Sometimes the best way to figure out who you are is to get to that place where you don’t have to be anything else.
—Unknown
The only one thing I can change is myself, but sometimes that makes all of the difference.
—Anonymous
How are you going to spend this one odd and precious life you have been issued? Whether you’re going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over people and circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are.
—Anne Lamott (b.1954) American Novelist
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.
—Unknown
We mean by “politics” the people’s business—the most important business there is.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
I don’t think there ever was a lazy man in this world. Every man has some sort of gift, and he prizes that gift beyond all others. He may be a professional billiard-player, or a Paderewski, or a poet—I don’t care what it is. But whatever it is, he takes a native delight in exploiting that gift, and you will find it is difficult to beguile him away from it. Well, there are thousands of other interests occupying other men, but those interests don’t appeal to the special tastes of the billiard champion or Paderewski. They are set down, therefore, as too lazy to do that or do this—to do, in short what they have no taste or inclination to do. In that sense, then I am phenomenally lazy. But when it comes to writing a book—I am not lazy. My family find it difficult to dig me out of my chair.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Put yourself in a state of mind where you say to yourself, “Here is an opportunity for you to celebrate like never before, my own power, my own ability to get myself to do whatever is necessary.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
Committing yourself is a way of finding out who you are. A man finds his identity by identifying.
—Unknown
A man must be obedient to the promptings of his innermost heart.
—Robertson Davies (1913–95) Canadian Novelist, Playwright, Essayist
Just as you would not neglect seeds that you planted with the hope that they will bear vegetables and fruits and flowers, so you must attend to and nourish the garden of your becoming.
—Jean Houston (b.1937) American New Thought Author, Speaker
To dream of the person you’d like to be, is a waste to the person you are.
—Unknown
I was once afraid of people saying, “Who does she think she is?” Now I have the courage to stand and say “This is who I am.”
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
No one is to be called an enemy, all are your benefactors, and no one does you harm. You have no enemy except yourselves.
—Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) Italian Monk, Founder of the Franciscan Order
When you acknowledge the less than perfect parts of yourself, something magical begins to happen. Along with the negative, you’ll also begin to notice the positive, the wonderful aspects of yourself that you may not have given yourself credit for, or perhaps even been aware of.
—Richard Carlson (1912–77) American Actor, TV Personality, Film Director, Screenwriter
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
I don’t think there ever was a lazy man in this world. Every man has some sort of gift, and he prizes that gift beyond all others. I don’t care what it is. But whatever it is, he takes a native delight in exploiting that gift, and you will find it is difficult to beguile him away from it.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man I’ve met.
—Dwight L. Moody (1837–99) Christian Religious Leader, Publisher
Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones tend to take care of themselves.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.
—Bernice Johnson Reagon (1942–73) American Singer, Composer, Scholar, Social Activist
Ninety per cent of the world’s woe comes from people not knowing themselves, their abilities, their frailties, and even their real virtues. Most of us go almost all the way through life as complete strangers to ourselves—so how can we know anyone else?
—Sydney J. Harris (1917–86) American Essayist, Drama Critic
What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless, but disastrous…
—Thomas Merton (1915–68) American Trappist Monk
Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted, but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.
—Garrison Keillor (b.1942) American Author, Humorist, Radio Personality
You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
We fail to see that we can control our own destiny; make ourselves do whatever is possible; make ourselves become whatever we long to be.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
You will make a lousy anybody else, but you are the best you in existence. You are the only one who can use your ability. It is an awesome responsibility.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
We are like violins. We can be used as doorstops, or we can make music.
—Barbara Sher (1935–2020) American Career Coach
There’s a period of life when we swallow a knowledge of ourselves and it becomes either good or sour inside.
—Pearl Bailey (1918–1990) American Jazz Singer, Actress, Writer
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.
—Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) Swiss Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher
Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile, I caught hell for.
—Earl Warren (1891–1974) American Judge, Politician
Josh Billings said, “It is not only the most difficult thing to know oneself, but the most inconvenient one, too.” Human beings have always employed an enormous variety of clever devices for running away from themselves, and the modern world is particularly rich in such stratagems.
—John W. Gardner (1912–2002) American Activist
We are all born originals—why is it so many of us die copies?
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is itself to succumb to the violence of our times. Frenzy destroys our inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.
—Thomas Merton (1915–68) American Trappist Monk
Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.
—Carol Moseley Braun (b.1947) American Politician
It is in vain to hope to please all alike. Let a man stand with his face in what direction he will, he must necessarily turn his back on one half of the world.
—George D. Prentice (1802–70) American Journalist, Editor
A desire to be in charge of our own lives, a need for control, is born in each of us. It is essential to our mental health, and our success, that we take control.
—Robert F. Kennedy (1925–68) American Politician, Civil Rights Activist
There is nothing of which every man is so afraid, as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
It is always easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them.
—Alfred Adler (1870–1937) Austrian Psychiatrist
To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can’t accomplish it. You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.
—Rosalynn Carter (b.1927) American Humanitarian, First Lady
Think about your future possibilities and the fact that your potential is virtually unlimited. You can do what you want to do and go where you want to go. You can be the person you want to be. You can set large and small goals and make plans and move step-by-step, progressively toward their realization. There are no obstacles to what you can accomplish except the obstacles that you create in your mind.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
It is not worth an intelligent man’s time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people to do that.
—G. H. Hardy (1877–1947) English Mathematician
Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Only to the extent that someone is living out this self transcendence of human existence, is he truly human or does he become his true self. He becomes so, not by concerning himself with his self’s actualization, but by forgetting himself and giving himself, overlooking himself and focusing outward.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
—Marianne Williamson (b.1952) American Activist, Author, Lecturer
Learn to live with self and you will learn to live with others.
—Edgar Cayce (1877–1945) American Faith Healer
There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is on a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.
—Martha Graham (1894–1991) American Choreographer
What another would have done as well as you, do not do it. What another would have said as well as you, do not say it; what another would have written as well, do not write it. Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself—and thus make yourself indispensable.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
It’s a dangerous thing to name yourself wrongly or to name yourself unjustly.
—John O’Donohue (1956–2008) Irish Priest, Hegelian Philosopher