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
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 Children’s Books Writer, Poet, Artist
Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
I don’t think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
The individual in the ordinary circumstances of living may feel more unreal than real; in a literal sense, more dead than alive; precariously differentiated from the rest of the world, so that his identity and autonomy are always in question…. He may not possess an over-riding sense of personal consistency or cohesiveness. He may feel more insubstantial than substantial, and unable to assume that the stuff he is made of is genuine, good, valuable. And he may feel his self as partially divorced from his body.
—R. D. Laing (1927–89) Scottish Psychiatrist
We need not be afraid to touch, to feel, to show emotion. The easiest thing in the world is to be what you are, what you feel. The hardest thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don’t let them put you in that position.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
Individuality is the aim of political liberty. By leaving to the citizen as much freedom of action and of being, as comports with order and the rights of others, the institutions render him truly a freeman. He is left to pursue his means of happiness in his own manner.
—James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) American Novelist
And truly it demands something godlike in him who cast off the common motives of humanity and ventured to trust himself for a taskmaster.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I will not follow where the path may lead, but I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail.
—Muriel Strode (1875–1964) American Author, Businesswoman
Each man must have his “I”; it is more necessary to him than bread; and if he does not find scope for it within the existing institutions he will be likely to make trouble.
—Charles Cooley (1864–1929) American Sociologist
And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in all the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual.
—John Steinbeck (1902–68) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Journalist
Practical to the end,
it is the poem
of his existence
that triumphed
finally;…
—William Carlos Williams (1883–1963) American Poet, Novelist, Cultural Historian
Comrades! We must abolish the cult of the individual decisively, once and for all.
—Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) Russian Head of State, Political leader
Each man must grant himself the emotions that he needs and the morality that suits him.
—Remy de Gourmont (1858–1915) French Poet, Novelist, Critic
The mass of men lead quiet lives of desperation.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
Obscenity is our name for the uneasiness which upsets the physical state associated with self-possession, with the possession of a recognized and stable individuality.
—Georges Bataille (1897–1962) French Philosopher, Writer