being yourself

Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most
deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says,
"This is the real me," and when you have found that attitude, follow it.

William James

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Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself.

Richard Bach

It is finally when you let go of what people expect you
to be and people's perceptions of you that you're able to be
the version of yourself that you're supposed to be-- like
in God's eyes.  It doesn't matter if you're half crazy, or eccentric,
or whatever it is-- that you have to be true to who
you were born to be.

Gwyneth Paltrow

To think is easy.  To act is difficult.
To act as one thinks is the most difficult.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The more authentic you become, the more genuine in
your expression, particularly regarding personal experiences
and even self-doubts, the more people can relate to your
expression and the safer it makes them feel to express
themselves.  That expression in turn feeds back on the other
person's spirit, and genuine creative empathy takes place,
producing new insights and learnings.

Stephen Covey

We need to find the courage to say NO to the things and people
that are not serving us if we want to rediscover ourselves
and live our lives with authenticity.

Barbara De Angelis

Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at,
with originality, which they should never bother about.

W.H. Auden

When you find your authentic self, the same thing happens.  You realize
that who you thought you were—which was based largely on the opinions
of others and who they think you should be—isn't who you really are.
You don't need a mirror to find your authentic self; you only need to
stop trying to be anything, and simply just be.  You become your
authentic self by letting go of who you think you should be.

Don Miguel Ruiz Jr.
Little Book of Wisdom

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

When one is pretending the entire body revolts.

Anaïs Nin

You cannot fail at being yourself.  A cat doesn't try to be
a tiger, and you shouldn't try to be something you aren't.
You are a process, not a product.  Your job is to discover
what you are and create that creature.  You still won't be
perfect, but success isn't about perfection--it is
about authenticity.  You are a success if you are
being your real, authentic self.

Bernie Siegel

When you awaken to what I call the Authentic Self, which is the spiritual
or evolutionary impulse, what begins to emerge is the dawning recognition
of the fact that each one of us, at our highest level, is that Authentic Self,
which is actually the same energy and intelligence that originally inspired
the entire creative process.  You begin to intuit and feel directly
connected to the very impulse that initiated the whole event
fourteen billion years ago and is driving it right now.

Andrew Cohen

Finally and most important of all, authenticity means that you must do what
you do the way you do it and allow everyone else the same courtesy.  There
was a time I wanted to be like every famous writer that ever lived.  I tried
to copy styles, reframe information, use similar artwork.  I almost drove
myself crazy!  Now I just do what I do.  I have mentors.  There are people
whose work I admire, but I write the way I write.  I eat the way I eat.
I dress the way I dress.  I can't believe that God made us each
so unique only to have us do everything the same way.

Iyanla Vanzant

Do not carry the burden of the past; do not live in the future.
The only important thing is that one lives in the present
authentically and fully.  Whatever your current life is,
be the most you can be by living in the moment.

Chan Chih

We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.

May Sarton

How would your life be different if you approached all relationships
with authenticity and honesty?  Let today be the day that you
dedicate yourself to building relationships on the solid
foundation of truth and authenticity.

Steve Maraboli
Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic,
imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never
be greater than our level of self-acceptance.

Brené Brown
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be
Vulnerable Transforms the Way We
Live, Love, Parent, and Lead

Children are born authentic, but over time parents, teachers, and
other authority figures shape them and prod them to chase goals
that are aligned with family expectations, social values, and religious
beliefs.  Provided they feel loved and receive the right messages, this
is a good thing, but there comes a day when all children, regardless
of their circumstances, are old enough to make their own choices.  If
the choices we make are not in balance with our true natures—in
alignment with our souls’ desires—we lose our authentic selves.

Bernie Siegel
No Endings, Only Beginnings

Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day.
It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest.
The choice to let our true selves be seen.

Brené Brown
The Gifts of Imperfection

   being yourself   

That inner voice has both gentleness and clarity. So to get to
authenticity, you really keep going down to the bone, to
the honesty, and the inevitability of something.

Meredith Monk

The closer you stay to emotional authenticity and people, character
authenticity, the less you can go wrong. That's how I feel now,
no matter what you're doing.

David O. Russell

The struggle to excavate your true, authentic self from beneath the mountain
of conditioning and ridiculous expectation is the epic struggle of your lifetime.

Bryant McGill
Simple Reminders

It's a funny thing, how it works.
The moment we stop trying so hard to be someone, we become
ourselves-- only what was there all along, waiting and
peeking out from behind all the masks we wore.
And when this happens, we discover that Who We Really Are is
much greater than anything we might have
pretended or even hoped to be.

Jacob Nordby