--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the longing need to be noticed that is…" description: "\"“the longing need to be noticed that is often miscalled ego.”\" — Thomas Harris" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/thomas-harris-1874_longing_the-longing-need-to-be-noticed-that-is-o_641407.png" --- # the longing need to be noticed that is often miscalled ego. ![“the longing need to be noticed that is often miscalled ego.” quote by Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/thomas-harris-1874_longing_the-longing-need-to-be-noticed-that-is-o_641407.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/thomas-harris-1874_longing_the-longing-need-to-be-noticed-that-is-o_641407.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/thomas-harris-1874_longing_the-longing-need-to-be-noticed-that-is-o_641407.png) > ““the longing need to be noticed that is often miscalled ego.”” [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The desire for recognition is often mislabeled as ego, revealing a deeper need for connection and validation. **In simple terms:** Wanting attention is often called ego. Key Takeaway Recognize the need for connection behind ego. Themes recognition ego validation Mood contemplative analytical Type psychological motivational When to use this quote - social media use - team dynamics - personal relationships - leadership Key Concepts psychology self‑esteem Questions to Reflect On - What drives your need for recognition? - How can you balance self‑validation with humility? A Different Perspective It can ignore healthy self‑confidence and achievement motivation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Longing Need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing-need-2188279/) [Miscalled Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miscalled-ego-5148486/) [Need Noticed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-noticed-5148487/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Noticed Miscalled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noticed-miscalled-5148488/) ## Related quotes > [My children are 10 and three, and the longing and the need for them is incredibly powerful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/treat-williams/my-children-are-10-and-three-and-the-longing-and-the-need-for-them-is/) [Treat Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/treat-williams/) > [To have a firm foundation as a child of God is something that so many people are longing for and wanting because they're searching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-tebow/to-have-a-firm-foundation-as-a-child-of-god-is-something-that-so-many/) [Tim Tebow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-tebow/) > [“True friendship is not about what others can bring to you. It is not about having someone there for you when you need them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-marchand/true-friendship-is-not-about-what-others-can-bring-to-you-it-is-not/) [Steve Marchand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-marchand/) > [“I walk with a dual longing for life and for death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-lee-houghton/i-walk-with-a-dual-longing-for-life-and-for-death/) [Melissa Lee-Houghton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-lee-houghton/) > [“…The truth: dreaming is lonely the further away the closer to this one time No one has held me for so long Days stitch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angkarn-chanthathip/the-truth-dreaming-is-lonely-the-further-away-the-closer-to-this-one/) [Angkarn Chanthathip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angkarn-chanthathip/) > [The orgasm has replaced the Cross as the focus of longing and the image of fulfillment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/the-orgasm-has-replaced-the-cross-as-the-focus-of-longing-and-the/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [“How sad, he thought, that desire found new objects but did not abate, that when it came to longing there was no end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/how-sad-he-thought-that-desire-found-new-objects-but-did-not-abate/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [If we really face our sadness, we find it speaks with the voice of our deepest longing. And if we face it a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kingsley/if-we-really-face-our-sadness-we-find-it-speaks-with-the-voice-of-our/) [Peter Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kingsley/) > [To show a longing for anything that one cannot have, for instance, is not a clever position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/to-show-a-longing-for-anything-that-one-cannot-have-for-instance-is/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [I can negate everything of that part of me that lives on vague nostalgias, except this desire for unity, this longing to solve, this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-can-negate-everything-of-that-part-of-me-that-lives-on-vague/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Longing is like a seed that wrestles in the ground](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/longing-is-like-a-seed-that-wrestles-in-the-ground/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [It (taking photographs) is all about longingwithout longing-no pictures at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anders-petersen/it-taking-photographs-is-all-about-longingwithout-longing-no-pictures/) [Anders Petersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anders-petersen/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) ## More by Thomas Harris > [“Don't think you can persuade me with appeals to my intellectual vanity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/don-t-think-you-can-persuade-me-with-appeals-to-my-intellectual-vanity/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [“He liked the Leedses. He was sorry that he had been to the morgue. He thought the madman who visited them might have liked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/he-liked-the-leedses-he-was-sorry-that-he-had-been-to-the-morgue-he/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [On a related subject, Signore Pazzi, I must confess to you: I'm giving serious thought to eating your wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/on-a-related-subject-signore-pazzi-i-must-confess-to-you-i-m-giving/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [ “\[T\]here is no consensus in the psychiatric community that Dr. Lecter should be termed a man. He has long been regarded by his professional… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/t-here-is-no-consensus-in-the-psychiatric-community-that-dr-lecter/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [“And then, the last words Raspail ever said: 'I wonder why my parents didn't kill me before I was old enough to fool them.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/and-then-the-last-words-raspail-ever-said-i-wonder-why-my-parents/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [One can only see what one observes, and one observes only things which are already in the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/one-can-only-see-what-one-observes-and-one-observes-only-things-which/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [“She found Starling in the warm laundry room, dozing against the slow rump-rump of a washing machine in the smell of bleach and soap…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/she-found-starling-in-the-warm-laundry-room-dozing-against-the-slow/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [He moves smoothly and slowly, carrying his concentration like a brimming cup.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/he-moves-smoothly-and-slowly-carrying-his-concentration-like-a/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [God's creatures who cried themselves to sleep stirred to cry again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/god-s-creatures-who-cried-themselves-to-sleep-stirred-to-cry-again/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [“The emperor counsels simplicity. First principles. Of each particular thing, ask: What is it in itself, in its own constitution? What is its causal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/the-emperor-counsels-simplicity-first-principles-of-each-particular/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [What do you look at while you’re making up your mind? Ours is not a reflective culture, we do no raise our eyes up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/what-do-you-look-at-while-you-re-making-up-your-mind-ours-is-not-a/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [“I have no plans to call on you, Clarice, the world being more interesting with you in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/i-have-no-plans-to-call-on-you-clarice-the-world-being-more/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [“To write a novel, you begin with what you can see and then you add what came before and what came after.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/to-write-a-novel-you-begin-with-what-you-can-see-and-then-you-add/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [“Every person is worth your time, Hannibal. If at first appearance a person seems dull, then look harder, look into him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/every-person-is-worth-your-time-hannibal-if-at-first-appearance-a/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [What he has in addition is pure empathy and projection,” Dr. Bloom said. “He can assume your point of view, or mine – and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/what-he-has-in-addition-is-pure-empathy-and-projection-dr-bloom-said/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) [Explore all 197 Thomas Harris quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) ## More Longing quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Tireless passion, fierce jealousy, longing to possess and crush-these alone were left of all his love for Rosalind; these remained to him as payment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/tireless-passion-fierce-jealousy-longing-to-possess-and-crush-these/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“She pretended not to notice the look of longing in his eyes. It didn’t mean anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-o-brien/she-pretended-not-to-notice-the-look-of-longing-in-his-eyes-it-didn-t/) [Kevin O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-o-brien/) > [The artist's experience lies so unbelievably close to the sexual, to its pain and its pleasure, that the two phenomena are really just different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/the-artist-s-experience-lies-so-unbelievably-close-to-the-sexual-to/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“My only enemy is the miles of distance that's there between us, my favorite place is the road that leads me to you -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jyoti-patel/my-only-enemy-is-the-miles-of-distance-that-s-there-between-us-my/) [Jyoti Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jyoti-patel/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [But I still has enough longing for that concept that I didn't want to dispel it completely. Meaning: I didn't want to tell Lily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/but-i-still-has-enough-longing-for-that-concept-that-i-didn-t-want-to/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Do the kind of things that come from the heart, When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-the-kind-of-things-that-come-from-the-heart-when-you-do-you-won-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And how do you really feel? Like I'll never recover. Like I'll never draw another breath without half of it being a wish for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-seville/and-how-do-you-really-feel-like-i-ll-never-recover-like-i-ll-never/) [Jane Seville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-seville/) > [The future teachers I try to recruit are those show have refused to let themselves be neutered in this way, either in their private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kozol/the-future-teachers-i-try-to-recruit-are-those-show-have-refused-to/) [Jonathan Kozol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kozol/) > [The greatest tales, well told, awaken the fears and longings of the listeners. Each man hears a different story. Each is touched by it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliet-marillier/the-greatest-tales-well-told-awaken-the-fears-and-longings-of-the/) [Juliet Marillier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliet-marillier/) [Browse all 2,553 Longing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“the longing need to be noticed that is often miscalled ego.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Harris" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/the-longing-need-to-be-noticed-that-is-often-miscalled-ego/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Longing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/the-longing-need-to-be-noticed-that-is-often-miscalled-ego/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/thomas-harris-1874_longing_the-longing-need-to-be-noticed-that-is-o_641407.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/thomas-harris-1874_longing_the-longing-need-to-be-noticed-that-is-o_641407.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/thomas-harris-1874_longing_the-longing-need-to-be-noticed-that-is-o_641407.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“the longing need to be noticed that is often miscalled ego.” — Thomas Harris", "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": "Thomas Harris", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“the longing need to be noticed...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/the-longing-need-to-be-noticed-that-is-often-miscalled-ego/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/the-longing-need-to-be-noticed-that-is-often-miscalled-ego/#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 } } ] } ```