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"Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about."
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"Authenticity isn't just about saying "this is who I am-it is also about being flexible enough to recognize and appreciate the uniqueness in others-honoring the mutual respect for being authentic and true."

"To be "great" is an ego goal; to be real is existential."

"Who are you not to be yourself?"

"It is important to live authentically who you are, to show yourself to your date as the bond between you builds."

"I like a look of agony, because I know it's true."

"Many of us have gotten so used to playing to the expectations of society, of our families,of our friends, and of our minds, that we don't even allow ourselves to consider who we really are or what we really need. We ignore the callsof our hearts, giving our lives, instead, to thedemands of an outside world built on fitting in.We can stop this, right now. We can choose to listen to ourselves, to heed our deepest callings,whatever they are. We can give ourselves thefreedom to be whoever the hell we want to bein this world. Right now, if we choose to.And why wouldn't we?"

"I take my cues from the world around me and carefully paint a self-portrait that the world can't help but accept. However, I would be much wiser to put down all such artistic notions and hold up the portrait of me painted by God simply because that is a picture at which the world can't help but marvel."

"Don't count on cheerleaders once you start living a life more reflective of your truth. They may not want to do somersaults and backflips for your awakening, not when they're still asleep. Don't let that stop you. Most of us have only been trained to cheer for conformity, to commend those who are just like us. But aren't you bored of being congratulated for fitting in? Aren't you tired of ignoring your heart's requests?Don't wait for cheerleaders. Be grateful if they show up, but you show up regardless, with or without them.You will never be defined by the reception you get from others, only by the truth with which you receive yourself. Be your biggest cheerleader. Love yourself. And applaud every single step you take toward truth."

"Of all individuals, the hated, the shunned, and the peculiar are arguably most themselves. They wear no masks whatsoever in order to be accepted and liked; they do seem most guarded, but only by their own hands: as compared to the populace, they are naked."
Explore more quotes by W. H. Auden


"I am sure it is everyone's experience, as it has been mine, that any discovery we make about ourselves or the meaning of life is never, like a scientific discovery, a coming upon something entirely new and unsuspected; it is rather, the coming to conscious recognition of something, which we really knew all the time but, because we were unwilling to formulate it correctly, we did not hitherto know we knew."


"When I am in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate who has strayed by mistake into a drawing room full of dukes."


"It's frightening how easy it is to commit murder in America. Just a drink too much. I can see myself doing it. In England, one feels all the social restraints holding one back. But here, anything can happen."


"The ear tends to be lazy, craves the familiar and is shocked by the unexpected; the eye, on the other hand, tends to be impatient, craves the novel and is bored by repetition."
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