--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We can’t say why we search, except that…" description: "\"We can’t say why we search, except that there seems to be an innate need, in each human being, to know who one is, what we’re here for, how to live mor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d2/william-segal-68445_human-beings_we-can-t-say-why-we-search-except-that-t_3188358.png" --- # We can’t say why we search, except that there seems to be… ![“We can’t say why we search, except that there seems to be an innate need, in each human being, to know who one is, what we’re here for, how to live more poetically.” quote by William Segal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d2/william-segal-68445_human-beings_we-can-t-say-why-we-search-except-that-t_3188358.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d2/william-segal-68445_human-beings_we-can-t-say-why-we-search-except-that-t_3188358.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d2/william-segal-68445_human-beings_we-can-t-say-why-we-search-except-that-t_3188358.png) > “We can’t say why we search, except that there seems to be an innate need, in each human being, to know who one is, what we’re here for, how to live more poetically.” William Segal ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humans possess an innate drive to understand identity, purpose, and to live poetically. **In simple terms:** We naturally seek meaning and poetic living. Key Takeaway Explore your purpose. Themes identity purpose existential poetry Mood introspective inspirational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career choice - creative writing - life planning - spiritual practice Key Concepts philosophy human nature Questions to Reflect On - What does living poetically mean to you? - How do you discover your purpose? A Different Perspective Not everyone feels this need strongly; cultural factors may suppress it. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [It was as important to live poetically as to write poems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-broughton/it-was-as-important-to-live-poetically-as-to-write-poems/) [James Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-broughton/) > [Our only reliable source of strength is the goodness of our hearts. Our only foundation for coming to terms with the suffering of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakyong-mipham/our-only-reliable-source-of-strength-is-the-goodness-of-our-hearts/) [Sakyong Mipham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sakyong-mipham/) > [All human beings have an innate need to hear and tell stories and to have a story to live by. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cox/all-human-beings-have-an-innate-need-to-hear-and-tell-stories-and-to-2/) [Harvey Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-cox/) > [“There is a distinct difference between the ability to create life and the innate need to protect it; to cherish it. The life you've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/there-is-a-distinct-difference-between-the-ability-to-create-life-and/) [Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/) > [“As human beings, we have an innate need to create and innovate from within ourselves to address our own concerns, and writing helps fulfill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suman-pokhrel/as-human-beings-we-have-an-innate-need-to-create-and-innovate-from/) [Suman Pokhrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suman-pokhrel/) > [All human beings have an innate need to hear and tell stories and to have a story to live by. religion, whatever else it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cox/all-human-beings-have-an-innate-need-to-hear-and-tell-stories-and-to/) [Harvey Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-cox/) > [“Lambert believes that we have an innate need to do hands-on work that produces tangible results and that this could actually be an antidote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-vercillo/lambert-believes-that-we-have-an-innate-need-to-do-hands-on-work-that/) [Kathryn Vercillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-vercillo/) > [“His hands cup my face as if he’s claiming me, saying you’re mine with his lips and his hands and the way he draws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-blakely/his-hands-cup-my-face-as-if-he-s-claiming-me-saying-you-re-mine-with/) [Lauren Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-blakely/) > [“You two should get some help. You're poetically disadvantaged.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kierin-meehan/you-two-should-get-some-help-you-re-poetically-disadvantaged/) Kierin Meehan > [“Life is an enigma. We have to approach it not 'just' scientifically, but poetically. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-frame/life-is-an-enigma-we-have-to-approach-it-not-just-scientifically-but/) [Ronald Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-frame/) > [“Life is an enigma. We have to approach it not scientifically but poetically.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-frame/life-is-an-enigma-we-have-to-approach-it-not-scientifically-but/) [Ronald Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-frame/) > [I am a poet, and I speak poetically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krs-one/i-am-a-poet-and-i-speak-poetically/) [KRS-One](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krs-one/) > [Everything I do has to be poetically done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheem-devaughn/everything-i-do-has-to-be-poetically-done/) [Raheem DeVaughn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheem-devaughn/) > [Love is never finished expressing itself, and it expresses itself better the more poetically it is dreamed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/love-is-never-finished-expressing-itself-and-it-expresses-itself/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [I cannot write poetically, for I am no poet. I cannot make fine artistic phrases that cast light and shadow, for I am no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/i-cannot-write-poetically-for-i-am-no-poet-i-cannot-make-fine/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) ## More by William Segal > [When one is still and listens, one begins to be in touch with a mysterious element that is within each of us, which can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-segal/when-one-is-still-and-listens-one-begins-to-be-in-touch-with-a/) William Segal > [One attribute of the human being is the potential to keep on growing, to keep on developing. And I think there's room in each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-segal/one-attribute-of-the-human-being-is-the-potential-to-keep-on-growing/) William Segal > [The world is filled with invisible realities. But, if people do not see or hear, then these realities do not exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-segal/the-world-is-filled-with-invisible-realities-but-if-people-do-not-see/) William Segal Explore all 4 William Segal quotes ## More Human beings quotes > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) Kenan Malik > [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/) [Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/) > [Gambling has held human beings in thrall for millennia. It has been engaged in everywhere, from the dregs of society to the most respectable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-l-bernstein/gambling-has-held-human-beings-in-thrall-for-millennia-it-has-been/) [Peter L. Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-l-bernstein/) > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [What is music? Music is language. A human being wants to express ideas in this language, but not ideas that can be translated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/what-is-music-music-is-language-a-human-being-wants-to-express-ideas/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [“Is there any holy beings like human beings?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/is-there-any-holy-beings-like-human-beings/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I recognize I am essentially a failed human being in the sense that I can't possibly live up to the expectations of an Almighty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-recognize-i-am-essentially-a-failed-human-being-in-the-sense-that-i/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A composer knows that music is written by human beings for human beings and that music is a continuation of life, not something separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanns-eisler/a-composer-knows-that-music-is-written-by-human-beings-for-human/) Hanns Eisler > [“According to this model, human beings are, at least in one aspect, sensation-receiving machines; and although our receptory apparatus is competent to select and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cruce-stark/according-to-this-model-human-beings-are-at-least-in-one-aspect/) Cruce Stark > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Human beings seek community, and permanent openness is hard to sustain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/human-beings-seek-community-and-permanent-openness-is-hard-to-sustain/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) [Browse all 6,948 Human beings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We can’t say why we search, except that there seems to be an innate need, in each human being, to know who one is, what we’re here for, how to live more poetically.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Segal" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-segal/we-can-t-say-why-we-search-except-that-there-seems-to-be-an-innate/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Human beings" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-segal/we-can-t-say-why-we-search-except-that-there-seems-to-be-an-innate/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d2/william-segal-68445_human-beings_we-can-t-say-why-we-search-except-that-t_3188358.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d2/william-segal-68445_human-beings_we-can-t-say-why-we-search-except-that-t_3188358.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d2/william-segal-68445_human-beings_we-can-t-say-why-we-search-except-that-t_3188358.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We can’t say why we search, except that there seems to be an innate need, in each human being, to know who…” — William Segal", "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": "William Segal", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-segal/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We can’t say why we search,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-segal/we-can-t-say-why-we-search-except-that-there-seems-to-be-an-innate/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-segal/we-can-t-say-why-we-search-except-that-there-seems-to-be-an-innate/#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 } } ] } ```