--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would like to be everyone, a cripple, a…" description: "\"“I would like to be everyone, a cripple, a dying man, a whore, and then come back to write about my thoughts, my emotions, as that person. But I am not..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c5/sylvia-plath-149_death_i-would-like-to-be-everyone-a-cripple-a_576355.jpg" --- # I would like to be everyone, a cripple, a dying man, a… ![“I would like to be everyone, a cripple, a dying man, a whore, and then come back to write about my thoughts, my emotions, as that person. But I am not omniscient. I have to live my life, and it is the only one I'll ever have.” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c5/sylvia-plath-149_death_i-would-like-to-be-everyone-a-cripple-a_576355.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c5/sylvia-plath-149_death_i-would-like-to-be-everyone-a-cripple-a_576355.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c5/sylvia-plath-149_death_i-would-like-to-be-everyone-a-cripple-a_576355.jpg) > ““I would like to be everyone, a cripple, a dying man, a whore, and then come back to write about my thoughts, my emotions, as that person. But I am not omniscient. 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/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Attempting to embody all experiences highlights limits of perspective; authenticity comes from living one's own life. **In simple terms:** You cannot fully know others; live your own truth. Key Takeaway Accept personal limits and focus on your own story. Themes identity empathy limitations authenticity self‑knowledge Mood introspective poignant Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - self‑reflection - artistic creation - personal growth Key Concepts existentialism subjectivity creative expression Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of your life are uniquely yours? - How does acknowledging limits shape your art? A Different Perspective Total empathy is impossible; striving for it may dilute self‑understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [“I would like to be everyone, a cripple, a dying man, a whore, and then come back to write about my thoughts, my emotions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-would-like-to-be-everyone-a-cripple-a-dying-man-a-whore-and-then/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I love people. Everybody. I love them, I think, as a stamp collector loves his collection. Every story, every incident, every bit of conversation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-people-everybody-i-love-them-i-think-as-a-stamp-collector/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [When you're in front of the camera, you have to try to create different emotions because even the person making pictures of you needs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-bellucci/when-you-re-in-front-of-the-camera-you-have-to-try-to-create/) [Monica Bellucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-bellucci/) > [Art is a process of delivering or arranging elements that appeal to the emotions of a person looking at it. It's what you feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaquille-o-neal/art-is-a-process-of-delivering-or-arranging-elements-that-appeal-to/) [Shaquille O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaquille-o-neal/) > [Ladies, if he not acting right then it is your job to step. No point in putting your emotions into a person who is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enhance-dreams/ladies-if-he-not-acting-right-then-it-is-your-job-to-step-no-point-in/) Enhance Dreams > [Humanity needs more than merely information. We express original ideas, humor, and our personal wills. We express passions and emotions. A person's point of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hideo-kojima/humanity-needs-more-than-merely-information-we-express-original-ideas/) [Hideo Kojima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hideo-kojima/) > [Hatred, revenge, bitterness - these are negative emotions. The person harbouring those emotions suffers more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmed-kathrada/hatred-revenge-bitterness-these-are-negative-emotions-the-person/) Ahmed Kathrada > [A person with power has control of their emotions. 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It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-kostek/write-down-your-fears-write-down-your-thoughts-write-down-the/) [Camille Kostek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-kostek/) > [Ours is one of the last independent companies that offer a place you may write down your thoughts free from having to worry about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-watkins/ours-is-one-of-the-last-independent-companies-that-offer-a-place-you/) [Jim Watkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-watkins/) > [I keep a composition book with me at all times to write rhymes, to write down ideas, write down my thoughts, you know just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cordae/i-keep-a-composition-book-with-me-at-all-times-to-write-rhymes-to/) [Cordae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cordae/) > [ “He began to write his thoughts and observations concerning the day's events \[...\] It helped him better understand everything he had seen and done… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/he-began-to-write-his-thoughts-and-observations-concerning-the-day-s/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [It may be glorious to write Thoughts that shall glad the two or three High souls, like those far stars that come in sight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/it-may-be-glorious-to-write-thoughts-that-shall-glad-the-two-or-three/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [I do have a journal, that I write all my thoughts in every day. So that's kind of something. I also have a burn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-cosgrove/i-do-have-a-journal-that-i-write-all-my-thoughts-in-every-day-so-that/) [Miranda Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-cosgrove/) ## 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. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I couldn't stand the idea of a woman having to have a single pure life and a man being able to have a double…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-couldn-t-stand-the-idea-of-a-woman-having-to-have-a-single-pure/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I saw the gooseflesh on my skin. I did not know what made it. I was not cold. Had a ghost passed over? 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. Ordinarily, I would have been nervous about my dress and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-city-had-faded-my-tan-though-i-looked-yellow-as-a-chinaman/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Joy:show joy & enjoy: then others will be joyful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/joy-show-joy-enjoy-then-others-will-be-joyful/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [A million years of evolution, Eric said bitterly, and what are we? 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. Overhead the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/flute-notes-from-a-reedy-pond-now-coldness-comes-sifting-down-layer/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The most saddening thing is to admit that I am not in love. I can only love (if that means self denial - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-most-saddening-thing-is-to-admit-that-i-am-not-in-love-i-can-only/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Explore all 1,098 Sylvia Plath quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) J. Anthony Torino > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) Alan W. Powers > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. 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