Over the years I have developed a picture of what a human being living humanely is like. She is a person who understand, values and develops her body, finding it beautiful and useful; a person who is real and is willing to take risks, to be creative, to manifest competence, to change when the situation calls for it, and to find ways to accommodate to what is new and different, keeping that part of the old that is still useful and discarding what is not.
Taste everything, but swallow only what fits.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that one should explore various experiences, but only embrace those that are suitable or beneficial.
Virginia Satir's quote, 'Taste everything, but swallow only what fits,' emphasizes the importance of exploring different ideas, experiences, and viewpoints. It encourages openness and curiosity while also advocating for discernment in choosing what to accept or adopt into one's life. In essence, it underscores a balance between exploration and selectivity, suggesting that not everything encountered will be beneficial or appropriate.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a self-improvement seminar, this quote can be used to encourage participants to try new strategies but choose what aligns with their values.
More from Virginia Satir
All quotes βThe message sent is not always the message received.
What lingers from the parent's individual past, unresolved or incomplete, often becomes part of her or his irrational parenting.
The recommended daily requirement for hugs is: four per day for survival, eight per day for maintenance, and twelve per day for growth.
Your responses to the events of life are more important than the events themselves.
Put together all the existing families and you have society. It is as simple as that. Whatever kind of training took place in the individual family will be reflected in the kind of society that these families create.
Similar quotes
Good actions are a guard against the blows of adversity.
It is much more difficult to measure non-performance than performance. Performance stands out like a ton of diamonds. Non-performance can almost always be explained away
...inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened.
The man whose life is devoted to paperwork has lost the initiative. He is dealing with things that are brought to his notice, having ceased to notice anything for himself.
Mistakes are, after all, the foundations of truth, and if a man does not know what a thing is, it is at least an increase in knowledge if he knows what it is not.
Only when a tree has fallen can you take the measure of it. It is the same with a man.