Quotes About Authenticity

Klara seemed, on the contrary, frequently to be emerging. Not from silence into sociability—something other than that. From herself into herself—as if she had been born bearing multiple veils of Klara, and they were all legitimate. Echt.

Ask me no questions and I'll spell you no lies, she said.

When the times are a crucible, when the air is full of crisis," she said, "those who are the most themselves are the victims.

I don't believe in the concept of 'real' or 'realer' people. You don't? She smiled, not nicely. When I do disappear again, dearie, I'll surely be less real than I am now.

However, if you want to know how people would like to be treated, it's more helpful to look at how they themselves act than what they say.

I have an idea of who I wish I were, and that obscures my understanding of who I actually am. Sometimes I pretend even to myself to enjoy activities that I don't really enjoy, such as shopping, or to be interested in subjects that don't much interest me, such as foreign policy.

I have an idea of who I wish I were, and that obscures my understanding of who I actually am.

Finally I am coming to the conclusion that my highest ambition is to be what I already am. —Journal of Thomas Merton

For each Tendency, one question matters most: Upholders ask: Should I do this? Questioners ask: Does this make sense? Obligers ask: Does this matter to anyone else? Rebels ask: Is this the person I want to be?

There's no magic formula—not for ourselves, and not for the people around us. We won't make ourselves more creative and productive by copying other people's habits, even the habits of geniuses; we must know our own nature, and what habits serve us best.

As one Questioner pointed out, 'The Rebels' best asset is their voice of dissent. We shouldn't try to school it out of them, or to corporate-culture it out, or shame it out. It's there to protect us all.

Once I've cleared away the things I don't need, use, or love, my surroundings reveal to me, and to others, the things that matter most to me. Careful curation means that my space and my possessions reflect my truest identity.

See the child you have," as the saying goes, "not the child you wish you had." In the end, I agreed with Michel de Montaigne: "The least strained and most natural ways of the soul are the most beautiful; the best occupations are the least forced.

As Michel de Montaigne observed, The least strained and most natural ways of the soul are the most beautiful; the best occupations are the least forced. p 233

Feeling right" is about living the life that's right for you—in occupation, location, marital status, and so on. It's also about virtue: doing your duty

I remind myself: Just because something is fun for other people doesn't mean it's fun for me—and it's a lot easier to stick to a habit that I honestly enjoy.

People assume that a person who acts happy must feel happy, but although it's in the very nature of happiness to seem effortless and spontaneous, it often takes great skill.

I should tailor my habits to the fundamental aspects of my nature that aren't going to change. It was no use saying "I'll write more every day if I team up with another writer, and we race to see who can finish writing a book faster," because I don't like competition.

There's no magic, one-size-fits-all solution to creating a happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative life; we can build a better life only on the foundation of our own nature, our own interests

This self-knowledge is crucial because we can build a happy life only on the foundation of our own nature, our own interests, and our own values.

Waldenlust." This longing takes several forms: fantasies of the freedom that dispossession would bring; nostalgia for earlier, supposedly simpler times; and reverence for the primitive, which is assumed to be more authentic and closer to nature.

Clarity of values also makes it possible to identify red-herring habits. A red-herring habit is a habit that we loudly claim to want to adopt, when we don't actually intend to do so.

Everyone's happiness project is unique.

would seek happiness in the ways that seemed most natural to me.