--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And in taking on the subject of…" description: "\"“And in taking on the subject of themselves-making themselves vulnerable to the unseen reader-they have exchanged powerlessness for for the power that ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/wally-lamb-1817_knowledge_and-in-taking-on-the-subject-of-themselv_36470.png" --- # And in taking on the subject of themselves-making… ![“And in taking on the subject of themselves-making themselves vulnerable to the unseen reader-they have exchanged powerlessness for for the power that comes with self-awareness.” quote by Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/wally-lamb-1817_knowledge_and-in-taking-on-the-subject-of-themselv_36470.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/wally-lamb-1817_knowledge_and-in-taking-on-the-subject-of-themselv_36470.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/wally-lamb-1817_knowledge_and-in-taking-on-the-subject-of-themselv_36470.png) > ““And in taking on the subject of themselves-making themselves vulnerable to the unseen reader-they have exchanged powerlessness for for the power that comes with self-awareness.”” [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self-awareness transforms vulnerability into agency, allowing individuals to recognize and shape their own narratives. **In simple terms:** Awareness empowers personal agency. Key Takeaway Self-knowledge converts powerlessness into power. Themes self-awareness vulnerability empowerment identity agency Mood reflective introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - writing memoirs - therapy sessions - leadership coaching Key Concepts psychology narrative personal growth Practical Applications - personal development workshops - creative writing instruction Questions to Reflect On - How does self-awareness alter one's sense of control? - What role does the reader play in this exchange? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Powerlessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/powerlessness/) [Self Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-awareness-3/) ## Related quotes > [There's simply anger over the accountability that Yelp brings and also this feeling of powerlessness because so much power is now being put in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-stoppelman/there-s-simply-anger-over-the-accountability-that-yelp-brings-and/) [Jeremy Stoppelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-stoppelman/) > [“When external sources of power are sought in personal relationships to overcome inner feelings of powerlessness, power comes not from a place of strength…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rosen/when-external-sources-of-power-are-sought-in-personal-relationships/) [Mark Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rosen/) > [“It's like there's this wave coming toward me, but there's nothing I can do about it. And then it reaches me, crashes over me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/it-s-like-there-s-this-wave-coming-toward-me-but-there-s-nothing-i/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [Self-awareness cant be built on looking at our pluses and minuses before we look at the most basic essence of what we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruben-papian/self-awareness-cant-be-built-on-looking-at-our-pluses-and-minuses/) [Ruben Papian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruben-papian/) > [Girls learn to love and have sexual feelings in a position of low status, and the eroticization of powerlessness is a normal part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-jeffreys/girls-learn-to-love-and-have-sexual-feelings-in-a-position-of-low/) [Sheila Jeffreys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-jeffreys/) > [“The threatening tone, harsh aggression, made her submissive (Across Time And Space)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mala-naidoo/the-threatening-tone-harsh-aggression-made-her-submissive-across-time/) [Mala Naidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mala-naidoo/) > [“Anxiety = Uncertainty x Powerlessness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chip-conley/anxiety-uncertainty-x-powerlessness/) [Chip Conley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chip-conley/) > [May all your expectations be frustrated, may all your plans be thwarted, may all your desires be withered into nothingness, that you may experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brennan-manning/may-all-your-expectations-be-frustrated-may-all-your-plans-be/) [Brennan Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brennan-manning/) > [“Power is fortified not just by what it destroys, but also by what it creates. 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Powerlessness and silence go together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/a-voice-is-a-human-gift-it-should-be-cherished-and-used-powerlessness/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I could not stop something I knew was wrong and terrible. I had an awful sense of powerlessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-sakharov/i-could-not-stop-something-i-knew-was-wrong-and-terrible-i-had-an/) [Andrei Sakharov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-sakharov/) > [It does not take a great supernatural heroine or magical hero to save the world.We all save it every day, and we all destroy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/it-does-not-take-a-great-supernatural-heroine-or-magical-hero-to-save/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [“Here is a man who by all conventions should have been a denizen of the lower depths of society: ignored, illiterate, disfigured, limping, penniless,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-sugich/here-is-a-man-who-by-all-conventions-should-have-been-a-denizen-of/) Michael Sugich ## More by Wally Lamb > [“Sometimes we want something to be true so badly that we convince ourselves that it is true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/sometimes-we-want-something-to-be-true-so-badly-that-we-convince/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [I like to write first-person because I like to become the character I'm writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/i-like-to-write-first-person-because-i-like-to-become-the-character-i/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [But I think this: that whatever prices I've paid, whatever sorrows I shoulder, well, I have blessings, too. Not just my family now, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/but-i-think-this-that-whatever-prices-i-ve-paid-whatever-sorrows-i/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“why would white dudes want to change things when they held all the cards?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/why-would-white-dudes-want-to-change-things-when-they-held-all-the/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“People had always amazed him, he began. But they amazed him more since the sickness. For as long as the two of them had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/people-had-always-amazed-him-he-began-but-they-amazed-him-more-since/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“So I got my stuff and the girl at the register puts these other things in my bag, too. 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A sidekick?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/guess-what-i-said-i-have-a-psychic-his-head-tilted-questioningly/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [The evidence of God exists in the roundness of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/the-evidence-of-god-exists-in-the-roundness-of-things/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [Life is a whoopee cushion, a chair pulled away just as you were taking a seat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/life-is-a-whoopee-cushion-a-chair-pulled-away-just-as-you-were-taking/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“What I remembered about those seesaw rides was the way Thomas would get mad at me, midride, and evacuate. Send me crashing back down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/what-i-remembered-about-those-seesaw-rides-was-the-way-thomas-would/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“I didn't respond to him. Couldn't speak at all. Couldn't look at his self-mutilation--not even the clean, bandaged version of it. Instead, I looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/i-didn-t-respond-to-him-couldn-t-speak-at-all-couldn-t-look-at-his/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [I write to find out what the story means to me, that is what I try to do especially with the first draft.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/i-write-to-find-out-what-the-story-means-to-me-that-is-what-i-try-to/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“As anxious and limited as that love might have been, it had been love nonetheless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/as-anxious-and-limited-as-that-love-might-have-been-it-had-been-love/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“The World is a very old place, so you'll never be able to tell a completely original story”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/the-world-is-a-very-old-place-so-you-ll-never-be-able-to-tell-a/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) [Explore all 204 Wally Lamb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) ## More Knowledge quotes > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) Rabelaise > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I never knew any man who had once tasted the sweetness of experimental knowledge, that ever afterward fasted after ye Vapour garlick and onions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-zimmer/i-never-knew-any-man-who-had-once-tasted-the-sweetness-of/) [Carl Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-zimmer/) > [I would rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent than in the extent of my powers and dominion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/i-would-rather-excel-others-in-the-knowledge-of-what-is-excellent/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-know-accurately-only-when-we-know-little-with-knowledge-doubt/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I've always been a believer in research. It's great to have an instinctual human reaction to a character, too, of course, but it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiwetel-ejiofor/i-ve-always-been-a-believer-in-research-it-s-great-to-have-an/) [Chiwetel Ejiofor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiwetel-ejiofor/) > [I am an aware citizen, so I want my characters to be aware, too. They should be aware of what's happening in the society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-tripathi/i-am-an-aware-citizen-so-i-want-my-characters-to-be-aware-too-they/) [Pankaj Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-tripathi/) > [Technology means the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/technology-means-the-systematic-application-of-scientific-or-other/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Love is a vision,love carry our vision,and love by-step our vision. we carry our love to our by-step. once love is vision love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-a-vision-love-carry-our-vision-and-love-by-step-our-vision-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man is an ignoramus athirst for knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wagner/man-is-an-ignoramus-athirst-for-knowledge/) [Charles Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wagner/) [Browse all 13,227 Knowledge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And in taking on the subject of themselves-making themselves vulnerable to the unseen reader-they have exchanged powerlessness for for the power that comes with self-awareness.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wally Lamb" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/and-in-taking-on-the-subject-of-themselves-making-themselves/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Knowledge" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/and-in-taking-on-the-subject-of-themselves-making-themselves/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/wally-lamb-1817_knowledge_and-in-taking-on-the-subject-of-themselv_36470.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/wally-lamb-1817_knowledge_and-in-taking-on-the-subject-of-themselv_36470.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81f/wally-lamb-1817_knowledge_and-in-taking-on-the-subject-of-themselv_36470.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And in taking on the subject of themselves-making themselves vulnerable to the unseen reader-they have…” — Wally Lamb", "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": "Wally Lamb", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“And in taking on the subject...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/and-in-taking-on-the-subject-of-themselves-making-themselves/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/and-in-taking-on-the-subject-of-themselves-making-themselves/#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 } } ] } ```