--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Until you know that who you are is empty…" description: "\"Until you know that who you are is empty and meaningless, you don't know anything.\" — Werner Erhard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/werner-erhard-8514_empty_until-you-know-that-who-you-are-is-empty_1255340.jpg" --- # Until you know that who you are is empty and meaningless… ![“Until you know that who you are is empty and meaningless, you don't know anything.” quote by Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/werner-erhard-8514_empty_until-you-know-that-who-you-are-is-empty_1255340.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/werner-erhard-8514_empty_until-you-know-that-who-you-are-is-empty_1255340.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/werner-erhard-8514_empty_until-you-know-that-who-you-are-is-empty_1255340.jpg) > “Until you know that who you are is empty and meaningless, you don't know anything.” [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding that the self is empty of fixed meaning reveals deeper insight into existence. **In simple terms:** Self is empty, so we learn. Key Takeaway Explore the emptiness of self‑identity. Themes self‑discovery existentialism identity Mood contemplative introspective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - meditation - therapy - creative writing - spiritual retreats Key Concepts non‑duality philosophical inquiry Questions to Reflect On - What does “empty self” mean for your life? - How can this insight guide your actions? A Different Perspective The concept can be unsettling and lead to nihilism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Don Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/don-know/) [Empty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empty/) [Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know/) [Know Meaningless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-meaningless-1954004/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Meaningless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningless/) [Meaningless Don](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningless-don-2259572/) [Who you are](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who-you-are/) ## Related quotes > [Though my problems are meaningless, that don't make them go away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-young/though-my-problems-are-meaningless-that-don-t-make-them-go-away/) [Neil Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-young/) > [I've been popular and unpopular successful and unsuccessful loved and loathed and I know how meaningless it all is. Therefore I feel free to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-been-popular-and-unpopular-successful-and-unsuccessful-loved-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I realized aloud in the midst of saying it that even when we die we probably don't find the answer as to why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/i-realized-aloud-in-the-midst-of-saying-it-that-even-when-we-die-we-2/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [“The only difference between us and the professors of virtue or benevolence, or philanthropy - never mind the name - is that we know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-only-difference-between-us-and-the-professors-of-virtue-or/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Life is empty. Life is meaningless. When we take a life, we arn't taking anything of value. Wetboys are killers. Thats all we do.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-weeks/life-is-empty-life-is-meaningless-when-we-take-a-life-we-arn-t-taking/) [Brent Weeks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-weeks/) > [Things can be really empty in this world, and I don't just mean the music world. It can become a very meaningless place if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-keys/things-can-be-really-empty-in-this-world-and-i-don-t-just-mean-the/) [Alicia Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-keys/) > [Something like this will test you like nothing else," Mac said. "You're going to find out who you are, Harry. You're going to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/something-like-this-will-test-you-like-nothing-else-mac-said-you-re/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [“Within the grand scale of things, sitting in a classroom day after day is so utterly meaningless and pointless that it actually makes his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tabitha-suzuma/within-the-grand-scale-of-things-sitting-in-a-classroom-day-after-day/) [Tabitha Suzuma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tabitha-suzuma/) > [Life is meaningless, but worth living, provided you recognize it's meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/life-is-meaningless-but-worth-living-provided-you-recognize-it-s/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“...anything I do is trivial and meaningless because I'm not in a relationship and I don't have children.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-alderton/anything-i-do-is-trivial-and-meaningless-because-i-m-not-in-a/) [Dolly Alderton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-alderton/) > [“The question 'What was there before creation?' is meaningless. Time is a property of creation, therefore before creation there was no before creation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-question-what-was-there-before-creation-is-meaningless-time-is-a/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [The future and the past are equally meaningless because they are nebulous entities, times that do not exist, containing events which have no echo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lebbon/the-future-and-the-past-are-equally-meaningless-because-they-are/) [Tim Lebbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lebbon/) > [Without food, man at most can live but a few weeks; without it all other components of social justice are meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-borlaug/without-food-man-at-most-can-live-but-a-few-weeks-without-it-all/) [Norman Borlaug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-borlaug/) > [I don't feel I have to write deep and meaningful songs; they can be light and meaningless. It has to do with the place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-diamond/i-don-t-feel-i-have-to-write-deep-and-meaningful-songs-they-can-be/) [Neil Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-diamond/) > [“The only thing that belongs to us is our LIFE. Yet, we waste it in the pursuit of meaningless things that will never belong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rvm/the-only-thing-that-belongs-to-us-is-our-life-yet-we-waste-it-in-the/) [RVM](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rvm/) ## More by Werner Erhard > [What I recognized is that you can't put it together. It's already together, and what you have to do is experience it being together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/what-i-recognized-is-that-you-can-t-put-it-together-it-s-already/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [Consider that all accomplishment is constituted by a series of resolved breakdowns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/consider-that-all-accomplishment-is-constituted-by-a-series-of/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [Your life works to the degree you keep your agreements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/your-life-works-to-the-degree-you-keep-your-agreements/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [Life is a game. In order to have a game, something has to be more important than something else. If what already is, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/life-is-a-game-in-order-to-have-a-game-something-has-to-be-more/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [Man keeps looking for a truth that fits his reality. Given our reality, the truth doesn't fit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/man-keeps-looking-for-a-truth-that-fits-his-reality-given-our-reality/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [The quickest way to be happy is to choose what you already have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/the-quickest-way-to-be-happy-is-to-choose-what-you-already-have/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [Living is really pretty simple. Living happens right now; it doesn't happen back then, and it doesn't happen out there. 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Actually, you should do it the other way around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/what-most-people-do-is-give-space-to-people-s-quality-and-deal-with/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [Self expression is a function of responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/self-expression-is-a-function-of-responsibility/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [The world is perfect the way it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/the-world-is-perfect-the-way-it-is/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [If you could really accept that you weren't ok, you could stop proving you were ok. If you could stop proving that you were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/if-you-could-really-accept-that-you-weren-t-ok-you-could-stop-proving/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [Pay no attention to critics. No one ever erected a statue to a critic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/pay-no-attention-to-critics-no-one-ever-erected-a-statue-to-a-critic/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [You and I want our lives to matter. We want our lives to make a real difference - to be of genuine consequence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/you-and-i-want-our-lives-to-matter-we-want-our-lives-to-make-a-real/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [There is something I do not know, the knowing of which could change everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/there-is-something-i-do-not-know-the-knowing-of-which-could-change/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) > [If you keep saying it the way it really is, eventually your word is law in the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/if-you-keep-saying-it-the-way-it-really-is-eventually-your-word-is/) [Werner Erhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) [Explore all 80 Werner Erhard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/) ## More Empty quotes > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [No sane local official who has hung up an empty stocking over the municipal fireplace is going to shoot Santa Claus just before a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-smith/no-sane-local-official-who-has-hung-up-an-empty-stocking-over-the/) [Al Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-smith/) > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [“Joe!” he groaned, attempting to speak clearly. “Joe! Good ol’ Joe!” “Captain, you’re drunk!” Lofflin said, stating the obvious while trying to keep his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-engela/joe-he-groaned-attempting-to-speak-clearly-joe-good-ol-joe-captain/) [Christina Engela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-engela/) > [Why chase after thoughts, which are superficial ripples of present awareness? Rather look directly into the naked, empty nature of thoughts; then there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamgon-kongtrul/why-chase-after-thoughts-which-are-superficial-ripples-of-present/) [Jamgon Kongtrul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamgon-kongtrul/) > [Education turns an empty mind into an open mind. It turns information into behavioural transformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shiv-khera/education-turns-an-empty-mind-into-an-open-mind-it-turns-information/) [Shiv Khera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shiv-khera/) > [He that humbles himself shall be preserved entire. He that bends shall be made straight. He that is empty shall be filled. He that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/he-that-humbles-himself-shall-be-preserved-entire-he-that-bends-shall/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Our real nature is not our imaginary, limited ego. Our true nature is vast, all-comprehensive, and intangible as empty space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anagarika-govinda/our-real-nature-is-not-our-imaginary-limited-ego-our-true-nature-is/) [Anagarika Govinda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anagarika-govinda/) > [Adults look upon a child as something empty that is to be filled through their own efforts, as something inert and helpless for which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/adults-look-upon-a-child-as-something-empty-that-is-to-be-filled/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [I don't see the future as bright, language-wise. I see it as a glass half empty - and evaporating quickly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cavett/i-don-t-see-the-future-as-bright-language-wise-i-see-it-as-a-glass/) [Dick Cavett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cavett/) > [I get letters every year from women who think Valentine's Day is an empty exercise, but are ironically pretty exercised when their boyfriends neglect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-savage/i-get-letters-every-year-from-women-who-think-valentine-s-day-is-an/) [Dan Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-savage/) [Browse all 3,081 Empty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Until you know that who you are is empty and meaningless, you don't know anything.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Werner Erhard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/until-you-know-that-who-you-are-is-empty-and-meaningless-you-don-t/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Empty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/until-you-know-that-who-you-are-is-empty-and-meaningless-you-don-t/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/werner-erhard-8514_empty_until-you-know-that-who-you-are-is-empty_1255340.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/werner-erhard-8514_empty_until-you-know-that-who-you-are-is-empty_1255340.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/werner-erhard-8514_empty_until-you-know-that-who-you-are-is-empty_1255340.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Until you know that who you are is empty and meaningless, you don't know anything.” — Werner Erhard", "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": "Werner Erhard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-erhard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Until you know that who you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/until-you-know-that-who-you-are-is-empty-and-meaningless-you-don-t/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-erhard/until-you-know-that-who-you-are-is-empty-and-meaningless-you-don-t/#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 } } ] } ```