--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I smile, now, thinking: we all like to…" description: "\"I smile, now, thinking: we all like to think we are important enough to need psychiatrists\" — Sylvia Plath" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/sylvia-plath-149_enough_i-smile-now-thinking-we-all-like-to-thin_396592.jpg" --- # I smile, now, thinking: we all like to think we are… ![“I smile, now, thinking: we all like to think we are important enough to need psychiatrists” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/sylvia-plath-149_enough_i-smile-now-thinking-we-all-like-to-thin_396592.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/sylvia-plath-149_enough_i-smile-now-thinking-we-all-like-to-thin_396592.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/sylvia-plath-149_enough_i-smile-now-thinking-we-all-like-to-thin_396592.jpg) > “I smile, now, thinking: we all like to think we are important enough to need psychiatrists” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We often overestimate our own significance, seeking professional help to validate it. **In simple terms:** We think we need psychiatrists to feel important. Key Takeaway Recognize self‑worth without external validation. Themes self‑esteem mental health ego validation Mood contemplative melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - therapy sessions - academic discussions - social media posts Key Concepts existentialism psychology self‑perception Questions to Reflect On - Do you seek validation from others? - How does this affect your self‑image? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on external validation can hinder personal growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [I smile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-smile/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Need Psychiatrists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-psychiatrists-3567488/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Psychiatrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychiatrist/) [Psychiatrists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychiatrists/) [Smile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smile/) [Smile Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smile-thinking-2447930/) [Think Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-important-263438/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“We all like to think that we are important enough to need psychiatrists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/we-all-like-to-think-that-we-are-important-enough-to-need/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Keep clear of psychiatrists unless you know that they are also Christians. Otherwise they start with the assumption that your religion is an illusion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/keep-clear-of-psychiatrists-unless-you-know-that-they-are-also/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [In Greece we're too poor to go to psychiatrists -- we have friends instead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-mercouri/in-greece-we-re-too-poor-to-go-to-psychiatrists-we-have-friends/) [Melina Mercouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-mercouri/) > [If you listen to neurologists and psychiatrists, you'd never fall in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/if-you-listen-to-neurologists-and-psychiatrists-you-d-never-fall-in/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Yes, women are stronger than us. 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When Galileo discovered the moons of Jupiter, the astronomers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-weiss/throughout-history-humankind-has-been-resistant-to-change-and-to-the/) [Brian Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-weiss/) > [Isn't it boring ... how people always want to tell you their own stories instead of listening to yours? I suppose that's why psychiatrists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-van-slyke/isn-t-it-boring-how-people-always-want-to-tell-you-their-own-stories/) [Helen Van Slyke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-van-slyke/) > [Psychiatrists are usually very well imbued with the clinical role, where helping the sick person is the goal. And that's quite incompatible with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/park-dietz/psychiatrists-are-usually-very-well-imbued-with-the-clinical-role/) [Park Dietz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/park-dietz/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. But it is hard and I have so much, so very much to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-life-but-it-is-hard-and-i-have-so-much-so-very-much-to-learn/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [... These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. ... --Lady Lazarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/these-are-my-hands-my-knees-i-may-be-skin-and-bone-nevertheless-i-am/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. 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No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-to-live-my-life-and-it-is-the-only-one-i-ll-ever-have/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The city had faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman. 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Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. 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