“When people lose their identity in order to get to the top, they begin to lose everything.”
“I belong to the people I love, and they belong to me--they, and the love and loyaty I give them, form my identity far more than any word or group ever could.”
“We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.”
“To realise one s nature perfectly—that is what each of us is here for.”
“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”
“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I ve ever known.”
“It s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.”
“We know what we are, but not what we may be.”
“You are not your job, you re not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You re not the contents of your wallet. You are not your fucking khakis. You are all singing, all dancing crap of the world.”
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one s definition of your life, but define yourself.”
“He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.”
“We can spend our lives letting the world tell us who we are. Sane or insane. Saints or sex addicts. Heroes or victims. Letting history tell us how good or bad we are. Letting our past decide our future. Or we can decide for ourselves. And maybe it s our job to invent something better.”
“You are a gift to the entire planet earth”
“I said uselessly, Sam, don t go. Sam cupped my face in his hands and looked me in the eyes. His eyes were yellow, sad, wolf, mine. These stay the same. Remember that when you look at me. Remember it s me. Please.”
“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. [Stanford University commencement speech, 2005]”