--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [...] we must recognize that in our own…" description: "\"“[...] we must recognize that in our own experience of emptiness, that even though one feels \"empty\", one must have a self in order to feel this emptin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cc/susan-griffin-8475_emptiness_we-must-recognize-that-in-our-own-experi_2574268.jpg" --- # \[...\] we must recognize that in our own experience of… ![“[...] we must recognize that in our own experience of emptiness, that even though one feels "empty", one must have a self in order to feel this emptiness; a loss cannot be felt unless what is missed is really a lost part of the self. Unwholeness is a feeling which belongs only to a being born…” quote by Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cc/susan-griffin-8475_emptiness_we-must-recognize-that-in-our-own-experi_2574268.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cc/susan-griffin-8475_emptiness_we-must-recognize-that-in-our-own-experi_2574268.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cc/susan-griffin-8475_emptiness_we-must-recognize-that-in-our-own-experi_2574268.jpg) > ““\[...\] we must recognize that in our own experience of emptiness, that even though one feels "empty", one must have a self in order to feel this emptiness; a loss cannot be felt unless what is missed is really a lost part of the self. Unwholeness is a feeling which belongs only to a being born whole and somehow denied access to this whole self. A being born "unwhole" would be whole in that partiality, happy with that cavernous state, and feel no emptiness, miss nothing, feel at home in a vacuum of identity. It is precisely because we have selves that we mourn.”” [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Emptiness is felt only by a self; mourning arises from loss of a part of that self. **In simple terms:** Loss creates emptiness. Key Takeaway Acknowledge loss. Themes identity emptiness wholeness grief Mood somber reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - therapy - bereavement - self‑discovery - spiritual practice - creative work Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What part of yourself feels missing? - How can you find wholeness despite loss? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) [Emptiness Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness-feels-1720407/) [Experience Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-emptiness-1720406/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Self Unwholeness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-unwholeness-1720404/) [Unwholeness Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unwholeness-feeling-1720405/) ## Related quotes > [My experience of emptiness is that it is alive with the possibility of everything waiting to be born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-martin/my-experience-of-emptiness-is-that-it-is-alive-with-the-possibility/) [Mary Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-martin/) > [“...but even though it feels awesome to be back with her, to have her next to me silhouetted by the stars, there is still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-myers/but-even-though-it-feels-awesome-to-be-back-with-her-to-have-her-next/) [Jason Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-myers/) > [Value of a relation is not how much one feels happy with a person, but it's the emptiness that one feels without that person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-low/value-of-a-relation-is-not-how-much-one-feels-happy-with-a-person-but/) [Alex Low](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-low/) > [You have to begin to trust that your experience of emptiness is not the final experience,that beyond it is a place where you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-malabago/you-have-to-begin-to-trust-that-your-experience-of-emptiness-is-not/) [Regina Malabago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-malabago/) > [The experience of emptiness is not found outside the world of ordinary appearance, as many people mistakenly assume. In truth, we experience emptiness when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzigar-kongtrul-rinpoche/the-experience-of-emptiness-is-not-found-outside-the-world-of/) [Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzigar-kongtrul-rinpoche/) > [“Only the thirsty knows the real taste of water; only the lonely knows the real weight of emptiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/only-the-thirsty-knows-the-real-taste-of-water-only-the-lonely-knows/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [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/) > [“I close my eyes and I let my body shut itself down and I let my mind wander. It wanders to a familiar place.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/i-close-my-eyes-and-i-let-my-body-shut-itself-down-and-i-let-my-mind/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/anyone-whose-goal-is-something-higher-must-expect-someday-to-suffer-2/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“those of little merit would not even have doubts about this doctrine of emptiness. even suspicion that objects are empty wrecks the seeds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aryadeva/those-of-little-merit-would-not-even-have-doubts-about-this-doctrine/) [aryadeva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aryadeva/) > [“ Desolation would not be the proper word to describe his feelings now; it was more the sense of emptiness he imagined he might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shusaku-endo/desolation-would-not-be-the-proper-word-to-describe-his-feelings-now/) [Shusaku Endo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shusaku-endo/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/go-into-emptiness-strike-voids-bypass-what-he-defends-hit-him-where/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) ## More by Susan Griffin > [Telling a story of illness, one pulls a thread through a narrow opening flanked on one side by shame and the other by trivia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/telling-a-story-of-illness-one-pulls-a-thread-through-a-narrow/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [Is it a coincidence that stories from the private life became more popular just as the grand hope for public redemption through revolution was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/is-it-a-coincidence-that-stories-from-the-private-life-became-more/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [How many small decisions accumulate to form a habit? What a multitude of decisions, made by others, in other times, must shape our lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/how-many-small-decisions-accumulate-to-form-a-habit-what-a-multitude/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [Just as the slave master required the slaves to imitate the image he had of them, so women, who live in a relatively powerless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/just-as-the-slave-master-required-the-slaves-to-imitate-the-image-he/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [Gender is a way to hide from the simple truth we all tell: 'Hey, I'm here, I have a body.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/gender-is-a-way-to-hide-from-the-simple-truth-we-all-tell-hey-i-m/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [“I am not so different in my history of abandonment from anyone else after all. We have all been split away from each other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/i-am-not-so-different-in-my-history-of-abandonment-from-anyone-else/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [ “\[P\]erhaps we are like stones; our own history and the history of the world embedded in us, we hold a sorrow deep within and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/p-erhaps-we-are-like-stones-our-own-history-and-the-history-of-the/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [“The world of fundamental religion does not recognize even the slightest variation in meaning should this meaning fall outside its own definition of truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/the-world-of-fundamental-religion-does-not-recognize-even-the/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [We are nature. We are nature seeing nature. The red-winged blackbird flies in us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/we-are-nature-we-are-nature-seeing-nature-the-red-winged-blackbird/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [Before a secret is told, one can often feel the weight of it in the atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/before-a-secret-is-told-one-can-often-feel-the-weight-of-it-in-the/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [What always seems miraculous is when aesthetic necessities yield an insight which otherwise I would have missed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/what-always-seems-miraculous-is-when-aesthetic-necessities-yield-an/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [A story is told as much by silence as by speech.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/a-story-is-told-as-much-by-silence-as-by-speech/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [And if the professional rapist is to be separated from the average dominant heterosexual (male), it may be mainly a quantitative difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/and-if-the-professional-rapist-is-to-be-separated-from-the-average/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [“If these pages are thick with death, think of the battlefield. Corpses in different stages of decay, the slowly dying, moments of death exist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/if-these-pages-are-thick-with-death-think-of-the-battlefield-corpses/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [“We heard of this woman who was out of control. We heard that she was led by her feelings. That her emotions were violent.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/we-heard-of-this-woman-who-was-out-of-control-we-heard-that-she-was/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) [Explore all 80 Susan Griffin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) ## More Emptiness quotes > [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/go-into-emptiness-strike-voids-bypass-what-he-defends-hit-him-where/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“ Desolation would not be the proper word to describe his feelings now; it was more the sense of emptiness he imagined he might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shusaku-endo/desolation-would-not-be-the-proper-word-to-describe-his-feelings-now/) [Shusaku Endo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shusaku-endo/) > [“those of little merit would not even have doubts about this doctrine of emptiness. even suspicion that objects are empty wrecks the seeds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aryadeva/those-of-little-merit-would-not-even-have-doubts-about-this-doctrine/) [aryadeva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aryadeva/) > [Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/anyone-whose-goal-is-something-higher-must-expect-someday-to-suffer-2/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“I close my eyes and I let my body shut itself down and I let my mind wander. It wanders to a familiar place.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/i-close-my-eyes-and-i-let-my-body-shut-itself-down-and-i-let-my-mind/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [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/) > [“Only the thirsty knows the real taste of water; only the lonely knows the real weight of emptiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/only-the-thirsty-knows-the-real-taste-of-water-only-the-lonely-knows/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [What I was trying to convey there was the kind of waste land that was left after the war. It was a bit like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-martin/what-i-was-trying-to-convey-there-was-the-kind-of-waste-land-that-was/) [George Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-martin/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [But what was there to say? Only that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/but-what-was-there-to-say-only-that-there-were-tears-only-that/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [I got this emptiness inside that got me fighting for approval because I missed out on my daddy saying, Way to Go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/i-got-this-emptiness-inside-that-got-me-fighting-for-approval-because/) [Lecrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [“As we see it, space is possible only when the primordial Being swallows emptiness. Space is born when the Being accepts emptiness, the Nonbeing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/as-we-see-it-space-is-possible-only-when-the-primordial-being/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) [Browse all 1,374 Emptiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“[...] we must recognize that in our own experience of emptiness, that even though one feels \"empty\", one must have a self in order to feel this emptiness; a loss cannot be felt unless what is missed is really a lost part of the self. Unwholeness is a feeling which belongs only to a being born whole and somehow denied access to this whole self. A being born \"unwhole\" would be whole in that partiality, happy with that cavernous state, and feel no emptiness, miss nothing, feel at home in a vacuum of identity. It is precisely because we have selves that we mourn.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susan Griffin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/we-must-recognize-that-in-our-own-experience-of-emptiness-that-even/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Emptiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/we-must-recognize-that-in-our-own-experience-of-emptiness-that-even/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cc/susan-griffin-8475_emptiness_we-must-recognize-that-in-our-own-experi_2574268.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cc/susan-griffin-8475_emptiness_we-must-recognize-that-in-our-own-experi_2574268.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cc/susan-griffin-8475_emptiness_we-must-recognize-that-in-our-own-experi_2574268.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[...] we must recognize that in our own experience of emptiness, that even though one feels \"empty\", one…” — Susan Griffin", "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": "Susan Griffin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“[...] we must recognize that in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/we-must-recognize-that-in-our-own-experience-of-emptiness-that-even/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/we-must-recognize-that-in-our-own-experience-of-emptiness-that-even/#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 } } ] } ```