--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So much for selflove: I carry it with me…" description: "\"“So much for selflove: I carry it with me like a dear cancerous relative - to be disposed of only when desperation sets in.”\" — Sylvia Plath" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/sylvia-plath-149_desperation_so-much-for-selflove-i-carry-it-with-me_305182.jpg" --- # So much for selflove: I carry it with me like a dear… ![“So much for selflove: I carry it with me like a dear cancerous relative - to be disposed of only when desperation sets in.” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/sylvia-plath-149_desperation_so-much-for-selflove-i-carry-it-with-me_305182.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/sylvia-plath-149_desperation_so-much-for-selflove-i-carry-it-with-me_305182.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/sylvia-plath-149_desperation_so-much-for-selflove-i-carry-it-with-me_305182.jpg) > ““So much for selflove: I carry it with me like a dear cancerous relative - to be disposed of only when desperation sets in.”” [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. Self‑love is portrayed as a burdensome, unhealthy companion that one only discards when desperation forces it. **In simple terms:** Self‑love feels like a harmful habit you keep until you’re forced to let go. Key Takeaway Recognize unhealthy self‑image and seek healthier self‑acceptance. Themes self‑esteem burden desperation mental health Mood melancholic reflective Type literary psychological When to use this quote - personal reflection - therapy sessions - creative writing - support groups Key Concepts psychology identity self‑compassion Questions to Reflect On - How does you view self‑love affect your wellbeing? - What steps can transform a toxic self‑image into healthy self‑acceptance? A Different Perspective Self‑love can be genuine and nurturing, not merely a coping mechanism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desperation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desperation/) [Self love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-love/) ## Related quotes > [“I let her down. I left her here. I’m not leaving you. You can either get up on my back and help me out,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milana-jacks/i-let-her-down-i-left-her-here-i-m-not-leaving-you-you-can-either-get/) [Milana Jacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milana-jacks/) > [I've always felt that wherever I go, I have to carry myself like I'm a main event guy and like I'm a star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-aries/i-ve-always-felt-that-wherever-i-go-i-have-to-carry-myself-like-i-m-a/) [Austin Aries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-aries/) > [“Hey Orion? Put some pants on, toss her over your shoulder, and carry her off like a man, for the love of Pete!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/hey-orion-put-some-pants-on-toss-her-over-your-shoulder-and-carry-her/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [Everybody's got their secrets; I carry mine like a jagged stone in my shoe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-jones/everybody-s-got-their-secrets-i-carry-mine-like-a-jagged-stone-in-my/) [Patrick Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-jones/) > [Carry yourself like a champion now so when you get there, it's not a surprise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fizdale/carry-yourself-like-a-champion-now-so-when-you-get-there-it-s-not-a/) [David Fizdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fizdale/) > [I may be sad, and feeling bad, but I will be strong and carry on, like I always have...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mislali/i-may-be-sad-and-feeling-bad-but-i-will-be-strong-and-carry-on-like-i/) [MisLali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mislali/) > [“I hope I fed you enough. While I'm here. So you carry it with you. Like a camel.' I can hear the smile in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-hope-i-fed-you-enough-while-i-m-here-so-you-carry-it-with-you-like/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I'm a terrible person for carrying things around. I carry everything around with me, it's like my home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-sutton/i-m-a-terrible-person-for-carrying-things-around-i-carry-everything/) [Sarah Sutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-sutton/) > [Carry yourself like a Queen and you'll get your King. Carry yourself as a hoe and we'll see how far you go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cuts-and-scars/carry-yourself-like-a-queen-and-you-ll-get-your-king-carry-yourself/) Cuts And Scars > [I do like to have guns around. I don't like to carry them. But I like - if somebody is going to come into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-do-like-to-have-guns-around-i-don-t-like-to-carry-them-but-i-like/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“always carry yourself like you just got best photo in America's Next Top Model even if your life constantly feels like you're on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-teen-on-tumblr/always-carry-yourself-like-you-just-got-best-photo-in-america-s-next/) A Teen on Tumblr > [“Why do we carry on like everything is normal when it's not?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boxtrolls/why-do-we-carry-on-like-everything-is-normal-when-it-s-not/) Boxtrolls > [Carry yourself like a Queen and youll get your King. Carry yourself as a hoe and well see how far you go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/carry-yourself-like-a-queen-and-youll-get-your-king-carry-yourself-as/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nat: I don't know. The weight of it, I guess. At some point it becomes bearable. It turns into something you can crawl out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lindsay-abaire/nat-i-don-t-know-the-weight-of-it-i-guess-at-some-point-it-becomes/) [David Lindsay-Abaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lindsay-abaire/) > [“I was ambitious and desperate to direct my first film, so I capitulated and blew it. Never again. Never fucking again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-was-ambitious-and-desperate-to-direct-my-first-film-so-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) ## 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 Desperation quotes > [“I was ambitious and desperate to direct my first film, so I capitulated and blew it. Never again. Never fucking again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-was-ambitious-and-desperate-to-direct-my-first-film-so-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [The thing about living alone is that it gives you a lot of time to think. You don't necessarily reach any conclusions, because wisdom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/the-thing-about-living-alone-is-that-it-gives-you-a-lot-of-time-to/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [Lol, the thirst on SQ is serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maher/lol-the-thirst-on-sq-is-serious/) [Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maher/) > [“Who among us does not move through life with the hidden sense, maybe even quiet desperation, that we are destined for more?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bregman/who-among-us-does-not-move-through-life-with-the-hidden-sense-maybe/) [Peter Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bregman/) > [In exams, we look up for inspiration, down for desperation, left and right for information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/in-exams-we-look-up-for-inspiration-down-for-desperation-left-and/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-mass-of-men-lead-lives-of-quiet-desperation-what-is-called/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“In the moments of your deepest need, despair and desperation, what you need more than any other thing, is calm and faith.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/in-the-moments-of-your-deepest-need-despair-and-desperation-what-you/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [The desperation was coming off you in waves. You were all but begging to dance with me. I am doing you a favor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-hocking/the-desperation-was-coming-off-you-in-waves-you-were-all-but-begging/) [Amanda Hocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-hocking/) > [Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/desperation-is-sometimes-as-powerful-an-inspirer-as-genius/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [“Soon, I found myself locked in my own cage of fear and desperation, where my experience of life was getting smaller and smaller.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-moorjani/soon-i-found-myself-locked-in-my-own-cage-of-fear-and-desperation/) [Anita Moorjani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-moorjani/) > [“Desperation breeds people who are willing to do anything to get what they need.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/desperation-breeds-people-who-are-willing-to-do-anything-to-get-what/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [“If you were mine, I'd never leave you, Prudence. I couldn't.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-gracie/if-you-were-mine-i-d-never-leave-you-prudence-i-couldn-t/) [Anne Gracie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-gracie/) > [I took Second City out of desperation, and that's what ended up working out. It shows that you should be doing a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hader/i-took-second-city-out-of-desperation-and-that-s-what-ended-up/) [Bill Hader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hader/) > [“silent desperation of everything they never said - gaps and absences in every conversation, the past circumscribing the present, the future hemming in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/silent-desperation-of-everything-they-never-said-gaps-and-absences-in/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“The car was on the FDR drive now and, turning her head, she glanced out at the bleak brown buildings of the projects that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candace-bushnell/the-car-was-on-the-fdr-drive-now-and-turning-her-head-she-glanced-out/) [Candace Bushnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candace-bushnell/) [Browse all 697 Desperation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desperation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So much for selflove: I carry it with me like a dear cancerous relative - to be disposed of only when desperation sets in.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sylvia Plath" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/so-much-for-selflove-i-carry-it-with-me-like-a-dear-cancerous/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desperation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/so-much-for-selflove-i-carry-it-with-me-like-a-dear-cancerous/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/sylvia-plath-149_desperation_so-much-for-selflove-i-carry-it-with-me_305182.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/sylvia-plath-149_desperation_so-much-for-selflove-i-carry-it-with-me_305182.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a0/sylvia-plath-149_desperation_so-much-for-selflove-i-carry-it-with-me_305182.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So much for selflove: I carry it with me like a dear cancerous relative - to be disposed of only when…” — Sylvia Plath", "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": "Sylvia Plath", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“So much for selflove: I carry...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/so-much-for-selflove-i-carry-it-with-me-like-a-dear-cancerous/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/so-much-for-selflove-i-carry-it-with-me-like-a-dear-cancerous/#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 } } ] } ```