“I am what I am
I am my own special creation
So come take a look
Give me the hook or the ovation
It's my world that I want to have a little pride in
My world and it's not a place I have to hide in
Life's not worth a damn till you can say
Hey world I am what I am.”

—  Jerry Herman

"I Am What I Am," from La Cage aux Folles (1983) http://www.bassey.co.uk/blog/shirley_bassey/2006_08_07_peggyblog.html

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I am what I am I am my own special creation So come take a look Give me the hook or the ovation It's my world that …" by Jerry Herman?
Jerry Herman photo
Jerry Herman 1
American composer and lyricist 1931–2019

Related quotes

Marianne von Werefkin photo

“I am a woman, I lack every [ability for] creation. I can understand everything and cannot create... I don't have the words to express my ideal. I am looking for the person, the man, who can give this ideal form. As a woman, wanting someone who could give the internal world expression, I met Jawlensky…”

Marianne von Werefkin (1860–1938) expressionist painter

1895 - 1905
Variant: I am a woman, I lack every [ability for] creation. I can understand everything and cannot create.. .I don't have the words to express my ideal. I am looking for the person, the man, who can give this ideal form. As a woman, wanting someone who could give the internal world expression, I met Jawlensky...

Nisargadatta Maharaj photo
Paul Simon photo

“I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.”

Paul Simon (1941) American musician, songwriter and producer

Source: Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits

Charles Bukowski photo
Bhakti Tirtha Swami photo
Sören Kierkegaard photo

“I stick my finger in existence — it smells of nothing. Where am I? Who am I? How came I here? What is this thing called the world? What does this world mean? Who is it that has lured me into the world?”

Sören Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism

Voice: Young Man
1840s, Repetition (1843)
Context: One sticks one’s finger into the soil to tell by the smell in what land one is: I stick my finger in existence — it smells of nothing. Where am I? Who am I? How came I here? What is this thing called the world? What does this world mean? Who is it that has lured me into the world? Why was I not consulted, why not made acquainted with its manners and customs instead of throwing me into the ranks, as if I had been bought by a kidnapper, a dealer in souls? How did I obtain an interest in this big enterprise they call reality? Why should I have an interest in it? Is it not a voluntary concern? And if I am to be compelled to take part in it, where is the director? I should like to make a remark to him. Is there no director? Whither shall I turn with my complaint?

Richard Bach photo
Ludwig Wittgenstein photo

“I am my world.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) Austrian-British philosopher

The microcosm.
5.63
Original German: Ich bin meine welt (Der Mikrokosmos.)
1910s, Notebooks 1914-1916
Variant: Man is the microcosm:
I am my world.

Robert Charles Wilson photo

“I understand so very little. But I am not afraid to look: I am a good observer at last. My eyes are open, and I am not afraid.”

Robert Charles Wilson (1953) author

The Observer (p. 113)
The Perseids and Other Stories (2000)

Carl Panzram photo

Related topics