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
The greatest thing is, at any moment, to be willing to give up who we are in order to become all that we can be.
—Max De Pree (1924–2017) American Businessman
Committing yourself is a way of finding out who you are. A man finds his identity by identifying.
—Unknown
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 is never too late to be what you might have been.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.
—Bernice Johnson Reagon (b.1942) American Singer, Composer, Activist
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 (1927–2023) American Humanitarian, First Lady
We should every night call ourselves to an account: What infirmity have I mastered today? What passions opposed? What temptation resisted? What virtue acquired? Our vices will abate of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
To dream of the person you’d like to be, is a waste to the person you are.
—Unknown
I know this now. Every man gives his life for what he believes. Every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing yet they give their lives to that little or nothing. One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. And then it is gone. But to sacrifice what you are and live without belief, that’s more terrible than dying.
—Joan of Arc (c.1412–31) French National Heroine
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 are all born originals—why is it so many of us die copies?
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
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
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, Novelist
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
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
Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile, I caught hell for.
—Earl Warren (1891–1974) American Judge, Politician, Governor
We must overcome the notion that we must be regular…it robs you of the chance to be extraordinary and leads you to the mediocre.
—Uta Hagen (1919–2004) German-American Actress
They will say you are on the wrong road, if it is your own.
—Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Poet
Being born in a duck yard does not matter, if only you are hatched from a swan’s egg.
—Hans Christian Andersen (1805–75) Danish Author, Poet, Short Story Writer
You cannot take the mild approach to the weeds in your mental garden. You have got to hate weeds enough to kill them. Weeds are not something you handle; weeds are something you devastate.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
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
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
In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Those who know what is enough are wealthy.
Those who persevere have direction.
Those who maintain their position endure.
And those who die and yet do not perish, live on.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
It’s a dangerous thing to name yourself wrongly or to name yourself unjustly.
—John O’Donohue (1956–2008) Irish Priest, Hegelian Philosopher
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 Writer, Activist
Self-conquest is really self-surrender. Yet before we can surrender ourselves we must become ourselves. For no one can give up what he does not possess.
—Thomas Merton (1915–68) American Trappist Monk
Small is the number of them that see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
How do the geese know when to fly to the sun? Who tells them the seasons? How do we, humans, know when it is time to move on? As with the migrant birds, so surely with us, there is a voice within, if only we would listen to it, that tells us so certainly when to go forth into the unknown.
—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1926-2004) American Psychiatrist
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