--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Each of us needs an adequate biography…" description: "\"Each of us needs an adequate biography: How do I put together into a coherent image the pieces of my life? How do I find the basic plot of my story?\" —..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/james-hillman-2336_adequate_each-of-us-needs-an-adequate-biography-h_1123110.png" --- # Each of us needs an adequate biography: How do I put… ![“Each of us needs an adequate biography: How do I put together into a coherent image the pieces of my life? How do I find the basic plot of my story?” quote by James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/james-hillman-2336_adequate_each-of-us-needs-an-adequate-biography-h_1123110.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/james-hillman-2336_adequate_each-of-us-needs-an-adequate-biography-h_1123110.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/james-hillman-2336_adequate_each-of-us-needs-an-adequate-biography-h_1123110.png) > “Each of us needs an adequate biography: How do I put together into a coherent image the pieces of my life? How do I find the basic plot of my story?” [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. Crafting a coherent life story helps us understand identity and purpose. **In simple terms:** A clear personal narrative gives meaning. Key Takeaway Write or reflect on your life’s plot. Themes identity storytelling self‑knowledge psychology Mood reflective inspirational Type therapeutic philosophical When to use this quote - career planning - therapy - creative writing - personal development Key Concepts narrative identity life meaning psychological integration Questions to Reflect On - How do you define the main theme of your life? - What events feel like turning points? A Different Perspective Some may resist a fixed narrative, preferring fluid identity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adequate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adequate/) [Adequate Biography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adequate-biography-3048453/) [Biographies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biographies/) [Biography Coherent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biography-coherent-3048454/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Basic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-basic-353710/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Pieces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pieces/) [Pieces Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pieces-life-2172571/) [Plot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plot/) [Plot Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plot-story-1912778/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/together/) ## Related quotes > [Being pro-life is a basic perspective of everything I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/being-pro-life-is-a-basic-perspective-of-everything-i-do/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [We should remain students for lifetime. You should be ready and yearn to learn from every moment of life. The basic elements of life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/we-should-remain-students-for-lifetime-you-should-be-ready-and-yearn/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Privacy - like eating and breathing - is one of life's basic requirements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-neville/privacy-like-eating-and-breathing-is-one-of-life-s-basic-requirements/) [Katherine Neville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-neville/) > [“He'd turned away from a life on basic to live in the stars, or if not the stars, at least the rocks that floated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/he-d-turned-away-from-a-life-on-basic-to-live-in-the-stars-or-if-not/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) > [“After all, that constant pressure to be something amazing, to be the next big thing, will be lifted off your back. The stress and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-manson/after-all-that-constant-pressure-to-be-something-amazing-to-be-the/) [Mark Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-manson/) > [Come back down to basics. The basic things of life, the basic things for me are the things that turn me on more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ashcroft/come-back-down-to-basics-the-basic-things-of-life-the-basic-things/) [Richard Ashcroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ashcroft/) > [The romance is the primary plot in a story that has two plots. The second plot is not a subplot, but one that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-hunter/the-romance-is-the-primary-plot-in-a-story-that-has-two-plots-the/) [Madeline Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-hunter/) > [“Readers of a certain class are apt to call good the plot of that story in which "you can't tell what is going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/readers-of-a-certain-class-are-apt-to-call-good-the-plot-of-that/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [I tend not to know what the plot is or the story is or even the theme. Those things come later, for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/i-tend-not-to-know-what-the-plot-is-or-the-story-is-or-even-the-theme/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [As a matter of writing philosophy, if there is one, I try not to ever plot a story. I try to write it from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-a-matter-of-writing-philosophy-if-there-is-one-i-try-not-to-ever/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This book has too much plot and not enough story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-goldwyn/this-book-has-too-much-plot-and-not-enough-story/) [Samuel Goldwyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-goldwyn/) > [Baseball is part of America's plot, part of America's mysterious, underlying design-the plot in which we all conspire and collude, the plot of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-allen-bartlett/baseball-is-part-of-america-s-plot-part-of-america-s-mysterious/) [Albert Allen Bartlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-allen-bartlett/) > [“With different changes but the same plot, sometimes our story has already unfolded. It's just trapped in the pages of ink and paper. God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-samuel-timm/with-different-changes-but-the-same-plot-sometimes-our-story-has/) [Eric Samuel Timm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-samuel-timm/) > [Working on the plot/story idea for my next novel ... It always takes time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/working-on-the-plot-story-idea-for-my-next-novel-it-always-takes-time/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [“plot is not the story, but an Ariadne's thread you follow through a labyrinth of scenes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-morley/plot-is-not-the-story-but-an-ariadne-s-thread-you-follow-through-a/) [David Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-morley/) ## 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 Adequate quotes > [What I search for continuously in my art is adequate language, language I hope can stand beyond any particular occasion. What I'm finding is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/what-i-search-for-continuously-in-my-art-is-adequate-language/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The action carries a sense of incompleteness and frustration, but not of guilt. Victorious living does not mean perfect living in the sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-stanley-jones/the-action-carries-a-sense-of-incompleteness-and-frustration-but-not/) [E. Stanley Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-stanley-jones/) > [Seen from the point of view of the composer, the most nonsensical practice is that of casting people in musicals who are unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gold/seen-from-the-point-of-view-of-the-composer-the-most-nonsensical/) [Ernest Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-gold/) > [And I am quite serious when I say that I do not believe there are, on the whole earth besides, so many intensified bores…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/and-i-am-quite-serious-when-i-say-that-i-do-not-believe-there-are-on/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Art can only be truly art by presenting an adequate outward symbol of some fact in the interior life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-fuller/art-can-only-be-truly-art-by-presenting-an-adequate-outward-symbol-of/) [Margaret Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-fuller/) > [The President has once again failed us. Millions of Americans are at risk of going without the flu vaccine this year because the administration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-corzine/the-president-has-once-again-failed-us-millions-of-americans-are-at/) [Jon Corzine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-corzine/) > [All the world’s major religions, with their emphasis on love, compassion, patience, tolerance and forgiveness, can and do promote inner values. But the reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/all-the-world-s-major-religions-with-their-emphasis-on-love/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Conversation in its happiest development is a link, equally exquisite and adequate, between mind and mind, a system by which men approach one another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/conversation-in-its-happiest-development-is-a-link-equally-exquisite/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [A strong accountability system needs to broaden, not narrow, the curriculum. That cannot happen if you only have accountability without adequate school funding. Until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-gelber/a-strong-accountability-system-needs-to-broaden-not-narrow-the/) [Dan Gelber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-gelber/) > [All propaganda or popularization involves a putting of the complex into the simple, but such a move is instantly not constructive. For if the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/all-propaganda-or-popularization-involves-a-putting-of-the-complex/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [You have no right to go before a public without an adequate technique, just because you feel. Anything feels - a leaf feels, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-graham/you-have-no-right-to-go-before-a-public-without-an-adequate-technique/) [Martha Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-graham/) > [In sum, the Court's conclusion that a constitutionally adequate recount is impractical is a prophecy the Court's own judgment will not allow to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/in-sum-the-court-s-conclusion-that-a-constitutionally-adequate/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [Travelling doesn't stress me, since adequate 10-hour sleep post-travel is sufficient for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anushka-shetty/travelling-doesn-t-stress-me-since-adequate-10-hour-sleep-post-travel/) [Anushka Shetty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anushka-shetty/) > [Remorse is cureless--the Disease Not even God--can heal-- For 'tis His institution--and The Adequate of Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/remorse-is-cureless-the-disease-not-even-god-can-heal-for-tis-his/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Too often, attention is diverted from the needs of populations, insufficient emphasis is placed on work in the fields, and the goods of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/too-often-attention-is-diverted-from-the-needs-of-populations/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) [Browse all 522 Adequate quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adequate/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Each of us needs an adequate biography: How do I put together into a coherent image the pieces of my life? How do I find the basic plot of my story?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Hillman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/each-of-us-needs-an-adequate-biography-how-do-i-put-together-into-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adequate" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/each-of-us-needs-an-adequate-biography-how-do-i-put-together-into-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/james-hillman-2336_adequate_each-of-us-needs-an-adequate-biography-h_1123110.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/james-hillman-2336_adequate_each-of-us-needs-an-adequate-biography-h_1123110.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/james-hillman-2336_adequate_each-of-us-needs-an-adequate-biography-h_1123110.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Each of us needs an adequate biography: How do I put together into a coherent image the pieces of my life?…” — 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": "Each of us needs an adequate...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/each-of-us-needs-an-adequate-biography-how-do-i-put-together-into-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/each-of-us-needs-an-adequate-biography-how-do-i-put-together-into-a/#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 } } ] } ```