“Never follow anyone else's path, unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path. Then by all means follow that path.”

—  Ellen DeGeneres

Variant: Follow your passion. Stay true to yourself. Never follow someone else's path unless you're in the woods and you're lost and you see a path. By all means, you should follow that.

Last update Sept. 6, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Never follow anyone else's path, unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path. Then by all means follo…" by Ellen DeGeneres?
Ellen DeGeneres photo
Ellen DeGeneres93
American stand-up comedian, television host, and actress 1958

Related quotes

C.G. Jung photo

“If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s.”

C.G. Jung (1875–1961) Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology

Joseph Campbell photo

“You enter the forest
at the darkest point,
where there is no path.

Where there is a way or path,
it is someone else's path.

You are not on your own path.

If you follow someone else's way,
you are not going to realize
your potential.”

Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) American mythologist, writer and lecturer

Source: The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life & Work

“They’ll say you’re walking down the wrong path, if you’re walking down your path.”

Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Argentinian poet

Dirán que andas por un camino equivocado, si andas por tu camino.
Voces (1943)

E.E. Cummings photo

“seeker of truth
follow no path
all paths lead where
truth is here”

E.E. Cummings (1894–1962) American poet

3
73 poems (1963)

Antonio Machado photo

“Wanderer, your footprints are
the path, and nothing else;
wanderer, there is no path,
the path is made by walking.
Walking makes the path,
and on glancing back
one sees the path
that will never trod again.
Wanderer, there is no path—
Just steles in the sea.”

Antonio Machado book Kampos di Kastilia

Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino, y nada más;
caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante, no hay camino,
sino estelas en la mar.
"Proverbios y cantares XXIX" [Proverbs and Songs 29], Campos de Castilla (1912); trans. Betty Jean Craige in Selected Poems of Antonio Machado (Louisiana State University Press, 1979)

Nakayama Miki photo

“This path cannot be followed by human thinking. It is the path that is being formed by the law of nature.”

Nakayama Miki (1798–1887) Founder of Tenrikyo

Anecdotes of Oyasama, Foundress of Tenrikyo, from Anecdote 17, "The Law of Nature," p. 13.
Anecdotes of Oyasama

“A warrior chooses a path with heart, any path with heart, and follows it; and then he rejoices and laughs. He knows because he "sees" that his life will be over altogether too soon. He "sees" that nothing is more important that anything else.”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from A Separate Reality (Chapter 6)

“All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. However, a path without a heart is never enjoyable. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy - it does not make a warrior work at liking it; it makes for a joyful journey; as long as a man follows it, he is one with it.”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from The Teachings of Don Juan (Chapter 4)

“Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow, you must not stay with it under any circumstances.”

Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998) Peruvian-American author

Source: The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

Related topics