“Only when I know who I am will I know what is possible.”

—  Ram Dass, book Be Here Now

Be Here Now (1971)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Only when I know who I am will I know what is possible." by Ram Dass?
Ram Dass photo
Ram Dass100
American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of t… 1931–2019

Related quotes

Evelyn Waugh photo

“I did not know it was possible to be so miserable and live but I am told that this is a common experience.”

Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966) British writer

Camille Pissarro photo

“I began to understand my sensations, to know what I wanted, at around the age of forty.... but only vaguely. At fifty, that is in 1880, I formulated the idea of unity, without being able to render it. At sixty, I am beginning to see the possibility of rendering it.”

Camille Pissarro (1830–1903) French painter

(c. 1890); as quoted in Painting Outside the lines, Patterns of Creativity in Modern Art, David W. Galenson, Harvard University Press, 30 Jun 2009, p. 84
1890's

Charles Webster Leadbeater photo

“I am not writing for those who do not believe that there is such a thing as clairvoyance, nor am I seeking to convince those who are in doubt about the matter… I am addressing myself to the better-instructed class who know that clairvoyance exists, and are sufficiently interested in the subject to be glad of information as to its methods and possibilities; and I would assure them that what I write is the result of much careful study and experiment.”

Charles Webster Leadbeater book Clairvoyance

Clairvoyance (1903), Chapter One

Ai Weiwei photo

“Nothing can silence me as long as I am alive. I don’t give any kind of excuse. If I cannot come out [of China] or I cannot go in [to China] this is not going to change my belief. But when I am there, I am in this condition: I see it, I see people who need help. Then you know, I just want to offer my possibility to help them.”

Ai Weiwei (1957) Chinese concept artist

2010-, Digital Activism in China, 2010

Mart Laar photo

“I was young and crazy, so I didn’t know what is possible and what's not, so I did impossible things”

Mart Laar (1960) Estonian politician and historian

Interview with Stephen J. Dubner, for 'Freakonomics Radio' podcast (24 March 2010)
Context: Within my first meeting when I proposed to introduce the flat tax in Estonia they looked on me as I am a little bit crazy. And asked “do you know something on the economy?” and I answer “economically, no not so much.” But I think this is a great idea because it looks to work. And I didn’t know then that I would be the first one to see this, but I introduced it. I was 32, I was young and crazy, so I didn’t know what is possible and what's not, so I did impossible things.

Henry James photo

“We must know, as much as possible, in our beautiful art…what we are talking about — and the only way to know is to have lived and loved and cursed and floundered and enjoyed and suffered. I think I don't regret a single "excess" of my responsive youth — I only regret, in my chilled age, certain occasions and possibilities I didn't embrace.”

Henry James (1843–1916) American novelist, short story author, and literary critic

Letter to Hugh Walpole (21 August 1913).

Ludwig Wittgenstein photo

“I am showing my pupils details of an immense landscape which they cannot possibly know their way around.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) Austrian-British philosopher

Source: Culture and Value (1980), p. 56e

Lin Yutang photo

“I am here to speak on freedom of speech. It is a great topic, and I am going to make my speech as free as possible. But you know that this cannot be done, for when anyone announces that he is going to speak his mind freely, everyone is frightened. This shows that there is no such thing as true freedom of speech. No one can afford to let his neighbors know what he is thinking about them. Society can exist only on the basis that there is some amount of polished lying and that no one says exactly what he thinks.”

Lin Yutang (1895–1976) Chinese writer

" Of Freedom of Speech http://books.google.com/books?id=OM4eT2epYzwC&q="Society+can+exist+only+on+the+basis+that+there+is+some+amount+of+polished+lying+and+that+no+one+says+exactly+what+he+thinks"&pg=PA95#v=onepage", lecture given in China (4 March 1933)

Lois McMaster Bujold photo

“I don't take information and experience into my mind in that organized a fashion, but when I want to bring it out, somehow it's there. You write what you know because — like there's another choice? The trick is to try and know as much as possible.”

Lois McMaster Bujold (1949) Science Fiction and fantasy author from the USA

A Girl's World interview (2006)

Related topics