4,826 Quotes About Self

How much of my true self I camouflage and choke in order to commend myself to him, denying the fullness of me. How often have I paraded sweetness and interest when I felt otherwise; pretended to take careful leave of him on many an occasion when I would rather have walked right out. How I've toned myself down, diluted myself to maintain his approval.

Not only is the self entwined in society; it owes society its existence in the most literal sense.

All pity is self-pity.

A god who is both self-sufficient and content to remain so could not interest us enough to raise the question of his existence.

A tree never hits an automobile except in self defense.

Welcome to a life of insecurity and paralyzing self-doubt.

Rather than teasing the buyers, we may blame the society in which they lived for setting up a situation where the purchase of ornate cabinets felt psychologically necessary and rewarding, where respect was dependent on baroque displays. Rather than a tale of greed, the history of luxury could more accurately be read as a record of emotional trauma. It is the legacy of those who have felt pressured by the disdain of others to add an extraordinary amount to their bare selves in order to signal that they too may lay a claim to love.

It is not necessarily at home that we best encounter our true selves. The furniture insists that we cannot change because it does not; the domestic setting keeps us tethered to the person we are in ordinary life, who may not be who we essentially are.

Most of us still caged within careers chosen for us by our not entirely worldly 18-22 year old selves.