"The desire for self-expression afflicts people when they feel there is something of themselves which is not getting through to the outside world"
About this Quote
Her intent is slyly diagnostic. She’s not romanticizing authenticity; she’s noticing how it spikes under pressure. People don’t crave “expression” because they’re uniquely profound, but because they suspect their interior life is being reduced to a role: the agreeable woman, the competent professional, the funny friend. The subtext is that the “outside world” isn’t neutral. It’s a gatekeeper, rewarding legible versions of identity and punishing messier truths. So self-expression becomes both protest and plea: a demand to be received on one’s own terms, and a fear that those terms may be unmarketable, unlovable, or simply unheard.
Context matters: Weldon’s fiction and public persona emerged from late-20th-century Britain, where feminism was prying open private life and asking who gets to narrate it. Her line anticipates our current content economy too: when the self is constantly performed, the feeling of “not getting through” can intensify, not diminish. The sharper irony is that the more channels we have, the more acute the affliction becomes, because being visible is not the same as being recognized.
Quote Details
| Topic | Self-Improvement |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Weldon, Fay. (2026, January 17). The desire for self-expression afflicts people when they feel there is something of themselves which is not getting through to the outside world. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-desire-for-self-expression-afflicts-people-51664/
Chicago Style
Weldon, Fay. "The desire for self-expression afflicts people when they feel there is something of themselves which is not getting through to the outside world." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-desire-for-self-expression-afflicts-people-51664/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The desire for self-expression afflicts people when they feel there is something of themselves which is not getting through to the outside world." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-desire-for-self-expression-afflicts-people-51664/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
