---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have decided to keep a record of my…"
description: "\"I have decided to keep a record of my inmost real-self thoughts. Perhaps it will help me to find out what I really am like: horrid, I know: selfish, co..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/rosamond-lehmann-23776_ashamed_i-have-decided-to-keep-a-record-of-my-in_2038975.jpg"
---

#  I have decided to keep a record of my inmost real-self…

![“I have decided to keep a record of my inmost real-self thoughts. Perhaps it will help me to find out what I really am like: horrid, I know: selfish, conceited, and material-minded. For instance, lately whenever I've tried to concentrate on anything serious or beautiful, I've started thinking about…” quote by Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/rosamond-lehmann-23776_ashamed_i-have-decided-to-keep-a-record-of-my-in_2038975.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/rosamond-lehmann-23776_ashamed_i-have-decided-to-keep-a-record-of-my-in_2038975.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a1/rosamond-lehmann-23776_ashamed_i-have-decided-to-keep-a-record-of-my-in_2038975.jpg)

> “I have decided to keep a record of my inmost real-self thoughts. Perhaps it will help me to find out what I really am like: horrid, I know: selfish, conceited, and material-minded. For instance, lately whenever I've tried to concentrate on anything serious or beautiful, I've started thinking about the Spencers' dance next week. I am ashamed of my pettiness. I'm going to try to do better this year--develop my character more and not always be thinking about enjoying myself. I've always been so happy, I dread disappointment and unhappiness, but they would be good for me. But I don't want them.”

[Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The author records personal flaws and desires self-improvement, acknowledging selfishness and fear of disappointment while aspiring to greater character depth.

**In simple terms:** Self‑reflection reveals flaws and a wish to grow.

Key Takeaway

Commit to honest self‑assessment and growth.

Themes

self‑reflection personal growth humility

Mood

introspective hopeful

Type

personal reflective

When to use this quote

- journaling
- therapy
- goal setting
- mindfulness practice

Key Concepts

psychology ethics self‑awareness

Questions to Reflect On

- What habits keep you from confronting your flaws?
- How can you balance happiness with embracing discomfort?

A Different Perspective

Self‑improvement can be hindered by denial and avoidance.

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[Ashamed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashamed/) [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Disappointment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappointment/) [Pettiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pettiness/) [Real self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-self/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thoughts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughts/) [Unhappiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappiness/) [Week](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/week/)

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> [To the mean eye all things are trivial, as certainly as to the jaundiced they are yellow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/to-the-mean-eye-all-things-are-trivial-as-certainly-as-to-the/)

[Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/)

> [Nothing is better than music; when it takes us out of time, it has done more for us than we have the right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadia-boulanger/nothing-is-better-than-music-when-it-takes-us-out-of-time-it-has-done/)

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[Frances Power Cobbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-power-cobbe/)

> [Pettiness seems to go hand in hand with vindictiveness. The smaller the person, the larger the need for revenge. This may account for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/pettiness-seems-to-go-hand-in-hand-with-vindictiveness-the-smaller/)

[Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/)

> [A noble heart cannot suspect in others the pettiness and malice that it has never felt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-racine/a-noble-heart-cannot-suspect-in-others-the-pettiness-and-malice-that/)

[Jean Racine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-racine/)

> [“Odd, don't you think? I have seen war, and invasions and riots. I have heard of massacres and brutalities beyond imagining, and I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-pears/odd-don-t-you-think-i-have-seen-war-and-invasions-and-riots-i-have/)

[Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-pears/)

> [I think you are a liar because you think you know what is true. You think you feel what is true. But you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-croggon/i-think-you-are-a-liar-because-you-think-you-know-what-is-true-you/)

[Alison Croggon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-croggon/)

> [Pettiness is the tendency of people without large purposes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/pettiness-is-the-tendency-of-people-without-large-purposes/)

[George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/)

## More by Rosamond Lehmann

> [ \[On Ian Fleming:\] The trouble with Ian is that he gets off with women because he can't get on with them. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/on-ian-fleming-the-trouble-with-ian-is-that-he-gets-off-with-women/)

[Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/)

> [“Yes, we are sure of it. These walls enclose a world. Here is continuity spinning a web from room to room, from year to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/yes-we-are-sure-of-it-these-walls-enclose-a-world-here-is-continuity/)

[Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/)

> [Advice to Young Journal Keepers. Be lenient with yourself. Conceal your worst faults, leave out your most shameful thoughts, actions, and temptations. Give yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/advice-to-young-journal-keepers-be-lenient-with-yourself-conceal-your/)

[Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/)

> [People have been saying the novel is dead for as far back as I can remember. The novel will never die, but it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/people-have-been-saying-the-novel-is-dead-for-as-far-back-as-i-can/)

[Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/)

> [anything that becomes a cult, or a mass movement, loses its moral and spiritual value. The crusade has to be personal, individual. As soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/anything-that-becomes-a-cult-or-a-mass-movement-loses-its-moral-and/)

[Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/)

> [Convention is another name for the habits of society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/convention-is-another-name-for-the-habits-of-society/)

[Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/)

> [It's the thought that counts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/it-s-the-thought-that-counts/)

[Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/)

> [Looking back into childhood is like looking into a semi-transparent globe within which people and places lie embedded. A shake - and they stir,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/looking-back-into-childhood-is-like-looking-into-a-semi-transparent/)

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> [“Still, now and then they seemed to be holding behind them the surprising, the magic vistas of childhood - the sudden snow at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/still-now-and-then-they-seemed-to-be-holding-behind-them-the/)

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> [One should always act from one's inner sense of rhythm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/one-should-always-act-from-one-s-inner-sense-of-rhythm/)

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> [How long, I wonder, will ignorance spell purity and knowledge shame?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/how-long-i-wonder-will-ignorance-spell-purity-and-knowledge-shame/)

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> [Holidays, if you enjoy them, have no history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/holidays-if-you-enjoy-them-have-no-history/)

[Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/)

> [In a corner of the churchyard grew a plantation of white violets, enormously plump and prosperous-looking. ... I saw the dead stretched out under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/in-a-corner-of-the-churchyard-grew-a-plantation-of-white-violets/)

[Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/)

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[Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/)

[Explore all 24 Rosamond Lehmann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/)

## More Ashamed quotes

> [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/)

[Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/)

> [I know what you're thinking... and you oughtta be ashamed of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-preston/i-know-what-you-re-thinking-and-you-oughtta-be-ashamed-of-yourself/)

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> [You never meet the writer when you're making a TV movie in America - they're too ashamed to show up and see how their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-don-baker/you-never-meet-the-writer-when-you-re-making-a-tv-movie-in-america/)

[Joe Don Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-don-baker/)

> [I'm not ashamed of the things I believe and why I believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-huckabee/i-m-not-ashamed-of-the-things-i-believe-and-why-i-believe-them/)

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> [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/)

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> [You should avoid hedging, at least that's what I think. You should be ashamed to die until you've made some contribution to mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-johns/you-should-avoid-hedging-at-least-that-s-what-i-think-you-should-be/)

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> [“When all are undressed, one is somehow not ashamed, but when one's the only one undressed and everybody is looking, it's degrading,' he kept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/when-all-are-undressed-one-is-somehow-not-ashamed-but-when-one-s-the/)

[Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/)

> [There are a great many colored people who are ashamed of the cake-walk, but I think they ought to be proud of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-weldon-johnson/there-are-a-great-many-colored-people-who-are-ashamed-of-the-cake/)

[James Weldon Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-weldon-johnson/)

> [I love him who is ashamed when the dice fall in his favour, and who then asketh: "Am I a dishonest player?" - for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/i-love-him-who-is-ashamed-when-the-dice-fall-in-his-favour-and-who/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zondervan-publishing/whoever-is-ashamed-of-me-and-my-words-the-son-of-man-will-be-ashamed/)

[Zondervan Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zondervan-publishing/)

> [You were never created to live depressed, defeated, guilty, condemned, ashamed or unworthy. You were created to be victorious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/you-were-never-created-to-live-depressed-defeated-guilty-condemned/)

[Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/)

> [I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/i-never-wonder-to-see-men-wicked-but-i-often-wonder-to-see-them-not/)

[Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/)

> [“To survive during the Khmer Rouge, you had to steal, cheat, lie, point fingers at others, even kill. And now you are ashamed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-brinkley/to-survive-during-the-khmer-rouge-you-had-to-steal-cheat-lie-point/)

[Joel Brinkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-brinkley/)

[Browse all 1,607 Ashamed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashamed/)

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