--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: guileless and without vanity,we were…" description: "\"guileless and without vanity,we were still in love with ourselves then. We felt comfortable in our own skins, enjoyed the news that our senses released..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/toni-morrison-271_dirt_guileless-and-without-vanity-we-were-sti_857592.jpg" --- # guileless and without vanity,we were still in love with… ![“guileless and without vanity,we were still in love with ourselves then. We felt comfortable in our own skins, enjoyed the news that our senses released to us, admired our dirt, cultivated our scars, and could not comprehend this unworthiness.” quote by Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/toni-morrison-271_dirt_guileless-and-without-vanity-we-were-sti_857592.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/toni-morrison-271_dirt_guileless-and-without-vanity-we-were-sti_857592.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/toni-morrison-271_dirt_guileless-and-without-vanity-we-were-sti_857592.jpg) > “guileless and without vanity,we were still in love with ourselves then. We felt comfortable in our own skins, enjoyed the news that our senses released to us, admired our dirt, cultivated our scars, and could not comprehend this unworthiness.” [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage reflects on youthful self-acceptance, appreciating one's flaws and scars, yet feeling unworthy. **In simple terms:** We loved ourselves despite flaws, yet felt unworthy. Key Takeaway Embrace imperfections, but seek self-worth beyond them. Themes self‑acceptance vulnerability identity growth self‑esteem Mood introspective hopeful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - therapy - creative writing - support groups - mindfulness Key Concepts human nature psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of yourself do you cherish? - How can you transform perceived unworthiness into confidence? A Different Perspective Self‑acceptance can be fragile; societal pressures may undermine it. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dirt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dirt/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [News](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/news/) [Scar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scar/) [Still in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/still-in-love/) [Vanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vanity/) ## Related quotes > [Those Women who boast the Affections of their Admirers, have a greater share of Vanity than Love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-haywood/those-women-who-boast-the-affections-of-their-admirers-have-a-greater/) [Eliza Haywood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-haywood/) > [Women are much more like each other than men: they have, in truth, but two passions, vanity and love; these are their universal characteristics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/women-are-much-more-like-each-other-than-men-they-have-in-truth-but/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [“All sensible people know that vanity is the most devastating, the most universal, and the most ineradicable of the passions that afflict the soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/all-sensible-people-know-that-vanity-is-the-most-devastating-the-most/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Vanity, not love, has been my folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/vanity-not-love-has-been-my-folly/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [The highest form of vanity is love of fame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-highest-form-of-vanity-is-love-of-fame/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“All that is in the world is vanity except to love God and serve him only.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/all-that-is-in-the-world-is-vanity-except-to-love-god-and-serve-him/) [Thomas a Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [“But vanity, not love, has been my folly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/but-vanity-not-love-has-been-my-folly/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Most frequently we make confidants from vanity, a love of talking, a wish to win the confidence of others, and to make an exchange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-alexandre-frederic-duc-de-la-rochefoucauld-liancourt/most-frequently-we-make-confidants-from-vanity-a-love-of-talking-a/) Francois Alexandre Frederic, duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt > [Ladies of Fashion starve their happiness to feed their vanity, and their love to feed their pride.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/ladies-of-fashion-starve-their-happiness-to-feed-their-vanity-and/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [All is vanity but to love God and serve Him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/all-is-vanity-but-to-love-god-and-serve-him/) [Thomas a Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [“It is vanity, too, to covet honours, and to lift up ourselves on high...It is vanity, to love that which quickly passeth away and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/it-is-vanity-too-to-covet-honours-and-to-lift-up-ourselves-on-high-it/) [Thomas à Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind. 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This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/i-have-wanted-to-kill-myself-a-hundred-times-but-somehow-i-am-still/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More by Toni Morrison > [Perhaps that's what all human relationships boiled down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/perhaps-that-s-what-all-human-relationships-boiled-down-to-would-you/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-times-of-dread-artists-must-never-choose-to-remain-silent/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Not know it was hard;knowing it was harder”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/not-know-it-was-hard-knowing-it-was-harder/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Didn’t everything on God’s earth have or acquire defense?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/didn-t-everything-on-god-s-earth-have-or-acquire-defense/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [If you can't count, they can cheat you. 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