--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I sometimes truly despair at ever being…" description: "\"I sometimes truly despair at ever being meaningfully altered and affected by the things I claim are so important to me.\" — Olympia Dukakis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/114/olympia-dukakis-26257_affected_i-sometimes-truly-despair-at-ever-being_2851293.png" --- # I sometimes truly despair at ever being meaningfully… ![“I sometimes truly despair at ever being meaningfully altered and affected by the things I claim are so important to me.” quote by Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/114/olympia-dukakis-26257_affected_i-sometimes-truly-despair-at-ever-being_2851293.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/114/olympia-dukakis-26257_affected_i-sometimes-truly-despair-at-ever-being_2851293.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/114/olympia-dukakis-26257_affected_i-sometimes-truly-despair-at-ever-being_2851293.png) > “I sometimes truly despair at ever being meaningfully altered and affected by the things I claim are so important to me.” [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Feeling powerless to affect important matters leads to despair, questioning personal impact. **In simple terms:** Despair at lack of influence. Key Takeaway Seek meaningful engagement. Themes despair influence meaning Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - activism - creative projects - volunteering - personal goals Key Concepts Existentialism self-efficacy Questions to Reflect On - What gives you a sense of impact? - How can you act on important issues? A Different Perspective May cause paralysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affected/) [Altered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/altered/) [Being me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-me/) [Being mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-mean/) [Claim Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/claim-important-3086998/) [Claims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/claims/) [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Despair Meaningfully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair-meaningfully-3794999/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Meaningfully Altered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningfully-altered-3795000/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Truly Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truly-despair-3795001/) ## Related quotes > [“Some people, who always talk about how busy they are, are really trying to claim how 'important' they are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-lynn-hope/some-people-who-always-talk-about-how-busy-they-are-are-really-trying/) [Donna Lynn Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-lynn-hope/) > [Sometimes I feel as if four thousand years of silencing women, of the fear of women who were burned in oil or eviscerated in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/sometimes-i-feel-as-if-four-thousand-years-of-silencing-women-of-the/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [Well-being is possible to the degree to which one has overcome one's narcissism; to the degree to which one is open, responsive, sensitive, awake,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/well-being-is-possible-to-the-degree-to-which-one-has-overcome-one-s/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [I'm not being mean or anything fuck it.. It is what it is I'm not dealing with him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-not-being-mean-or-anything-fuck-it-it-is-what-it-is-i-m-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Okay, sense of humor: plus one. Being able to laugh at yourself: plus one. Being able to laugh at other people without being mean:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-aselton/okay-sense-of-humor-plus-one-being-able-to-laugh-at-yourself-plus-one/) [Katie Aselton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-aselton/) > [That is a real attitude - to see everything as being meaningful, even the less important things, to prove something, even the greater problems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/that-is-a-real-attitude-to-see-everything-as-being-meaningful-even/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [Sometimes I love being mean, sometimes I don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/known/sometimes-i-love-being-mean-sometimes-i-don-t/) [Known](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/known/) > [I'm not a phony-friendly guy and I'm usually very quiet and not a big laugher, so some people might take that for rudeness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-mccartney/i-m-not-a-phony-friendly-guy-and-i-m-usually-very-quiet-and-not-a-big/) [Jesse McCartney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-mccartney/) > [Once you say something, it stays said. 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That's what she gets for being mean!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-time-our-cat-tries-to-hiss-she-has-all-choked-up-that-s-what/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm trying to be entertaining without being mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-brown/i-m-trying-to-be-entertaining-without-being-mean/) [Tina Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-brown/) > [You're already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/you-re-already-naked-there-is-no-reason-not-to-follow-your-heart/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [I apologize if you felt that I was being mean with my answer. I wasnt. Its just that I am a straight forward person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-apologize-if-you-felt-that-i-was-being-mean-with-my-answer-i-wasnt/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Olympia Dukakis > [My husband is a fall-away Catholic, but with a vengeance. He's actually more of a feminist than I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/my-husband-is-a-fall-away-catholic-but-with-a-vengeance-he-s-actually/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [So I constantly play women who are damaged and out of touch, who are seeking without knowing, or knowing without the skills to transform…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/so-i-constantly-play-women-who-are-damaged-and-out-of-touch-who-are/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [I think it's because most of us talk one way and live another. There are a few people who truly, truly walk the talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/i-think-it-s-because-most-of-us-talk-one-way-and-live-another-there/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [“Rhythm of life runs in cycles there are times in the darkness and time in the light.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/rhythm-of-life-runs-in-cycles-there-are-times-in-the-darkness-and/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [Follow your heart, your instincts. People might try to dissuade you from your passion, but no one can live your life but you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/follow-your-heart-your-instincts-people-might-try-to-dissuade-you/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [Sometimes I feel as if four thousand years of silencing women, of the fear of women who were burned in oil or eviscerated in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/sometimes-i-feel-as-if-four-thousand-years-of-silencing-women-of-the/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [Stories about the ongoing dramas in our lives as we age are not being told because women find it difficult to be honest about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/stories-about-the-ongoing-dramas-in-our-lives-as-we-age-are-not-being/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [What you don't know about women is alot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/what-you-don-t-know-about-women-is-alot/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [Thankfully, it became clear to me that when I compete, I lose my connection to the passion I have for my work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/thankfully-it-became-clear-to-me-that-when-i-compete-i-lose-my/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [Most of us are not real eager to grow, myself included. We try to be happy by staying in the status quo. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/most-of-us-are-not-real-eager-to-grow-myself-included-we-try-to-be/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [God is not something I think about but something I experience as an energy, a Presence. I do find it easier to pray to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/god-is-not-something-i-think-about-but-something-i-experience-as-an/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [When my children were born, I didn't have them baptized because I felt baptism was about erasing Original Sin - something the Church said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/when-my-children-were-born-i-didn-t-have-them-baptized-because-i-felt/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [You don't stay married for thirty-nine years because of sex or even because of love, but because your partner is a real friend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/you-don-t-stay-married-for-thirty-nine-years-because-of-sex-or-even/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [Winning is everything in Hollywood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/winning-is-everything-in-hollywood/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) > [I talk to women's groups all over the country and see women struggling with this. The fear of not being accepted, of being different,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/i-talk-to-women-s-groups-all-over-the-country-and-see-women/) [Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) [Explore all 22 Olympia Dukakis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/) ## More Affected quotes > [To tell you the truth I am hard put to think of anyone who's career was affected significantly by making all those phone calls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dabney-coleman/to-tell-you-the-truth-i-am-hard-put-to-think-of-anyone-who-s-career/) [Dabney Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dabney-coleman/) > [First, climate change is the greatest long-term threat faced by humanity. It could cause more human and financial suffering than the two world wars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-miliband/first-climate-change-is-the-greatest-long-term-threat-faced-by/) [David Miliband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-miliband/) > [Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole city is affected by the licentious passions and vices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/be-a-pattern-to-others-and-then-all-will-go-well-for-as-a-whole-city/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [At first I thought I would have to put on an English accent and try a sort of affected Shakespeare thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/at-first-i-thought-i-would-have-to-put-on-an-english-accent-and-try-a/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [Every culture, if its natural development is not too much affected by political restrictions, experiences a perpetual renewal of the formative urge, and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-rocker/every-culture-if-its-natural-development-is-not-too-much-affected-by/) [Rudolf Rocker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-rocker/) > [Don't show them that you are affected.. Instead, show them that you are happy even without them.. To put a sad face on your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharlene05/don-t-show-them-that-you-are-affected-instead-show-them-that-you-are/) [Sharlene05](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharlene05/) > [I wish we could go back to the time when the private lives of our public figures were relevant only if they directly affected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-wish-we-could-go-back-to-the-time-when-the-private-lives-of-our/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [Don't be intimidated by people who seem to be experts. Hear their points of view and get their judgements. But at the end of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dallek/don-t-be-intimidated-by-people-who-seem-to-be-experts-hear-their/) [Robert Dallek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dallek/) > [Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/who-what-am-i-my-answer-i-am-the-sum-total-of-everything-that-went/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I have wondered why is it that some people are less affected and torn by the verities of life and death that others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-have-wondered-why-is-it-that-some-people-are-less-affected-and-torn/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Then, the other thing that affected my interest in choices growing up was the fact that I was going blind and that meant that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheena-iyengar/then-the-other-thing-that-affected-my-interest-in-choices-growing-up/) [Sheena Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheena-iyengar/) > [I don't think Wayne Rooney would be affected if you booed him, that's just how he is, but others go under. They really suffer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lampard/i-don-t-think-wayne-rooney-would-be-affected-if-you-booed-him-that-s/) [Frank Lampard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lampard/) > [I'm not good at standing on platforms and persuading people to my political point of view. Nor would I seek to. My gift is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/i-m-not-good-at-standing-on-platforms-and-persuading-people-to-my/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [I was trying to hold up a mirror to this country, to reflect the past years or so, and the varying degrees in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/said-sayrafiezadeh/i-was-trying-to-hold-up-a-mirror-to-this-country-to-reflect-the-past/) [Said Sayrafiezadeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/said-sayrafiezadeh/) > [We know COVID-19 hasn't affected communities equally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-cooper/we-know-covid-19-hasn-t-affected-communities-equally/) [Roy Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-cooper/) [Browse all 1,050 Affected quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affected/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I sometimes truly despair at ever being meaningfully altered and affected by the things I claim are so important to me.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Olympia Dukakis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/i-sometimes-truly-despair-at-ever-being-meaningfully-altered-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affected" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/i-sometimes-truly-despair-at-ever-being-meaningfully-altered-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/114/olympia-dukakis-26257_affected_i-sometimes-truly-despair-at-ever-being_2851293.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/114/olympia-dukakis-26257_affected_i-sometimes-truly-despair-at-ever-being_2851293.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/114/olympia-dukakis-26257_affected_i-sometimes-truly-despair-at-ever-being_2851293.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I sometimes truly despair at ever being meaningfully altered and affected by the things I claim are so…” — Olympia Dukakis", "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": "Olympia Dukakis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I sometimes truly despair at ever...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/i-sometimes-truly-despair-at-ever-being-meaningfully-altered-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/i-sometimes-truly-despair-at-ever-being-meaningfully-altered-and/#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 } } ] } ```