--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Your ego is your embodiment and your self…" description: "\"Your ego is your embodiment and your self is your potentiality and that's what you listen to when you listen for the voice of inspiration and the voice..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/632/joseph-campbell-300_ego_your-ego-is-your-embodiment-and-your-sel_24459.png" --- # Your ego is your embodiment and your self is your… ![“Your ego is your embodiment and your self is your potentiality and that's what you listen to when you listen for the voice of inspiration and the voice of 'What am I here for? What can I possibly make of myself?'” quote by Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/632/joseph-campbell-300_ego_your-ego-is-your-embodiment-and-your-sel_24459.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/632/joseph-campbell-300_ego_your-ego-is-your-embodiment-and-your-sel_24459.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/632/joseph-campbell-300_ego_your-ego-is-your-embodiment-and-your-sel_24459.png) > “Your ego is your embodiment and your self is your potentiality and that's what you listen to when you listen for the voice of inspiration and the voice of 'What am I here for? What can I possibly make of myself?'” [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote distinguishes between ego (the current self‑image) and self (the deeper, untapped potential), urging us to hear the inner call that seeks purpose and creative expression. **In simple terms:** Ego vs. self: inner purpose. Key Takeaway Listen to the deeper call for meaning. Themes self‑discovery purpose creativity inner voice potential Mood reflective inspired thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - artistic creation - life transition - personal crisis - spiritual practice Key Concepts identity meaning inspiration Practical Applications - coaching - creative writing Questions to Reflect On - What does your ego hide from your deeper self? - How can you nurture the voice of purpose? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) [Ego Embodiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego-embodiment-407344/) [Embodiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embodiment/) [Embodiment Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embodiment-self-407345/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Inspiration Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration-voice-407348/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Potentiality Listen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/potentiality-listen-407346/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self Potentiality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-potentiality-407347/) [Voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voice/) ## Related quotes > [The Hope, Love & Healing necklace is the perfect embodiment of what we are trying to bring to Haiti through safe and sustainable housing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-arquette/the-hope-love-healing-necklace-is-the-perfect-embodiment-of-what-we/) [Patricia Arquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-arquette/) > [Comrades ! You have voluntarily accepted a mission that is the noblest that the human mind can conceive of. For the fulfillment of such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subhas-chandra-bose/comrades-you-have-voluntarily-accepted-a-mission-that-is-the-noblest/) [Subhas Chandra Bose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subhas-chandra-bose/) > [The spread of democracy is a wonderful thing-it is a necessary foundation for peace-and it can happen. But it cannot be advanced by force,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-schell/the-spread-of-democracy-is-a-wonderful-thing-it-is-a-necessary/) [Jonathan Schell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-schell/) > [Favor comes because for a brief moment in the great space of human change and progress some general human purpose finds in him a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/favor-comes-because-for-a-brief-moment-in-the-great-space-of-human/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [The ‘I’ character in journalism is almost pure invention. Unlike the ‘I’ of autobiography, who is meant to be seen as a representation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-i-character-in-journalism-is-almost-pure-invention-unlike-the-i/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The point of departure for my creation was not primarily the destiny of the sixteen Carmelites of Compiègne but the figure of the young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrud-von-le-fort/the-point-of-departure-for-my-creation-was-not-primarily-the-destiny/) [Gertrud von Le Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrud-von-le-fort/) > [Instead of "I love you," it would be better to say "I am love-I am the embodiment of Pure Love." Remove the I and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/instead-of-i-love-you-it-would-be-better-to-say-i-am-love-i-am-the/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [Language is the most elementary aspect to our humanness, probably. In addition to that, it's the embodiment, it's the apotheosis of the human experience,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/language-is-the-most-elementary-aspect-to-our-humanness-probably-in/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [“When we contemplate the miracle of embodied life, we begin to partner with our bodies in a kinder way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/when-we-contemplate-the-miracle-of-embodied-life-we-begin-to-partner/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) > [The world is full of incredible people who are embodiments of compassion. Some of them have a spiritual path; some of them don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/the-world-is-full-of-incredible-people-who-are-embodiments-of/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [No female - young, old, black or white - could ever play the knight-on-charger with meager experience. If she presented herself as the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/froma-harrop/no-female-young-old-black-or-white-could-ever-play-the-knight-on/) [Froma Harrop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/froma-harrop/) > [Educational exchange can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations. Man's capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/educational-exchange-can-turn-nations-into-people-contributing-as-no/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [Greek is the embodiment of the fluent speech that runs or soars, the speech of a people which could not help giving winged feet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/greek-is-the-embodiment-of-the-fluent-speech-that-runs-or-soars-the/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [The Law is the true embodiment of everything that's excellent; it has no kind of fault or flaw and I, my Lords, embody the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-gilbert/the-law-is-the-true-embodiment-of-everything-that-s-excellent-it-has/) [W. S. Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-gilbert/) > [I've had great pleasure meeting the likes of Newt Gingrich and having a chat with the fellow on a staircase. I found him completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lydon/i-ve-had-great-pleasure-meeting-the-likes-of-newt-gingrich-and-having/) [John Lydon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lydon/) ## More by Joseph Campbell > [If a person does not listen to the demands of their own spiritual and heart life and insists on a certain program, you're going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-a-person-does-not-listen-to-the-demands-of-their-own-spiritual-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The last act in the biography of the hero is that of the death or departure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-last-act-in-the-biography-of-the-hero-is-that-of-the-death-or/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-privilege-of-a-lifetime-is-being-who-you-are/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The eternal principle, which never was born, never will die: it is in all things: it is in you now. You are the wave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-eternal-principle-which-never-was-born-never-will-die-it-is-in/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [How do you find the divine power in yourself? The word enthusiasm means 'filled with a god,' so what makes you enthusiastic? Follow it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/how-do-you-find-the-divine-power-in-yourself-the-word-enthusiasm/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [What we're learning in our schools is not the wisdom of life. We're learning technologies, we're getting information. There's a curious reluctance on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/what-we-re-learning-in-our-schools-is-not-the-wisdom-of-life-we-re/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [ The fall \[of your soul\] from perfection into duality...was naturally followed by the discovery of the duality of good and evil...This is the Biblical… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-fall-of-your-soul-from-perfection-into-duality-was-naturally/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [So that's what destiny is: simply the fulfillment of the potentialites of the energies in your own system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/so-that-s-what-destiny-is-simply-the-fulfillment-of-the-potentialites/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When you follow your bliss a kind of track opens up, that's always been there, waiting for you. And the life that you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-follow-your-bliss-a-kind-of-track-opens-up-that-s-always/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The best we can do is lean towards the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-best-we-can-do-is-lean-towards-the-light/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [I think of mythology as the homeland of the muses, the inspirers of art, the inspirers of poetry. To see life as a poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/i-think-of-mythology-as-the-homeland-of-the-muses-the-inspirers-of/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When you are falling --- Dive!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-you-are-falling-dive/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [We're all seeking...the rapture of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/we-re-all-seeking-the-rapture-of-being-alive/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Both the artist and the lover know that perfection is not loveable. It is the clumsiness of a fault that makes a person lovable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/both-the-artist-and-the-lover-know-that-perfection-is-not-loveable-it/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Marriage is not a simple love affair, it's an ordeal, and the ordeal is the sacrifice of ego to a relationship in which two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/marriage-is-not-a-simple-love-affair-it-s-an-ordeal-and-the-ordeal-is/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) [Explore all 711 Joseph Campbell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## More Ego quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/for-us-who-are-now-in-power-we-need-to-be-challenged-to-serve-the/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) > [I love playing ego and insecurity combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carrey/i-love-playing-ego-and-insecurity-combined/) [Jim Carrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carrey/) > [“sometimes when everything seems at its worst when all conspires and gnaws and the hours, days, weeks years seem wasted – stretched there upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/sometimes-when-everything-seems-at-its-worst-when-all-conspires-and/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I'm a straight shooter, and most of the time my ego doesn't interrupt my relationships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-macht/i-m-a-straight-shooter-and-most-of-the-time-my-ego-doesn-t-interrupt/) [Gabriel Macht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-macht/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“There are two kinds of people: goal-oriented and ego-oriented. Goal-oriented people work together and get things gone. Ego-oriented people don’t work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charbel-tadros/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-goal-oriented-and-ego-oriented-goal/) [Charbel Tadros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charbel-tadros/) > [Heart surgeons do not have the world's smallest egos: when you ask them to name the world's three leading practitioners, they never can remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/heart-surgeons-do-not-have-the-world-s-smallest-egos-when-you-ask/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [I hate acting when I see it. I don't want to feel it, I don't want to see it, I want to be taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-hauer/i-hate-acting-when-i-see-it-i-don-t-want-to-feel-it-i-don-t-want-to/) [Rutger Hauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-hauer/) > [It's a constant man-ego-check going on in the streets, in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/it-s-a-constant-man-ego-check-going-on-in-the-streets-in-this-world/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [“... a man doesn't like to have his ego popped, especially when he prides himself on his sagacity, and then to be proved wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/a-man-doesn-t-like-to-have-his-ego-popped-especially-when-he-prides/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [Our real nature is not our imaginary, limited ego. Our true nature is vast, all-comprehensive, and intangible as empty space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anagarika-govinda/our-real-nature-is-not-our-imaginary-limited-ego-our-true-nature-is/) [Anagarika Govinda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anagarika-govinda/) > [The man of wisdom is devoid of ego even though he may appear to use it. His vacant or fasting mind is neither doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramesh-s-balsekar/the-man-of-wisdom-is-devoid-of-ego-even-though-he-may-appear-to-use/) [Ramesh S Balsekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramesh-s-balsekar/) > [Show me success without ego!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivana-trump/show-me-success-without-ego/) [Ivana Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivana-trump/) [Browse all 3,462 Ego quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Your ego is your embodiment and your self is your potentiality and that's what you listen to when you listen for the voice of inspiration and the voice of 'What am I here for? 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