--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We insist on being Someone, with a…" description: "\"We insist on being Someone, with a capital S. We get security from defining ourselves as worthless or worthy, superior or inferior. We waste precious t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af5/pema-ch-dr-n-327_belittle_we-insist-on-being-someone-with-a-capita_1891220.png" --- # We insist on being Someone, with a capital S. We get… ![“We insist on being Someone, with a capital S. We get security from defining ourselves as worthless or worthy, superior or inferior. We waste precious time exaggerating or romanticizing or belittling ourselves with a complacent surety that yes, that’s who we are. We mistake the openness of our…” quote by Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af5/pema-ch-dr-n-327_belittle_we-insist-on-being-someone-with-a-capita_1891220.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af5/pema-ch-dr-n-327_belittle_we-insist-on-being-someone-with-a-capita_1891220.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af5/pema-ch-dr-n-327_belittle_we-insist-on-being-someone-with-a-capita_1891220.png) > “We insist on being Someone, with a capital S. We get security from defining ourselves as worthless or worthy, superior or inferior. We waste precious time exaggerating or romanticizing or belittling ourselves with a complacent surety that yes, that’s who we are. We mistake the openness of our being—the inherent wonder and surprise of each moment—for a solid, irrefutable self. Because of this misunderstanding, we suffer.” [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We suffer when we cling to a fixed self‑image, mistaking fleeting experiences for a permanent identity. **In simple terms:** Identity is fluid; clinging causes suffering. Key Takeaway Recognize the fluidity of self. Themes self‑concept mindfulness psychology Mood reflective calm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - personal growth workshops - daily meditation - creative expression Key Concepts non‑dual awareness self‑inquiry Questions to Reflect On - How does your self‑story limit you? - What practices help you stay present? A Different Perspective Over‑identifying with roles can limit growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cybersecurity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cybersecurity/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Openness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/openness/) [Security](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/security/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Surprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surprise/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) ## Related quotes > [In the age of social media, everyone's a newspaper columnist, exaggerating what they think and feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/in-the-age-of-social-media-everyone-s-a-newspaper-columnist/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [She was a triumph over ugliness, so often more beguiling than real beauty, if only because it contains paradox. In this case, as opposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/she-was-a-triumph-over-ugliness-so-often-more-beguiling-than-real/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [Exaggerating?" Silk sounded shocked. "You don't mean to say that horses can actually lie, do you? Hettar shrugged. "Of course. They lie all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eddings/exaggerating-silk-sounded-shocked-you-don-t-mean-to-say-that-horses/) [David Eddings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eddings/) > [Any story worth telling is worth exaggerating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/any-story-worth-telling-is-worth-exaggerating/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [“Sadly, it seems that I have the proclivity to create plenty of devils, but most of the time I don’t even go looking for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/sadly-it-seems-that-i-have-the-proclivity-to-create-plenty-of-devils/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [We have no idea how much the government knows and how much the CIA even knows about average citizens. The government is not supposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/we-have-no-idea-how-much-the-government-knows-and-how-much-the-cia/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [Every vice is only an exaggeration of a necessary and virtuous function.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/every-vice-is-only-an-exaggeration-of-a-necessary-and-virtuous/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Tis a rule of manners to avoid exaggeration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/tis-a-rule-of-manners-to-avoid-exaggeration/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The world loves to tell you how difficult things are, and the world's not exaggerating. 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I just started talking to the audience, and when the drunks would yell, "Hey, when do the broads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-rickles/i-never-could-tell-a-joke-i-just-started-talking-to-the-audience-and/) [Don Rickles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-rickles/) > [It is only a short step from exaggerating what we can find in the world to exaggerating our power to remake the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-boorstin/it-is-only-a-short-step-from-exaggerating-what-we-can-find-in-the/) [Daniel J. Boorstin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-boorstin/) > [I've told you for the fifty-thousandth time, stop exaggerating. Losers are people who are afraid of losing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/i-ve-told-you-for-the-fifty-thousandth-time-stop-exaggerating-losers/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [I think I am generally prone to exaggerating characters, taking them to a ridiculous extent. But you do also meet those people in real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-davis/i-think-i-am-generally-prone-to-exaggerating-characters-taking-them/) [Julia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-davis/) > [It is the essence of truth that it is never excessive. Why should it exaggerate? There is that which should be destroyed and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/it-is-the-essence-of-truth-that-it-is-never-excessive-why-should-it/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## More by Pema Chodron > [“LIFE’S work is to wake up, to let the things that enter into your life wake you up rather than put you to sleep.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/life-s-work-is-to-wake-up-to-let-the-things-that-enter-into-your-life/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Since death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/since-death-is-certain-and-the-time-of-death-is-uncertain-what-is-the/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/buddhist-words-such-as-compassion-and-emptiness-don-t-mean-much-until/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [The essence of generosity is letting go. Pain is always a sign that we are holding on to something - usually ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/the-essence-of-generosity-is-letting-go-pain-is-always-a-sign-that-we/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“If the object of meditation were something concrete, something solid and graspable - an image or a statue or a dot on the floor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/if-the-object-of-meditation-were-something-concrete-something-solid/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [It's a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately fill up the space. By waiting, we begin to connect with fundamental restlessness as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/it-s-a-transformative-experience-to-simply-pause-instead-of/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“The essence of life is that it’s challenging. Sometimes it is sweet, and sometimes it is bitter. Sometimes your body tenses, and sometimes it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/the-essence-of-life-is-that-it-s-challenging-sometimes-it-is-sweet/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [If we run a hundred miles an hour to the other end of the continent in order to get away from the obstacle, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/if-we-run-a-hundred-miles-an-hour-to-the-other-end-of-the-continent/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“But in this meditation technique, we are with the out-breath; there's no particular instruction about what to do until the next out-breath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/but-in-this-meditation-technique-we-are-with-the-out-breath-there-s/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know. Nothing ever really attacks us except our own confusion. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/nothing-ever-goes-away-until-it-has-taught-us-what-we-need-to-know/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [So even if the hot loneliness is there, and for 1.6 seconds we sit with that restlessness when yesterday we couldn't sit for even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/so-even-if-the-hot-loneliness-is-there-and-for-1-6-seconds-we-sit/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [If you have rage and righteously act it out and blame it all on others, it's really you who suffers. The other people and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/if-you-have-rage-and-righteously-act-it-out-and-blame-it-all-on/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“When we realize that the path is the goal, there’s a sense of workability. Trungpa Rinpoche said, “Whatever occurs in the confused mind is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/when-we-realize-that-the-path-is-the-goal-there-s-a-sense-of/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Every day is a new opportunity to work with what you have inside toward enlightenment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/every-day-is-a-new-opportunity-to-work-with-what-you-have-inside/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/if-someone-comes-along-and-shoots-an-arrow-into-your-heart-it-s/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) [Explore all 664 Pema Chodron quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) ## More Belittle quotes > [Most adults would not dream of belittling, humiliating, or bullying (verbally or physically) another adult. But many of the same adults think nothing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-steinberg/most-adults-would-not-dream-of-belittling-humiliating-or-bullying/) [Laurence Steinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-steinberg/) > [They misunderstand us, they unwittingly belittle us, they do something that they think is nice that instead just makes us mad. 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I have never been envied nor hated; I am above no one. Only those above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/only-those-beneath-me-can-envy-or-hate-me-i-have-never-been-envied/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) Browse all 171 Belittle quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We insist on being Someone, with a capital S. We get security from defining ourselves as worthless or worthy, superior or inferior. We waste precious time exaggerating or romanticizing or belittling ourselves with a complacent surety that yes, that’s who we are. We mistake the openness of our being—the inherent wonder and surprise of each moment—for a solid, irrefutable self. 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