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
We live counterfeit lives in order to resemble the idea we first had of ourselves.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
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
A wise man sees as much as he ought, not as much as he can.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
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
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
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
I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life.
I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.
But, lest it should be supposed that I believe in many other things in addition to these, I shall, in the progress of this work, declare the things I do not believe, and my reasons for not believing them.
I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.
All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.
I do not mean by this declaration to condemn those who believe otherwise; they have the same right to their belief as I have to mine. But it is necessary to the happiness of man, that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809) American Nationalist, Author, Pamphleteer, Radical, Inventor
Misfortunes occur only when a man is false… Events, circumstances, etc., have their origin in ourselves. They spring from seeds which we have sown.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Let me listen to me and not to them.
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American Writer
To aim at the best and to remain essentially ourselves is one and the same thing.
—Janet Erskine Stuart (1857–1914) English Catholic Nun, Educationalist
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
Remember always that you have not only the right to be an individual; you have an obligation to be one. You cannot make any useful contribution in life unless you do this.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
The great thing in the world is to know how to be sufficient unto oneself.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
if I trim myself to suit others I will soon whittle myself away.
—Unknown
Our concern must be to live while we’re alive… to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.
—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1926-2004) American Psychiatrist
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
No matter how ill we may be, nor how low we may have fallen, we should not change identity with any other person.
—Samuel Butler
Somehow we learn who we really are and then live with that decision.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
Why feignest thou thyself to be another?
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
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
We are sure to be losers when we quarrel with ourselves; it is civil war.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
While you cannot resolve what you are, at last you will be nothing.
—Martial (40–104) Ancient Roman Latin Poet
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
Posterity weaves no garlands for imitators.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
To know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying “Amen” to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to keep your soul alive.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
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
A man must be obedient to the promptings of his innermost heart.
—Robertson Davies (1913–95) Canadian Novelist, Playwright, 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
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