---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: people cause so much of their own…"
description: "\"“people cause so much of their own suffering just because they think that without having these strong emotions they're not real people.”\" — Vicki Macke..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/vicki-mackenzie-96072_real-people_people-cause-so-much-of-their-own-suffer_2667231.jpg"
---

#  people cause so much of their own suffering just because…

![“people cause so much of their own suffering just because they think that without having these strong emotions they're not real people.” quote by Vicki Mackenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/vicki-mackenzie-96072_real-people_people-cause-so-much-of-their-own-suffer_2667231.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/vicki-mackenzie-96072_real-people_people-cause-so-much-of-their-own-suffer_2667231.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/vicki-mackenzie-96072_real-people_people-cause-so-much-of-their-own-suffer_2667231.jpg)

> ““people cause so much of their own suffering just because they think that without having these strong emotions they're not real people.””

[Vicki Mackenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-mackenzie/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The quote suggests people cause self‑suffering by believing emotions are necessary for authenticity.

**In simple terms:** People think strong emotions define them, causing pain.

Key Takeaway

Embrace authenticity beyond emotional extremes.

Themes

self‑awareness emotion suffering identity psychology

Mood

reflective insightful

Type

Real people:0 Strong emotions:1 Suffering:1 Cause Suffering:0 Suffering Just:0 Emotions Real:0

When to use this quote

- counseling
- personal growth
- mindfulness practice

Key Concepts

mental health philosophy self‑acceptance

Questions to Reflect On

- How do emotions shape identity?
- Can we be authentic without intense feelings?

A Different Perspective

Might oversimplify complex emotional needs.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Cause Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cause-suffering/) [Emotions Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotions-real-1304188/) [Real people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-people/) [Strong emotions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strong-emotions/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Suffering Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering-just-449537/)

## Related quotes

> [Life is not suffering; it's just that you will suffer it, rather than enjoy it, until you let go of your mind's attachments and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-millman/life-is-not-suffering-it-s-just-that-you-will-suffer-it-rather-than/)

[Dan Millman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-millman/)

> [From a Buddhist point of view, emotions are not real. As an actor, I manufacture emotions. They're a sense of play. But real life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-gere/from-a-buddhist-point-of-view-emotions-are-not-real-as-an-actor-i/)

[Richard Gere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-gere/)

> [We play many emotions in our careers, emotions that in real life we would perform just once. For example, my character has died in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitabh-bachchan/we-play-many-emotions-in-our-careers-emotions-that-in-real-life-we/)

[Amitabh Bachchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitabh-bachchan/)

> [Emotions are real, just not the reasons behind them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-jones/emotions-are-real-just-not-the-reasons-behind-them/)

[Carrie Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-jones/)

> [Women's emotions are still fitted for a kind of society that no longer exists. My deep emotions, my real ones, are to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/women-s-emotions-are-still-fitted-for-a-kind-of-society-that-no/)

[Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/)

> [I think what makes you feel so connected with certain writers isn't a matter of autobiographical detail, but that the emotions are real. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/i-think-what-makes-you-feel-so-connected-with-certain-writers-isn-t-a/)

[Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/)

> [“Rushing emotions have no more real power to sweep you away than a tiny brook can move a boulder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-howard/rushing-emotions-have-no-more-real-power-to-sweep-you-away-than-a/)

[Vernon Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-howard/)

> [All movies aren't fun; some are hard work. You try to do something and convey a set of emotions that have to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-l-jackson/all-movies-aren-t-fun-some-are-hard-work-you-try-to-do-something-and/)

[Samuel L. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-l-jackson/)

> [“Perhaps in body I am not quite as real as you,” he said, then looked alive, making him once again seem real, even though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzannah-daniels/perhaps-in-body-i-am-not-quite-as-real-as-you-he-said-then-looked/)

[Suzannah Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzannah-daniels/)

> [Teens wanted things that were real, that they connected with, it doesn't have to reflect reality directly. They love 'The Hunger Games' not because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/teens-wanted-things-that-were-real-that-they-connected-with-it-doesn/)

[David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/)

> [Emotions should be real; one shouldn't come across as acting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahesh-babu/emotions-should-be-real-one-shouldn-t-come-across-as-acting/)

[Mahesh Babu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahesh-babu/)

> [So long as we are under the control of disturbing emotions, real happiness is hard to find.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/so-long-as-we-are-under-the-control-of-disturbing-emotions-real/)

[Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/)

> [“The heart is a repository of emotions--real, imagined, and invented, owned and borrowed, past, present, future--and there in your chest, operating at an average…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-patawaran/the-heart-is-a-repository-of-emotions-real-imagined-and-invented/)

[A.A. Patawaran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-patawaran/)

> [It is ordained that to the ambitious, who derive no satisfaction from the gifts of life and the beauty of the world, life shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/it-is-ordained-that-to-the-ambitious-who-derive-no-satisfaction-from/)

[Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/)

> [Sometimes suffering is just suffering,” she told Gus. “It doesn't make you stronger. It doesn't build character. It only hurts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-jacobs/sometimes-suffering-is-just-suffering-she-told-gus-it-doesn-t-make/)

[Kate Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-jacobs/)

## More by Vicki Mackenzie

> [“Normally we are so identified with our thoughts and emotions, that we are them. We are the happiness, we are the anger, we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-mackenzie/normally-we-are-so-identified-with-our-thoughts-and-emotions-that-we/)

[Vicki Mackenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-mackenzie/)

[Explore all 2 Vicki Mackenzie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-mackenzie/)

## More Real people quotes

> [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/)

[Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/)

> [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/)

[Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/)

> [Fat girls aren’t real people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/fat-girls-aren-t-real-people/)

[Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/)

> [What sometimes annoys me about the arts is increasingly that we have to put real people on screen or stage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zawe-ashton/what-sometimes-annoys-me-about-the-arts-is-increasingly-that-we-have/)

[Zawe Ashton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zawe-ashton/)

> [What I strive to do is make my characters seem like real people so that the reader experiences them as people - that's something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaume-cabre/what-i-strive-to-do-is-make-my-characters-seem-like-real-people-so/)

[Jaume Cabre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaume-cabre/)

> [Sometimes after a compliment about my characterization skills, I'm asked if I model my characters on real people. Emphatically, no. And sort of, yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-weeks/sometimes-after-a-compliment-about-my-characterization-skills-i-m/)

[Brent Weeks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-weeks/)

> [“we shouldn’t surrender our real world perception to a false reality too much or we may suffer the inevitable consequences of deluded thinking. Technology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-p-neary/we-shouldn-t-surrender-our-real-world-perception-to-a-false-reality/)

[M.P. Neary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-p-neary/)

> [“I drink beer not to get drunk or because i have stress, i drink beer just because i want to share good ideas with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ntambara-sylvestre-owen-berbason/i-drink-beer-not-to-get-drunk-or-because-i-have-stress-i-drink-beer/)

[Ntambara Sylvestre Owen Berbason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ntambara-sylvestre-owen-berbason/)

> [“But it will make mistakes," she says. "Hadoop will probably get us from a hundred thousand buildings down to, like, five thousand." "So we're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sloan/but-it-will-make-mistakes-she-says-hadoop-will-probably-get-us-from-a/)

[Robin Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sloan/)

> [“The paradoxical intercourse of audience and celebrity. The suppressed awareness that the whole reason ordinary people found celebrity fascinating was that they were not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-paradoxical-intercourse-of-audience-and-celebrity-the-suppressed/)

[David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/)

> [I'm uninterested in superheroes. I am only interested in real stories, real people, real connection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-lee-curtis/i-m-uninterested-in-superheroes-i-am-only-interested-in-real-stories/)

[Jamie Lee Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-lee-curtis/)

> [You know, really, it's not easy taking a 20 year story and condensing it into two hours. But they did a fantastic job of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bilott/you-know-really-it-s-not-easy-taking-a-20-year-story-and-condensing/)

[Robert Bilott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bilott/)

> [To me, my characters are more real than most people I meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilbur-smith/to-me-my-characters-are-more-real-than-most-people-i-meet/)

[Wilbur Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilbur-smith/)

> [“The watching feeling is getting worse. I am not an experiment. I am not a stupid joke, or a trippy game, or an experiment.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenni-fagan/the-watching-feeling-is-getting-worse-i-am-not-an-experiment-i-am-not/)

[Jenni Fagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenni-fagan/)

> [The most devastating thing though that biology did to Christianity was the discovery of biological evolution. Now that we know that Adam and Eve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zindler/the-most-devastating-thing-though-that-biology-did-to-christianity/)

[Frank Zindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zindler/)

[Browse all 966 Real people quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-people/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“people cause so much of their own suffering just because they think that without having these strong emotions they're not real people.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Vicki Mackenzie"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-mackenzie/people-cause-so-much-of-their-own-suffering-just-because-they-think/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Real people"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-mackenzie/people-cause-so-much-of-their-own-suffering-just-because-they-think/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/vicki-mackenzie-96072_real-people_people-cause-so-much-of-their-own-suffer_2667231.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/vicki-mackenzie-96072_real-people_people-cause-so-much-of-their-own-suffer_2667231.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/vicki-mackenzie-96072_real-people_people-cause-so-much-of-their-own-suffer_2667231.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“people cause so much of their own suffering just because they think that without having these strong…” — Vicki Mackenzie",
                "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": "Vicki Mackenzie",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-mackenzie/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“people cause so much of their...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-mackenzie/people-cause-so-much-of-their-own-suffering-just-because-they-think/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-mackenzie/people-cause-so-much-of-their-own-suffering-just-because-they-think/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
