Quotes on Being Yourself & Expressing Yourself
The Art of Being You
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“Normal" is just a setting on your dryer.
― Patsy Clairmont
Here are a few quotes I've collected over the years about being yourself and expressing yourself:
“Imagine if you will being on your death bed – And standing around your bed – the ghosts of the ideas, the dreams, the abilities, the talents given to you by life.
And that you for whatever reason, you never acted on those ideas, you never pursued that dream, you never used those talents, we never saw your leadership, you never used your voice, you never wrote that book.
And there they are standing around your bed looking at you with large angry eyes saying we came to you, and only you could have given us life! Now we must die with you forever.
The question is – if you die today what ideas, what dreams, what abilities, what talents, what gifts, would die with you? ”
― Les Brown
“We cannot predict the value our work will provide to the world. That’s fine. It is not our job to judge our own work. It is our job to create it, to pour ourselves into it, and to master our craft as best we can.”
― James Clear
“Take an honest inventory of the education you already have—the years you have lived, the trials you have endured, the skills you have learned along the way. If you are a young person, open your eyes wide and let the world educate you to the fullest extent. And feel free to start sharing your perspective through creativity, even if you’re just a kid. If you are young, you see things differently than I do, and I want to know how you see things. We all want to know. When we look at your work (whatever your work may be), we will want to feel your youth—that fresh sense of your recent arrival here. Be generous with us and let us feel it. After all, for many of us it has been so long since we stood where you now stand. If you are older, trust that the world has been educating you all along. You already know so much more than you think you know. You are not finished; you are merely ready. After a certain age, no matter how you’ve been spending your time, you have very likely earned a doctorate in living. If you’re still here—if you have survived this long—it is because you know things. We need you to reveal to us what you know, what you have learned, what you have seen and felt.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert
“You were born into greatness, but you’ve been conditioned into mediocrity.”
― James Arthur Ray
“You, being yourself, unknowingly inspires others to be themselves.”
― Mooji
“If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place.”
― Nora Roberts
“To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness.”
― Robert Morley
“If you keep hiding your true self, your life becomes like slow death. Once you become free from the lies and the hiding of yourself, then life becomes vibrant again.”
― Ziggy Marley
“We are all Born To Create, but not all of us unleash the creativity within.”
― Goitsemang Mvula
“The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before.” ― Neil Gaiman
“Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. Work as hard and as much as you want to on the things you like to do the best. Don't think about what you want to be, but what you want to do. Keep up some kind of a minimum with other things so that society doesn't stop you from doing anything at all.”
― Richard Feynman
“It might have been done before, but it hasn’t been done by you!”
― Elizabeth Gilbert
“Never has there walked the face of the earth someone who thinks with your degree of insight. Who loves with your degree of care. Or who feels with your degree of hope. And never has there been such a need for someone with gifts like yours, because at this very moment there are people only you can reach and differences only you can make.” ― Mike Dooley
“Normal is not something to aspire to, it is something to get away from.”
― Jodie Foster
“You have the exact uniqueness necessary to be amazing.”
― Unknown
“Creative entitlement simply means believing that you are allowed to be here, and that—merely by being here—you are allowed to have a voice and a vision of your own.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert
“Your audience is waiting for your stories. They have memory slots tailor-made to light up and remember you.”
― Steve Woodruff
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The fear of being laughed at makes cowards of us all.”
― Mignon McLaughlin
“You can attract luck simply by sharing your work publicly.”
― James Clear
“You do not need anybody’s permission to live a creative life.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert
“The amount of light you emit is not based on how positively you think, it's about how much of your darkness you can accept.”
― Kyle Cease
“You want to write a book? Make a song? Direct a movie? Decorate pottery? Learn a dance? Explore a new land? You want to draw a penis on your wall? Do it. Who cares? It’s your birthright as a human being, so do it with a cheerful heart. (I mean, take it seriously, sure—but don’t take it seriously.) Let inspiration lead you wherever it wants to lead you.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert
Stop criticizing yourself. Take a moment to look yourself in the face, at least 3x a day, and say, "I love you".
― Iyanla Vanzant
“Keep making your work regardless of the outcome. Keep sharing your work regardless of the outcome. You were born to create regardless of the outcome. You are worthy, dear one, regardless of the outcome.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert
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