"It is my belief that we all have the need to feel special. It is this need that can bring out the best in us, yet the worst in us"
About this Quote
The phrasing is doing quiet work. "My belief" softens what is actually a hard diagnosis, and "we all" spreads the blame so it doesn't sound like confession. Then she flips the same need into a moral hinge: specialness can be fuel or poison. In the best-case version, that desire pushes people to practice, risk embarrassment, speak up, love loudly, create something worthy of being seen. In the worst-case version, it curdles into entitlement, jealousy, and the kind of performative attention-seeking that can swallow empathy. The subtext is that the need itself isn't the problem; the strategies we use to satisfy it are.
Context matters because Janet Jackson's public narrative has long been about control and vulnerability: tightly choreographed excellence alongside moments when the culture tried to reduce her to a headline. When you're celebrated, then policed, you learn how quickly "special" can turn into "target". The quote functions as a warning and a permission slip: want recognition, but watch what it makes you willing to do to get it.
Quote Details
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Jackson, Janet. (2026, January 15). It is my belief that we all have the need to feel special. It is this need that can bring out the best in us, yet the worst in us. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/it-is-my-belief-that-we-all-have-the-need-to-feel-146392/
Chicago Style
Jackson, Janet. "It is my belief that we all have the need to feel special. It is this need that can bring out the best in us, yet the worst in us." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/it-is-my-belief-that-we-all-have-the-need-to-feel-146392/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"It is my belief that we all have the need to feel special. It is this need that can bring out the best in us, yet the worst in us." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/it-is-my-belief-that-we-all-have-the-need-to-feel-146392/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.










