--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All I can be is who I am right now; I can…" description: "\"All I can be is who I am right now; I can experience that and work with it. That's all I can do. The rest is the dream of the ego.\" — Joko Beck" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/204/joko-beck-18408_can-do_all-i-can-be-is-who-i-am-right-now-i-can_1087137.png" --- # All I can be is who I am right now; I can experience that… ![“All I can be is who I am right now; I can experience that and work with it. That's all I can do. The rest is the dream of the ego.” quote by Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/204/joko-beck-18408_can-do_all-i-can-be-is-who-i-am-right-now-i-can_1087137.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/204/joko-beck-18408_can-do_all-i-can-be-is-who-i-am-right-now-i-can_1087137.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/204/joko-beck-18408_can-do_all-i-can-be-is-who-i-am-right-now-i-can_1087137.png) > “All I can be is who I am right now; I can experience that and work with it. That's all I can do. The rest is the dream of the ego.” [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Accepting present self and working with it is the only realistic action; ego fantasies are unattainable. **In simple terms:** Live in the now, ignore ego dreams. Key Takeaway Focus on present reality. Themes mindfulness self‑acceptance ego reality Mood calm reflective Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - therapy sessions - personal growth - daily meditation - stress management Key Concepts presence non‑attachment psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can you notice ego fantasies? - What present action can replace dreaming? A Different Perspective Ego can dominate thoughts, making present focus hard. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Can do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-do/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dream Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream-ego-2790526/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Experience Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-work-279094/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [Rest Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rest-dream-1620938/) [Right now](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-now/) [Who i am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who-i-am/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [“Sonnet LXXXI And now you're mine. Rest with your dream in my dream. Love and pain and work should all sleep, now. The night…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/sonnet-lxxxi-and-now-you-re-mine-rest-with-your-dream-in-my-dream/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“We rest; A dream has power to poison sleep. We rise; One wandering thought pollutes the day. We feel, conceive, or reason; laugh or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/we-rest-a-dream-has-power-to-poison-sleep-we-rise-one-wandering/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [In the meantime, rest well and dream of large women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-princess-bride/in-the-meantime-rest-well-and-dream-of-large-women/) [The Princess Bride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-princess-bride/) > [How do you sleep while the rest of us cry? How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-nk/how-do-you-sleep-while-the-rest-of-us-cry-how-do-you-dream-when-a/) [P!nk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-nk/) > [“We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon; How restlessly they speed, and gleam, and quiver, Streaking the darkness radiantly!--yet soon Night closes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-shelley/we-are-as-clouds-that-veil-the-midnight-moon-how-restlessly-they/) [Percy Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-shelley/) > [I'll dream no more--by mainly mind Not even in sleep is well resigned. My midnight orisons said o'er, I'll turn to rest and dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/i-ll-dream-no-more-by-mainly-mind-not-even-in-sleep-is-well-resigned/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [Being exaltingly thin was, of course, the foundation for the visibility, the man, the adornments of this life-to-be; it was the prerequisite that made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geneen-roth/being-exaltingly-thin-was-of-course-the-foundation-for-the-visibility/) [Geneen Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geneen-roth/) > [As an actor, every opportunity, every role, everything that I do is an opportunity to have someone have a human experience with my work.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viola-davis/as-an-actor-every-opportunity-every-role-everything-that-i-do-is-an/) [Viola Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viola-davis/) > [It is always a learning experience to work with director Jagdeep Sidhu.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sargun-mehta/it-is-always-a-learning-experience-to-work-with-director-jagdeep-sidhu/) [Sargun Mehta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sargun-mehta/) > [“You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology, not the other way around. —STEVE JOBS”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darlene-price/you-ve-got-to-start-with-the-customer-experience-and-work-back-toward-2/) [Darlene Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darlene-price/) > [The child can only develop fully by means of experience in his environment. We call such experience 'work'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/the-child-can-only-develop-fully-by-means-of-experience-in-his/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [You‘ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology - not the other way around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/you-ve-got-to-start-with-the-customer-experience-and-work-back-toward/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [I have learned from my own experience that if you work hard you will succeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalia-grybauskaite/i-have-learned-from-my-own-experience-that-if-you-work-hard-you-will/) [Dalia Grybauskaite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalia-grybauskaite/) > [If your educe sculpture to the flat plane of the temporal experience of the work. (...) the experience of the work is inseparable from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-serra/if-your-educe-sculpture-to-the-flat-plane-of-the-temporal-experience/) [Richard Serra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-serra/) > [My experience has been that work is almost the best way to pull oneself out of the depths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/my-experience-has-been-that-work-is-almost-the-best-way-to-pull/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) ## More by Joko Beck > [Meditation practice is simply moving from a life of hurting myself and others to a life of not hurting myself and others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/meditation-practice-is-simply-moving-from-a-life-of-hurting-myself/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [If I were to tell you that your life is already perfect, whole, and complete just as it is, you would think I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/if-i-were-to-tell-you-that-your-life-is-already-perfect-whole-and/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [We tend to run our whole life trying to avoid all that hurts or displeases us, noticing the objects, people, or situations that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/we-tend-to-run-our-whole-life-trying-to-avoid-all-that-hurts-or/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [We are just living this moment; we don't have to live 150,000 moments at once. We are only living one. That's why I say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/we-are-just-living-this-moment-we-don-t-have-to-live-150-000-moments/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [Practice can be stated very simply. It is moving from a life of hurting myself and others to a life of not hurting myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/practice-can-be-stated-very-simply-it-is-moving-from-a-life-of/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [We have to face the pain we have been running from. In fact, we need to learn to rest in it and let its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/we-have-to-face-the-pain-we-have-been-running-from-in-fact-we-need-to/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [There is one thing in life that you can always rely on: life being as it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/there-is-one-thing-in-life-that-you-can-always-rely-on-life-being-as/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [You cannot avoid paradise. You can only avoid seeking it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/you-cannot-avoid-paradise-you-can-only-avoid-seeking-it/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [But opinions, judgments, memories, dreaming about the future—ninety percent of the thoughts spinning around in our heads have no essential reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/but-opinions-judgments-memories-dreaming-about-the-future-ninety/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [My dog doesn't worry about the meaning of life. She may worry if she doesn't get her breakfast, but she doesn't sit around worrying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/my-dog-doesn-t-worry-about-the-meaning-of-life-she-may-worry-if-she/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [An old Zen rule of thumb is not to answer until one has been asked three times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/an-old-zen-rule-of-thumb-is-not-to-answer-until-one-has-been-asked/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [In spiritual maturity, the opposite of injustice is not justice but compassion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/in-spiritual-maturity-the-opposite-of-injustice-is-not-justice-but/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [We 'rid ourselves of conceptual thought' when, by persistent observation, we recognize the unreality of our self-centered thoughts. Then we can remain dispassionate and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/we-rid-ourselves-of-conceptual-thought-when-by-persistent-observation/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [None of us would choose to be Sisyphus; yet in a sense, we all are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/none-of-us-would-choose-to-be-sisyphus-yet-in-a-sense-we-all-are/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) > [To some degree we all find life difficult, perplexing, and oppressive. Even when it goes well, as it may for a time, we worry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joko-beck/to-some-degree-we-all-find-life-difficult-perplexing-and-oppressive/) [Joko Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) [Explore all 35 Joko Beck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joko-beck/) ## More Can do quotes > [Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always let it keep rolling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-malick/changes-before-your-eyes-things-you-can-do-and-things-you-can-t-my/) [Terrence Malick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-malick/) > [The happy medium is television. And if you find a good suitor, you can do it for years. With movies, you roll the dice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-campbell/the-happy-medium-is-television-and-if-you-find-a-good-suitor-you-can/) [Bruce Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-campbell/) > [If I had a million dollars, I just wouldn't just completely set back. I'd have to get out there and show my face to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muddy-waters/if-i-had-a-million-dollars-i-just-wouldn-t-just-completely-set-back-i/) [Muddy Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muddy-waters/) > [Anybody can be Prince Charming one day a year, with the dinner and the flowers and all that. But you know what impresses me?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-howard/anybody-can-be-prince-charming-one-day-a-year-with-the-dinner-and-the/) [Ryan Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-howard/) > [And if the mind thinks with a believing attitude one can do amazing things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/and-if-the-mind-thinks-with-a-believing-attitude-one-can-do-amazing/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [The amount of things you can do with a kettlebell is unsurpassed by any other training equipment - dumbbells, resistance machines, free weights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-hamilton/the-amount-of-things-you-can-do-with-a-kettlebell-is-unsurpassed-by/) [Laird Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-hamilton/) > [It's nice when you've done enough movies that you can do your own anthology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lithgow/it-s-nice-when-you-ve-done-enough-movies-that-you-can-do-your-own/) [John Lithgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lithgow/) > [If people don't have their own vision, all they can do is 'sign-up' for someone else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-senge/if-people-don-t-have-their-own-vision-all-they-can-do-is-sign-up-for/) [Peter Senge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-senge/) > [The one thing that flies in the face of all human history and experience, is that the government can do a superior job than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/the-one-thing-that-flies-in-the-face-of-all-human-history-and/) [James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/) > [...what I can do is offer myself, wholehearted and present, to walk with the people I love through the fear and the mess. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/what-i-can-do-is-offer-myself-wholehearted-and-present-to-walk-with/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [Whether that's speaking up in your job or asking for a promotion or saying, 'I think I can do that.' Using your voice in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-shriver/whether-that-s-speaking-up-in-your-job-or-asking-for-a-promotion-or/) [Maria Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-shriver/) > [The average ordinary citizen can do a lot of different things when it comes to the climate crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-bender/the-average-ordinary-citizen-can-do-a-lot-of-different-things-when-it/) [Lawrence Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-bender/) > [A professional is a man who can do his job when he doesn't feel like it. An amateur is a man who can't do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agate/a-professional-is-a-man-who-can-do-his-job-when-he-doesn-t-feel-like/) [James Agate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agate/) > [The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, as it pleases him, for he can do all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/the-lord-gives-and-the-lord-takes-away-as-it-pleases-him-for-he-can/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [I'm not an educated man. I only know what I'm told, and I'm not told that much; I have no frame of reference for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/i-m-not-an-educated-man-i-only-know-what-i-m-told-and-i-m-not-told/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) [Browse all 5,673 Can do quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-do/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All I can be is who I am right now; I can experience that and work with it. That's all I can do. 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