#individuality

I want a simple, ordinary life . . . like humans enjoy. ↗

— Deborah Harkness

#individuality #life #simplicity #life

He thought: How difficult it is to explain yourself to yourself. Sometimes there only is, and no knowing. ↗

— Aidan Chambers

#life #life

Bei gleicher Umgebung lebt doch jeder in einer anderen Welt. ↗

— Arthur Schopenhauer

#perspective #world #life

It wasn't until I was 37 that I grasped the great truth that you've got to write your own books and nobody else's, and then everything followed from there. ↗

— William Golding

#later-in-life #truth #writing #life

I think the reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself. ↗

— Rita Mae Brown

#individuality #self-love #self-respect #love

Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. ↗

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

#creativity #different #individuality #non-conformist #art

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

Let each man hear his own music and live by it. The drums roll one way for one man, and another way for another. You have to listen for your own. ↗

— Audie Murphy

#music

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

Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it’s not because they enjoy solitude. It’s because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them. ↗

— Jodi Picoult

#jodi #loneliness #loner #self #society