--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We should try to understand our innermost…" description: "\"We should try to understand our innermost needs. We shouldn't use irony to reduce their power.\" — Manuel Puig" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/959/manuel-puig-9471_irony_we-should-try-to-understand-our-innermos_2154940.jpg" --- # We should try to understand our innermost needs. We… ![“We should try to understand our innermost needs. We shouldn't use irony to reduce their power.” quote by Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/959/manuel-puig-9471_irony_we-should-try-to-understand-our-innermos_2154940.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/959/manuel-puig-9471_irony_we-should-try-to-understand-our-innermos_2154940.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/959/manuel-puig-9471_irony_we-should-try-to-understand-our-innermos_2154940.jpg) > “We should try to understand our innermost needs. We shouldn't use irony to reduce their power.” [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding deep needs requires sincerity, not sarcasm, to honor their significance. **In simple terms:** Be sincere with inner needs. Key Takeaway Listen without irony. Themes self‑awareness empathy communication Mood introspective empathetic Type psychological inspirational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - personal journaling - conflict resolution Key Concepts psychology emotional intelligence Questions to Reflect On - How do you authentically express needs? - When does humor help or hurt? A Different Perspective Irony can mask true feelings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Innermost Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innermost-needs-4546336/) [Irony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irony/) [Irony Reduce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irony-reduce-4546338/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Needs Shouldn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs-shouldn-4546337/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Try to understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/try-to-understand/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Use Irony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use-irony-788960/) ## Related quotes > [I have wit in my work and a sense of humor, but I do not use irony in any way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-zorn/i-have-wit-in-my-work-and-a-sense-of-humor-but-i-do-not-use-irony-in/) [John Zorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-zorn/) > [People use irony as a defense mechanism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-byrne/people-use-irony-as-a-defense-mechanism/) [David Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-byrne/) > [You can't use irony as a way of disengaging with the difficult or emotional aspects of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-wallach/you-can-t-use-irony-as-a-way-of-disengaging-with-the-difficult-or/) [D.A. Wallach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-wallach/) > [People are always saying, 'You use irony,' and it's like, actually, we don't use irony: we use wit and playfulness and irreverence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-deacon/people-are-always-saying-you-use-irony-and-it-s-like-actually-we-don/) [Giles Deacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-deacon/) > [“In every bit of honest writing in the world, there is a base theme. 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And you try to understand them and take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/for-a-songwriter-you-don-t-really-go-to-songwriting-school-you-learn/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [We are different. We are equal in every way but our voices are important to each other and our need to want to listen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liv-ullmann/we-are-different-we-are-equal-in-every-way-but-our-voices-are/) [Liv Ullmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liv-ullmann/) > [My writing process is very feedback-based. When I do stand-up, I listen to the audience. I try to understand what's connecting, what's not connecting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-birbiglia/my-writing-process-is-very-feedback-based-when-i-do-stand-up-i-listen/) [Mike Birbiglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-birbiglia/) > [I don't have any particular method, my approach is very simple. I try to understand the emotional graph of the character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pratik-gandhi/i-don-t-have-any-particular-method-my-approach-is-very-simple-i-try/) [Pratik Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pratik-gandhi/) ## More by Manuel Puig > [I think cinema is closer to allegories than to reality. It's closer to our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/i-think-cinema-is-closer-to-allegories-than-to-reality-it-s-closer-to/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [If it's great stuff, the people who consume it are nourished. It's a positive force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/if-it-s-great-stuff-the-people-who-consume-it-are-nourished-it-s-a/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [What's better, a poetic intuition or an intellectual work? I think they complement each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/what-s-better-a-poetic-intuition-or-an-intellectual-work-i-think-they/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [Modern American cinema seems to me superficial. The intention is to understand a certain reality, and the result is nothing but a photographing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/modern-american-cinema-seems-to-me-superficial-the-intention-is-to/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [Contrary to what Kafka does, I always like to refer all of my fictions to the level of reality, He, on the other hand,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/contrary-to-what-kafka-does-i-always-like-to-refer-all-of-my-fictions/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [I've always wondered why there isn't a great French novel about the German occupation. 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But sometimes the desire for more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/i-do-believe-that-reading-can-help-you-understand-what-you-re-writing/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [Writers are not meant for action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/writers-are-not-meant-for-action/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [I don't have traceable literary models because I haven't had great literary influences in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/i-don-t-have-traceable-literary-models-because-i-haven-t-had-great/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [For someone who writes fiction, in order to activate the imagination and the unconscious, it's essential to be free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/for-someone-who-writes-fiction-in-order-to-activate-the-imagination/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [If a spectator with a philosophical mind, somebody accustomed to reading books, gets the same kind of information in a movie, he might not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/if-a-spectator-with-a-philosophical-mind-somebody-accustomed-to/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [What better model of a synthesis than a nocturnal dream? Dreams simplify, don't they?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/what-better-model-of-a-synthesis-than-a-nocturnal-dream-dreams/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [Hitchcock makes it very clear to us. There's an objective and a subjective camera, like there's a third- and a first-person narrator in literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/hitchcock-makes-it-very-clear-to-us-there-s-an-objective-and-a/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [Whenever I write, I'm always thinking of the reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/whenever-i-write-i-m-always-thinking-of-the-reader/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [I only understand realism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/i-only-understand-realism/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) [Explore all 66 Manuel Puig quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) ## More Irony quotes > [“Don’t waste your time trying to explain yourself to people that are committed to misunderstanding you. 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Others have chauffeurs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/some-women-walk-towards-a-better-future-others-have-chauffeurs/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [Why do single women take advice from other single women? That's like Stevie Wonder giving Ray Charles driving directions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hussein-nishah/why-do-single-women-take-advice-from-other-single-women-that-s-like/) [Hussein Nishah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hussein-nishah/) > [Without a trace of irony I can say I have been blessed with brilliant enemies. I owe them a great debt, because they redoubled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/without-a-trace-of-irony-i-can-say-i-have-been-blessed-with-brilliant/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [“... 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/) > [These eyes see through all of your lies. My mind knows you're not right for me. My mouth tells you to leave. My heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/these-eyes-see-through-all-of-your-lies-my-mind-knows-you-re-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I’ll MAKE you be free whether you want to or not.’ -The Savage”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/i-ll-make-you-be-free-whether-you-want-to-or-not-the-savage/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Teenagers: The most misunderstood people on earth. Treated like children and expected to act like adults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/teenagers-the-most-misunderstood-people-on-earth-treated-like/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“He liked the Leedses. He was sorry that he had been to the morgue. He thought the madman who visited them might have liked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/he-liked-the-leedses-he-was-sorry-that-he-had-been-to-the-morgue-he/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [The sense of tragedy - according to Aristotle - comes, ironically enough, not from the protagonist's weak points but from his good qualities. 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