“I did not want to be anything, and naturally I did not want to turn myself into a mere profession: all I ever wanted was to be myself.”

“I don't want to prove anything; I merely want to live, to do no one harm but myself. I have the right to do that, haven't I?”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

“I want it all,
I want it all for myself.”

Sufjan Stevens (1975) American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist

“And if I wanted to kill myself, I wouldn't throw myself off a roof. And if I was going to throw myself off a roof, I would put on some pants before I did it.”

Holly Black book White Cat

“I don't want everyone to like me; I should think less of myself if some people did.”

Henry James (1843–1916) American novelist, short story author, and literary critic

“I did not myself know what I wanted: I feared life, desired to escape from it, yet still hoped something of it.”

Leo Tolstoy book A Confession

“But I'm glad you'll see me as I am. Above all, I wouldn't want people to think that I want to prove anything. I don't want to prove anything, I just want to live; to cause no evil to anyone but myself. I have that right, haven't I?”

Leo Tolstoy book Anna Karenina

“And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth.”

Raymond Carver (1938–1988) American short story author and poet

“I know this simple fact to be true, for I myself have abandoned people who did not want me to go, and I myself have been abandoned by those whom I begged to stay.”

Elizabeth Gilbert (1969) American writer

“All I wanted was to be loved for myself." (Erik)”

Gaston Leroux book The Phantom of the Opera