If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.
—Billie Jean King (b.1943) American Tennis Player
If you want to be respected by others the great thing is to respect yourself. Only by that, only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you.
—Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–81) Russian Novelist, Essayist, Writer
It’s not our disadvantages or shortcomings that are ridiculous, but rather the studious way we try to hide them and our desire to act as if they did not exist.
—Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837) Italian Poet, Essayist, Philosopher
Luck is always waiting for something to turn up. Labor, with keen eyes and strong will, always turns up something. Luck lies in bed and wishes the postman will bring news of a legacy. Labor turns out at six o’clock and with busy pen or ringing hammer, lays the foundation of a competence. Luck whines. Labor whistles. Luck relies on chance, labor on character.
—Richard Cobden
Unless I accept my faults, I will most certainly doubt my virtues.
—Hugh Prather (b.1938) American Christian Author, Minister, Counselor
Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.
—Emily Post (1873–1960) American Writer, Socialite
In the 21st century, I believe the mission of the United Nations will be defined by a new, more profound awareness of the sanctity and dignity of every human life, regardless of race or religion.
—Kofi Annan (1938–2018) Ghanaian Statesman, International Diplomat
What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.
—Abraham Maslow (1908–70) American Psychologist, Academic, Humanist
Service broadens your vision widens your awareness. Deepens your compassion.
—Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2011) Indian Hindu Religious Leader
I hope to work, support my children and die quietly without pain.
—Sean Connery (1930–2020) Scottish Actor, Film Producer
There is an increasing awareness of the interrelatedness of things. We are becoming less prone to accept an immediate solution without questioning its larger implications.
—Arthur Erickson (1924–2009) Canadian Architect
The search for a new personality is futile; what is fruitful is the interest the old personality can take in new activities.
—Cesare Pavese (1908–50) Italian Novelist, Poet, Critic, Translator
We look at the dance to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigor, the mystery, the humor, the variety, and the wonder of life. This is the function of the American dance.
—Martha Graham (1894–1991) American Choreographer
To do all that one is able to do is to be a man; to do all that one would like to do is to be a god.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
Interest in the lives of others, the high evaluation of these lives, what are they but the overflow of the interest a man finds in himself, the value he attributes to his own being?
—Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Those people who are uncomfortable in themselves are disagreeable to others.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
At thirty a man should know himself like the palm of his hand, know the exact number of his defects and qualities … And above all, accept these things.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
You can succeed if nobody else believes it, but you will never succeed if you don’t believe in yourself.
—William J. H. Boetcker (1873–1962) American Presbyterian Minister
Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in our own sunshine.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
Rebellion against your handicaps gets you nowhere. Self-pity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world — making the most of one’s best.
—Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878–1969) American Baptist Minister
You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself.
—Beryl Markham (1902–86) British-born Kenyan Aviator, Adventurer, Sportsperson
It is enough that I am of value to somebody today.
—Hugh Prather (b.1938) American Christian Author, Minister, Counselor
A man who knows he is a fool is not a great fool.
—Zhuang Zhou (c.369–c.286 BCE) Chinese Taoist Philosopher
The mind fixed in the awareness of the ONE is like a rock—unaffected by doubt, stable, secure.
—Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2011) Indian Hindu Religious Leader
To see, to hear, means nothing. To recognize (or not to recognize) means everything. Between what I do recognize and what I do not recognize there stands myself. And what I do not recognize I shall continue not to recognize.
—Andre Breton (1896–1966) French Poet, Essayist, Critic
Life is a culmination of the past, an awareness of the present, an indication of a future beyond knowledge, the quality that gives a touch of divinity to matter.
—Charles Lindbergh (1902–74) American Aviator, Inventor, Conservationist
Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who has a low opinion of himself.
—Anthony Trollope (1815–82) English Novelist
I … know what I do, and am unmoved by men’s blame, or their praise either.
—Robert Browning (1812–89) English Poet
We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or to other people’s models, learn to be ourselves, and allow our natural channel to open.
—Shakti Gawain (b.1948) American Author, Environmentalist
The awareness of our own strength makes us modest.
—Paul Cezanne (1839–1906) French Painter
A human action becomes genuinely important when it springs from the soil of a clear-sighted awareness of the temporality and the ephemerally of everything human. It is only this awareness that can breathe any greatness into an action.
—Vaclav Havel (1936–2011) Czech Dramatist, Statesman
No one is more profoundly sad than he who laughs too much.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
We set up harsh and unkind rules against ourselves. No one is born without faults. That man is best who has fewest.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
There is a proper balance between not asking enough of oneself and asking or expecting too much.
—May Sarton (1912–95) American Children’s Books Writer, Poet, Novelist
Healthy personalities accept themselves not in any self-idolizing way, but in the sense that they see themselves as persons who are worth giving to another and worthy to receive from another.
—William Glasser (b.1925) American Psychiatrist, Writer
Open-mindedness should not be fostered because, as Scripture teaches, Truth is great and will prevail, nor because, as Milton suggests, Truth will always win in a free and open encounter. It should be fostered for its own sake.
—Richard Rorty (1931–2007) American Philosopher
There are moments of existence when time and space are more profound, and the awareness of existence is immensely heightened.
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one’s work seriously and taking one’s self seriously. The first is imperative and the second is disastrous.
—Margot Fonteyn (1919–91) English Classical Ballet Dancer
Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them—every day begin the task anew.
—Francis de Sales (1567–1622) French Catholic Saint
A growing awareness of the depth of popular attachment to the family has led some liberals to concede that family is not just a buzzword for reaction.
—Christopher Lasch (1932–94) American Historian, Moralist, Social Critic
Let the spirit out—Discard all thoughts of reward, all hopes of praise and fears of blame, all awareness of one’s bodily self. And, finally closing the avenues of sense perception, let the spirit out, as it will.
—Bruce Lee (1940–73) American Martial Artist, Actor, Philosopher
We pay attention with respect and interest, not in order to manipulate, but to understand what is true. And seeing what is true, the heart becomes free.
—Jack Kornfield (b.1945) American Buddhist Teacher
Awareness requires a rupture with the world we take for granted; then old categories of experience are called into question and revised.
—Shoshana Zuboff (b.1951) American Social Psychologist
Blessed is he who expects no gratitude, for he shall not be disappointed.
—William Bennett (b.1943) American Politician, Political Theorist, Government Official
I was always willing to take a great deal of the burden of getting along in life on my own shoulders, but I wasn’t willing to give myself a pat on the back. I was always looking to somebody else to give me that … That was all wrong.
—Raquel Welch (b.1940) American Actress, Singer
The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a sin the corrupt or evil man never practices. He always has hope. He never reaches the freezing-point of knowing absolute failure. Only the man of goodwill carries always in his heart this capacity for damnation.
—Graham Greene (1904–91) British Novelist, Playwright, Short Story Writer
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Awakening begins when a man realizes that he is going nowhere and does not know where to go.
—Georges Gurdjieff (1877–1949) Armenian Spiritual Leader, Occultist
Your problem is you’re … too busy holding onto your unworthiness.
—Ram Dass (1931–2019) American Hindu, New Age Pioneer
Public opinion is a weak tyrant, compared with our private opinion – what a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates his fate.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
We would have to settle for the elegant goal of becoming ourselves.
—William Styron (1925–2006) American Novelist, Essayist, Writer
In other living creatures the ignorance of themselves is nature, but in men it is a vice.
—Boethius (c.480–524 CE) Roman Statesman, Philosopher
He knows the universe and does not know himself.
—Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95) French Poet, Short Story Writer
The chief duty I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
It’s okay if you mess up. You should give yourself a break.
—Billy Joel (b.1949) American Singer, Songwriter, Musician
One may understand the cosmos, but never the ego; the self is more distant than any star.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
Life, I fancy, would very often be insupportable, but for the luxury of self-compassion.
—George Gissing (1857–1903) English Novelist
The happy man is he who knows his limitations, yet bows to no false gods.
—Robert W. Service (1874–1958) Scottish Poet, Author
The world is not a problem; the problem is your unawareness
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
Self-love is not opposed to the love of other people. You cannot really love yourself and do yourself a favor without doing other people a favor, and vice versa.
—Karl Menninger (1893–1990) American Psychiatrist
Develop a mind that is vast like space, where experiences both pleasant and unpleasant can appear and disappear without conflict, struggle or harm. Rest in a mind like vast sky.
—Jack Kornfield (b.1945) American Buddhist Teacher
I’m not OK, you’re not OK — and that’s OK.
—William Sloane Coffin (1924–2006) American Presbyterian Clergyman, Peace Activist
It is only fools who keep straining at high C all their lives.
—Charles Dudley Warner (1829–1900) American Essayist, Novelist
The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.
—Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan (1916–2004) British Sufi Mystic, Religious Leader, Psychologist
The only thing that can save the world is the reclaiming of the awareness of the world. That’s what poetry does.
—Allen Ginsberg (1926–97) American Poet, Activist
The moment one gives a close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world unto itself.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
Growth begins when we start to accept our own weakness.
—Jean Vanier (1928–2019) French-Canadian Philosopher, Theologian, Humanitarian
Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
No man can climb out beyond the limitations of his own character.
—John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn (1838–1923) British Political Leader, Writer, Editor, Journalist
Humor is perhaps a sense of intellectual perspective: an awareness that some things are really important, others not; and that the two kinds are most oddly jumbled in everyday affairs.
—Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American Novelist, Essayist
Our entire life – consists ultimately in accepting ourselves as we are.
—Jean Anouilh (1910-87) French Dramatist
It is the individual who knows how little they know about themselves who stands the most reasonable chance of finding out something about themselves before they die.
—S. I. Hayakawa (1906–92) Canadian-born American Academic, Elected Rep, Politician
No one remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself.
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955) German Novelist, Short Story Writer, Social Critic, Philanthropist, Essayist
We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
To know oneself, one should assert oneself. Psychology is action, not thinking about oneself. We continue to shape our personality all our life. If we knew ourselves perfectly, we should die.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
If there is pain, use it as an awareness, as meditation, as a sharpening of the soul. And when pleasure is there, use it as a droning, as a forgetfulness. Both are ways to reach God. One is to remember yourself totally, and one is to forget yourself totally.
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
Life is a very sad piece of buffoonery, because we have … the need to fool ourselves continuously by the spontaneous creation of a reality … which, from time to time, reveals itself to be vain and illusory.
—Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) Italian Dramatist, Novelist, Short Story Writer, Author
Mind is really a tape recorder. But it is not continuously on, not twenty-four hours on. When needed, the witness, the man of meditation, the man of awareness, is capable of putting the mind on or off. He puts it on when there is some need….
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
There is no disappointment we endure one-half so great as what we are to ourselves.
—Philip James Bailey (1816–1902) English Poet
The man who is aware of himself is henceforward independent; and he is never bored, and life is only too short, and he is steeped through and through with a profound yet temperate happiness.
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) English Novelist
Let a man’s talents or virtues be what they may, he will only feel satisfaction in his society as he is satisfied in himself.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity.
—Sivananda Saraswati (1887–1963) Indian Hindu Spiritual Teacher
I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do. That is character.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
Many people today don’t want honest answers insofar as honest means unpleasant or disturbing. They want a soft answer that turneth away anxiety.
—Louis Kronenberger (1904–80) American Drama, Literary Critic
Of all afflictions, the worst is self-contempt.
—Berthold Auerbach (1812-82) German Novelist
The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself.
—Thales of Miletus (c.624–c.545 BCE) Greek Philosopher, Mathematician
Change is certain. Peace is followed by disturbances; departure of evil men by their return. Such recurrences should not constitute occasions for sadness but realities for awareness, so that one may be happy in the interim.
—I Ching Ancient Chinese Divination Text
I care not so much what I am in the opinion of others as what I am in my own; I would be rich of myself and not by borrowing.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
We should know what our convictions are, and stand for them. Upon one’s own philosophy, conscious or unconscious, depends one’s ultimate interpretation of facts. Therefore it is wise to be as clear as possible about one’s subjective principles. As the man is, so will be his ultimate truth.
—Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) Swiss Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher
I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man I’ve met.
—Dwight L. Moody (1837–99) Christian Religious Leader, Publisher
Awareness is half the battle.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
Be content with what you are, and wish not change; nor dread your last day, nor long for it.
—Martial (40–104) Ancient Roman Latin Poet