--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are moments when it frightens us…" description: "\"There are moments when it frightens us, threatening to expose us as inauthentic. Well, the big-time impostors we read about in literature run this risk..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af7/walter-kirn-2189_admire_there-are-moments-when-it-frightens-us-t_1592019.jpg" --- # There are moments when it frightens us, threatening to… ![“There are moments when it frightens us, threatening to expose us as inauthentic. Well, the big-time impostors we read about in literature run this risk constantly, flirting with destruction, not just humiliation or embarrassment. It's a spectacle that we can't help but find compelling, and it…” quote by Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af7/walter-kirn-2189_admire_there-are-moments-when-it-frightens-us-t_1592019.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af7/walter-kirn-2189_admire_there-are-moments-when-it-frightens-us-t_1592019.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af7/walter-kirn-2189_admire_there-are-moments-when-it-frightens-us-t_1592019.jpg) > “There are moments when it frightens us, threatening to expose us as inauthentic. Well, the big-time impostors we read about in literature run this risk constantly, flirting with destruction, not just humiliation or embarrassment. It's a spectacle that we can't help but find compelling, and it involves a certain level of courage that we sneakily admire, perhaps.” [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Impostors in literature face fear of exposure, yet their daring attracts us, revealing a paradox of admiration for risky authenticity. **In simple terms:** Risky falsehoods are both frightening and fascinating. Key Takeaway Recognize the allure of bold vulnerability. Themes fear authenticity imposture courage Mood intriguing critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - reading fiction - personal branding - public speaking Key Concepts psychology literary analysis Questions to Reflect On - Why are we drawn to daring pretenses? - How can we differentiate healthy risk from harmful fraud? A Different Perspective Admiration may encourage harmful deception. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Embarrassment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embarrassment/) [Flirting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flirting/) [Humiliation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humiliation/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [We're all impostors to ourselves. By that I mean that we know instinctively, intimately, the difference between whom we are inside and who we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/we-re-all-impostors-to-ourselves-by-that-i-mean-that-we-know/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [What is it in people, or just in people like me, that would rather let a lie go by, would rather wish it away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/what-is-it-in-people-or-just-in-people-like-me-that-would-rather-let/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [I grew up on Facebook; it's a different realm I live in. For some people, this is inauthentic, but for me, it's all I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/petra-collins/i-grew-up-on-facebook-it-s-a-different-realm-i-live-in-for-some/) [Petra Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/petra-collins/) > [If you build a life around an identity that springs from your own imagination, is it ever inauthentic?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-calloway/if-you-build-a-life-around-an-identity-that-springs-from-your-own/) [Caroline Calloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-calloway/) > [Living up to an image that you have of yourself or that other people have of you is inauthentic living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/living-up-to-an-image-that-you-have-of-yourself-or-that-other-people/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [I loathe people who are disingenuous or inauthentic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rinder/i-loathe-people-who-are-disingenuous-or-inauthentic/) [Robert Rinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rinder/) > [The only thing I want to leave behind in 2019 is anything that's inauthentic, to be real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tana-mongeau/the-only-thing-i-want-to-leave-behind-in-2019-is-anything-that-s/) [Tana Mongeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tana-mongeau/) > [One way a collaboration can go wrong is if your connection is inauthentic or overly prescriptive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-parker/one-way-a-collaboration-can-go-wrong-is-if-your-connection-is/) [Mark Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-parker/) > [“To desire only happiness in a world undoubtedly tragic is to become inauthentic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-g-wilson/to-desire-only-happiness-in-a-world-undoubtedly-tragic-is-to-become/) [Eric G. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-g-wilson/) > [“Civilization, as it is often practiced today, is really manufactured, inauthentic civilization”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stjepan-mestrovic/civilization-as-it-is-often-practiced-today-is-really-manufactured/) Stjepan Mestrovic > [I think about politics, so it would be inauthentic not to talk about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-mayberry/i-think-about-politics-so-it-would-be-inauthentic-not-to-talk-about-it/) [Lauren Mayberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-mayberry/) > [I feel inauthentic at a party. ... Going to a party is a 'low' activity - the authentic self is compromised, fragmented - one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-feel-inauthentic-at-a-party-going-to-a-party-is-a-low-activity-the/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [If you change and adapt your persona, you are seen as inauthentic; if you stay the angry young man, you fade from attention or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/if-you-change-and-adapt-your-persona-you-are-seen-as-inauthentic-if/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [You can criticize me. You can crucify me. You can love me. You can hate me. Just don't make the mistake of calling me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-a-smith/you-can-criticize-me-you-can-crucify-me-you-can-love-me-you-can-hate/) [Stephen A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-a-smith/) > [“We could not be fulfilled if we weren't inauthentic some of the time—inauthentic, that is, in relation to such things as our passing desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-could-not-be-fulfilled-if-we-weren-t-inauthentic-some-of-the-time/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More by Walter Kirn > [Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's witch being hunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-it-s-someone-else-s-witch/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“I just wasn't ready for his stories. They'd breed with the others I'd heard and hatch new monsters, because there was no such thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/i-just-wasn-t-ready-for-his-stories-they-d-breed-with-the-others-i-d/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [It's no accident that most self-help groups use 'anonymous' in their names; to Americans, the first step toward redemption is a ritual wiping out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/it-s-no-accident-that-most-self-help-groups-use-anonymous-in-their/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“For time to pass it would have to go somewhere, and where would that be? Time sits. We move, it sits. Sometimes it trembles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/for-time-to-pass-it-would-have-to-go-somewhere-and-where-would-that/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Once you realize just the sort of glut of books that exists out there, it does become incumbent on you not to add to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/once-you-realize-just-the-sort-of-glut-of-books-that-exists-out-there/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [There are two sides to me. One is the writer. That's a savage person who looks at everything as a story and, you know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/there-are-two-sides-to-me-one-is-the-writer-that-s-a-savage-person/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [I remember the first time I went to Italy when I was eighteen, I was in Florence and there were all these eighteen, nineteen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/i-remember-the-first-time-i-went-to-italy-when-i-was-eighteen-i-was/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Quiet cunning bested boastful brawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/quiet-cunning-bested-boastful-brawn/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [The idea that Americans favor politicians who either remind them of themselves or can imagine what their selves are like because they too have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/the-idea-that-americans-favor-politicians-who-either-remind-them-of/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“Our habit of wishing backward from what is to what might have been is the soft but persistent tapping that cracks the crystal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/our-habit-of-wishing-backward-from-what-is-to-what-might-have-been-is/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Memo to extreme partisans: If you can't bring yourselves to love your enemies, can you at least learn to hate your friends?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/memo-to-extreme-partisans-if-you-can-t-bring-yourselves-to-love-your/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [People can be so neglectful of each other and of their own heritage - then death intrudes. Conversations we wish that we'd had earlier…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/people-can-be-so-neglectful-of-each-other-and-of-their-own-heritage/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [I'd assumed that a deal was a deal when Princeton admitted me, but I was wrong. The price of getting in - to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/i-d-assumed-that-a-deal-was-a-deal-when-princeton-admitted-me-but-i/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [The reason that last-ditch political maneuvering has become business as usual in Washington is that the actors involved are drunk on blame and are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/the-reason-that-last-ditch-political-maneuvering-has-become-business/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“Meanness on request isn't meanness at all, but kindness carried too far.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/meanness-on-request-isn-t-meanness-at-all-but-kindness-carried-too-far/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) [Explore all 177 Walter Kirn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) ## More Admire quotes > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I admire Serena Williams, because, I mean, who doesn't admire Serena Williams?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johanna-konta/i-admire-serena-williams-because-i-mean-who-doesn-t-admire-serena/) [Johanna Konta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johanna-konta/) > [How proud I am to be compared to Oprah. I really admire her. She's a minority woman and she's done all this by herself...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-saralegui/how-proud-i-am-to-be-compared-to-oprah-i-really-admire-her-she-s-a/) [Cristina Saralegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-saralegui/) > [I admire President Obama's ability to trust strangers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-gutfeld/i-admire-president-obama-s-ability-to-trust-strangers/) [Greg Gutfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-gutfeld/) > [I really admire people's interactions with technology that aren't tech-centric but use it as a tool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-polachek/i-really-admire-people-s-interactions-with-technology-that-aren-t/) [Caroline Polachek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-polachek/) > [During my first years in the Sierra, I was ever calling on everybody within reach to admire them, but I found no one half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/during-my-first-years-in-the-sierra-i-was-ever-calling-on-everybody/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Shaw's works make me admire the magnificent tolerance and broadmindedness of the english.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/shaw-s-works-make-me-admire-the-magnificent-tolerance-and/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [It could be my British need for discipline that makes me admire the American appetite for freedom and passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-winwood/it-could-be-my-british-need-for-discipline-that-makes-me-admire-the/) [Steve Winwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-winwood/) > [I believe in a world where there are no heroes, and I've read and know humanity a lot. There are moments that I admire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/i-believe-in-a-world-where-there-are-no-heroes-and-i-ve-read-and-know/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I think it's really good and helpful to have the people you most admire in some other discipline than what you work in. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whit-stillman/i-think-it-s-really-good-and-helpful-to-have-the-people-you-most/) [Whit Stillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whit-stillman/) > [Part of what we admire about a painting or a piece of music is the order which the artist has imposed upon what would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-storr/part-of-what-we-admire-about-a-painting-or-a-piece-of-music-is-the/) [Anthony Storr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-storr/) > [I respect and admire the Premier League.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-koeman/i-respect-and-admire-the-premier-league/) [Ronald Koeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-koeman/) > [“Admire and appreciate your man and he will be happy on your side”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-alfiori/admire-and-appreciate-your-man-and-he-will-be-happy-on-your-side/) [Linda Alfiori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-alfiori/) > [“The thing I admire most about you is no matter how hard, or how much the world has tried to beat you, break you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-gill/the-thing-i-admire-most-about-you-is-no-matter-how-hard-or-how-much/) [Nikita Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-gill/) Browse all 2,369 Admire quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are moments when it frightens us, threatening to expose us as inauthentic. 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