--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have come to understand that the self…" description: "\"I have come to understand that the self, my self, is inherently sacred. By virtue of its own improbability, its own miracle, its own emergence. And so ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15d/ursula-goodenough-28376_affection_i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self_1404872.png" --- # I have come to understand that the self, my self, is… ![“I have come to understand that the self, my self, is inherently sacred. By virtue of its own improbability, its own miracle, its own emergence. And so I lift up my head, and I bear my own witness, with affection and tenderness and respect. And in so doing, I sanctify myself with my own grace.” quote by Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15d/ursula-goodenough-28376_affection_i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self_1404872.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15d/ursula-goodenough-28376_affection_i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self_1404872.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15d/ursula-goodenough-28376_affection_i-have-come-to-understand-that-the-self_1404872.png) > “I have come to understand that the self, my self, is inherently sacred. By virtue of its own improbability, its own miracle, its own emergence. And so I lift up my head, and I bear my own witness, with affection and tenderness and respect. And in so doing, I sanctify myself with my own grace.” [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Recognizing one’s own inherent worth and miraculous existence leads to self‑respect and inner grace. **In simple terms:** Self is sacred and miraculous. Key Takeaway Honor yourself daily. Themes self‑respect spirituality mindfulness Mood reflective calm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - mental health - spiritual practice - self‑care Key Concepts miracle inherence grace Questions to Reflect On - How do you practice self‑affection? - What rituals reinforce your sense of sacredness? A Different Perspective Self‑esteem can be fragile without external validation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Emergence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emergence/) [Grace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grace/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Miracle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miracle/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Sacred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacred/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Tenderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tenderness/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [There is nothing inherently sacred about moral codes. Like the wooden idols of long ago, they are the work of human hands, and what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-szandor-lavey/there-is-nothing-inherently-sacred-about-moral-codes-like-the-wooden/) [Anton Szandor LaVey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-szandor-lavey/) > [“No creed must be accepted upon authority of a "divine" nature. Religions must be put to the question. no moral dogma must be taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-szandor-lavey/no-creed-must-be-accepted-upon-authority-of-a-divine-nature-religions/) [Anton Szandor LaVey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-szandor-lavey/) > [Okaii when someone says they understand me its hard to believe like how can you understand me when I even can't understand my self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/la-fujo/okaii-when-someone-says-they-understand-me-its-hard-to-believe-like/) La Fujo > [“Loneliness is that feeling to understand your own Self”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samar-sudha/loneliness-is-that-feeling-to-understand-your-own-self/) [Samar Sudha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samar-sudha/) > [I wondered that no one understand me, than wondered a bit more realising even I don't get me at times!! Sometime later all amazement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/i-wondered-that-no-one-understand-me-than-wondered-a-bit-more/) Senoraroy > [The strength of prayer lies in our sincerity.The most difficult phases in life is not when no one understands you, it is when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-strength-of-prayer-lies-in-our-sincerity-the-most-difficult/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In this world, some things happen that we can't completely understand. That's OK; we don't have to understand it. All we have to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-k-subban/in-this-world-some-things-happen-that-we-can-t-completely-understand/) [P.K. Subban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-k-subban/) > [I understand the self-loathing and the resentment, and the discipline that it takes to sit down in front of a typewriter or computer every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-duchovny/i-understand-the-self-loathing-and-the-resentment-and-the-discipline/) [David Duchovny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-duchovny/) > [“He looked at her for a moment, amazed. "How did you know that? How can a servant girl like you understand so much?" Because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/y-s-lee/he-looked-at-her-for-a-moment-amazed-how-did-you-know-that-how-can-a/) [Y.S. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/y-s-lee/) > [“Ego, Identity and Self - the 3 concepts of one's creation that defines them entirely. Have an Ego, for without one, there is nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-suggs/ego-identity-and-self-the-3-concepts-of-one-s-creation-that-defines/) [Lionel Suggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-suggs/) > [You’re a human, you should understand self-obsession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/you-re-a-human-you-should-understand-self-obsession/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [To understand one's self is the classic form of consolation; to delude one's self is the romantic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-understand-one-s-self-is-the-classic-form-of-consolation-to-delude/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Long before we understand ourselves through the process of self-examination, we understand ourselves in a self-evident way in the family, society and state in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-georg-gadamer/long-before-we-understand-ourselves-through-the-process-of-self/) [Hans-Georg Gadamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-georg-gadamer/) > [“On the other hand, you're a human--you should understand self-obsession.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/on-the-other-hand-you-re-a-human-you-should-understand-self-obsession/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [“I began to understand that self-esteem isn’t everything; it’s just that there’s nothing without it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-began-to-understand-that-self-esteem-isn-t-everything-it-s-just/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## More by Ursula Goodenough > [Early humans, bursting with questions about Nature but with limited understanding of its dynamics, explained things in terms of supernatural persons and person-animals who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/early-humans-bursting-with-questions-about-nature-but-with-limited/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [The most reliable joy is to be out of doors, to be a creature among other creatures. I find it very restful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-most-reliable-joy-is-to-be-out-of-doors-to-be-a-creature-among/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [Human consensus does not generate reality. Were it able to do so, the Sun would have taken to orbiting the Earth some time ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/human-consensus-does-not-generate-reality-were-it-able-to-do-so-the/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [Reverence is the sense that there is something larger than the self, larger even than the human, to which one accords respect and awe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/reverence-is-the-sense-that-there-is-something-larger-than-the-self/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [Perhaps we should all settle down and think about what's good in the world and what we want to do here. If we find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/perhaps-we-should-all-settle-down-and-think-about-what-s-good-in-the/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [The evolution of the cosmos invokes in me a sense of mystery; the increase in biodiversity invokes the response of humility; and an understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-evolution-of-the-cosmos-invokes-in-me-a-sense-of-mystery-the/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [The biochemistry and biophysics are the notes required for life; they conspire, collectively, to generate the real unit of life, the organism. The intermediate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-biochemistry-and-biophysics-are-the-notes-required-for-life-they/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [Human memory, they say, is like a coat closet: The most enduring outcome of a formal education is that it creates rows of coat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/human-memory-they-say-is-like-a-coat-closet-the-most-enduring-outcome/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [“Life, we can now say, is getting something to happen against the odds, and remembering how to do it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/life-we-can-now-say-is-getting-something-to-happen-against-the-odds/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [It is as we respond to the understandings and feelings inherent in . . . art that we acquire much of our truth, much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/it-is-as-we-respond-to-the-understandings-and-feelings-inherent-in/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [The religious naturalist is provisioned with tales of natural emergence that are, to my mind, far more magical than traditional miracles. Emergence is inherent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-religious-naturalist-is-provisioned-with-tales-of-natural/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [The Big Bang, the formation of sars and planets, the origin and evolution of life on this planet, the advent of human consciousness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-big-bang-the-formation-of-sars-and-planets-the-origin-and/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [It seems far simpler to go ahead and say that the epic is a fantastic myth, that happens to be true of the material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/it-seems-far-simpler-to-go-ahead-and-say-that-the-epic-is-a-fantastic/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [The concept of an independent spiritual realm does not augment, for me, the magic of the mystical dimension, whereas to think of this dimension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-concept-of-an-independent-spiritual-realm-does-not-augment-for-me/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [When the responses elicited by the Epic of Evolution are gathered together several religious principles emerge that I can believe, serve as a framework…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/when-the-responses-elicited-by-the-epic-of-evolution-are-gathered/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) [Explore all 19 Ursula Goodenough quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) ## More Affection quotes > [My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with diffiulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/my-team-and-i-have-reunited-two-elements-that-coexist-with-diffiulty/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [Needs cause motivation. Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [“It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/it-is-to-build-a-house-with-affection-even-as-if-your-beloved-were-to/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There are a number of qualities which are important for mental peace, but from the little experience I have, I believe that one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-are-a-number-of-qualities-which-are-important-for-mental-peace/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [A lost love. Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [Affection! Affection is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/affection-affection-is-false/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Listen, I have a great affection and respect for Joe Biden. I think he's been a great vice president. He's taken on a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-axelrod/listen-i-have-a-great-affection-and-respect-for-joe-biden-i-think-he/) [David Axelrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-axelrod/) > [The still affection of the heart Became an outward breathing type, That into stillness past again, And left a want unknown before; Although the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/the-still-affection-of-the-heart-became-an-outward-breathing-type/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [I am persuaded that there is no affection of the human heart more exquisitely pure, than that which is felt by a grateful son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/i-am-persuaded-that-there-is-no-affection-of-the-human-heart-more/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Our sweetest experiences of affection are meant to be suggestions of that realm which is the home of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/our-sweetest-experiences-of-affection-are-meant-to-be-suggestions-of/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Browse all 2,465 Affection quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have come to understand that the self, my self, is inherently sacred. 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