The Math of Me

So I started out with Caring, Intelligence, and Respect, but people said that those could be further simplified. So I think that Respect spurs from Dignity, and where would I be without Dignity? Dignity is why we bother to get dressed in the morning, so we don't look like slobs and we can carry ourselves proudly. Then I thought that Pride spurs from Dignity, and vice versa, so I'll go with Pride. Everybody, especially me, wants to be Proud of themselves.
Intelligence is something I hold dear to me. From a young age I've always wanted to be the smartest. It's not like I want Intelligence for Knowledge and Knowledge for Power, because I've never been particularly powerful and I don't particularly want to be. Intelligence is just something that makes me feel like I'm not dumb, and I can actually solve a problem myself. But I don't really want to be too independent, because I always want to be able to rely on people. But maybe my need for Intelligence comes from a need for Understanding. I never want to not be able to understand things, it just gives me a feeling of inferiority that I hate. Sometimes you need to respect the fact that you are inferior, at least a little bit, but if you are able to understand fact and meaning, you can learn much more than you can without it.
That brings me to my last core value: Caring. It's not like those stupid Elementary School writing assignments where you describe your classmates: She is nice, friendly, and caring. Caring is an adjective that, ironically, people use carelessly. I think one of the most important things in my life is having people who care about me, and caring about other people. It doesn't even matter if they love me or I love them, I just want a mutual caring. Like Luke said, if I were backed into a corner and somebody threatened to take away my ability to care or feel affection, I would do anything to stop them. I feel the same for Pride and Understanding.
So if these, Caring, Pride, and Understanding, describe me as a person, I would be okay with that, because I care about them, I'm proud of them, and I understand them.