--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What they call you is one thing. What you…" description: "\"What they call you is one thing. What you answer to is something else.\" — Lucille Clifton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/130/lucille-clifton-12072_answer_what-they-call-you-is-one-thing-what-you_2791379.jpg" --- # What they call you is one thing. What you answer to is… ![“What they call you is one thing. What you answer to is something else.” quote by Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/130/lucille-clifton-12072_answer_what-they-call-you-is-one-thing-what-you_2791379.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/130/lucille-clifton-12072_answer_what-they-call-you-is-one-thing-what-you_2791379.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/130/lucille-clifton-12072_answer_what-they-call-you-is-one-thing-what-you_2791379.jpg) > “What they call you is one thing. What you answer to is something else.” [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Identity is fluid; labels differ from personal truth. **In simple terms:** Names differ from inner self. Key Takeaway Embrace your true self. Themes identity self‑perception language Mood reflective empowering Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - self‑esteem - cultural dialogue - mental health Key Concepts social labeling personal authenticity Questions to Reflect On - What label feels imposed on you? - How can you assert your true identity? A Different Perspective Societal pressure may force conformity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“What they call you is one thing, but what you answer to is so much more important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-benedict/what-they-call-you-is-one-thing-but-what-you-answer-to-is-so-much/) Jeff Benedict > [Questioners sooner or later end up in a library... And answers are dangerous; they kill your wonder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/questioners-sooner-or-later-end-up-in-a-library-and-answers-are/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Leave, with no answer. Move on to the next question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/leave-with-no-answer-move-on-to-the-next-question/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [I like films that deal with some of those questions that you can never answer: 'Why are we here? What's it about? What happens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-monaghan/i-like-films-that-deal-with-some-of-those-questions-that-you-can/) [Dominic Monaghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominic-monaghan/) > [Where did the world come from? The question has an answer, even though I cannot get to it. It is a good question. 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But how can He give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-barth/when-we-are-at-our-wits-end-for-an-answer-then-the-holy-spirit-can/) [Karl Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-barth/) > [“Often the most tricky questions are the ones we secretly know the answers of. What are you running from? What are you waiting for?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanhita-baruah/often-the-most-tricky-questions-are-the-ones-we-secretly-know-the/) [Sanhita Baruah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanhita-baruah/) > [every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/every-question-possessed-a-power-that-was-lost-in-the-answer/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [My answer is bring 'em on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/my-answer-is-bring-em-on/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A wiki works best where you're trying to answer a question that you can't easily pose, where there's not a natural structure that's known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ward-cunningham/a-wiki-works-best-where-you-re-trying-to-answer-a-question-that-you/) [Ward Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ward-cunningham/) > [The boldness of asking deep questions may require unforeseen flexibility if we are to accept the answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-greene/the-boldness-of-asking-deep-questions-may-require-unforeseen/) [Brian Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-greene/) > [Enjoying life isn't about finding the answers, but living the questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-margolis/enjoying-life-isn-t-about-finding-the-answers-but-living-the-questions/) [Sue Margolis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-margolis/) > [Sometimes a question can hurt more than an answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/sometimes-a-question-can-hurt-more-than-an-answer/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) ## More by Lucille Clifton > [wishes for sons by Lucille Clifton i wish them cramps. i wish them a strange town and the last tampon. I wish them no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/wishes-for-sons-by-lucille-clifton-i-wish-them-cramps-i-wish-them-a/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [“these hips are big hips. they need space to move around in. they don't fit into little petty places.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/these-hips-are-big-hips-they-need-space-to-move-around-in-they-don-t/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [“a tongue blistered with smiling”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/a-tongue-blistered-with-smiling/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [Intellect doesn't translate across cultures; intuition does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/intellect-doesn-t-translate-across-cultures-intuition-does/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [Poetry is a matter of life, not just a matter of language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/poetry-is-a-matter-of-life-not-just-a-matter-of-language/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [I keep hearing tree talk water words and i keep knowing what they mean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/i-keep-hearing-tree-talk-water-words-and-i-keep-knowing-what-they-mean/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [You might as well answer the door, my child, the truth is furiously knocking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/you-might-as-well-answer-the-door-my-child-the-truth-is-furiously/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [“walked erect out of my sleep”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/walked-erect-out-of-my-sleep/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [In the bigger scheme of things the universe is not asking us to do something, the universe is asking us to be something. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/in-the-bigger-scheme-of-things-the-universe-is-not-asking-us-to-do/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [If i should enter the house and speak with my own voice, at last, about its awful furnitutre, pulling apart the covering over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/if-i-should-enter-the-house-and-speak-with-my-own-voice-at-last-about/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [telling the truth about children's lives is radical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/telling-the-truth-about-children-s-lives-is-radical/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [To be a good poet, you must care more about the writing, than the writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/to-be-a-good-poet-you-must-care-more-about-the-writing-than-the-writer/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [“i am rejuvenated bones rising from the dear floor where they found you”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/i-am-rejuvenated-bones-rising-from-the-dear-floor-where-they-found-you/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [“they will empty your eyes of everything you love”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/they-will-empty-your-eyes-of-everything-you-love/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [All people, even one's own children, come with baggage. When they're little, you have to help them carry it. But when they grow up,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/all-people-even-one-s-own-children-come-with-baggage-when-they-re/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) [Explore all 56 Lucille Clifton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) ## More Answer quotes > [Sometimes a question can hurt more than an answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/sometimes-a-question-can-hurt-more-than-an-answer/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [What you are is a question only you can answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-mcmaster-bujold/what-you-are-is-a-question-only-you-can-answer/) [Lois McMaster Bujold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-mcmaster-bujold/) > [Enjoying life isn't about finding the answers, but living the questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-margolis/enjoying-life-isn-t-about-finding-the-answers-but-living-the-questions/) [Sue Margolis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-margolis/) > [The boldness of asking deep questions may require unforeseen flexibility if we are to accept the answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-greene/the-boldness-of-asking-deep-questions-may-require-unforeseen/) [Brian Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-greene/) > [“And if you can’t say yes, answer anyway. Because I’d rather live with the answer than die with the question.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ellis/and-if-you-can-t-say-yes-answer-anyway-because-i-d-rather-live-with/) Jon Ellis > [“There is a cure and answer to everything, we just haven't found them yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-halimi/there-is-a-cure-and-answer-to-everything-we-just-haven-t-found-them/) [Eve Halimi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-halimi/) > [Whenever I'm asked about Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, I always answer: 'Neymar is the best,' not just because of his goals but because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-carlos/whenever-i-m-asked-about-cristiano-ronaldo-or-lionel-messi-i-always/) [Roberto Carlos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-carlos/) > [A wiki works best where you're trying to answer a question that you can't easily pose, where there's not a natural structure that's known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ward-cunningham/a-wiki-works-best-where-you-re-trying-to-answer-a-question-that-you/) [Ward Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ward-cunningham/) > [“Those are good questions. I recognize good questions, because I can come up with them myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-brust/those-are-good-questions-i-recognize-good-questions-because-i-can/) [Steven Brust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-brust/) > [My answer is bring 'em on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/my-answer-is-bring-em-on/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [I'll answer anything... I'm brutally honest, actually, which gets me in trouble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-mclachlan/i-ll-answer-anything-i-m-brutally-honest-actually-which-gets-me-in/) [Sarah McLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-mclachlan/) > [“...I guess I can put two and two together." "Sometimes the answer's four," I said, "and sometimes it's twenty-two...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dashiell-hammett/i-guess-i-can-put-two-and-two-together-sometimes-the-answer-s-four-i/) [Dashiell Hammett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dashiell-hammett/) > [Jumping someone is never the answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/jumping-someone-is-never-the-answer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I play along myself, even though I can't help the player. So I can't say what I think the answer might be. But I'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-mcguinness/i-play-along-myself-even-though-i-can-t-help-the-player-so-i-can-t/) [Paddy McGuinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-mcguinness/) > [Sometimes the question is complicated, but the answers are simple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-suess/sometimes-the-question-is-complicated-but-the-answers-are-simple/) [Dr Suess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-suess/) Browse all 2,090 Answer quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What they call you is one thing. 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