--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Any symptom can force you to go deeper…" description: "\"Any symptom can force you to go deeper into some area.\" — James Hillman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4a/james-hillman-2336_areas_any-symptom-can-force-you-to-go-deeper-i_2493032.png" --- # Any symptom can force you to go deeper into some area. ![“Any symptom can force you to go deeper into some area.” quote by James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4a/james-hillman-2336_areas_any-symptom-can-force-you-to-go-deeper-i_2493032.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4a/james-hillman-2336_areas_any-symptom-can-force-you-to-go-deeper-i_2493032.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4a/james-hillman-2336_areas_any-symptom-can-force-you-to-go-deeper-i_2493032.png) > “Any symptom can force you to go deeper into some area.” [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When a symptom appears, it signals a deeper psychological issue needing exploration. **In simple terms:** Symptoms point to deeper issues. Key Takeaway Investigate underlying causes. Themes psychology self-awareness growth Mood curious introspective Type analytical insightful When to use this quote - therapy sessions - personal reflection - career challenges Key Concepts depth psychology symbolic meaning Questions to Reflect On - What hidden issue might this symptom reveal? - How can you safely explore it? A Different Perspective Symptoms may be misleading without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Symptom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/symptom/) ## Related quotes > [Many people nowadays who discover that they have a major symptom, whether psychological or physical, begin to study it. They get drawn very deeply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/many-people-nowadays-who-discover-that-they-have-a-major-symptom/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [I just read about John Le Carre, the great spy novelist. He had an absolutely miserable childhood. His mother deserted him when he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/i-just-read-about-john-le-carre-the-great-spy-novelist-he-had-an/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Do not mistake a child for his symptom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/do-not-mistake-a-child-for-his-symptom/) [Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/) > [The goal is to reduce the size and scope of government spending, not to focus on the deficit. The deficit is the symptom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grover-norquist/the-goal-is-to-reduce-the-size-and-scope-of-government-spending-not/) [Grover Norquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grover-norquist/) > [Behavior is a symptom. If you look at it like a problem, you're just going to make a judgment. If you look at like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schlessinger/behavior-is-a-symptom-if-you-look-at-it-like-a-problem-you-re-just/) [Laura Schlessinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schlessinger/) > [Middle age is when anything new in the way you feel is most likely a symptom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-j-peter/middle-age-is-when-anything-new-in-the-way-you-feel-is-most-likely-a/) [Laurence J. Peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-j-peter/) > [Here's how I see obesity: as a symptom. The larger problem is over-consumption. In a society that identifies consumption with patriotism, valorizes 'growth' above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-levine/here-s-how-i-see-obesity-as-a-symptom-the-larger-problem-is-over/) [Emily Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-levine/) > [I believe that writer's block is a symptom. It's not a disease, it's the symptom of a disease. So what I try to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-believe-that-writer-s-block-is-a-symptom-it-s-not-a-disease-it-s/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [A cough is a symptom, not a disease. Take it to your doctor and he can give you something serious to worry about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-morley/a-cough-is-a-symptom-not-a-disease-take-it-to-your-doctor-and-he-can/) [Robert Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-morley/) > [Emptiness is a symptom that you are not living creatively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-maltz/emptiness-is-a-symptom-that-you-are-not-living-creatively/) [Maxwell Maltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxwell-maltz/) > [Microsoft is not the problem. Microsoft is the symptom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-s-raymond/microsoft-is-not-the-problem-microsoft-is-the-symptom/) [Eric S. Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-s-raymond/) > [Emptiness is a symptom that you are not living creatively. You either have not goal that is important enough to you, or you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-maltz/emptiness-is-a-symptom-that-you-are-not-living-creatively-you-either/) [Maxwell Maltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxwell-maltz/) > [Amor deliria nervosa: It affects your mind so that you cannot think clearly, or make rational decisions about your own well-being. Symptom number twelve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/amor-deliria-nervosa-it-affects-your-mind-so-that-you-cannot-think/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [The symptom of love is when some of the chemicals inside you go bad. So there must be something in love because your chemicals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/the-symptom-of-love-is-when-some-of-the-chemicals-inside-you-go-bad/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [Violence is a symptom of impotence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/violence-is-a-symptom-of-impotence/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) ## More by James Hillman > [“Each life is formed by its unique image, an image that is the essence of that life and calls it to a destiny. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/each-life-is-formed-by-its-unique-image-an-image-that-is-the-essence/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Fear is a huge thing for older people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/fear-is-a-huge-thing-for-older-people/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [It's a terrible cruelty of predatory capitalism: both parents now have to work. A family has to have two incomes in order to buy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/it-s-a-terrible-cruelty-of-predatory-capitalism-both-parents-now-have/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [You know, people come to therapy really for a blessing. Not so much to fix what's broken, but to get what's broken blessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/you-know-people-come-to-therapy-really-for-a-blessing-not-so-much-to/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Until the culture recognizes the legitimacy of growing down, each person in the culture struggles blindly to make sense of the darkness that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/until-the-culture-recognizes-the-legitimacy-of-growing-down-each/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [ “The first way has been excellently presented by David Holt in his lecture on “Jung and Marx.” \[1\] There Holt shows that Jung imagined his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/the-first-way-has-been-excellently-presented-by-david-holt-in-his/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [I'm the result of upbringing, class, race, gender, social prejudices, and economics. So I'm a victim again. A result.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/i-m-the-result-of-upbringing-class-race-gender-social-prejudices-and/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [There is more in a human life than our theories of it allow. Sooner or later something seems to call us onto a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/there-is-more-in-a-human-life-than-our-theories-of-it-allow-sooner-or/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Depression opens the door to beauty of some kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/depression-opens-the-door-to-beauty-of-some-kind/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [The idea of death robs inquiry of its passionate vitality and empties our efforts of their purpose by coming to one predestined conclusion, death.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/the-idea-of-death-robs-inquiry-of-its-passionate-vitality-and-empties/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [I'm in favor of destruction, aggression, hating things. Not bearing things anymore. We think the breakdown comes because our life is in bad shape.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/i-m-in-favor-of-destruction-aggression-hating-things-not-bearing/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [In the past, friendship was a huge thing. But it's hard for us to think of friendship as a calling, because it's not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/in-the-past-friendship-was-a-huge-thing-but-it-s-hard-for-us-to-think/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Psychotherapy theory turns it all on you: you are the one who is wrong. If a kid is having trouble or is discouraged, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/psychotherapy-theory-turns-it-all-on-you-you-are-the-one-who-is-wrong/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [The self divided is precisely where the self is authentically located. . . We all have identity crises because a single identity is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/the-self-divided-is-precisely-where-the-self-is-authentically-located/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Love alone is not enough. Without imagination, love stales into sentiment, duty, boredom. Relationships fail not because we have stopped loving but because we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/love-alone-is-not-enough-without-imagination-love-stales-into/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) [Explore all 171 James Hillman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) ## More Areas quotes > [The very purpose for being in this body, for every one of us, is to live and rejoice in that virgin area, that untouched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/the-very-purpose-for-being-in-this-body-for-every-one-of-us-is-to/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) > [I am somewhat influenced by the years that I've spent trying to actually get things done, whether it was reforming education in Arkansas or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-am-somewhat-influenced-by-the-years-that-i-ve-spent-trying-to/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [The earliest language was body language and, since this language is the language of questions, if we limit the questions, and if we only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-earliest-language-was-body-language-and-since-this-language-is/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [This ball was so crowded that it took me - a trained professional journalist with vast experience in this area - forty five minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/this-ball-was-so-crowded-that-it-took-me-a-trained-professional/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [People don't want to believe that technology is broken. Pharmaceuticals, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology - all these areas where the progress has been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-thiel/people-don-t-want-to-believe-that-technology-is-broken/) [Peter Thiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-thiel/) > [It's absolutely fun to walk around and have people respect you. When Michael Jackson did Thriller, I was in the park one day, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-ross/it-s-absolutely-fun-to-walk-around-and-have-people-respect-you-when/) [Rick Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-ross/) > [Software will get to be somewhat more mature, ah, but it will never be as predictable as most areas of engineering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/software-will-get-to-be-somewhat-more-mature-ah-but-it-will-never-be/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [If I were entering adulthood now instead of in the environment of fifty years ago, I would choose a career that kept me in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/if-i-were-entering-adulthood-now-instead-of-in-the-environment-of/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) > [The discrepancy between what actually happened and the version of what happened provided by sources is an enormous gray area.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-jay-epstein/the-discrepancy-between-what-actually-happened-and-the-version-of/) [Edward Jay Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-jay-epstein/) > [Louisville is a place with no labels. It’s not the South, it’s not Chicago, and you don’t think of it as you think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-james/louisville-is-a-place-with-no-labels-it-s-not-the-south-it-s-not/) [Jim James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-james/) > [It turns out that this part of the brain is one of the first areas that's attacked by Alzheimer's disease. So we can now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-keefe/it-turns-out-that-this-part-of-the-brain-is-one-of-the-first-areas/) [John O'Keefe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-keefe/) > [Engaging the city around us and ministering to its needs reveal to us the remaining bastions of sin in our lives, the areas we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-chandler/engaging-the-city-around-us-and-ministering-to-its-needs-reveal-to-us/) [Matt Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-chandler/) > [I believe it is a mistake to isolate arms control from other areas of policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/i-believe-it-is-a-mistake-to-isolate-arms-control-from-other-areas-of/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [Well, the U.N. Security Council resolution 1973 is very clear. It says all necessary measures to be taken to protect civilians and civilian areas.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-jackson/well-the-u-n-security-council-resolution-1973-is-very-clear-it-says/) [Mike Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-jackson/) > [When in one area of the world the standard of living and the size of the middle class increases, it is going to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-lagarde/when-in-one-area-of-the-world-the-standard-of-living-and-the-size-of/) [Christine Lagarde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-lagarde/) Browse all 2,612 Areas quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Any symptom can force you to go deeper into some area.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Hillman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/any-symptom-can-force-you-to-go-deeper-into-some-area/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Areas" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/any-symptom-can-force-you-to-go-deeper-into-some-area/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4a/james-hillman-2336_areas_any-symptom-can-force-you-to-go-deeper-i_2493032.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4a/james-hillman-2336_areas_any-symptom-can-force-you-to-go-deeper-i_2493032.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4a/james-hillman-2336_areas_any-symptom-can-force-you-to-go-deeper-i_2493032.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Any symptom can force you to go deeper into some area.” — James Hillman", "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": "James Hillman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Any symptom can force you to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/any-symptom-can-force-you-to-go-deeper-into-some-area/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/any-symptom-can-force-you-to-go-deeper-into-some-area/#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 } } ] } ```