Quotes About Self-awareness

until it seemed like everything in Danny's life was the witness he needed to prove he was still himself, still Danny King exactly like before: See, I scored a goal! See, I'm hanging with my friends! But he wasn't one hundred percent there, he was watching, too, hoping everyone would be convinced.

Why did people have to pretend to be what they already were?

He thought: I'm a guy who wears boots like this. It was the first thing he knew about himself.

Doesn't having been a model make you a little . . . visible?' 'Not at all,' I said. 'Exactly the opposite. People who've known me for years stare at me like they've never seen me before.' The smile was hurting my face.

Knowing your latitude and longitude is not the same as knowing where you are.

The secret to a happy ending, Mom used to tell us, is knowing when to walk away.

She's calm and happy now that Scotty loves her. I can't tell if she's actually real, or if she's stopped caring if she's real or not. Or is not caring what makes a person real?

Being observed felt like an action, the only one worth taking.

I don't know what happened to me," he said, shaking his head. "I honestly don't." Bennie glanced at him, a middle-aged man with chaotic silver hair and thoughtful eyes. "You grew up, Alex," he said, "just like the rest of us.

As a model, of course, I'd carried my face like a sign, holding it out a foot or so in front of me—not out of pride or vanity, God knew; those had been stamped out long ago, or at any rate, disjoined from my physical appearance. No, out of sheer practicality: here's what I am. Calling card, handshake, précis, call it what you like; it was what I had to offer to the world where I had spent my life.

I can't tell if she's actually real, or if she's stopped caring if she's real or not. Or is not caring what makes a person real?

If you've never experienced a sense of dysphoria with your own body, all I can say is, Lucky you. But just because you have not experienced this yourself does not mean it is not real in the hearts of others.

Barbara looked alarmed. "You mean you could have decided to be anybody?" "Not anybody, but the person I became. I think we are who we are because consciously, or unconsciously, we choose ourselves.

I really did "choose" to be Jim every single day, but that once I put my sword down I haven't chosen Jenny at all; I simply wake up and here I am.

It makes me wonder just how many supposedly brave people in the world are just men and women trying to imitate someone more courageous than themselves.

It's not a bad thing, is it, to be strong in some ways and fragile and vulnerable in others?

As we grow, we learn to overcome the tendency to run and hide from ourselves and our feelings. When we feel trapped or pressured, it takes great spiritual and emotional strength to be honest.

I wanted only a familiar voice, someone who knew me. Not some earlier, larval version of myself. . .

If she had access to a mirror, a palette, an easel and paint, a woman could endlessly reflect on her face, and, by extension, her place in the world.

You haven't locked yourself in any rooms or rocked in any corners, right?" I rolled my eyes and began walking again. No Daemon, but thanks for making sure I'm mentally sound and all.

You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it in himself. —Galileo Galilei

I remember when I was 33 or 34, it was devastating because I realized I wasn't a kid anymore. The great thing about 40 was that I really felt like I had life experience and knew what I was doing now.

Sometimes it's the toughest moments that you learn the most about yourself, and the more you know yourself, the less you are willing to give away.

I am an expert at not wanting to want things." I held my sword up for a moment longer, then lowered it, the way he'd lowered his. "But I'm starting to realize that the person I need to be, the person I'm becoming—she's not that girl anymore.