--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am really only myself when I'm somebody…" description: "\"I am really only myself when I'm somebody else whom I have endowed with these wonderful qualities from my imagination.\" — Zelda Fitzgerald" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/zelda-fitzgerald-4660_imagination_i-am-really-only-myself-when-i-m-somebod_1061175.jpg" --- # I am really only myself when I'm somebody else whom I have… ![“I am really only myself when I'm somebody else whom I have endowed with these wonderful qualities from my imagination.” quote by Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/zelda-fitzgerald-4660_imagination_i-am-really-only-myself-when-i-m-somebod_1061175.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/zelda-fitzgerald-4660_imagination_i-am-really-only-myself-when-i-m-somebod_1061175.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/zelda-fitzgerald-4660_imagination_i-am-really-only-myself-when-i-m-somebod_1061175.jpg) > “I am really only myself when I'm somebody else whom I have endowed with these wonderful qualities from my imagination.” [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Identity is shaped by the roles we imagine and embody, blending self with the qualities we attribute to others. **In simple terms:** We become ourselves through imagined roles. Key Takeaway Explore the qualities you admire. Themes identity imagination self Mood thoughtful introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - acting - personal development - social interaction Key Concepts self-construction role-play Questions to Reflect On - What imagined qualities do you cherish? - How do these roles influence your real behavior? A Different Perspective Risk of losing authentic self. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Endowed Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endowed-wonderful-2592165/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [My imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-imagination/) [Qualities Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/qualities-imagination-1004847/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Really Somebody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/really-somebody-500670/) [Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful/) [Wonderful Qualities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful-qualities-2592164/) ## Related quotes > [“But I warn you, I am only really myself when I’m somebody else whom I have endowed with these wonderful qualities from my imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/but-i-warn-you-i-am-only-really-myself-when-i-m-somebody-else-whom-i/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [Sensitivity and sex appeal are wonderful qualities to have whether you're cartoon or human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sable/sensitivity-and-sex-appeal-are-wonderful-qualities-to-have-whether/) [Sable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sable/) > [“Creativity is a synthesis of two qualities: imagination and concreteness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-zhu/creativity-is-a-synthesis-of-two-qualities-imagination-and/) [Pearl Zhu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-zhu/) > [I'd like to think that there's really somebody out there for me. Whose going to say From now on I'll take care of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-d-like-to-think-that-there-s-really-somebody-out-there-for-me-whose/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [\* if he is the first thing you think of when you wake up. the only thing you think of when you're awake. and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-he-is-the-first-thing-you-think-of-when-you-wake-up-the-only-thing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Perhaps my early problems with dyslexia made me more intuitive: when someone sends me a written proposal, rather than dwelling on detailed facts and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/perhaps-my-early-problems-with-dyslexia-made-me-more-intuitive-when/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [I don't necessarily start with the beginning of the book. I just start with the part of the story that's most vivid in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beverly-cleary/i-don-t-necessarily-start-with-the-beginning-of-the-book-i-just-start/) [Beverly Cleary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beverly-cleary/) > [I have friends say, "Don't you want to have a little you?" The jury's still out on that for me. I don't have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-paulson/i-have-friends-say-don-t-you-want-to-have-a-little-you-the-jury-s/) [Sarah Paulson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-paulson/) > [I have been afraid all my life that I am going to die. All my life it has been stuffed in my imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patty-duke/i-have-been-afraid-all-my-life-that-i-am-going-to-die-all-my-life-it/) [Patty Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patty-duke/) > [In my early teens, science fiction and fantasy had an almost-total hold over my imagination. Their outcast status was part of their appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/in-my-early-teens-science-fiction-and-fantasy-had-an-almost-total/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [I suffer from the delusion that every product of my imagination is not only possible, but always on the cusp of becoming real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-parker/i-suffer-from-the-delusion-that-every-product-of-my-imagination-is/) [Sean Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-parker/) > [Dreaming by the river, I dedicated my imagination to water, to clear, green water, the water that makes the meadows green.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/dreaming-by-the-river-i-dedicated-my-imagination-to-water-to-clear/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Being on a trapeze is like dreaming. I feel totally outside of myself when I'm flying. You know, designing shoes, my imagination is flying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-louboutin/being-on-a-trapeze-is-like-dreaming-i-feel-totally-outside-of-myself/) [Christian Louboutin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-louboutin/) > [I need the pain of loneliness to make my imagination work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/i-need-the-pain-of-loneliness-to-make-my-imagination-work/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) ## More by Zelda Fitzgerald > [A vacuum can only exist, I imagine, by the things which enclose it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/a-vacuum-can-only-exist-i-imagine-by-the-things-which-enclose-it/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [Death is the only real elegance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/death-is-the-only-real-elegance/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [“Goodnight dear. If you were in my bed it might be the back of your head I was touching, where the hair is short,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/goodnight-dear-if-you-were-in-my-bed-it-might-be-the-back-of-your/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [I play the radio and moon about...and dream of Utopias where its always July the 24th 1935, in the middle of summer forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/i-play-the-radio-and-moon-about-and-dream-of-utopias-where-its-always/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [All I want to be is very young always and very irresponsible and to feel that my life is my own-to live and be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/all-i-want-to-be-is-very-young-always-and-very-irresponsible-and-to/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [I suppose all we can really share with people is a taste for the same kinds of weather.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/i-suppose-all-we-can-really-share-with-people-is-a-taste-for-the-same/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [Millie Beggs, by the time she was forty-five, had become an emotional anarchist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/millie-beggs-by-the-time-she-was-forty-five-had-become-an-emotional/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [To a woman in love, loving too much is not loving enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/to-a-woman-in-love-loving-too-much-is-not-loving-enough/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [“Everybody gives you belief for the asking,” she said to David, “and so few people give you anything more to believe in than your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/everybody-gives-you-belief-for-the-asking-she-said-to-david-and-so/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [“We couldn't go on indefinitely being swept off our feet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/we-couldn-t-go-on-indefinitely-being-swept-off-our-feet/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [memories should be sharp when one has nothing else to live for](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/memories-should-be-sharp-when-one-has-nothing-else-to-live-for/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [It is the loose ends with which men hang themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/it-is-the-loose-ends-with-which-men-hang-themselves/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [“I love you anyway-even if there isn't any me or any love or even any life- I love you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/i-love-you-anyway-even-if-there-isn-t-any-me-or-any-love-or-even-any/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [Look closer and you'll see something extraordinary, mystifying, something real and true. We have never been what we seemed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/look-closer-and-you-ll-see-something-extraordinary-mystifying/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) > [I can't read or sleep. Without hope or youth or money I sit constantly wishing I were dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/i-can-t-read-or-sleep-without-hope-or-youth-or-money-i-sit-constantly/) [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) [Explore all 107 Zelda Fitzgerald quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/) ## More Imagination quotes > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [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/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Imagination is the greatest nation in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/imagination-is-the-greatest-nation-in-the-world/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Merkel has realized that the euro is not working, but she cannot change the narrative she has created because that narrative has caught the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/merkel-has-realized-that-the-euro-is-not-working-but-she-cannot/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/a-beard-is-something-that-is-almost-like-a-mirror-to-the-viewer-when/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I like fantasy, but I don't live and breathe fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/i-like-fantasy-but-i-don-t-live-and-breathe-fantasy/) [Lauren Schmidt Hissrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/) > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/edgy-is-fine-i-m-not-a-prude-by-any-stretch-of-the-imagination-but/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [With VR, we have this same vision, which is create this ultimate platform for sharing your imagination. Our huge community of 300,000 developers creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baszucki/with-vr-we-have-this-same-vision-which-is-create-this-ultimate/) [David Baszucki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baszucki/) > [I like the idea of letting the music do its own work and the stories being more expressionful - if that's a word -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-flynn/i-like-the-idea-of-letting-the-music-do-its-own-work-and-the-stories/) [Johnny Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-flynn/) [Browse all 9,060 Imagination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am really only myself when I'm somebody else whom I have endowed with these wonderful qualities from my imagination.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Zelda Fitzgerald" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/i-am-really-only-myself-when-i-m-somebody-else-whom-i-have-endowed/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Imagination" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/i-am-really-only-myself-when-i-m-somebody-else-whom-i-have-endowed/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/zelda-fitzgerald-4660_imagination_i-am-really-only-myself-when-i-m-somebod_1061175.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/zelda-fitzgerald-4660_imagination_i-am-really-only-myself-when-i-m-somebod_1061175.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/zelda-fitzgerald-4660_imagination_i-am-really-only-myself-when-i-m-somebod_1061175.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am really only myself when I'm somebody else whom I have endowed with these wonderful qualities from my…” — Zelda Fitzgerald", "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": "Zelda Fitzgerald", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zelda-fitzgerald/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I am really only myself when...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/i-am-really-only-myself-when-i-m-somebody-else-whom-i-have-endowed/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zelda-fitzgerald/i-am-really-only-myself-when-i-m-somebody-else-whom-i-have-endowed/#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 } } ] } ```