Here are 145 of the best quotes about being yourself. Always keep in mind that being different and unique may seem scary at first, but it can be, in fact, your greatest source of strength. Stay strong, my friend.
Never apologize for being yourself. Paulo Coelho
Be yourself. Everyone else is taken. Oscar Wilde
When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you. Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)
The reward for conformity is that everyone likes you but yourself. Rita Mae Brown
Existence wants you to be you. Osho
It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not. André Gide
Some people around you will not understand your journey. They don’t need to; it’s not for them. Paulo Coelho
You must not be afraid of your uniqueness and you must care less and less what people think of you. Robert Greene
No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else. Buckminster Fuller
We are the ones we have been waiting for. Alice Walker
When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval. Epictetus
Don’t believe you have to be like anybody to be somebody. Nike
Don’t let other people decide who you are. Bob Goff
He who obeys, does not listen to himself. Friedrich Nietzsche (Thus Spoke Zarathustra)
You change the world by being yourself. Yoko Ono
See also: inner peace, stoic quotes, humility quotes
The Best Be Yourself Quotes
If you desire to make a difference in the world, you must be different from the world. Elaine S. Dalton
What is the seal of liberation? No longer being ashamed in front of oneself. Friedrich Nietzsche
Don’t chase people. Be yourself, do your own thing and work hard. The right people – the ones who really belong in your life – will come to you, and stay. Will Smith
When you see a mob doing something, it should make you less likely to do it yourself, not more likely. Paul Graham
A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it. G.K. Chesterton (The Everlasting Man)
Be in the world, but don’t let the world be in you. Love, and yet don’t be lost in it. Relate, and yet be alone, utterly alone. Know perfectly well that all relationship is a game: play the game and play it as beautifully as possible and as skillfully as possible. Osho
Every man who says frankly and fully what he thinks is so far doing a public service. We should be grateful to him for attacking most unsparingly our most cherished opinions. John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)
There’s a point, around the age of twenty, when you have to choose whether to be like everybody else the rest of your life, or to make a virtue of your peculiarities. Ursula K. Le Guin (The Dispossessed)
The world just wants your authentic truth. Gabby Bernstein
Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be? Charles Bukowski
You, being yourself, unknowingly inspire others to be themselves. Mooji
The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The most important consequence of self-sufficiency is freedom. Epicurus
Even if one is neither vain nor self-obsessed, it is so extraordinary to be oneself – exactly oneself and no one else. Simone de Beauvoir
Can you live completely without ambition, completely without ever comparing yourself with another? Jiddu Krishnamurti
To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. Henri Bergson (See also: maturity quotes)
Do not live to satisfy the expectations of others. Ichiro Kishimi (The Courage to Be Disliked)
Be nobody’s darling; Be an outcast. Take the contradictions of your life and wrap around you like a shawl, to parry stones, to keep you warm. Alice Walker
When you walk the walk, whether successful or not, you feel more indifferent and robust to people’s opinion, freer, more real. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Large groups are no place for smart people. Naval Ravikant
Just stick to your principles. And rest assured that, if you remain true to them, the same people who made fun of you will come to admire you. Epictetus
A rebel is the one who lives totally according to his own light and risks everything else for his ultimate value of freedom. Osho
See also: integrity quotes, success quotes
Part 2. Be Yourself Quotes That Are…
The Most Famous Be Yourself Quotes
Searching for a famous be yourself quote? Check out those by JFK, Gandhi, Emerson, Thoreau, etc.
The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud. Coco Chanel
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect). Mark Twain
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. Dr. Seuss
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. Mahatma Gandhi
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. John F. Kennedy
Success isn’t about how your life looks to others. It’s about how it feels to you. That’s what it means to be true to yourself. Michelle Obama
All I want to do is be more like me and be less like you. Linkin Park (Numb)
I pay no attention whatever to anybody’s praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings. Mozart
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric. Bertrand Russell
This above all: to thine own self be true. William Shakespeare (Hamlet)
Subservience of any kind is death to the spirit. Alice Walker
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. Ralph Waldo Emerson
They laugh at me because I’m different; I laugh at them because they’re all the same. Kurt Cobain
Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you. Tyrion Lannister (George R. R. Martin, Games of Thrones)
My philosophy is: It’s none of my business what people say of me and think of me. I am what I am and I do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. And it makes life so much easier. Anthony Hopkins
One must know oneself. Even if it does not help in finding truth, at least it helps in running one’s life, and nothing is more proper. Blaise Pascal
You were born God’s original. Try not to become someone’s copy. Marian Wright Edelman
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. E. E Cummings
I wore black because I liked it. I still do, and wearing it still means something to me. It’s still my symbol of rebellion – against a stagnant status quo, against our hypocritical houses of God, against people whose minds are closed to others’ ideas. Johnny Cash
I would rather die having spoken in my manner, than speak in your manner and live. Socrates
Not till we have lost the world do we begin to find ourselves. Henry David Thoreau
The superior man follows nobody else’s path. Napoleon Bonaparte
More famous quotes
Short Be Yourself Quotes
One-liners, short be yourself quotes, sayings, thoughts and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, backgrounds.
Become who you are. Friedrich Nietzsche
Conformity gets you nowhere. Neil Strauss
Spontaneity is total sincerity. Alan Watts
Our own life has to be our message. Thich Nhat Hanh
I’d rather be a freak than a clone. Joanne Harris
Intuition is allergic to conformity. Bill Masur
Appear as you are, be as you appear. Rumi
It is a waste of energy to follow anybody. Jiddu Krishnamurti
Stop letting the world keep score for you. Shane Parrish
Train yourself to take nothing personally. Robert Greene
You are who you are when nobody’s watching. Stephen Fry
What the world craves is authenticity. Naval Ravikant
Curiosity is insubordination in its purest form. Vladimir Nabokov
Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. Robert Greene
To lead others, one must find one’s own direction. Zhuangzi
You are what existence wants you to be. Just relax. Osho
We have to wake up. We have to refuse to be a clone. Alice Walker
Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness. Allen Ginsberg
Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be; embrace who you are. Brené Brown
More short quotes
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Inspirational Be Yourself Quotes
Believe in yourself and you will be unstoppable. Conor McGregor
I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become. Carl Jung
So whatever you want to do, just do it…Making a damn fool of yourself is absolutely essential. Gloria Steinem
Accept right now that you are magnificent. Being your real, true, authentic self is what’s most awesome about you. Gabby Bernstein
Keep being yourself inside you. Keep visualizing what you are aiming for in life. Be patient and know that you will get what you want one day. Yoko Ono
It has often been said that a reformation should begin with each man reforming himself. Søren Kierkegaard
You must always be prepared to place a bet on yourself, on your future, by heading in a direction that others seem to fear. Robert Greene
Understand: you are one of a kind. Your character traits are a kind of chemical mix that will never be repeated in history. There are ideas unique to you, a specific rhythm and perspective that are your strengths, not your weaknesses. You must not be afraid of your uniqueness. Robert Greene
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Shaw
You want to be uncommon amongst uncommon people. Period. David Goggins
You eliminate competition by being yourself. Dan Go
The most contrarian thing of all is not to oppose the crowd but to think for yourself. Peter Thiel
If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path. Joseph Campbell
When you are in your own lane there is no traffic. Ashley France
Stop caring about impact and just be the best version of you possible – then you’ll naturally have an impact. Naval Ravikant
“Finding yourself” is not really how it works. You aren’t a ten-dollar bill in last winter’s coat pocket. You are also not lost. Your true self is right there, buried under cultural conditioning, other people’s opinions, and inaccurate conclusions you drew as a kid that became your beliefs about who you are. “Finding yourself” is actually returning to yourself. An unlearning, an excavation, a remembering who you were before the world got its hands on you. Emily McDowell
I’m going to do what I want to do. I’m going to be who I really am. And I’m going to figure out what that is. Stephen Chbosky
Find your place on the planet. Dig in, and take responsibility from there. Gary Snyder
You create yourself moment to moment. You are not born as a fixed entity, but only as a infinite potentiality. Osho
I teach you rebellion! Come out of the masses. Stand alone like a lion and live your life according to your own light. Osho
You should never sacrifice what you could be for what you are. Jordan Peterson
See also: positive quotes
Funny And Surprising Be Yourself Quotes
Only dead fish go with the flow. Derek Sivers
Be the person your dog thinks you are. Ricky Gervais
I’m not confused. I’m just well mixed. Robert Frost
This isn’t life in the fast lane, it’s life in the oncoming traffic. Terry Pratchett
Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth. Alan Watts
It’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world. Dolly Parton
More funny quotes
Deep Be Yourself Sayings
If you don’t say what you think then you kill your unborn self. Jordan Peterson
Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you. Kurt Cobain
If you worry about your reputation you don’t deserve to have one. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The simplest means of procuring protection from other men is security of quiet solitude and withdrawal from the mass of people. Epicurus
Only those who can accept their own annihilation can have the courage to be true individuals. Alan Watts
People follow the latest fashion and think they’re being rebels. In reality they’re clueless conformists. Rebellion is essentially of the soul. It has nothing to do with outward appearance. Real rebels are inwardly oriented. They don’t like to attract the attention of masses. The Ancient Sage
The worst thing that can happen to a man is to become civilized. David Goggins
If you don’t set your own values, other people will. Shane Parrish
The effect of life in society is to complicate and confuse our existence, making us forget who we really are by causing us to become obsessed with what we are not. Zhuangzi
Nothing is yet in its true form. C.S. Lewis
Humans are born free, but habituated by society to obey by default. Flex your freedom muscle by questioning instead of blindly following authority. Justin Kan
The duty of the individual is to accept no rule, to be the initiator of his own acts, to be responsible. Only if he does so will the society live, and change, and adapt, and survive. We are not subjects of a State founded upon law, but members of a society formed upon revolution. Revolution is our obligation: our hope of evolution. Ursula K. Le Guin (The Dispossessed)
The world is so busy telling us who we should be, that we forget who we are. Bill Masur
The more labels you have for yourself, the dumber they make you. Paul Graham
It’s a simple fact of life: if you want to do something incredible, something that makes you stand out above the rest, then you have to become comfortable being different–that means being misunderstood, criticized, even hated. Mark Manson
As we go through life we gradually discover who we are, but the more we discover, the more we lose ourselves. Haruki Murakami (Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage)
The tighter you cling to your current identity, the harder it becomes to grow beyond it. James Clear
If they could they would not allow you to think for yourself. @AmuseChimp
To become what one is, one must not have the faintest idea what one is. Friedrich Nietzsche
Society tames the wolf into a dog. And man is the most domesticated animal of all. Friedrich Nietzsche
More deep quotes
See also: How To Know Yourself (YouTube video by The School of Life)
Wise Be Yourself Sayings (Words Of Wisdom)
Consult your conscience; rather than popular opinion. Publius Syrus
One has to be a teacher to oneself and a disciple of oneself; there is no authority, there is only understanding. Jiddu Krishnamurti
Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at anytime and be yourself. Hermann Hesse (Siddhartha)
If you know your being, there is no question of becoming. All that you could have ever imagined to become you already are. Osho
Man has to create himself. He is not ready-made, he is not given. And the creation has to be a self-creation – nobody else can make you. Osho
Remember: no attachment should grow, no clinging should grow. They are all against your independence, your freedom, your individuality. Osho
Just keep coming home to yourself. You are the one you’ve been waiting for. Byron Katie
I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence. Frederick Douglass
I have no responsibility to live up to what others expect of me. That’s their mistake, not my failing. Richard Feynman
The most important things in life are measured internally. You have an inner scoreboard. Playing to someone else’s scoreboard is easy. But when you look up at the end after winning, you’ll feel empty as you discover you won the wrong game. Play your own game. Shane Parrish
Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without. Zhuangzi
You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path. You are not on your own path. If you follow someone else’s way, you are not going to realize your potential. Joseph Campbell (The Hero’s Journey)
Self-understanding is the scariest path, hence why only the brave will reach it. @orangebook_
This balance between tribe and individuality, community and uniqueness, was a surprise in a world that makes us think we have to make a choice between them. Gloria Steinem (My Life on the Road)
Exercise authority over yourself, or you will be made to bow to the authority of others. Be your own lord and master. @TheStoicEmperor
A path of personal conviction offers great challenges and profound rewards. The journey may lead towards the tribe or away from it. The way of purpose is alive with a sense of intrinsic meaning. This is the rocky and uncrowded road of the self-responsible individual. @TheStoicEmperor
Observe things as they are and don’t pay attention to other people. Huang Po
He who tries to shine dims his own light. He who defines himself can’t know who he really is. Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)
Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be. Alan Watts
More words of wisdom
Part 3. Conclusion
Part 1. In this age, the mere example of non-conformity, the mere refusal to bend the knee to custom, is itself a service. Precisely because the tyranny of opinion is such as to make eccentricity a reproach, it is desirable, in order to break through that tyranny, that people should be eccentric. John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)
Part 2. Eccentricity has always abounded when and where strength of character has abounded; and the amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage which it contained. That so few now dare to be eccentric, marks the chief danger of the time. John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)
My kids are starting to notice I’m a little different from the other dads. “Why don’t you have a straight job like everyone else?” they asked me the other day. I told them this story: In the forest, there was a crooked tree and a straight tree. Every day, the straight tree would say to the crooked tree, “Look at me…I’m tall, and I’m straight, and I’m handsome. Look at you…you’re all crooked and bent over. No one wants to look at you.” And they grew up in that forest together. And then one day the loggers came, and they saw the crooked tree and the straight tree, and they said, “Just cut the straight trees and leave the rest.” So the loggers turned all the straight trees into lumber and toothpicks and paper. And the crooked tree is still there, growing stronger and stranger every day. Tom Waits
Call to action: Check out this beautiful resource of tips and articles about How to Be Yourself (psychologytoday.com)
Hope you enjoyed these inspiring be yourself quotes. You’ll see, once you discover that being yourself is once in a lifetime opportunity, you’ll never let yourself down again. And if you did like the quotes, please share them with a friend today!
Table Of Contents
Part 1
Top 15 Images
Best Quotes
Part 2
Be Yourself Quotes That ARE
Famous
Short
Inspirational
Funny
Deep
Wise
Part 3
Conclusion