Quotes About Self-definition

When I was among the elves, I learned that a person's true name often changes as they age. Do you understand what that means? Who you are is not fixed for all of eternity. A man could forge himself anew if he so wanted.

Tener un enemigo es importante no solo para definir nuestra identidad, sino también para procurarnos un obstáculo con respecto al cual medir nuestro sistema de valores y mostrar, al encararlo, nuestro valor. Por lo tanto, cuando el enemigo no existe, es preciso construirlo.

But we aren't defined by the names we carry or the religion we practice, or the nation whose flag flies over our heads. I know that now. We're defined by who we are in our hearts, who we choose to be on this earth.

Do you know what else this very wise person told me?" he asks. "She said that we're defined by who we are in our hearts, who we choose to be on this earth. And I believe, Mrs. Abrams, that you chose to be a hero, even if you don't see it that way." He

What are you?" he asked. Not who, but what.

The ego—one's sense of self—is an abstract concept; it's hard to define it concretely. Picture it as a house built brick by brick. It protects you from the stresses of the outside world, providing a metaphorical home to shelter in—a safe place.

What's in a name?" rumbled Iago. "People will call you whatever they want. New owner, new name. If it bothers you, you oughtn't come when you're called. They'll learn eventually. I rarely come trotting when someone hollers for me. That's all a name's for, in the end.

the curse of anyone nonwhite is that you are so busy arguing what you're not that you never arrive at what you are.

can't live if you can't accept what you are, and you can't accept what you are if you can't say what you do. The power of naming, as old as Adam.

Tudo o que me ocorria era que, por mais intimidade que tenhamos com alguém, há limites, barreiras entre nós que não podemos mesmo ultrapassar, coisas que nos tocam tão fundo que não podem ser partilhadas com mais ninguém. Talvez seja o que não podemos partilhar com os outros o que verdadeiramente nos define.

I would not allow myself to be defined by other people, white or black." —James Baldwin

All you are ever told in this country about being black is that it is a terrible, terrible thing to be. Now, in order to survive this, you have to really dig down into yourself and re-create yourself, really, according to no image which yet exists in America. You have to impose, in fact—this may sound very strange—you have to decide who you are, and force the world to deal with you, not with its idea of you.

Being undefined somewhat makes me nervous, but what I do know is I'm 100 percent confident in who Charlotte is.

If you come to fame not understanding who you are, it will define who you are.

Most people are defined by their titles, their cars, their house, where they came from, their color, their race, their religion. And so it's up to you to take control of your own life and define you. As long as you understand who you are and you have a solid foundation of understanding what your talents are, what your skills are.

I usually say Latina, Mexican-American or American Mexican, and in certain contexts, Chicana, depending on whether my audience understands the term or not.

Unfortunately, Poots is the name that I've been graced with for my life, but it's not short for anything - apart from Imogen Poots.

Define success by your terms, not by other people's standards.

You're not gonna tell me who I am. I'm gonna tell you who I am.

Who I am depends not only on what I believe but on the beliefs embedded in the practices of the various communities to which I belong and in terms of which I define my identity.

My definition of cool is finding your own definition of cool and not necessarily taking your lead from what other people tell you or from what you might read from magazines or see on TV.

I've been taught through life experience that, like, I'd better open my mouth and quickly define myself in a new space and with new people because, if I don't, I will be defined.

The subject of autobiography is always self-definition, but it cannot be self-definition in a void. The memoirist, like the poet and the novelist, must engage with the world, because engagement makes experience, experience makes wisdom, and finally it's the wisdom—or rather the movement towards it—that counts.

That was the hazard she'd face every day, here: not just the risk that she'd give in to temptation, but the risk that all the principles she'd chosen to define herself would come to seem like nothing but masochistic nonsense.