If I try to seize this self of which I feel sure, if I try to define and to summarize it, it is nothing but water slipping through my fingers. I can sketch one by one all the aspects it is able to assume, all those likewise that have been attributed to it, this upbringing, this origin, this ardor or these silences, this nobility or this vileness. But aspects cannot be added up.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The self cannot be fully defined or summed up because it is fluid and multifaceted. Trying to pin it down misses its changing nature.
- In plain terms
- You cannot define yourself completely because you are always changing.
- What can you take from it?
- Accept that your identity is fluid and complex.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can you truly know yourself?
- Is a fixed identity possible?
Another view
Some aspects of identity remain stable over time.
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