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
Learn what you are and be such.
—Pindar (c.518–c.438 BCE) Greek Lyric Poet
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, Academic
Your readiest desire is your path to joy even if it destroys you.
—Holbrook Jackson (1874–1948) British Journalist, Writer, Publisher
What’s a man’s first duty? The answer is brief: To be himself.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright
To be nobody-but-yourself—in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else—means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.
—e. e. cummings (1894–1962) American Poet, Writer, Painter
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 would have to settle for the elegant goal of becoming ourselves.
—William Styron (1925–2006) American Novelist, Essayist, Writer
It is possible to be different and still be all right.
—Anne Wilson Schaef (1934–2020) American Clinical Psychologist
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
All is disgust when one leaves his own nature and does things that misfit it.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
We are sure to be losers when we quarrel with ourselves; it is civil war.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
The great thing in the world is to know how to be sufficient unto oneself.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
A wise man sees as much as he ought, not as much as he can.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Why feignest thou thyself to be another?
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
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
Passions spin the plot: We are betrayed by what is false within.
—George Meredith (1828–1909) British Novelist, Poet, Critic
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
Somehow we learn who we really are and then live with that decision.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
All life is the struggle, the effort to be itself.
—Jose Ortega y. Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish Critic, Journalist, Philosopher
Posterity weaves no garlands for imitators.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
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
The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere.
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001) American Aviator, Author
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
Education should be the process of helping everyone to discover his uniqueness.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
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
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
A man must be obedient to the promptings of his innermost heart.
—Robertson Davies (1913–95) Canadian Novelist, Playwright, Essayist
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
if I trim myself to suit others I will soon whittle myself away.
—Unknown