--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm a junkie for exhaustion, and I'm a…" description: "\"I'm a junkie for exhaustion, and I'm a junkie for setting up my expectations too high and then trying to meet them.\" — Stephen Colbert" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/stephen-colbert-503_exhaustion_i-m-a-junkie-for-exhaustion-and-i-m-a-ju_1157885.png" --- # I'm a junkie for exhaustion, and I'm a junkie for setting… ![“I'm a junkie for exhaustion, and I'm a junkie for setting up my expectations too high and then trying to meet them.” quote by Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/stephen-colbert-503_exhaustion_i-m-a-junkie-for-exhaustion-and-i-m-a-ju_1157885.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/stephen-colbert-503_exhaustion_i-m-a-junkie-for-exhaustion-and-i-m-a-ju_1157885.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/stephen-colbert-503_exhaustion_i-m-a-junkie-for-exhaustion-and-i-m-a-ju_1157885.png) > “I'm a junkie for exhaustion, and I'm a junkie for setting up my expectations too high and then trying to meet them.” [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He admits a compulsive drive for exhaustion and unrealistic expectations. **In simple terms:** Obsessed with burnout and over‑ambition. Key Takeaway Set realistic goals, avoid self‑destruction. Themes burnout ambition self‑sabotage Mood cynical humorous Type satirical motivational When to use this quote - workplace - creative projects - personal health - goal setting Key Concepts psychology performance pressure Questions to Reflect On - What fuels your drive for exhaustion? - How can you temper expectations? A Different Perspective High pressure can lead to chronic stress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Exhaustion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exhaustion/) [Expectations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expectations/) [Setting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/setting/) ## Related quotes > [I'm always my toughest critic. I'm setting the expectations for myself, and that's enough pressure. I don't need to worry about the haters or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-qerim/i-m-always-my-toughest-critic-i-m-setting-the-expectations-for-myself/) [Molly Qerim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-qerim/) > [I'm not setting too many expectations for myself. I'm just trying to create opportunities for something interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bowen-yang/i-m-not-setting-too-many-expectations-for-myself-i-m-just-trying-to/) [Bowen Yang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bowen-yang/) > [“when it comes to standards, as a leader, it’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate. When setting expectations, no matter what has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocko-willink/when-it-comes-to-standards-as-a-leader-it-s-not-what-you-preach-it-s/) [Jocko Willink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocko-willink/) > [I'm a huge news junkie. I love what the news does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/i-m-a-huge-news-junkie-i-love-what-the-news-does/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [I kind of put myself out there as is. I'm a quiet person. I don't know if that's surprising. I'm a Pilates junkie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-galifianakis/i-kind-of-put-myself-out-there-as-is-i-m-a-quiet-person-i-don-t-know/) [Zach Galifianakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-galifianakis/) > [I'm a junkie. I like drugs, I like the whole lifestyle, but it just didn't pay off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/i-m-a-junkie-i-like-drugs-i-like-the-whole-lifestyle-but-it-just-didn/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [I'm a liberal arts junkie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-chapin-carpenter/i-m-a-liberal-arts-junkie/) [Mary Chapin Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-chapin-carpenter/) > [I'm a basketball junkie. I watch basketball all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-moore/i-m-a-basketball-junkie-i-watch-basketball-all-the-time/) [Maya Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-moore/) > [If we are going to make the change from community to communitas, and not just end up with an unsustainable adrenaline-junkie culture, we must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-hirsch/if-we-are-going-to-make-the-change-from-community-to-communitas-and/) [Alan Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-hirsch/) > [You need a good bedside manner with doctors or you will get nowhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/you-need-a-good-bedside-manner-with-doctors-or-you-will-get-nowhere/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [I get called an adrenaline junkie every other minute, and I'm just fine with that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-irwin/i-get-called-an-adrenaline-junkie-every-other-minute-and-i-m-just/) [Steve Irwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-irwin/) > [People don't grow up to become thrill junkies - they're born like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-jung/people-don-t-grow-up-to-become-thrill-junkies-they-re-born-like-that/) [George Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-jung/) > [I think writers tend to be experience junkies, and I think they also tend to want to be on the outside looking in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/i-think-writers-tend-to-be-experience-junkies-and-i-think-they-also/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) > [The fact that I was a junkie for a long time is only one slice of my own personal pie, which is made up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-kiedis/the-fact-that-i-was-a-junkie-for-a-long-time-is-only-one-slice-of-my/) [Anthony Kiedis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-kiedis/) > [I'm very concerned with what's going on the news, but I would not call myself a political animal, per se. I pay more attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keegan-michael-key/i-m-very-concerned-with-what-s-going-on-the-news-but-i-would-not-call/) [Keegan-Michael Key](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keegan-michael-key/) ## More by Stephen Colbert > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/cynicism-masquerades-as-wisdom-but-it-is-the-farthest-thing-from-it/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [We all deserve credit for this new surveillance state that we live in because we the people voted for the Patriot Act. Democrats and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/we-all-deserve-credit-for-this-new-surveillance-state-that-we-live-in/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [I've long been against illegal aliens, partly because they distract us from an even bigger threat: real aliens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/i-ve-long-been-against-illegal-aliens-partly-because-they-distract-us/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Believe in me, cause I don't believe in anything, and I wanna be someone to believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/believe-in-me-cause-i-don-t-believe-in-anything-and-i-wanna-be/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [It's August, which means Congress is on recess and Mitch McConnell has shimmied back into the ocean to seek a mate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/it-s-august-which-means-congress-is-on-recess-and-mitch-mcconnell-has/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Try to love others and serve others and hopefully find those who love and serve you in return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/try-to-love-others-and-serve-others-and-hopefully-find-those-who-love/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Thirty seconds is the exact amount of time Americans can tolerate something they don't understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/thirty-seconds-is-the-exact-amount-of-time-americans-can-tolerate/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [I used to make up stuff in my bio all the time, that I used to be a professional ice-skater and stuff like that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/i-used-to-make-up-stuff-in-my-bio-all-the-time-that-i-used-to-be-a/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [I live by syllogisms: God is love. Love is blind. Stevie Wonder is blind. Therefore, Stevie Wonder is God. I don't know what I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/i-live-by-syllogisms-god-is-love-love-is-blind-stevie-wonder-is-blind/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [“Unlike Paul Newman, who seems to think that salad dressing is the cure-all for America's ills, I'm a man of action.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/unlike-paul-newman-who-seems-to-think-that-salad-dressing-is-the-cure/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Now, for my younger viewers out there, a book is something we used to have before the internet. It’s sort of a blog for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/now-for-my-younger-viewers-out-there-a-book-is-something-we-used-to/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/jesus-forgives-sinners-not-criminals/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Used books are the sluts of the literary world. Passed around from person to person, spreading their pages for anyone, getting cheaper and cheaper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/used-books-are-the-sluts-of-the-literary-world-passed-around-from/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [“Divorce is a marital welfare. It's just couples asking society to bail them out because they didn't do enough research before they got married.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/divorce-is-a-marital-welfare-it-s-just-couples-asking-society-to-bail/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) [Explore all 514 Stephen Colbert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) ## More Exhaustion quotes > [“And though I feel an unfathomable exhaustion, I feel compelled to keep at it, as though to give up working would be to concede…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-laffoley/and-though-i-feel-an-unfathomable-exhaustion-i-feel-compelled-to-keep/) Steven Laffoley > [“Remember what I done for you here today,' he shouted and passed out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-higson/remember-what-i-done-for-you-here-today-he-shouted-and-passed-out/) [Charlie Higson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-higson/) > [“...and, without once looking back, walk down the road through the forest. If the Germans want to shoot me, let them. I am too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audie-murphy/and-without-once-looking-back-walk-down-the-road-through-the-forest/) [Audie Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audie-murphy/) > [… but only because exhaustion is a life-sign; it is at least a form of being human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/but-only-because-exhaustion-is-a-life-sign-it-is-at-least-a-form-of/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [People would do well to ask themselves how many of their ambitions and aspirations derive from the type of economic system they inhabit and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-benn/people-would-do-well-to-ask-themselves-how-many-of-their-ambitions/) [Tony Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-benn/) > [Everything that these folks are saying that they're trying to move away from, like comparison, perfectionism, judgement, and exhaustion as a status symbol -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/everything-that-these-folks-are-saying-that-they-re-trying-to-move/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [The downfall of civilized states tends to come not from the direct assaults of foes, but from internal decay combined with the consequences of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-h-liddell-hart/the-downfall-of-civilized-states-tends-to-come-not-from-the-direct/) [B. H. Liddell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-h-liddell-hart/) > [“Death is the expression of exhaustion, a solution arrived at rationally once one has known the deepest depths of tiredness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hui-wei/death-is-the-expression-of-exhaustion-a-solution-arrived-at/) [Hui Wei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hui-wei/) > [It is not the dream of what you're feeling laziness, if not, the sleep of exhaustion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-not-the-dream-of-what-you-re-feeling-laziness-if-not-the-sleep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Write to exhaustion so that you can no longer manage to avoid writing the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elissa-schappell/write-to-exhaustion-so-that-you-can-no-longer-manage-to-avoid-writing/) [Elissa Schappell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elissa-schappell/) > [Enthusiasm is always connected with the senses, whatever be the object that excites it. The true strength of virtue is serenity of mind, combined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/enthusiasm-is-always-connected-with-the-senses-whatever-be-the-object/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The sort of the template of being a mother is that you're endlessly giving to the point of exhaustion. You know, that's amazing if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-moran/the-sort-of-the-template-of-being-a-mother-is-that-you-re-endlessly/) [Caitlin Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-moran/) > [We fought a military war; our opponents fought a political one. We sought physical attrition; our opponents aimed for our psychological exhaustion. In the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-fought-a-military-war-our-opponents-fought-a-political-one-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I lived in New York, and I was the guy who was flying home almost every week, so there was a physical exhaustion and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-jacobson/i-lived-in-new-york-and-i-was-the-guy-who-was-flying-home-almost/) [Peter Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-jacobson/) > [Patience is the most valuable trait of the endgame player. In the endgame, the most common errors, besides those resulting from ignorance of theory,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pal-benko/patience-is-the-most-valuable-trait-of-the-endgame-player-in-the/) [Pal Benko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pal-benko/) [Browse all 329 Exhaustion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exhaustion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm a junkie for exhaustion, and I'm a junkie for setting up my expectations too high and then trying to meet them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen Colbert" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/i-m-a-junkie-for-exhaustion-and-i-m-a-junkie-for-setting-up-my/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Exhaustion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/i-m-a-junkie-for-exhaustion-and-i-m-a-junkie-for-setting-up-my/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/stephen-colbert-503_exhaustion_i-m-a-junkie-for-exhaustion-and-i-m-a-ju_1157885.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/stephen-colbert-503_exhaustion_i-m-a-junkie-for-exhaustion-and-i-m-a-ju_1157885.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/375/stephen-colbert-503_exhaustion_i-m-a-junkie-for-exhaustion-and-i-m-a-ju_1157885.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm a junkie for exhaustion, and I'm a junkie for setting up my expectations too high and then trying to…” — Stephen Colbert", "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": "Stephen Colbert", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'm a junkie for exhaustion, and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/i-m-a-junkie-for-exhaustion-and-i-m-a-junkie-for-setting-up-my/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/i-m-a-junkie-for-exhaustion-and-i-m-a-junkie-for-setting-up-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 } } ] } ```