--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What I refuse to face within myself will…" description: "\"What I refuse to face within myself will meet me in the exterior world through you, not as you are, but as I have so construed you.\" — James Hollis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c7/james-hollis-13286_exterior_what-i-refuse-to-face-within-myself-will_2565315.jpg" --- # What I refuse to face within myself will meet me in the… ![“What I refuse to face within myself will meet me in the exterior world through you, not as you are, but as I have so construed you.” quote by James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c7/james-hollis-13286_exterior_what-i-refuse-to-face-within-myself-will_2565315.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c7/james-hollis-13286_exterior_what-i-refuse-to-face-within-myself-will_2565315.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c7/james-hollis-13286_exterior_what-i-refuse-to-face-within-myself-will_2565315.jpg) > “What I refuse to face within myself will meet me in the exterior world through you, not as you are, but as I have so construed you.” [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unresolved inner conflicts will appear externally, projected onto others based on our own interpretations. **In simple terms:** Inner issues show up in relationships. Key Takeaway Address inner conflicts directly. Themes psychology self-awareness projection relationships Mood introspective thought‑provoking Type psychological philosophical When to use this quote - therapy sessions - personal reflection - conflict resolution Key Concepts shadow work personal growth perception Questions to Reflect On - What inner fears are you projecting? - How can you differentiate self‑interpretation from reality? A Different Perspective Self‑deception can mask true issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Whoever thought that he had understood something of me had merely construed something out of me, after his own image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/whoever-thought-that-he-had-understood-something-of-me-had-merely/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I want what we all want," said Carl. "To move certain parts of the interior of myself into the exterior world, to see if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-want-what-we-all-want-said-carl-to-move-certain-parts-of-the/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“I prefer for 'my world' to have the highest certification of being a faithful representation of the exterior world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jes-s-zamora-bonilla/i-prefer-for-my-world-to-have-the-highest-certification-of-being-a/) Jesús Zamora-Bonilla > [People are so quick to find faults in others but refuse to find and face their own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-moores/people-are-so-quick-to-find-faults-in-others-but-refuse-to-find-and/) [Sarah Moores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-moores/) > [Sometimes time actually works against you if you refuse to face the relevant issues and explain to the public what is at stake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/sometimes-time-actually-works-against-you-if-you-refuse-to-face-the/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [It would be wrong to refuse to face the fact that everything is fundamentally sick and sad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/it-would-be-wrong-to-refuse-to-face-the-fact-that-everything-is/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [I try to keep away exterior events that are going to make me do something negative internally to myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-shaye/i-try-to-keep-away-exterior-events-that-are-going-to-make-me-do/) [Lin Shaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-shaye/) > [To desire to be what one can be is purpose in life. There are no exterior forces. There are only interior forces. Who squanders…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/to-desire-to-be-what-one-can-be-is-purpose-in-life-there-are-no/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [The senses are the organs by which man places himself in connexion with exterior objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/the-senses-are-the-organs-by-which-man-places-himself-in-connexion/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [Life can be very funny and very tragic. Everyone has stuff that they've been through that makes up whatever fire it is that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmy-rossum/life-can-be-very-funny-and-very-tragic-everyone-has-stuff-that-they/) [Emmy Rossum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmy-rossum/) > [And what is faith, love, virtue unassayed Alone, without exterior help sustained?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-what-is-faith-love-virtue-unassayed-alone-without-exterior-help/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [If the love of God really reigns in your heart, it will show itself in the exterior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-mcauley/if-the-love-of-god-really-reigns-in-your-heart-it-will-show-itself-in/) [Catherine McAuley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-mcauley/) > [As more Americans meet Mitt Romney, I think they'll see beyond the handsome exterior and see not just a good salesman, but a thoughtful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-jean-lopez/as-more-americans-meet-mitt-romney-i-think-they-ll-see-beyond-the/) Kathryn Jean Lopez > [It is the free alone which never changes, and the unchangeable alone which is free; for change is produced by something exterior to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/it-is-the-free-alone-which-never-changes-and-the-unchangeable-alone/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Sometimes I envy painters, it is wonderful to remain in front of a bouquet of flowers a whole morning, or even longer. A photographer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edouard-boubat/sometimes-i-envy-painters-it-is-wonderful-to-remain-in-front-of-a/) [Edouard Boubat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edouard-boubat/) ## More by James Hollis > [“The act of consciousness is central; otherwise we are overrun by the complexes. The hero in each of us is required to answer the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/the-act-of-consciousness-is-central-otherwise-we-are-overrun-by-the/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [“Those who say that they know what kind of art they like, or what kind of god, or what kind of moral structure are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/those-who-say-that-they-know-what-kind-of-art-they-like-or-what-kind/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [“Where am I asking others to take responsibility for my life? Let's face it - we would all love to be taken care of.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/where-am-i-asking-others-to-take-responsibility-for-my-life-let-s/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [“… but she herself embodies their greatest, most therapeutic gift: the message that we are here to be here , to go through it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/but-she-herself-embodies-their-greatest-most-therapeutic-gift-the/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [“David McKay, 1900. Wolfe, Thomas. Look Homeward, Angel. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1929. Yeats, William Butler. A Vision”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/david-mckay-1900-wolfe-thomas-look-homeward-angel-new-york-simon-and/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [“Today, as we have seen, fascism and communism are discredited, but are replaced by a paraphilic consumer culture driven by fantasy, desperately in search…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/today-as-we-have-seen-fascism-and-communism-are-discredited-but-are/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [In the end, we are only tiny frightened animals, doing our best to survive amid other tiny frightened animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/in-the-end-we-are-only-tiny-frightened-animals-doing-our-best-to/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [“Though inland far we be, Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea Which brought us hither.” William Wordsworth,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/though-inland-far-we-be-our-souls-have-sight-of-that-immortal-sea/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [In the second half of life, the questions become: 'Who, apart from the roles you play, are you? What does the soul ask of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/in-the-second-half-of-life-the-questions-become-who-apart-from-the/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [To experience some healing within yourself, and to contribute healing to the world, you are summoned to wade through the muck from time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/to-experience-some-healing-within-yourself-and-to-contribute-healing/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [One of the most powerful shocks of the Middle Passage is the collapse of our tacit contract with the universe-the assumption that if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/one-of-the-most-powerful-shocks-of-the-middle-passage-is-the-collapse/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [Is not our chief neurosis - by which I mean our estrangement from nature - our desire to hold fast to what is forever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/is-not-our-chief-neurosis-by-which-i-mean-our-estrangement-from/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [“It is only when we welcome such spirits and give them entrance that they may reveal themselves to us. When we open to ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/it-is-only-when-we-welcome-such-spirits-and-give-them-entrance-that/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [Anger is generally seen as an unwelcome presence in our midst, however natural it may be. Although each person, and each society, is charged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/anger-is-generally-seen-as-an-unwelcome-presence-in-our-midst-however/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) > [Learning to live with ambiguity is learning to live with how life really is, full of complexities and strange surprises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/learning-to-live-with-ambiguity-is-learning-to-live-with-how-life/) [James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) [Explore all 50 James Hollis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/) ## More Exterior quotes > [Sometimes I envy painters, it is wonderful to remain in front of a bouquet of flowers a whole morning, or even longer. A photographer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edouard-boubat/sometimes-i-envy-painters-it-is-wonderful-to-remain-in-front-of-a/) [Edouard Boubat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edouard-boubat/) > [It is the free alone which never changes, and the unchangeable alone which is free; for change is produced by something exterior to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/it-is-the-free-alone-which-never-changes-and-the-unchangeable-alone/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [As more Americans meet Mitt Romney, I think they'll see beyond the handsome exterior and see not just a good salesman, but a thoughtful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-jean-lopez/as-more-americans-meet-mitt-romney-i-think-they-ll-see-beyond-the/) Kathryn Jean Lopez > [If the love of God really reigns in your heart, it will show itself in the exterior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-mcauley/if-the-love-of-god-really-reigns-in-your-heart-it-will-show-itself-in/) [Catherine McAuley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-mcauley/) > [And what is faith, love, virtue unassayed Alone, without exterior help sustained?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-what-is-faith-love-virtue-unassayed-alone-without-exterior-help/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Life can be very funny and very tragic. Everyone has stuff that they've been through that makes up whatever fire it is that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmy-rossum/life-can-be-very-funny-and-very-tragic-everyone-has-stuff-that-they/) [Emmy Rossum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmy-rossum/) > [The senses are the organs by which man places himself in connexion with exterior objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/the-senses-are-the-organs-by-which-man-places-himself-in-connexion/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [To desire to be what one can be is purpose in life. There are no exterior forces. There are only interior forces. Who squanders…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/to-desire-to-be-what-one-can-be-is-purpose-in-life-there-are-no/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [I try to keep away exterior events that are going to make me do something negative internally to myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-shaye/i-try-to-keep-away-exterior-events-that-are-going-to-make-me-do/) [Lin Shaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-shaye/) > [From the exterior face of the wall towers must be projected, from which an approaching enemy may be annoyed by weapons, from the embrasures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/from-the-exterior-face-of-the-wall-towers-must-be-projected-from/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thus happiness depends, as nature shows, less on exterior things than most suppose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cowper/thus-happiness-depends-as-nature-shows-less-on-exterior-things-than/) [William Cowper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cowper/) > [An oyster, that marvel of delicacy, that concentration of sapid excellence, that mouthful bwefore all other mouthfuls, who first had faith to believe it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/an-oyster-that-marvel-of-delicacy-that-concentration-of-sapid/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [In other words, the real problem is not exterior. The real problem is interior. The real problem is how to get people to internally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/in-other-words-the-real-problem-is-not-exterior-the-real-problem-is/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [It was a strange monster, for beneath its exterior it was frightened and sickened by its own violence. It chastised itself for its savagery.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/it-was-a-strange-monster-for-beneath-its-exterior-it-was-frightened/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [I saw that the kingdom must be interior before it can be exterior, that it is a kingdom of ideas, and not one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-whitall-smith/i-saw-that-the-kingdom-must-be-interior-before-it-can-be-exterior/) [Hannah Whitall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-whitall-smith/) Browse all 212 Exterior quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What I refuse to face within myself will meet me in the exterior world through you, not as you are, but as I have so construed you.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Hollis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/what-i-refuse-to-face-within-myself-will-meet-me-in-the-exterior/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Exterior" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/what-i-refuse-to-face-within-myself-will-meet-me-in-the-exterior/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c7/james-hollis-13286_exterior_what-i-refuse-to-face-within-myself-will_2565315.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c7/james-hollis-13286_exterior_what-i-refuse-to-face-within-myself-will_2565315.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c7/james-hollis-13286_exterior_what-i-refuse-to-face-within-myself-will_2565315.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What I refuse to face within myself will meet me in the exterior world through you, not as you are, but as I…” — James Hollis", "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 Hollis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What I refuse to face within...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/what-i-refuse-to-face-within-myself-will-meet-me-in-the-exterior/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/what-i-refuse-to-face-within-myself-will-meet-me-in-the-exterior/#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 } } ] } ```