--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm trying to get at this. That is, a man…" description: "\"I'm trying to get at this. That is, a man may know that he belongs to, say, a group - this group or that group - but he feels himself lost within that ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ea/malcolm-x-213_deficiency_i-m-trying-to-get-at-this-that-is-a-man_113260.jpg" --- # I'm trying to get at this. That is, a man may know that he… ![“I'm trying to get at this. That is, a man may know that he belongs to, say, a group - this group or that group - but he feels himself lost within that group, trapped within his own deficiencies and without personal purpose.” quote by Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ea/malcolm-x-213_deficiency_i-m-trying-to-get-at-this-that-is-a-man_113260.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ea/malcolm-x-213_deficiency_i-m-trying-to-get-at-this-that-is-a-man_113260.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ea/malcolm-x-213_deficiency_i-m-trying-to-get-at-this-that-is-a-man_113260.jpg) > “I'm trying to get at this. That is, a man may know that he belongs to, say, a group - this group or that group - but he feels himself lost within that group, trapped within his own deficiencies and without personal purpose.” [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A person may recognize group affiliation yet feel isolated, trapped by personal shortcomings and lacking a sense of individual purpose. **In simple terms:** Group identity can feel empty. Key Takeaway Purpose transcends group belonging. Themes identity purpose psychology Mood thoughtful melancholic Type reflective psychological When to use this quote - new employee feeling lost in corporate culture - immigrant navigating community expectations - student in a club without personal goals Key Concepts existential alienation self‑actualization Practical Applications - reflect on personal values - set individual goals within the group Questions to Reflect On - What steps can restore personal purpose? - How does self‑esteem affect group integration? A Different Perspective Group support can sometimes provide the very purpose one feels missing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) ## Related quotes > [“Now I don’t see anything evil in a desire to make money. But money is only a means to some end. If a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/now-i-don-t-see-anything-evil-in-a-desire-to-make-money-but-money-is/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [The irony of our social group is that so often everyone feels this, but there's no company whatsoever in that feeling. Think of Pound's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-creeley/the-irony-of-our-social-group-is-that-so-often-everyone-feels-this/) [Robert Creeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-creeley/) > [I mean, so hopefully soon there's enough women and enough people of colour and enough of every group out there that feels that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-strickland/i-mean-so-hopefully-soon-there-s-enough-women-and-enough-people-of/) [Donna Strickland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-strickland/) > [Every group feels strong once it has found a scapegoat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/every-group-feels-strong-once-it-has-found-a-scapegoat/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [I definitely feel I'm outside of the polished pop girl group, which feels right. I don't think I could keep up that polished surface…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-lo/i-definitely-feel-i-m-outside-of-the-polished-pop-girl-group-which/) [Tove Lo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-lo/) > [It's always weird being the only white person in a group. It feels like everyone's looking to me for guidance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/it-s-always-weird-being-the-only-white-person-in-a-group-it-feels/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Man ... feels lost without the direction-finder provide by progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-weaver/man-feels-lost-without-the-direction-finder-provide-by-progress/) [Richard M. Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-weaver/) > [When you're life feels lost fight against all odds. Never give in, never back down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-re-life-feels-lost-fight-against-all-odds-never-give-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For a child that feels lost, confused and out of place, they need help.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cain/for-a-child-that-feels-lost-confused-and-out-of-place-they-need-help/) [Will Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cain/) > [“I never understood that everyone feels lost temporarily when they want to change their world and the state of their life”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priya-kumar/i-never-understood-that-everyone-feels-lost-temporarily-when-they/) [Priya Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priya-kumar/) > [“Aria... everyone feels lost and low. It's how a person acts that makes them different”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-rossi/aria-everyone-feels-lost-and-low-it-s-how-a-person-acts-that-makes/) [Veronica Rossi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-rossi/) > [Every step I'm taking, and every move I make feels lost, with no direction. My faith is shaking, but I gotta keep trying, gotta…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/citlalli-v/every-step-i-m-taking-and-every-move-i-make-feels-lost-with-no/) Citlalli V > [I think everyone feels lost at times during their high school years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-cardellini/i-think-everyone-feels-lost-at-times-during-their-high-school-years/) [Linda Cardellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-cardellini/) > [You have learnt something. That always feels at first as if you had lost something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-have-learnt-something-that-always-feels-at-first-as-if-you-had/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“A person feels lost without you, is your Soulmate.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swapna-rajput/a-person-feels-lost-without-you-is-your-soulmate/) Swapna Rajput ## More by Malcolm X > [If Christianity had asserted itself in Germany, six million Jews would have lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/if-christianity-had-asserted-itself-in-germany-six-million-jews-would/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Adam Clayton Powell's entire political career has to be looked at in the entire context of the American history and the history of, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/adam-clayton-powell-s-entire-political-career-has-to-be-looked-at-in/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [American civil rights leader, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Lynching is a murder. For the past four hundred years our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/american-civil-rights-leader-where-do-we-go-from-here-chaos-or/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Be nonviolent only with those who are nonviolent to you. And when you can bring me a nonviolent racist, bring me a nonviolent segregationist,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/be-nonviolent-only-with-those-who-are-nonviolent-to-you-and-when-you/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [You can't legislate good will - that comes through education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/you-can-t-legislate-good-will-that-comes-through-education/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/truth-is-on-the-side-of-the-oppressed-today-it-s-against-the-oppressor/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Those type of whites who are always going to jail with Negroes are the ones who tell Negroes to be loving and be kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/those-type-of-whites-who-are-always-going-to-jail-with-negroes-are/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [We Muslims believe that the white race, which is guilty of having oppressed and exploited and enslaved our people here in America, should and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/we-muslims-believe-that-the-white-race-which-is-guilty-of-having/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [I mean a real police state just to get a token recognition of a law. It take, it took, I think, 15,000 troops and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-mean-a-real-police-state-just-to-get-a-token-recognition-of-a-law/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Like Samson, I am ready to pull down the white man's temple, knowing full well that I will be destroyed by the falling rubble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/like-samson-i-am-ready-to-pull-down-the-white-man-s-temple-knowing/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Any negro who occupies a position that was given to him by the white man, if you analyze his function, his function never enables…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/any-negro-who-occupies-a-position-that-was-given-to-him-by-the-white/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Stumbling is not falling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/stumbling-is-not-falling/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [God is going to punish the white man for his misdeeds toward black people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/god-is-going-to-punish-the-white-man-for-his-misdeeds-toward-black/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Much of what I say might sound like it's stirring up trouble, but it's the truth!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/much-of-what-i-say-might-sound-like-it-s-stirring-up-trouble-but-it-s/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [I believe in the brotherhood of all men, but I don't believe in wasting brotherhood on anyone who doesn't want to practice it with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-believe-in-the-brotherhood-of-all-men-but-i-don-t-believe-in/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) [Explore all 891 Malcolm X quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) ## More Deficiency quotes > [You can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-pauling/you-can-trace-every-sickness-every-disease-and-every-ailment-to-a/) [Linus Pauling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-pauling/) > [He that fancies himself very enlightened, because he sees the deficiencies of others, may be very ignorant, because he has not studied his own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/he-that-fancies-himself-very-enlightened-because-he-sees-the/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [“Where any one body of educated men, of whatever denomination, are condemned indiscriminately, there must be a deficiency of information, (or smiling) of something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/where-any-one-body-of-educated-men-of-whatever-denomination-are/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [The ancient Greek oral poets all had this anxiety about the deficiencies of their memories and always began poems by praying to the Muse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/the-ancient-greek-oral-poets-all-had-this-anxiety-about-the/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [If somewhere is a deficiency the normal American answer would have been well then, let's spend some more money, build some more weapons and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-schmidt/if-somewhere-is-a-deficiency-the-normal-american-answer-would-have/) [Helmut Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-schmidt/) > [To behold, is not necessary to observe, and the power of comparing and combining is only to be obtained by education. It is much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-von-humboldt/to-behold-is-not-necessary-to-observe-and-the-power-of-comparing-and/) [Wilhelm von Humboldt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-von-humboldt/) > [Can there be a more lamentable picture than that of a Chancellor of the Exchequer seated on an empty chest by a pool of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peel/can-there-be-a-more-lamentable-picture-than-that-of-a-chancellor-of/) [Robert Peel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peel/) > [“For years I had been aware of an important deficiency in the English language: a word to describe something a person loses that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-miller/for-years-i-had-been-aware-of-an-important-deficiency-in-the-english/) Ellen Miller > [The first step to improvement, whether mental, moral, or religious, is to know ourselves - our weakness, errors, deficiencies, and sins, that, by divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tryon-edwards/the-first-step-to-improvement-whether-mental-moral-or-religious-is-to/) [Tryon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tryon-edwards/) > [Indeed taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no single historic incident better or more variously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/indeed-taking-all-the-evidence-together-it-is-not-too-much-to-say/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [By the deficiency or absence of one necessary constituent, all the others being present, the soil is rendered barren for all those crops to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justus-von-liebig/by-the-deficiency-or-absence-of-one-necessary-constituent-all-the/) [Justus von Liebig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justus-von-liebig/) > [It does not matter what your personal deficiency, or whether it be a hundred and one different things, God has always one sufficient answer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watchman-nee/it-does-not-matter-what-your-personal-deficiency-or-whether-it-be-a/) [Watchman Nee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watchman-nee/) > [Patriotism is proud of a country's virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/patriotism-is-proud-of-a-country-s-virtues-and-eager-to-correct-its/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [It seems to be the fate of man to seek all his consolations in futurity. The time present is seldom able to fill desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/it-seems-to-be-the-fate-of-man-to-seek-all-his-consolations-in/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [What fabrications they are, mothers. Scarecrows, wax dolls for us to stick pins into, crude diagrams. We deny them an existence of their own,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/what-fabrications-they-are-mothers-scarecrows-wax-dolls-for-us-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) Browse all 236 Deficiency quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm trying to get at this. 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