a regularly occurring nonpathological minority variant in the human condition, and that an appropriate analogy is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-alison/my-own-belief-is-that-being-gay-is-a-regularly-occurring/) [James Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-alison/) > [I'm honestly not sure that I've ever tried to talk as a theologian about "homosexual acts," per se. 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Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 27,498 Failure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And this is what it means to be able to see yourself as a sinner: far from “seeing yourself as a sinner” being some sort of moralistic demand that you browbeat yourself and come up with a list of alleged failings, being able to see yourself as a sinner is merely the sign that you are able to hold yourself peacefully and realistically as being who you are, non-defensively, because you know yourself loved. 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