“I like to feel dumb. That’s how I know there’s more in the world than me.”

—  Susan Sontag

Last update June 9, 2022. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I like to feel dumb. That’s how I know there’s more in the world than me." by Susan Sontag?
Susan Sontag photo
Susan Sontag 168
American writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist 1933–2004

Related quotes

Sherrilyn Kenyon photo
Manuel Rivera-Ortiz photo

“I don’t need them to tell me what it feels like to be poor … I already know how this feels, how it smells and how it tastes! When I talk to them … I want them to tell me about their hopes and aspirations, about their dreams…”

Manuel Rivera-Ortiz (1968) American photographer

Biographical profile http://rivera-ortiz.com/html_info.cfm?menu_itemID=144717&load=html
Official site
Context: I don’t need them to tell me what it feels like to be poor … I already know how this feels, how it smells and how it tastes! When I talk to them … I want them to tell me about their hopes and aspirations, about their dreams… about the road ahead and how they imagine it will shape up out in front of them to make the dreaming and hoping come true. I ask them about assistance, about the health, and about their families near or far.

Greta Thunberg photo

“I would like to say something that I think people need to know more than how I deal with haters.”

Greta Thunberg (2003) Swedish climate change activist

In response to Time editor Edward Felsenthal question about how she dealt with all the haters
2020, Rolling Stone Interview: How one Swedish teenager armed with a homemade sign ignited a crusade and became the leader of a movement, Jack Davison, (March 2020)

Nicholas Sparks photo
Neil deGrasse Tyson photo

“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson (1958) American astrophysicist and science communicator

2010s
Context: The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation. For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And along the way, lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.

James Frey photo
Harry Chapin photo
James Bay photo
Sally Field photo

“I haven't had an orthodox career, and I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it, and I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!”

Sally Field (1946) American actress

Said during Field's Oscar acceptance speech for Best Actress in 1984's Places in the Heart
Often misquoted as "You like me, you really like me!"
The misquote was echoed by Sean Penn in his 1996 acceptance of the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead in Dead Man Walking as, "You tolerate me. You really tolerate me!"
[Waxman, Sharon, The Oscar Acceptance Speech: By and Large, It's a Lost Art, Washington Post, 1999-03-21, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/movies/oscars/speeches.htm, 2006-12-31]

Related topics