Quotes about yourself

page 19

“Not having anything around to read is dangerous: you have to content yourself with life itself, and that can lead you to take risks.”

Michel Houellebecq book Platform

“You can't keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once, and move on."

Homer Simpson”

Matt Groening (1954) American cartoonist

“forgive yourself for what you aren't able to do,
the ones who aren't able to acknowledge their ownselves are bound to fail”

Masashi Kishimoto book Naruto

“God, of your goodness, give me yourself; you are enough for me, and anything less that I could ask for would not do you full honor. And if I ask anything that is less, I shall always lack something, but in you alone I have everything'.”

Julian of Norwich book Revelations of Divine Love

“Do what you can on this plane to relieve suffering by constantly working on yourself to be an instrument for the cessation of suffering. To me, that's what the emerging game is all about.”

Ram Dass (1931–2019) American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the 1971 book Be Here Now

“I think now that being free is not being powerful or rich or well regarded or without obligation but being able to love. To love someone else enough to forget about yourself even for one moment is to be free.”

Jeanette Winterson book The Passion

“Negative desires can cause no evil if you do not allow yourself to be seduced by them.”

Paulo Coelho Maktub

“The entire ball game, in terms of both the exam and life, was what you gave attention to vs. what you willed yourself to not.”

David Foster Wallace book The Pale King

“Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself, believe.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

“Do you know what courage is? I guess you don't. Do you know that the courage it took at that moment - to actually blow yourself away - was more than enough courage to keep on living?”

Sharon M. Draper book Tears of a Tiger

“Ne te quaesiveris extra." (Do not seek for things outside of yourself)”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

“nobody can save you but yourself and you’re worth saving. it’s a war not easily won but if anything is worth winning then this is it.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

“If you never ask yourself any questions about the meaning of a passage, you cannot expect the book to give you any insight you don't already possess”

Mortimer J. Adler (1902–2001) American philosopher and educator

“A leader leads,” Ragnar said, “and you can’t ask men to risk death if you’re not willing to risk it yourself.”

Bernard Cornwell book The Last Kingdom

“IF you are not for yourself, who will be for you? If you are only for yourself, what are you? If not now, when?”

Tony Hillerman (1925–2008) Novelist

“No one can pull anyone back from anywhere. You save yourself or you remain unsaved.”

Alice Sebold book Lucky

“Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist

“If he still isn’t giving you what you want, the question to ask yourself is whether you really want him.”

Sherry Argov (1977) American writer

“See? Anger can be healthy. When the time comes–and it will come–remember that. And what I said. Embrace your powers–love yourself the way Nature made you, and you will prevail. Always.”

Meg Cabot Jinx

“Artists use lies to tell the truth. Yes, I created a lie. But because you believed it, you found something true about yourself.”

Alan Moore V for Vendetta

“It didn't take long to realize I didn't hardly know nothing. And that if you ast yourself why you black or a man or a woman or a bush it don't mean nothing if you don't ast why you here, period”

Alice Walker book The Color Purple

“But the downside of being con artist is that it very hard to con. Even if the lies you tell are to yourself.”

Ally Carter book Heist Society

“But we all must be true to our own nature. Acting as anyone other than yourself merely brings you pain and makes you appear ashamed of who and what you are. Others will feed off that shame, and soon it will be all that you are.”

Gena Showalter (1975) American writer

“Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries.”

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851) English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer

“in the dark you have to describe yourself. In the daylight other people describe you.”

Fynn (1919–1999) British writer

“Put yourself in a state of mind where you say to yourself, 'Here is an opportunity for me to celebrate like never before, my own power, my own ability to get myself to do whatever is necessary.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

“If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.”

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American author and journalist

“You are your own best friend. Never ever, put yourself down.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

“Real love is always chaotic. You lose control; you lose perspective. You lose the ability to protect yourself. The greater the love, the greater the chaos. It’s a given and that’s the secret.”

Jonathan Carroll book White Apples

“Any damage that's been done, you have to fix yourself because it needs fixing and there is nobody else to do the work. Blame may well be justified, but it's not going to move you forward in your life.”

Augusten Burroughs (1965) American writer

“The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or word processor.”

Stephen King (1947) American author

“… every time you make a decision to be less than what God wants for you, you're denying yourself some of God's blessings. It's up to you. You can live a life with God's blessings, or just exist with all the consequences of choosing wrong.”

Terri Blackstock (1957) American writer

“Funny, that no matter where you are in the world, there's always someone eager to help you destroy yourself.”

James St. James (1966) American writer

“Never say anything about yourself you don't want to come true”

Brian Tracy (1944) American motivational speaker and writer

“Sometimes our strengths are also our weaknesses. Sometimes to be strong you have to first be weak. You have to share your burdens; you have to lean on other people while you face your problems and yourself.”

Glenn Beck (1964) U.S. talk radio and television host

“Being unheard is the ground floor of giving up, and giving up is the ground floor of doing yourself in. It’s not so much, what’s the point? It’s more like, what’s the difference?”

Mitch Albom For One More Day

“First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.”

Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American writer and lecturer

“Writing is one of the few careers for which you essentially train yourself, the other two major ones being juggling and pickpocketing.”

Maureen Johnson (1973) writer from the USA

“The thing everyone should realize is that the key to happiness is being happy for yourself and yourself.”

Ellen DeGeneres (1958) American stand-up comedian, television host, and actress

“Yes, you are nosy. You're a dreadfully nosy, horribly bossy, appallingly clean old woman. Control yourself. You're victimizing us all.”

Diana Wynne Jones book Howl's Moving Castle

“you'll see, jane,' he promised her. 'you'll forget me, and it won't hurt tomorrow. besides, you said it yourself: love means you cαn never be apart. so we'll never be apart, jane, becαuse i love you so much. i'll always, always love you.”

James Patterson book Sundays at Tiffany's

“Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself”

Baz Luhrmann (1962) Australian film director, screenwriter and producer

“Imagining what it is like to be someone other than yourself is at the core of our humanity. It is the essence of compassion and the beginning of morality”

Ian McEwan (1948) British author

“You are your own worst enemy. If you can learn to stop expecting impossible perfection, in yourself and others, you may find the happiness that has always eluded you.”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

“some things you will think of yourself,… some things God will put into your mind”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

“Feeling good about yourself is not the same thing as doing good. Good policy is more important than good feelings.”

Theodore Dalrymple (1949) English doctor and writer

“Standing up for yourself doesn't always involve verbal confrontation. Sometimes it's about not wasting energy on people who are negative.”

Sherry Argov (1977) American writer

“If you believe in love, you're setting yourself up to be disappointed.”

Candace Bushnell book Sex and the City

“Freedom isn't just about voting and marrying and kissing on the street, although all of these things are important. Freedom is also about what you will allow yourself to do.”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

“Shopping is actually very similar to farming a field. You can't keep buying the same thing, you have to have a bit of variety. Otherwise you get bored and stop enjoying yourself.”

Sophie Kinsella book The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic

“I don't want to see you. I don't like you. I don't like your face. You look like an insufferable egotist. You're impertinent. You're too sure of yourself. Twenty years ago I would have punched your face with the greatest of pleasure.”

Ayn Rand book The Fountainhead

“To love yourself is a never-ending journey.”

Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist

“You can't write a script in your mind and then force yourself to follow it. You have to let yourself be.”

Chi­ma­man­da Ngo­zi Adi­chie book Half of a Yellow Sun

“Alone-sex didn't count. It's like the difference between thinking to yourself or having a good conversation with someone----the pleasure is in the exchange."

-Liberty Jones”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

“You've got to lie to stay halfway interested in yourself.”

Barry Hannah (1942–2010) Short story writer, novelist, professor

“Once you believe in yourself
and see your soul as divine and precious,
you'll automatically be converted
to a being who can create miracles.”

Wayne W. Dyer (1940–2015) American writer

“If you are searching for sacred knowledge and not just a palliative for your fears, then you will train yourself to be a good skeptic.”

Ann Druyan (1949) American author and producer

“There comes a time when you look into the mirror and you realize that what you see is all that you will ever be. And then you accept it. Or you kill yourself. Or you stop looking in mirrors.”

J. Michael Straczynski (1954) American writer and television producer

“Annabeth jogged towards us, giving me one of those annoyed expressions like, If you get yourself killed, I’m going to murder you.”

Rick Riordan book The Crown of Ptolemy

“Seek and see all the marvels around you. You will get tired of looking at yourself alone, and that fatigue will make you deaf and blind to everything else. - Don Juan”

Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998) Peruvian-American author

“If you are always frightened for yourself you can't act, and then life loses its purpose. You just have to tell yourself that, when you get right down to it, you don't matter all that much.”

Terry Brooks book The Elf Queen of Shannara

“It struck him that how you spent Christmas was a message to the world about where you were in life, some indication of how deep a hole you had managed to burrow for yourself”

Nick Hornby About a Boy

“Tsze-Kung asked, “Is there one word with which to act in accordance throughout a lifetime?” The Master said, “Is not reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.”

Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher

“If you find yourself drawn to an event against all logic, go. The universe is telling you something.”

Gloria Steinem (1934) American feminist and journalist

“If you zoom close-if you get really close to someone, if you really get close to yourself-then you lose the other person, you lose yourself entirely. You get so close you can't see anything anymore.”

David Levithan book Every You, Every Me

“Karma Repair Kit Items 1-4.

1. Get enough food to eat,
and eat it.

2. Find a place to sleep where it is quiet,
and sleep there.

3. Reduce intellectual and emotional noise
until you arrive at the silence of yourself,
and listen to it.

4.”

Richard Brautigan (1935–1984) American novelist, poet, and short story writer

“It takes a certain amount of courage, he thought, to face yourself and say with candor, I’m rotten. I’ve done evil and I will again. It was no accident; it emanated from the true, authentic me.”

Philip K. Dick book The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

“And I just want to tell you, at some point it doesn’t matter who was right and who was wrong. At some point, being
angry is just another bad habit, like smoking, and you keep poisoning
yourself without thinking about it.”

Jonathan Tropper (1970) American writer

“Writers are there to write, not experience things. If you want to experience things, become a pirate or a Bookhunter. If you want to write, write. If you can't find the makings of a story inside yourself, you won't find them anywhere.”

Walter Moers book The City of Dreaming Books

“You wanted to kill your father in order to be your father yourself. Now you are your father, but a dead father.”

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian neurologist known as the founding father of psychoanalysis

“You should always be trying to write a poem you are unable to write, a poem you lack the technique, the language, the courage to achieve. Otherwise you're merely imitating yourself, going nowhere, because that's always easiest.”

John Berryman (1914–1972) American poet

“I can do nothing for you but work on myself… you can do nothing for me but work on yourself!”

Ram Dass book Be Here Now

“Ha! to forget. How childish! I feel you in my bones. Your silence screams in my ears. You may nail your mouth shut, you may cut out your tongue, can you keep yourself from existing? Will you stop your thoughts.”

Jean Paul Sartre (1905–1980) French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and …

“How strange to have the power to literally transform yourself into other people, and yet be so unable to put yourself in their place.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

“You are here for but an instant, and you mustn't take yourself too seriously”

Edgar Rice Burroughs book The Land That Time Forgot

“If you get yourself killed, I'll find your grave and spit on it," she threatened.”

Julie Garwood (1946) American writer

“Love is like liquor, the drunker and more impotent you are, the stronger and smarter you think yourself and the surer you are of your rights.”

Louis-ferdinand Céline book Journey to the End of the Night

“Hell is the special pain that dwells in that loss which you yourself have caused”

Elliot Perlman book Seven Types of Ambiguity

“One thing I've learned in all these years is not to make love when you really don't feel it; there's probably nothing worse you can do to yourself than that.”

Norman Mailer (1923–2007) American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, film maker, actor and political candidate

“Remember: the time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself. Life's cruelest irony.”

Douglas Coupland book Shampoo Planet

“Procrastination is not Laziness", I tell him. "It is fear. Call it by its right name, and forgive yourself.”

Julia Cameron (1948) American writer

“Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.”

Warren Buffett (1930) American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist

“… real loneliness is having no one to miss. Think yourself lucky you've known something worth missing.”

Emma Donoghue (1969) Irish novelist, playwright, short-story writer and historian

“What was the point in such loneliness among people. At least if you were by yourself, you had a good reason to be lonely.”

Janet Fitch book White Oleander

“Don't compare yourself with anyone in this world… if you do so, you are insulting yourself.”

Bill Gates (1955) American business magnate and philanthropist

“Conquer yourself rather than the world.”

René Descartes (1596–1650) French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist

“You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself.”

Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) American actress, model, and singer

“Nobody knows you.
You don't know yourself.
And I, who am half in love with you,
What am I in love with?
My own imaginings?”

D.H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter

“I love books, by the way, way more than movies. Movies tell you what to think. A good book lets you choose a few thoughts for yourself.”

Karen Marie Moning book Darkfever

“Forgiveness is the best part of valor… Discretion is easy. It's finding the courage to forgive yourself and others that is hard. [Acheron]”

Sherrilyn Kenyon book Dance with the Devil

“Censor the body and you censor breath and speech at the same time. Write yourself. Your body must be heard.”

Hélène Cixous (1937) French philosopher and writer

“I have another friend who gets what I’m really like, and I get her. She scares me. Did you ever see yourself times ten in another person and want to cover your eyes?”

Megan Abbott book The Fever

“I've been going a long time now
along the way I've learned some things.

You have to make the good times yourself
take the little times and make them into big times
and save the times that are all right
for the ones that aren't so good.”

Rod McKuen (1933–2015) American poet, songwriter, composer, and singer

“Instead of working so hard to please him, work harder to please yourself…because ultimately, this is what will truly please him.”

Sherry Argov (1977) American writer

“If you never tell anyone the truth about yourself, eventually you start to forget.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

“When we open ourselves
you yourself to me and I myself to you,
when we submerge
you into me and I into you
when we vanish
into me you and into you I

Then
am I me
and you are you.”

Bernhard Schlink book The Reader

“I've always liked the moonless night best. It's easier to say things in the dark. It's easier to be yourself.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

“A zoo is a good place to make a spectacle of yourself, as the people around you have creepier, more photogenic things to look at.”

David Sedaris When You Are Engulfed in Flames

“Responsibility is a grace you give yourself not an obligation”

Dan Millman (1946) American self help writer