Quotes About Self-discovery

A free soul ought not to pursue any study slavishly; for while bodily labours performed under constraint do not harm the body, nothing that is learned under compulsion stays in the mind.

Knowing ourselves, we are beautiful; in self-ignorance, we are ugly.

There is nothing more genuine than breaking away from the chorus to learn the sound of your own voice.

I am Nothing. He liked the name. It did not make him feel worthless; on the contrary, he began to think of himself as a blank slate upon which anything could be written. The words inscribed on his soul were up to him.

It's just that sometimes, he said, even when the right answer is smack in front of you, you got to reach deep inside yourself to act on it. You know what I'm sayin'?

and that revelation murdered all that I once did know. Where once I asked of the God, 'Who are you?' now I ask, 'Who am I?

If you find yourself taken unawares by someone you thought you knew, recall that the character revealed is as much your own as otherwise.

Sometimes you think that there are several people inside you; one brave, one cowardly; one intelligent, and another who is a fool. You don't seem to be able to control which one it is who takes command of the situation.

Hess laughed. You know, I thought you were a mousy little thing when I first saw you, Claire, but you're not, are you? Not underneath. Oh, I am mousy, she said.All this scares the hell out of me. But I don't know what else to do, sir, except try. Even a mouse bites.

You know, I thought you were a mousy little thing when I first saw you, Claire, but you're not, are you? Not underneath. Oh, I am mousy, she said. All this scares the hell out of me. But I don't know what else to do, sir, except try. Even a mouse bites.

I must acquire my own information, build my own knowledge, and, through experience, transform it to the treasured gold of wisdom.

You've grown up being special, and this is how most people live their lives...alone. On their own. Undecided. And they get used to that feeling. It's just new for you.

I feel like I'm some kind of fugitive here, like I'm hiding from something. Maybe myself.

I'm not that woman anymore. In fact, I can hardly recognize her now, that weak creature who'd submitted, pretended, smoothed over every ripple of trouble that rose.

Gwen Proctor is the fourth identity I've had since leaving Wichita. Gina Royal lies dead in the past; I'm not that woman anymore. In fact, I can hardly recognize her now, that weak creature who'd submitted, pretended, smoothed over every ripple of trouble that rose.

I always hoped that after the prince found Cinderella and they rode away in thier magnificent carriage, after a few miles she turned to him and said could you drop me off down the road, please? Now that I've finally escaped my life of horrific abuse, I'd like to see something of the world, you know? Maybe backpack across Europe or Asia? I'll catch back up with you later, Prince, once I've found my own way.

So what do you have to confess now? I don't know why I'm saying any of this, except that it's the truth. I'm confessing that I don't know if I'm ready for this. What is 'this'? Being open. Being hurt. Liking. Not being liked. Seeing the flicker on. Seeing the flicker off. Leaping. Falling. Crashing.

If I were going to give you more advice that I myself can't seem to take, I would tell you that in order to build character, you don't invent a new self, you instead build on what's already there. The good parts. The things you love. As horrid as it sounds, at a certain point—i.e., the point we're at now—you build your character on the foundation of all the things you love.

What do you want ? It was a hard question, especially if I had to bat en down the sarcasm. I mean, there was the beauty pageant answer of world peace, although I'd probably have to render it in the beauty pageant spelling of world peas.

If I'm just The Guy With Norah, that's cool. Right now, that's all I want to be. All the other things I am—they're too complicated. I can feel them lying in wait, planning their return.

I know in my heart that I can live without him and I know in my heart that I don't want to—that's a good place to start, right?

I'd always hoped but never believed that I could have such an adventure on my own. That I could own it. And love it. But it had happened. The notebook had made it so.

I always hoped that after the prince found Cinderella and they rode away in their magnificent carriage, after a few miles she turned to him and said, Could you drop me off down the road please? Now that I've finally escaped my life of horrific abuse, I'd like to see something of the world, you know?... I'll catch back up with you later, Prince, once I've found my own way.

Mrs. Basil E.