--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All we are given is possibilities — to…" description: "\"All we are given is possibilities — to make ourselves one thing or another.\" — Jose Ortega y Gasset" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/772/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_given_all-we-are-given-is-possibilities-to-mak_387317.jpg" --- # All we are given is possibilities — to make ourselves one… ![“All we are given is possibilities — to make ourselves one thing or another.” quote by Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/772/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_given_all-we-are-given-is-possibilities-to-mak_387317.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/772/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_given_all-we-are-given-is-possibilities-to-mak_387317.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/772/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_given_all-we-are-given-is-possibilities-to-mak_387317.jpg) > “All we are given is possibilities — to make ourselves one thing or another.” [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human potential is limitless; we define ourselves by the possibilities we choose to pursue. **In simple terms:** We shape ourselves through choices. Key Takeaway Embrace possibilities to become who you want. Themes identity potential choice Mood inspirational reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - education - creative projects - personal growth Key Concepts existentialism self‑actualization Questions to Reflect On - Which possibility excites you most? - How can you commit to a path amid many choices? A Different Perspective Too many options can cause paralysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Possibilities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibilities/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) ## Related quotes > [All we are given are possibilities to make ourselves one thing or another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/all-we-are-given-are-possibilities-to-make-ourselves-one-thing-or/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Each human being was given two possibilities: action and contemplation. Both lead to the same place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/each-human-being-was-given-two-possibilities-action-and-contemplation/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Possibilities play a much bigger role in thinking than most people believe. Without possibilities you cannot make progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-de-bono/possibilities-play-a-much-bigger-role-in-thinking-than-most-people/) [Edward de Bono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-de-bono/) > [We tend to make the thing in the way the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/we-tend-to-make-the-thing-in-the-way-the-way/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [I don't know why everyone tries to be like everyone else or just tries to make it to the top when they should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunx/i-don-t-know-why-everyone-tries-to-be-like-everyone-else-or-just/) Hunx > [The last end of every maker, as such, is himself, for what we make we use for our own sake; and if at any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/the-last-end-of-every-maker-as-such-is-himself-for-what-we-make-we/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [The object is for everyone to do their own thing, but the thing is to make one's thing the Revolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eldridge-cleaver/the-object-is-for-everyone-to-do-their-own-thing-but-the-thing-is-to/) [Eldridge Cleaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eldridge-cleaver/) > [Memory can make a thing seem to have been much more than it was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/memory-can-make-a-thing-seem-to-have-been-much-more-than-it-was/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [I get so sick of people asking: "What's your demographic?" Or: "Oh we've got to aim this at..." No, you have to aim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-gervais/i-get-so-sick-of-people-asking-what-s-your-demographic-or-oh-we-ve/) [Ricky Gervais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-gervais/) > [It takes two to make a thing go right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-base/it-takes-two-to-make-a-thing-go-right/) [Rob Base](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-base/) > [Big movie or small movie, you make this thing, and then you show it to people, and you just hope they like it. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-watts/big-movie-or-small-movie-you-make-this-thing-and-then-you-show-it-to/) [Jon Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-watts/) > [The only thing to do is to go one's own way, to try one's best, to make the thing live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/the-only-thing-to-do-is-to-go-one-s-own-way-to-try-one-s-best-to-make/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [I'm just gonna make art myself. I have a lot of ideas of things I wanna do and really talented people and friends I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-momoa/i-m-just-gonna-make-art-myself-i-have-a-lot-of-ideas-of-things-i/) [Jason Momoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-momoa/) > [The best way to make the thing better is to give it only a good quality time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj-somany/the-best-way-to-make-the-thing-better-is-to-give-it-only-a-good/) [Anuj Somany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj-somany/) > [“One by one, with my own hands, I had to make this thing I called 'I'-- or, rather, make the things that constituted me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/one-by-one-with-my-own-hands-i-had-to-make-this-thing-i-called-i-or/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## More by Jose Ortega y Gasset > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In these years we are witnessing the gigantic spectacle of innumerable human lives wandering about lost in their own labyrinths, through not having anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-these-years-we-are-witnessing-the-gigantic-spectacle-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In order to master the unruly torrent of life the learned man meditates, the poet quivers, and the political hero erects the fortress of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-order-to-master-the-unruly-torrent-of-life-the-learned-man/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The common man, finding himself in a world so excellent, technically and socially, believes it has been produced by nature, and never thinks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-common-man-finding-himself-in-a-world-so-excellent-technically/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/barbarism-is-the-absence-of-standards-to-which-appeal-can-be-made/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The form most contradictory to human life that can appear among the human species is the "self-sat-isfied man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-form-most-contradictory-to-human-life-that-can-appear-among-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [“For there is no doubt that the most radical division that is possible to make of humanity is that which splits into two classes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/for-there-is-no-doubt-that-the-most-radical-division-that-is-possible/) [José Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [What makes a nation great is not primarily its great men, but the stature of its innumerable mediocre ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/what-makes-a-nation-great-is-not-primarily-its-great-men-but-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand. This is the sport, the luxury, special to the intellectual man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/to-be-surprised-to-wonder-is-to-begin-to-understand-this-is-the-sport/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Romantic poses aside, let us recognize that "falling in love"...is an inferior state of mind, a form of transitory imbecility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/romantic-poses-aside-let-us-recognize-that-falling-in-love-is-an/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Law is born from despair of human nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/law-is-born-from-despair-of-human-nature/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The masses think that is is easy to flee from reality, when it is the most difficult thing in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-masses-think-that-is-is-easy-to-flee-from-reality-when-it-is-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The librarian's mission should be, not like up to now, a mere handling of the book as an object, but rather a know how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-librarian-s-mission-should-be-not-like-up-to-now-a-mere-handling/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Whether he be an original or a plagiarist, man is the novelist of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/whether-he-be-an-original-or-a-plagiarist-man-is-the-novelist-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Here, then, is the point at which I see the new mission of the librarian rise up incomparably higher than all those preceding. Up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/here-then-is-the-point-at-which-i-see-the-new-mission-of-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) [Explore all 204 Jose Ortega y Gasset quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## More Given quotes > [I could not limit my values and pursuits to what makes others comfortable. Being possessed by a promise I live without options. I will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/i-could-not-limit-my-values-and-pursuits-to-what-makes-others/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [A low-minded person should not be given good advice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/a-low-minded-person-should-not-be-given-good-advice/) [Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/) > [The old charters of Massachusetts, Virginia, and the Carolinas had given title to strips of territory extending from the Atlantic westward to the Pacific.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-bushnell-hart/the-old-charters-of-massachusetts-virginia-and-the-carolinas-had/) [Albert Bushnell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-bushnell-hart/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [Susan B. Anthony must be turning in her grave if she knew that millions of women who have the right to vote are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-m-kunin/susan-b-anthony-must-be-turning-in-her-grave-if-she-knew-that/) [Madeleine M. Kunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-m-kunin/) > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [If life were like a competitive race, some people would be given a flying start and others would line up with weights tied to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mardy-grothe/if-life-were-like-a-competitive-race-some-people-would-be-given-a/) [Mardy Grothe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mardy-grothe/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Music is one of the ways by which you can know everything which is going on in the world. You can feel... through music...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-simone/music-is-one-of-the-ways-by-which-you-can-know-everything-which-is/) [Nina Simone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-simone/) > [Today, at Harvard, any student with the currently fashionable color of skin is given rights denied to students of the currently unfashionable color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-capp/today-at-harvard-any-student-with-the-currently-fashionable-color-of/) [Al Capp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-capp/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. 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