#duality

This is a perfectly good picture. And if I didn't know you, I would be impressed and charmed. But I do know you." He thought some more, wondering whether he dared say precisely what he felt, for he knew he could never explain exactly why the idea came to him. "It's the painting of a dutiful daughter," he said eventually, looking at her cautiously to see her reaction. "You want to please. You are always aware of what the person looking at this picture will think of it. Because of that you've missed something important. Does that make sense?" She thought, then nodded. "All right," she said grudgingly and with just a touch of despair in her voice. "You win." Julien grunted. "Have another go, then. I shall come back and come back until you figure it out." "And you'll know?" "You'll know. I will merely get the benefit of it. ↗

— Iain Pears

#creativity #daughters #duty #expectation #fulfillment

I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. ↗

— Charlotte Brontë

#defiance #empowerment #independence #individuality #self-assurance

I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine. ↗

— Bruce Lee

#individuality #peer-pressure #wisdom #wisdom

All the books we own, both read and unread, are the fullest expression of self we have at our disposal. ... But with each passing year, and with each whimsical purchase, our libraries become more and more able to articulate who we are, whether we read the books or not. ↗

— Nick Hornby

#identity #individuality #read

It never got weird enough for me. ↗

— Hunter S. Thompson

#uniqueness #individuality

It's weird not to be weird. ↗

— John Lennon

#individualism #paradox #individuality

I am not eccentric. It's just that I am more alive than most people. I am an unpopular electric eel set in a pond of catfish. ↗

— Edith Sitwell

#eccentricity #eels #fish #individuality #individuality

To find out what is truly individual in ourselves, profound reflection is needed; and suddenly we realize how uncommonly difficult the discovery of individuality is. ↗

— C.G. Jung

#individuality #introspection #psychology #consciousness

It's so hard to express yourself.' I understand this.' I want to express myself.' The same is true for me.' I'm looking for my voice.' It's in your mouth.' I want to do something I'm not ashamed of.' Something you are proud of, yes?' Not even. I just don't want to be ashamed. ↗

— Jonathan Safran Foer

#individuality #expression

If I start giving people what they like I'll turn into one of them and I don't want to be one of them I want to be one of me. ↗

— Craig Ferguson

#individuality