Quotes about yourself
page 6

“Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms.”

Angela Carter (1940–1992) English novelist

Books, World, History, Reading

“Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”

William Faulkner (1897–1962) American writer

Wise, Deep, Inspirational, Life

“Remember where you came from, where you're going, and why you created the mess you got yourself into in the first place.”

Richard Bach book Illusions

Source: Illusions : The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (1977)

“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

Source: Meditations

Life, Happiness, Way, Thinking

“Think of many things. Never place your happiness in one person's power. Be just to yourself.”

Vikram Seth A Suitable Boy

Source: A Suitable Boy

Happiness, Thinking, Personality

“If you ever find yourself in the wrong story, leave.”

Mo Willems (1968) American children's illustrator and writer

Source: Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs

For women

“Sanya, Knight of the Cross: Laugh whenever you can. Keeps you from killing yourself when things are bad. That and vodka.”

Jim Butcher book Changes

Source: The Dresden Files, Changes (2010), Chapter 33

“Great calm, generous detachment, selfless love, disinterested effort: these are what make for success in life. If you can find peace in yourself and can spread comfort around you, you will be happier than an empress.”

Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Bengali polymath

Love, Life, Peace, Effort

“Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

World

“Love is being honest with yourself at all times
being honest with the other person at all times
telling, listening, respecting the truth
and never pretending
Love is the source of reality”

Susan Polis Schutz (1944) American poet

Love, Truth, Reality, Time

“He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby

Source: The Great Gatsby

Life, World, Smile, Hope

“If you want to be a doormat you have to lay yourself down first.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

“Think wrongly, if you please, but in all cases think for yourself.”

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) writer, philosopher, publicist, and art critic

Thinking

“Only those moments count when the desire to remain by yourself is so powerful that you'd prefer to blow your brains out than to exchange a word with someone.”

Emil M. Cioran (1911–1995) Romanian philosopher and essayist

Source: The New Gods (1969)

“What you react to in others, you strengthen in yourself.”

Eckhart Tolle book A New Earth

A New Earth (2005)

“And if a friend does you wrong, then say: "I forgive you what you have done to me; that you have done it to YOURSELF, however--how could I forgive that!”

Friedrich Nietzsche book Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Source: Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Forgiveness

“Surround yourself with great people; delegate authority; get out of the way”

Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)

People, Way, Leadership

“To the same degree that your understanding of and attitude towards Afrika becomes more positive, your understanding of and attitude towards yourself will also becomes more positive…”

Malcolm X (1925–1965) American human rights activist

Understanding

“History cannot be erased or altered. Because that would mean killing yourself.”

Haruki Murakami (1949) Japanese author, novelist

Source: 色彩を持たない多崎つくると、彼の巡礼の年

History

“The first thing every mage should learn is that magic makes fools of us. Now you may call yourself a mage. You have learned the most important lesson.”

Tamora Pierce book Melting Stones

Source: Melting Stones

Fools, Learning

“Just tell yourself, Duckie, you're real quite lucky.”

Dr. Seuss (1904–1991) American children's writer and illustrator, co-founder of Beginner Books

“Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You'll find what you need to furnish it- memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey.”

Tad Williams (1957) novelist

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, The Dragonbone Chair (1988), Chapter 42, “Beneath the Uduntree” (p. 718).
Context: “Never make your home in a place,” the old man had said, too lazy in the spring warmth to do more than wag a finger. “Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You’ll find what you need to furnish it—memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things.” Morgenes had grinned. “That way it will go with you wherever you journey. You’ll never lack for a home—unless you lose your head, of course...”

Love, Way, Home, Learning

“The Guide says there is an art to flying", said Ford, "or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

Douglas Adams Life, the Universe and Everything

Source: Life, the Universe and Everything

Art, Learning, Flying

“… how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong, to measure yourself at least once, to find yourself at least once…”

Primo Levi (1918–1987) Italian chemist, memoirist, short story writer, novelist, essayist

Life, Feeling, Strong

“It's a sad day when you find out that it's not accident or time or fortune, but just yourself that kept things from you.”

Lillian Hellman (1905–1984) American dramatist and screenwriter

Sadness, Time

“The more you look into and understand yourself, the less judgmental you become towards others.”

Tariq Ramadan (1962) Swiss muslim scholar

Understanding

“When you are tough on yourself, life is going to be infinitely easier on you”

Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American motivational speaker

Life

“Do actions agree with words? There's your measure of reliability. Never confine yourself to the words.”

Frank Herbert book Chapterhouse: Dune

Source: Chapterhouse: Dune

“A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself-and especially to feel, or not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at any moment is fine with them. That's what real love amounts to - letting a person be what he really is.”

Jim Morrison (1943–1971) lead singer of The Doors

Love, Feeling, Freedom, Personality

“If you’re attempting to do the work of evangelism and your life is stuffed with believers, you’ll find yourself out of work pretty quickly. What’s the point of saving the “already saved”?”

Bill Hybels (1951) American writer

Source: Just Walk Across the Room: Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith

Life

“There's only one very good life and that's the life you know you want and you make it yourself.”

Diana Vreeland (1903–1989) American magazine editor

Life

“Sometimes it's better to end something & try to start something new than imprison yourself in hoping for the impossible.”

Karen Salmansohn American writer

Hope

“Do you ever suddenly find it strange to be yourself?”

Clarice Lispector book A Breath of Life

Source: A Breath of Life

“Defining yourself through thought is limiting yourself.”

Eckhart Tolle (1948) German writer

Source: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.”

Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American writer

Happiness, Faith, Confidence, Success

“Have strength in yourself always. think and remember not just what you should do, but also what you want to do. (Ageha, Basara, Vol. 13)”

Yumi Tamura Manga artist

Source: Basara, Vol. 13

Thinking

“You can take pride in yourself without comparing yourself to anybody else. If you run your race and be the best that you can be, then you can feel good about yourself.”

Joel Osteen (1963) American televangelist and author

Source: Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential

Feeling

“If you kept changing the way people saw the world, you ended up changing the way you saw yourself.”

Terry Pratchett book Going Postal

Source: Going Postal

People, World, Way, Change

“Always believe in yourself. Do this and no matter where you are, you will have nothing to fear.”

Hayao Miyazaki (1941) Japanese animator, film director, and mangaka

Fear

“When you lose your temper, you lose a friend. When you lie, you lose yourself.”

Robyn Carr American writer

Harvest Moon

Lie

“Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.”

Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher

Thinking, Suffering

“Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company.”

Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor

"Associate yourself with Men of good Quality if you Esteem your own Reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad Company." This was a French maxim, late 16th century, as quoted by George Washington in his "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation," Rule # 56 (ca. 1744) http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/civility/transcript.html Misattributed

People

“Relationship is understanding. It is a process of self-revelation. Relationship is the mirror in which you discover yourself -- to be is to be related.”

Bruce Lee book Tao of Jeet Kune Do

Source: Tao of Jeet Kune Do

Understanding

“In a brutal country like ours, where human life is 'cheap', it's stupid to destroy yourself for the sake of your beliefs. Beliefs? High ideas? Only people in rich countries can enjoy such luxuries.”

Orhan Pamuk book Snow

Source: Snow

Life, People, Stupidity, Idea

“If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.”

T. Harv Eker (1954) American writer

World, Thinking

“you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.”

Miles Davis (1926–1991) American jazz musician

Time

“Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.”

Henry Miller (1891–1980) American novelist

Life, People, World, Beauty

“The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself. It is not in your environment, it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others; it is in yourself alone.”

Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American writer

Chance, Help

“… it takes great personal courage to let yourself appear weak.”

David Foster Wallace book Infinite Jest

Source: Infinite Jest

Courage, Appearance, Personality

Annie Dillard (1945) American writer

Source: The Writing Life

Learning

“The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome.”

Derek Walcott Sea Grapes

Source: Sea Grapes

Smile, Time

“Do you wish people to think well of you? Don't speak well of yourself.”

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher

People, Thinking

“When you get rid of your fear of failure, your tensions about succeeding… you can be yourself. Relaxed. You'll no longer be driving with your brakes on.”

Anthony de Mello (1931–1987) Indian writer

Fear, Failure

“You have to be able to center yourself, to let all of your emotions go. Don’t ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body.”

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1947) American basketball player

Soul, Forgetting

“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for to the creator there is no poverty and no poor indifferent place.”

Rainer Maria Rilke book Letters to a Young Poet

Letter One (17 February 1903) as translated by M. D. Herter Norton (1993)
Source: Letters to a Young Poet (1934)

Life, Indifference

“It's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

“Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or what you think could have beneficent social effects if it were believed; but look only and solely at what are the facts.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

Response to the question "Suppose Lord Russell, this film were to be looked at by our descendants, like a dead sea scroll in a thousand years time. What would you think it's worth telling that generation about the life you've lived and the lessons you've learned from it?" in a BBC interview on "Face to Face" (1959) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3aPkzHpT8M 1950s Context: When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only: What are the facts, and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed; but look only and solely at what are the facts. Context: I should like to say two things. One intellectual and one moral. The intellectual thing I should want to say to them is this: "When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only: What are the facts, and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed; but look only and solely at what are the facts." That is the intellectual thing that I should wish to say. The moral thing I should wish to say to them is very simple; I should say: "Love is wise – Hatred is foolish." In this world, which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other. We have to learn to put up with the fact, that some people say things we don't like. We can only live together in that way. But if we are to live together, and not die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance which is absolutely vital, to the continuation of human life on this planet.

Thinking

“Don't discuss yourself, for you are bound to lose; if you belittle yourself, you are believed; if you praise yourself, you are disbelieved.”

Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman

Book III, Ch. 8
Attributed

“Are you proud of yourself tonight that you have insulted a total stranger whose circumstances you know nothing about?”

Harper Lee book To Kill a Mockingbird

Source: To Kill a Mockingbird

“The will of God is not something you add to your life. It’s a course you choose. You either line yourself up with the Son of God…or you capitulate to the principle which governs the rest of the world.”

Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015) American missionary

Life, God, World

“There's lots of good fish in the sea… maybe… but the vast masses seem to be mackerel or herring, and if you're not mackerel or herring yourself, you are likely to find very few good fish in the sea.”

D.H. Lawrence book Lady Chatterley's Lover

Source: Lady Chatterley's Lover

Fish, Sea

“It's always hard to remember love - years pass and you say to yourself, Was I really in love, or was I just kidding myself? Was I really in love, or was I just pretending he was the man of my dreams? Was I really in love, or was I just desperate?”

Nora Ephron (1941–2012) Film director, author screenwriter

Source: I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

Love, Dreams

“Never underestimate your power to change yourself; never overestimate your power to change others.”

Wayne W. Dyer (1940–2015) American writer

Change

“Create yourself. Be yourself your poem.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

“Surround yourself only with people who are going to take you higher.”

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

Source: en.wikiquote.org - Oprah Winfrey / Quotes / CNN interview (2011)

People

“Your only problem, perhaps, is that you scream without letting yourself cry.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist

Problem, Cry

“when the thrill of his body fades or changes, and the difficulties of pledging yourself to only one person surface, kindness will be the balm that soothes the wounds of life.”

P. C. Cast (1960) American writer

Source: Goddess of the Sea

Life, Change, Personality

“Laugh at yourself, but don't ever aim your doubt at yourself. Be bold. When you embark for strange places, don't leave any of yourself safely on shore. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory.”

Alan Alda (1936) actor and United States Army officer

“Sure, when you're in the midst of your own suffering, it's easy to convince yourself that you're no good—but we are all tested in this life… The measure of a man is not how much he suffers in the test, but how he comes out at the end.”

Neal Shusterman (1962) American novelist

Source: UnWholly

Life, Suffering

“Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there.”

Bruce Lee book Tao of Jeet Kune Do

Source: Tao of Jeet Kune Do (1975), p. 25

“TO COME HOME TO YOURSELF May all that is unforgiven in you Be released. May your fears yield Their deepest tranquillities. May all that is unlived in you Blossom into a future Graced with love.”

John O'Donohue (1956–2008) Irish writer, priest and philosopher

Source: To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Invocations and Blessings

Love, Fear, Home, Future

“Remorse.-- Never yield to remorse, but at once tell yourself: remorse would simply mean adding to the first act of stupidity a second.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist

Stupidity

“You have to be a romantic to invest yourself, your money, and your time in cheese.”

Anthony Bourdain book Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook

Medium Raw (2010)
Source: Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook

Money, Time

“The fellow who eggs you on to avenge yourself will rob you of what you were going to say – as we forgive our debtors. When you have forfeited that, all your sins will be held against you; absolutely nothing is forgiven.”

Aurelius Augustinus (354–430) early Christian theologian and philosopher

57:11:3
Sermons

Forgiveness

“(…) if you can change yourself you will find that no other change is needed. To change the picture you merely change the film, you do not attack the cinema screen! (…) Clarify your mind, purify your heart, sanctify your life – this is the quickest way to a change of your world.”

Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981) Indian guru

Change
Source: I am That, P.129.

Life, World, Way, Change

“If you have had an unfortunate experience, forget it. If you have made a failure in speech, your song, your book, your article, if you have been placed in an embarrassing position, if you have fallen and hurt yourself by a false step, if you have been slandered and abused, do not dwell upon it. There is not a single redeeming feature in these memories, and the presence of their ghosts will rob you of many a happy hour. There is nothing in it. Drop them. Forget them. Wipe them out of your mind forever. If you have been indiscreet, imprudent, if you have been talked about, if your reputation has been injured so that you fear you can never outgrow it or redeem it, do not drag the hideous shadows, the rattling skeletons about with you, Rub them off from the shite of memory. Wipe them out. Forget them. Start with a clean slate and spend all your energies in keeping it clean for the future.”

Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American writer

Masterful Personality (1923).

Happiness, Books, Fear, Failure

“To be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars- to be satisfied with your possessions but not content with yourself until you have made the best of them- to despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness, and to fear nothing except cowardice- to be governed by you admirations rather than by your disgusts- to covet nothing that is your neighbors except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners- to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends, and every day of Christ; to spend as much time as you can in God's out-of doors- these are the little guideposts on the footpaths to peace.”

Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933) American diplomat

Footpaths to Peace.

Love, Life, God, World

“Don’t listen to what people tell you because they’ll try to bring you down. And don’t listen to yourself, either, because yourself will try to bring you down even more so than anyone else. As long as you just put all your energy into one thing, it can happen.”

Chris Colfer (1990) actor, singer, book author

Personal Quotes 2009–2012

People

“If you want to do good research, it's important not to know too much. This almost sounds contradictory but really if you know too much and you get an idea, you will sort of talk yourself out of trying it because you figure it won't work. But if you know just the right amount and you get enthusiastic about your project, you go ahead, you do it and if you're lucky things'll work out.”

Ivar Giaever (1929) Norwegian physicist

In Ivar Giaever's Nobel Prize http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=82E4B92E3A753DDF. Interview produced by Alfred Leitner in 1982.

Idea

“I think the worst thing that can happen to a good actor is fame. The limelight is a tricky place, because you can't believe what's going on around you. You stop observing. You stop perceiving. You stop extending yourself, and you become isolated. Our duty as actors is to remain compassionate and curious. Fame complicates all that.”

Vera Farmiga (1973) American actress

As quoted in " A Film of One's Own http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/03/magazine/03actesses.html" by Lynn Hirschberg at The New York Times (September 3, 2006)

Thinking

“In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) Indian spiritual philosopher

As quoted in Perfecting Ourselves : Coordinating Body, Mind, and Spirit (2002) by Aaron Hoopes, p. 64
Posthumous publications

World, Learning

“The whole world will smile at you when your heart is peaceful and your mind is clean. When you can smile at yourself, not a single trouble in the world will affect you. When you are sincere to yourself, no one in the world can deceive you.”

Jun Hong Lu (1959) Australian Buddhist leader

Malaysia, (28 August 2017)[citation needed].

World, Peace, Smile, Heart

“When you look at a tree, you are aware of the tree. When you have a thought or feeling, you are aware of that thought or feeling. When you have a pleasurable or painful experience, you are aware of that experience. These seem to be true and obvious statements. Yet if you look at them very closely, you will find that in a subtle way their very structure contains a fundamental illusion, an illusion which is unavoidable when you use language. Thought and language create an apparent duality and a separate person where there is none.
The truth is you are not somebody who is aware of the tree, the thought, feeling or experience. You are the awareness or consciousness in and by which those things appear. As you go about your life, can you be aware of yourself as the awareness in which the entire content of your life unfolds?”

Eckhart Tolle (1948) German writer

Stillness Speaks (2003)

Life, Pain, Pleasure, Truth

“The man who does not wish to belong to the mass needs only to cease taking himself easily; let him follow his conscience, which calls to him: “Be your self! All you are now doing, thinking, desiring, is not you yourself.””

Friedrich Nietzsche Untimely Meditations

“Schopenhauer as educator,” § 3.1, R. Hollingdale, trans. (1983), p. 127
Untimely Meditations (1876)

Thinking

“Most important, you learn never to trust a man, even if he seems honest and sincere. You learn how men deceive themselves and how impossible it is to help them without injuring yourself.”

Jack Abbott book In the Belly of the Beast

In the Belly of the Beast (1981)

Men, Learning, Help, Sincerity

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself”

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States

Cited as a piece of anonymous folk-wisdom from the 1940s onwards https://books.google.com/books?id=iNkWAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Learn+from+the+mistakes+of+others.+You+can%27t+live+long+enough+to+make+them+all+yourself%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22make+them+all+yourself%22. Not attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt until 2001 https://books.google.com/books?id=ctxi36FCi18C&pg=PA151&dq=%22Learn+from+the+mistakes+of+others%22+%22live+long%22+roosevelt&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiI_sD5mqDLAhWIKGMKHb8HAZ0Q6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&q=%22Learn%20from%20the%20mistakes%20of%20others%22%20%22live%20long%22%20roosevelt&f=false. Disputed

Learning

“To a disciple who was forever complaining about others the Master said, "If it is peace you want, seek to change yourself, not other people. It is easier to protect your feet with slippers than to carpet the whole of the earth."”

Anthony de Mello (1931–1987) Indian writer

Transformation
One Minute Wisdom (1989)

People, Peace, Change

“You see, whether you can draw like this or not, being able to think up this kind of design, it depends on whether or not you can say to yourself, 'Oh, yeah, girls like this exist in real life.' If you don’t spend time watching real people, you can’t do this, because you’ve never seen it. Some people spend their lives interested only in themselves. Almost all Japanese animation is produced with hardly any basis taken from observing real people, you know. It’s produced by humans who can’t stand looking at other humans. And that’s why the industry is full of otaku!”

Hayao Miyazaki (1941) Japanese animator, film director, and mangaka

2014 interview http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/01/30/ghiblis-hayao-miyazaki-says-the-anime-industrys-problem-is-that-its-full-of-anime-fans/ with Japanese news website Golden Times, 27 January 2014. Translated by RocketNews24 on January 30, 2014.

Life, People, Girl, Thinking