--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I read profiles of myself, I…" description: "\"When I read profiles of myself, I sometimes think: 'I have spent my whole life struggling to understand my motivations and impulses, and I've never qui..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e91/michael-palin-7172_impulses_when-i-read-profiles-of-myself-i-sometim_2124258.jpg" --- # When I read profiles of myself, I sometimes think: 'I have… ![“When I read profiles of myself, I sometimes think: 'I have spent my whole life struggling to understand my motivations and impulses, and I've never quite sorted them out.'” quote by Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e91/michael-palin-7172_impulses_when-i-read-profiles-of-myself-i-sometim_2124258.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e91/michael-palin-7172_impulses_when-i-read-profiles-of-myself-i-sometim_2124258.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e91/michael-palin-7172_impulses_when-i-read-profiles-of-myself-i-sometim_2124258.jpg) > “When I read profiles of myself, I sometimes think: 'I have spent my whole life struggling to understand my motivations and impulses, and I've never quite sorted them out.'” [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reflects on lifelong struggle to understand motives, acknowledging unresolved internal conflicts. **In simple terms:** Life spent trying to understand oneself, still unclear. Key Takeaway Continue introspection and accept uncertainty. Themes self‑discovery motivation psychology Mood thoughtful curious Type philosophical introspective When to use this quote - journaling - therapy - mindfulness practices Key Concepts identity inner conflict Questions to Reflect On - What patterns emerge in your motivations? - How can you live with unresolved impulses? A Different Perspective Complete self‑understanding may be unattainable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Impulses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulses/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Struggling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-struggling-2304413/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Motivations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivations/) [Myself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myself/) [Never](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/never/) [Out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/out/) [Profiles Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profiles-think-1884497/) [Quite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quite/) [Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read/) [Read Profiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-profiles-1990886/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Sorted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorted/) [Spent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spent/) [Struggling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggling/) [Struggling Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggling-understand-2251222/) [Them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/them/) [Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think/) [Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand/) [Understand Motivations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-motivations-1949995/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) [Whole life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-life/) ## Related quotes > [I spend three hours a day working on my social network profiles. I think about the right people to tag, the ones who might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maye-musk/i-spend-three-hours-a-day-working-on-my-social-network-profiles-i/) [Maye Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maye-musk/) > [You know, I'm always surprised when I read profiles, and they make me sound so jaded. I am so not jaded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mcinerney/you-know-i-m-always-surprised-when-i-read-profiles-and-they-make-me/) [Jay McInerney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mcinerney/) > [ “For your people’s sakes, therefore, look to your hearts.”\[1\] Similar to the advice inscribed on the wall outside the temple of Apollo where the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hyatt/for-your-people-s-sakes-therefore-look-to-your-hearts-1-similar-to/) [Bob Hyatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hyatt/) > [I love to read profiles about people, but I'm interested in their processes. 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Someone somewhere else is struggling to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-matter-how-good-or-bad-you-think-life-is-wake-up-everyday-and-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We again bear the cost of those who enjoyed their whole life while we were struggling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/we-again-bear-the-cost-of-those-who-enjoyed-their-whole-life-while-we/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) ## More by Michael Palin > [People are still crazy about Python after twenty-five years, which I find hard to believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/people-are-still-crazy-about-python-after-twenty-five-years-which-i/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [The need to eat, sleep and dry out plays havoc with your sense of wonder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/the-need-to-eat-sleep-and-dry-out-plays-havoc-with-your-sense-of/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [Armageddon is not around the corner. This is only what the people of violence want us to believe. The complexity and diversity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/armageddon-is-not-around-the-corner-this-is-only-what-the-people-of/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [I'd got over playing a character. People accepted who I was, and if I was incompetent and useless, they felt quite endeared to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/i-d-got-over-playing-a-character-people-accepted-who-i-was-and-if-i/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [The kids growing up is a separate strand to your life. However bad a day you've had, that's the most important thing, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/the-kids-growing-up-is-a-separate-strand-to-your-life-however-bad-a/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [Travelling, and being paid for it, is just great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/travelling-and-being-paid-for-it-is-just-great/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [I am certainly more interested in interviewing than being interviewed. Sometimes you find yourself attacked from the start.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/i-am-certainly-more-interested-in-interviewing-than-being-interviewed/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [I do have high standards. I look at everything I have done and think, 'Why wasn't that better?' Part of my motivation is from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/i-do-have-high-standards-i-look-at-everything-i-have-done-and-think/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [Geography prepares for the world of work - geographers, with their skills of analysis are highly employable!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/geography-prepares-for-the-world-of-work-geographers-with-their/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [My parents have been married forty-two years. I wonder how many of those were happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/my-parents-have-been-married-forty-two-years-i-wonder-how-many-of/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [Hollywood was possible for a while! Why didn't I go along with it? Well, the other things that were pulling me back were more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/hollywood-was-possible-for-a-while-why-didn-t-i-go-along-with-it-well/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [I've been lucky enough to stand on both poles, but the place that seemed the remotest to me was Butugychag, a former gulag in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/i-ve-been-lucky-enough-to-stand-on-both-poles-but-the-place-that/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [When I'm travelling, I always take my little notebook and scribble things down as I watch them; I'm very much geared to everything that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/when-i-m-travelling-i-always-take-my-little-notebook-and-scribble/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [People say the most stupid things on the spur of the moment that they then have to retract.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/people-say-the-most-stupid-things-on-the-spur-of-the-moment-that-they/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [Geography is the subject which holds the key to our future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/geography-is-the-subject-which-holds-the-key-to-our-future/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) [Explore all 94 Michael Palin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) ## More Impulses quotes > [The creative impulses of man are always at war with the possessive impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/the-creative-impulses-of-man-are-always-at-war-with-the-possessive/) [Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/) > [The practice of inhibiting impulses, which is to a great extent necessary to civilized life, makes mistakes easier, by preventing experience of the actions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-practice-of-inhibiting-impulses-which-is-to-a-great-extent/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [impulses sometimes have logical roots and ought to be given in to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-moody/impulses-sometimes-have-logical-roots-and-ought-to-be-given-in-to/) [Susan Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-moody/) > [All the best human impulses can be traced back to adolescence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helene-deutsch/all-the-best-human-impulses-can-be-traced-back-to-adolescence/) [Helene Deutsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helene-deutsch/) > [When you start to engage with your creative processes, it shakes up all your impulses, and they all kind of inform one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-bridges/when-you-start-to-engage-with-your-creative-processes-it-shakes-up/) [Jeff Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-bridges/) > [Passion arises from the heart, and your hearts impulse is more likely to be closer to the truth than your minds analysis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/passion-arises-from-the-heart-and-your-hearts-impulse-is-more-likely/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A family is too frail a vessel to contain the risks of all the warring impulses expressed when such a group meets on common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/a-family-is-too-frail-a-vessel-to-contain-the-risks-of-all-the/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [“But as time goes by you learn that your impulses don’t know any more about what you really want than you do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-clements/but-as-time-goes-by-you-learn-that-your-impulses-don-t-know-any-more/) [Brandon Clements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-clements/) > [The most dangerous of our impulses reign in ourselves against ourselves. To dissolve them is a creative act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugo-von-hofmannsthal/the-most-dangerous-of-our-impulses-reign-in-ourselves-against/) [Hugo von Hofmannsthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugo-von-hofmannsthal/) > [Till the time I found a creative outlet, I was trying to be extra creative at business, which would always put me in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashwin-sanghi/till-the-time-i-found-a-creative-outlet-i-was-trying-to-be-extra/) [Ashwin Sanghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashwin-sanghi/) > [The nice thing about the zodiac as a system is it is quite comprehensive as a range of impulses and psychological states it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/the-nice-thing-about-the-zodiac-as-a-system-is-it-is-quite/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [...our impulses are too strong for our judgement sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/our-impulses-are-too-strong-for-our-judgement-sometimes/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [Free will does really exist or we are moved by impulses?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g/free-will-does-really-exist-or-we-are-moved-by-impulses/) [G](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g/) > [When you work on anything, you want to find the range of impulses - which ones get portrayed is another question, but you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-dafoe/when-you-work-on-anything-you-want-to-find-the-range-of-impulses/) [Willem Dafoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-dafoe/) > [There is no such thing as change, but I would describe it as an alteration.'' Change implies transformation, if humanity has instincts and impulses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/there-is-no-such-thing-as-change-but-i-would-describe-it-as-an/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) [Browse all 110 Impulses quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulses/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I read profiles of myself, I sometimes think: 'I have spent my whole life struggling to understand my motivations and impulses, and I've never quite sorted them out.'", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Palin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/when-i-read-profiles-of-myself-i-sometimes-think-i-have-spent-my/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Impulses" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/when-i-read-profiles-of-myself-i-sometimes-think-i-have-spent-my/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e91/michael-palin-7172_impulses_when-i-read-profiles-of-myself-i-sometim_2124258.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e91/michael-palin-7172_impulses_when-i-read-profiles-of-myself-i-sometim_2124258.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e91/michael-palin-7172_impulses_when-i-read-profiles-of-myself-i-sometim_2124258.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I read profiles of myself, I sometimes think: 'I have spent my whole life struggling to understand my…” — Michael Palin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michael Palin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When I read profiles of myself,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/when-i-read-profiles-of-myself-i-sometimes-think-i-have-spent-my/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/when-i-read-profiles-of-myself-i-sometimes-think-i-have-spent-my/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```