No man would, I think, exchange his existence with any other man, however fortunate. We had as lief not be, as not be ourselves.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
What does reason demand of a man? A very easy thing—to live in accord with his own nature.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Why feignest thou thyself to be another?
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Do what thy manhood bids thee do, from none but self expect applause; he noblest lives and noblest dies who makes and keeps his self-made laws. All other Life is living Death, a world where none but Phantoms dwell, a breath, a wind, a sound, a voice, a tinkling of the camel-bell.
—Richard Burton (1925–84) Welsh Actor
If you’re gonna be a failure, at least be one at something you enjoy.
—Sylvester Stallone (b.1946) American Actor, Screenwriter, Director
Philosophy is a purely personal matter. A genuine philosopher’s credo is the outcome of a single complex personality; it cannot be transferred. No two persons, if sincere, can have the same philosophy.
—Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) British Sexologist, Physician, Social Reformer
Let me listen to me and not to them.
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American Writer
Every human being is intended to have a character of his own; to be what no other is, and to do what no other can do.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
A path is only a path, and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you … Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself alone, one question … Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t it is of no use.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
A man must be obedient to the promptings of his innermost heart.
—Robertson Davies (1913–95) Canadian Novelist, Playwright, Essayist
Don’t compromise yourself, it’s all you’ve got.
—Janis Joplin (1943–1970) American Singer-songwriter
I believe there’s an inner power that makes winners or losers. And the winners are the ones who really listen to the truth of their hearts.
—Sylvester Stallone (b.1946) American Actor, Screenwriter, Director
You have to deal with the fact that your life is your life.
—Alex Haley (1921–92) American Novelist, Biographer
It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is.
—Desiderius Erasmus (c.1469–1536) Dutch Humanist, Scholar
Somehow we learn who we really are and then live with that decision.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
Passions spin the plot: We are betrayed by what is false within.
—George Meredith (1828–1909) British Novelist, Poet, Critic
The moment that any life, however good, stifles you, you may be sure it isn’t your real life.
—A. C. Benson (1862–1925) English Essayist, Poet, Author
A wise man sees as much as he ought, not as much as he can.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, “This is the real me,” and when you have found that attitude, follow it.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something that one finds. It is something one creates.
—Thomas Szasz (1920–2012) Hungarian-American Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst
Education should be the process of helping everyone to discover his uniqueness.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
Your readiest desire is your path to joy even if it destroys you.
—Holbrook Jackson (1874–1948) British Journalist, Writer, Publisher
Choose always the way that seems best, however rough it may be, and custom will soon render it easy and agreeable.
—Pythagoras (570–495 BCE) Greek Philosopher
Resolve to be thyself: and know, that he who finds himself, loses his misery.
—Matthew Arnold (1822–88) English Poet, Critic
We would have to settle for the elegant goal of becoming ourselves.
—William Styron (1925–2006) American Novelist, Essayist, Writer
Learn what you are and be such.
—Pindar (c.518–c.438 BCE) Greek Lyric Poet
We are sure to be losers when we quarrel with ourselves; it is civil war.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
What’s a man’s first duty? The answer is brief: To be himself.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright
All is disgust when one leaves his own nature and does things that misfit it.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Men throw themselves on foreign assistances to spare their own, which, after all, are the only certain and sufficient ones.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
The crow that mimics a cormorant gets drowned.
—Japanese Proverb
Posterity weaves no garlands for imitators.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
The highest courage is to dare to appear to be what one is.
—John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) American Catholic Clergyman, Educator, Essayist, Biographer
The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere.
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001) American Aviator, Author
Integrity simply means a willingness not to violate one’s identity.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
if I trim myself to suit others I will soon whittle myself away.
—Unknown
Happiness, that grand mistress of the ceremonies in the dance of life, impels us through all its mazes and meanderings, but leads none of us by the same route.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Different men seek after happiness in different ways and by different means, and so make for themselves different modes of life and forms of government
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
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
I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions.
—Lillian Hellman (1905–84) American Playwright, Dramatist, Memoirist
With begging and scrambling we find very little, but with being true to ourselves we find a great deal more.
—Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Bengali Poet, Polymath
We live counterfeit lives in order to resemble the idea we first had of ourselves.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
The great thing in the world is to know how to be sufficient unto oneself.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
While you cannot resolve what you are, at last you will be nothing.
—Martial (40–104) Ancient Roman Latin Poet
This above all—to thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
She lacks confidence, she craves admiration insatiably. She lives on the reflections of herself in the eyes of others. She does not dare to be herself.
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
The white light streams down to be broken up by those human prisms into all the colors of the rainbow. Take your own color in the pattern and be just that.
—Charles Reynolds Brown (1862–1950) American Clergyman
All men have happiness as their object: there are no exceptions. However different the means they employ, they aim at the same end.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
All life is the struggle, the effort to be itself.
—Jose Ortega y. Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish Critic, Journalist, Philosopher
A happy life is one which is in accordance with its own nature.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian