--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What you are is the most subtle delicacy…" description: "\"What you are is the most subtle delicacy of being.\" — John de Ruiter" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/john-de-ruiter-2726_delicacy_what-you-are-is-the-most-subtle-delicacy_2504453.png" --- # What you are is the most subtle delicacy of being. ![“What you are is the most subtle delicacy of being.” quote by John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/john-de-ruiter-2726_delicacy_what-you-are-is-the-most-subtle-delicacy_2504453.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/john-de-ruiter-2726_delicacy_what-you-are-is-the-most-subtle-delicacy_2504453.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/john-de-ruiter-2726_delicacy_what-you-are-is-the-most-subtle-delicacy_2504453.png) > “What you are is the most subtle delicacy of being.” [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our identity is a delicate, nuanced construct shaped by perception. **In simple terms:** Being is a subtle, complex experience. Key Takeaway Recognize the depth of self. Themes identity philosophy subtlety Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - meditation - therapy - creative writing Key Concepts Existentialism self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of yourself feel most delicate? - How does this view affect your relationships? A Different Perspective Identity can be fluid and unstable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) ## Related quotes > [It is a wonderful advantage to a man, in every pursuite or avocation, to secure an adviser in a sensible woman. In woman there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/it-is-a-wonderful-advantage-to-a-man-in-every-pursuite-or-avocation/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [Start out identifying what you know are delicacies of being within, tiny little touches of knowledge that has beingness in it, special soft spots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/start-out-identifying-what-you-know-are-delicacies-of-being-within/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [HOG, n. A bird remarkable for the catholicity of its appetite and serving to illustrate that of ours. Among the Mahometans and Jews, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/hog-n-a-bird-remarkable-for-the-catholicity-of-its-appetite-and/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [My love affair with nature is so deep that I am not satisfied with being a mere onlooker, or nature tourist. I crave a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euell-gibbons/my-love-affair-with-nature-is-so-deep-that-i-am-not-satisfied-with/) [Euell Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euell-gibbons/) > [If you could choose to master a single ingredient, no choice would teach you more about cooking than the egg. It is an end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ruhlman/if-you-could-choose-to-master-a-single-ingredient-no-choice-would/) [Michael Ruhlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ruhlman/) > [A sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/a-sandwich-and-a-cup-of-coffee-and-then-off-to-violin-land-where-all/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Too great cleverness is but deceptive delicacy, true delicacy is the most substantial cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/too-great-cleverness-is-but-deceptive-delicacy-true-delicacy-is-the/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [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/) > [To see the butcher slap the steak before he laid it on the block, and give his knife a sharpening, was to forget breakfast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/to-see-the-butcher-slap-the-steak-before-he-laid-it-on-the-block-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Delicacy of taste has the same effect as delicacy of passion; it enlarges the sphere both of our happiness and our misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/delicacy-of-taste-has-the-same-effect-as-delicacy-of-passion-it/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“...there is a delicacy in it equalled only by the daintiness of the elephant's trunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/there-is-a-delicacy-in-it-equalled-only-by-the-daintiness-of-the/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [If my opinion is of any worth, the fieldfare is the greatest delicacy among birds, the hare among quadrupeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martial/if-my-opinion-is-of-any-worth-the-fieldfare-is-the-greatest-delicacy/) [Martial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martial/) > [In the end things must be as they are and have always been--the great things remain for the great, the abysses for the profound,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-the-end-things-must-be-as-they-are-and-have-always-been-the-great/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Mr. Bumpy from Bump in the Night was this funky little guy who lived under the bed and thought eating dust bunnies was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/mr-bumpy-from-bump-in-the-night-was-this-funky-little-guy-who-lived/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [I decided to lock myself in. A forced segregation. Sabbatical. A retreat into myself. My selves. Play hide and go seek in the looking-glass.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/i-decided-to-lock-myself-in-a-forced-segregation-sabbatical-a-retreat/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) ## More by John de Ruiter > [Your deeper sense isn’t a springboard; it’s a landing place. If you draw conclusions too quickly or too slowly, you’ll establish your self where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/your-deeper-sense-isn-t-a-springboard-it-s-a-landing-place-if-you/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [Relate to the little instead of relating to the big. The little is indomitable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/relate-to-the-little-instead-of-relating-to-the-big-the-little-is/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [When you, awareness, are mastered by the deepest that you know the truth of, then you are no longer awareness. You are oneness aware…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/when-you-awareness-are-mastered-by-the-deepest-that-you-know-the/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [The let-go of the last little bit is the biggest because, in that, there is no return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/the-let-go-of-the-last-little-bit-is-the-biggest-because-in-that/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [If you die of cancer with only openness and softness in your heart, you will live and die integrating your self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/if-you-die-of-cancer-with-only-openness-and-softness-in-your-heart/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [When you move as openness and softness of heart you’re moving in this life within your self in the same way that your being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/when-you-move-as-openness-and-softness-of-heart-you-re-moving-in-this/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [The more open you are within, the more capacity you will have to know, to see, and to love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/the-more-open-you-are-within-the-more-capacity-you-will-have-to-know/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [When resistance no longer serves you, you'll no longer have it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/when-resistance-no-longer-serves-you-you-ll-no-longer-have-it/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [While sincerity is to carry the weight of knowledge in the self, it is also to be the lightness of being clean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/while-sincerity-is-to-carry-the-weight-of-knowledge-in-the-self-it-is/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [When awareness believes what it knows is true, the truth of what awareness really is, moves. That movement is love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/when-awareness-believes-what-it-knows-is-true-the-truth-of-what/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [Believe only what you know and all of what you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/believe-only-what-you-know-and-all-of-what-you-know/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [For you to be free of your thinking mind, that will cost you the way that you've put your self together. It will cost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/for-you-to-be-free-of-your-thinking-mind-that-will-cost-you-the-way/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [The formless cannot be based on the form. The form needs to be based on the formless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/the-formless-cannot-be-based-on-the-form-the-form-needs-to-be-based/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [To really evolve as awareness, be just like your own being in a self like yours and on a planet like this one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/to-really-evolve-as-awareness-be-just-like-your-own-being-in-a-self/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [When you lay down your life for what you are after you've died, you're clean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/when-you-lay-down-your-life-for-what-you-are-after-you-ve-died-you-re/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) [Explore all 152 John de Ruiter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) ## More Delicacy quotes > [I decided to lock myself in. A forced segregation. Sabbatical. A retreat into myself. My selves. Play hide and go seek in the looking-glass.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/i-decided-to-lock-myself-in-a-forced-segregation-sabbatical-a-retreat/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [Mr. Bumpy from Bump in the Night was this funky little guy who lived under the bed and thought eating dust bunnies was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/mr-bumpy-from-bump-in-the-night-was-this-funky-little-guy-who-lived/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [In the end things must be as they are and have always been--the great things remain for the great, the abysses for the profound,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-the-end-things-must-be-as-they-are-and-have-always-been-the-great/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [If my opinion is of any worth, the fieldfare is the greatest delicacy among birds, the hare among quadrupeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martial/if-my-opinion-is-of-any-worth-the-fieldfare-is-the-greatest-delicacy/) [Martial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martial/) > [“...there is a delicacy in it equalled only by the daintiness of the elephant's trunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/there-is-a-delicacy-in-it-equalled-only-by-the-daintiness-of-the/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Delicacy of taste has the same effect as delicacy of passion; it enlarges the sphere both of our happiness and our misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/delicacy-of-taste-has-the-same-effect-as-delicacy-of-passion-it/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [To see the butcher slap the steak before he laid it on the block, and give his knife a sharpening, was to forget breakfast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/to-see-the-butcher-slap-the-steak-before-he-laid-it-on-the-block-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [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/) > [Too great cleverness is but deceptive delicacy, true delicacy is the most substantial cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/too-great-cleverness-is-but-deceptive-delicacy-true-delicacy-is-the/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [A sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/a-sandwich-and-a-cup-of-coffee-and-then-off-to-violin-land-where-all/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [If you could choose to master a single ingredient, no choice would teach you more about cooking than the egg. It is an end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ruhlman/if-you-could-choose-to-master-a-single-ingredient-no-choice-would/) [Michael Ruhlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ruhlman/) > [My love affair with nature is so deep that I am not satisfied with being a mere onlooker, or nature tourist. I crave a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euell-gibbons/my-love-affair-with-nature-is-so-deep-that-i-am-not-satisfied-with/) [Euell Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euell-gibbons/) > [HOG, n. A bird remarkable for the catholicity of its appetite and serving to illustrate that of ours. Among the Mahometans and Jews, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/hog-n-a-bird-remarkable-for-the-catholicity-of-its-appetite-and/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [There is a certain delicacy which in yielding conquers; and with a pitiful look makes one find cause to crave help one's self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/there-is-a-certain-delicacy-which-in-yielding-conquers-and-with-a/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [The man is a humbug — a vulgar, shallow, self-satisfied mind, absolutely inaccessible to the complexities and delicacies of the real world. He has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-man-is-a-humbug-a-vulgar-shallow-self-satisfied-mind-absolutely/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 224 Delicacy quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What you are is the most subtle delicacy of being.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John de Ruiter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/what-you-are-is-the-most-subtle-delicacy-of-being/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Delicacy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/what-you-are-is-the-most-subtle-delicacy-of-being/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/john-de-ruiter-2726_delicacy_what-you-are-is-the-most-subtle-delicacy_2504453.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/john-de-ruiter-2726_delicacy_what-you-are-is-the-most-subtle-delicacy_2504453.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/john-de-ruiter-2726_delicacy_what-you-are-is-the-most-subtle-delicacy_2504453.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What you are is the most subtle delicacy of being.” — John de Ruiter", "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": "John de Ruiter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What you are is the most...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/what-you-are-is-the-most-subtle-delicacy-of-being/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/what-you-are-is-the-most-subtle-delicacy-of-being/#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 } } ] } ```