"There’s power in admitting what you want"
About this Quote
The intent feels less like self-help than self-defense. Mitski's songs are full of narrators who try to disappear inside competence, caretaking, irony, romance, or work, only to find that suppression turns desire into something hungrier and stranger. "Admitting" is the key verb: it implies secrecy, shame, a private ledger of needs youve been trained to minimize. Saying it plainly cuts through the elaborate strategies people use to stay "reasonable". It is a reclaiming of agency from the voice that tells you youre too much.
The subtext is also about negotiation. When you articulate a want, you risk rejection, but you also stop letting other people write your script. You become legible. That legibility can be dangerous, especially for women and outsiders, who are often socialized to make their wants palatable or to translate them into acceptable forms. Mitski treats honesty as a form of stakes-raising: it clarifies the terms of intimacy, ambition, and heartbreak.
Contextually, the line lands in an era of curated nonchalance, where longing gets outsourced to memes and "no expectations" dating. Mitski offers the radical alternative: want something, admit it, and let that truth make the next move possible.
Quote Details
| Topic | Confidence |
|---|---|
| Source | Mitski interview with The Atlantic (February 2022) on desire and performance |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Mitski. (2026, February 1). There’s power in admitting what you want. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/theres-power-in-admitting-what-you-want-184728/
Chicago Style
Mitski. "There’s power in admitting what you want." FixQuotes. February 1, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/theres-power-in-admitting-what-you-want-184728/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"There’s power in admitting what you want." FixQuotes, 1 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/theres-power-in-admitting-what-you-want-184728/. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.










