--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Of course, I'm not sure there is such a…" description: "\"“Of course, I'm not sure there is such a thing as a real self. You could ransack your innards looking for the real you and never find it - slice yourse..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d82/ryu-murakami-8219_identity_of-course-i-m-not-sure-there-is-such-a-t_31273.png" --- # Of course, I'm not sure there is such a thing as a real… ![“Of course, I'm not sure there is such a thing as a real self. You could ransack your innards looking for the real you and never find it - slice yourself open and all you'll find is blood and muscle and bone...” quote by Ryū Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d82/ryu-murakami-8219_identity_of-course-i-m-not-sure-there-is-such-a-t_31273.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d82/ryu-murakami-8219_identity_of-course-i-m-not-sure-there-is-such-a-t_31273.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d82/ryu-murakami-8219_identity_of-course-i-m-not-sure-there-is-such-a-t_31273.png) > ““Of course, I'm not sure there is such a thing as a real self. You could ransack your innards looking for the real you and never find it - slice yourself open and all you'll find is blood and muscle and bone...”” [Ryū Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryu-murakami/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote challenges the notion of a fixed, discoverable self, suggesting identity is a physical, mutable composition rather than a hidden essence. **In simple terms:** Self is not a singular core. Key Takeaway Identity is fluid, not a hidden core. Themes existentialism identity philosophy of self materialism ontological inquiry Mood reflective provocative melancholic Type philosophical literary existential When to use this quote - psychotherapy introspection - creative writing character development - philosophical debate - personal identity crisis Key Concepts self-concept body-mind dualism subjectivity Practical Applications - therapy techniques exploring narrative self - literary analysis of character construction Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to 'find' oneself? - How does viewing the self as material affect moral responsibility? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Real self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-self/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) ## Related quotes > [“That was with me for years--feeling I wasn't myself. And I do think I wasn't my real self then. 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Face pale, my dead self sat down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryu-murakami/when-i-went-on-anyway-my-body-began-to-grow-cold-and-i-thought-i-was/) [Ryū Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryu-murakami/) ## More by Ryū Murakami > [“People who love horror films are people with boring lives... when a really scary movie is over, you're reassured to see that you're still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryu-murakami/people-who-love-horror-films-are-people-with-boring-lives-when-a/) [Ryu Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryu-murakami/) > [“Even when you're talking to them face to face you have this feeling of not connecting, as if the words just pass through them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryu-murakami/even-when-you-re-talking-to-them-face-to-face-you-have-this-feeling/) [Ryū Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryu-murakami/) > [“The feeling that the world was at my feet and the feeling that I alone was cut off from the world, the sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryu-murakami/the-feeling-that-the-world-was-at-my-feet-and-the-feeling-that-i/) [Ryū Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryu-murakami/) > [“Everybody wants to talk about themselves, and everybody wants to hear everybody else's story, so we take turns playing reporter and celebrity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryu-murakami/everybody-wants-to-talk-about-themselves-and-everybody-wants-to-hear/) [Ryu Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryu-murakami/) > [“Only time can heal wounds as deep as that—a lot of time—and all you can really do is place yourself in its hands and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryu-murakami/only-time-can-heal-wounds-as-deep-as-that-a-lot-of-time-and-all-you/) [Ryū Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryu-murakami/) > [“What these young men feared and hated more than anything else was being spoken to by people they hadn't met, or having to explain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryu-murakami/what-these-young-men-feared-and-hated-more-than-anything-else-was/) [Ryū Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryu-murakami/) > [“There in that pool stained with green blood, he had learned two things: one was that all the pain stopped when you stopped fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryu-murakami/there-in-that-pool-stained-with-green-blood-he-had-learned-two-things/) [Ryū Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryu-murakami/) > [“The song was the late Ishihara Yujiro’s “Rusty Knife,” and Sakaguchi’s singing was so bad that it gave the lyric a strange new pathos…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryu-murakami/the-song-was-the-late-ishihara-yujiro-s-rusty-knife-and-sakaguchi-s/) [Ryū Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryu-murakami/) > [“But for all we’ve lost, hope is in fact one thing we Japanese have regained. 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I don't know what the reason might be, except maybe that they're all descended from immigrants.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryu-murakami/all-americans-have-something-lonely-about-them-i-don-t-know-what-the/) [Ryū Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryu-murakami/) [Explore all 82 Ryū Murakami quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryu-murakami/) ## More Identity quotes > [I don't doubt that straight white men have identity issues and identity complexes and struggle with defining themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-simien/i-don-t-doubt-that-straight-white-men-have-identity-issues-and/) [Justin Simien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-simien/) > [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. 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