Courage To Be Oneself Quotes & Sayings

The challenge these days, is to be somewhere, to belong to some particular place, invest oneself in it, draw strength and courage from it, to dwell in a community. — Bell Hooks

The frequent employment of one's will power masters all organs of movement and trains them to perform feats which otherwise would have been difficult,painful and even impossible. The man becomes independent and self-reliant; he will never be a coward,and, when real danger threatens,he is the one who is looked up to by others. The knowledge of one's strength entails a real mastery over oneself; it breeds energy and courage,helps one over the most difficult tasks of life, and procures contentment and true enjoyment of living. — George Hackenschmidt

We are all born to fly. Instead, we sit on the branches afraid of the leap into the unknown. But the unknown is where enlightenment lives. Our true nature is the unknown. — Enza Vita

You should resist any form of oppression. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Courage is instinct, and heroes are born in the moment. Trust yourself to be great, I do! — D.C. Akers

The courage to be as oneself within the atmosphere of Enlightenment is the courage to affirm oneself as a bridge from a lower to a higher state of rationality. It is obvious that this kind of courage to be must become conformist the moment its revolutionary attack on that which contradicts reason has ceased, namely in the victorious bourgeoisie. — Paul Tillich

Every revolution was first a thought in one man's mind, and when the same thought occurs to another man, it is the key to that era. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life can be very terrible," he said. "One needs much courage."
"To kill oneself? yes, I suppose one does."
"Also to live," said Poirot, "one needs courage. — Agatha Christie

The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable. — Paul Tillich

Fear cannot capture us, criticism cannot harm us, and pride cannot make us fall. — Donna Goddard

No longer will I doubt my abilities ... I will give myself a chance. — Stephanie Lahart

One needs a certain intellectual courage to recognize unflinchingly that one is no more than a scrap of humanity, a living abortion, a madman not yet crazy enough to be locked up; but, having recognized that, one needs even more spiritual courage to adapt oneself perfectly to one's destiny, to accept without rebellion, without resignation, without a single gesture or attempt at a gesture of protest, the elemental curse nature has laid upon one. — Fernando Pessoa

She had discovered early that what we want out of life can change; that the important thing is to learn to recognize or even simply just to admit what we really want, and then to have the courage to reach for it. — Candice Proctor

[American] conformism might approximate collectivism, not so much in economic respects, and not too much in political respects, but very much in the pattern of daily life and thought. Whether this will happen or not, and if it does to what degree, is partly dependent on the power of resistance in those who represent the opposite pole of the courage to be, the courage to be as oneself. — Paul Tillich

I have lived the life I longed for in my heart. And it is beautiful there. — Samantha Bruce-Benjamin

You don't always have to follow the rules. You have to stand for what you believe. — Lailah Gifty Akita

One must stand apart in order to truly know another. — Regina O'Melveny

Don't wish to be normal. Wish to be yourself. To the hilt. Find out what you're best at, and develop it, and hopscotch your weaknesses. Wish to be great at whatever you are. — Lois McMaster Bujold

If you least understand the essence of timely and courageously saying no to what you have to say no to, when you have to say no, you shall always say yes to what is due no remorsefully and count the cost of never saying no when you had to in pity though shall know your had I know in the end. — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

... I'm no longer willing to let myself down. — Sarah Jio

Who one was, where one came from, what one was expected to be, the height of courage and character that were to be achieved, were woven into the fabric that linked oneself to all ... — Nathan Huggins

I didn't say a word. He wouldn't be using oxygen. K2 is more dangerous than Everest. — Susan Oakey-Baker

If you don't fight for it then you don't deserve to have it — Abie Sigauke

We keep waiting to be crowned,
Waiting for the world to judge us worthy of offering our brightest, most empowered and beautiful stuff.
But that won't happen.
Your next certification or ordination or degree will do nothing for your expression in the world until you accept how unspeakably worthy and valuable you already are to be here and share yourself with us. — Jacob Nordby

It is the expression of the anxiety of meaninglessness and of the attempt to take this anxiety into the courage to be as oneself. (139) — Paul Tillich

Rejoice in your troubles, all things will work for your good. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Mr. Kendrick was born on a horse and he'll die on one, and maybe that's not something you can breed for. He's one of those rare men who can make a horse work for him but never asks for more than they have. WOW. Very unexpected. — Maggie Stiefvater

No one should be allowed to stop in one place any longer than necessary. A man isn't a tree, and being settled in one place is his misfortune. It saps his courage, breaks his confidence. When a man settles down somewhere, he agrees to any and all of its conditions, even the disagreeable ones, and frightens himself with the uncertainty that awaits him. Change to him seems like abandonment, like a loss of an investment: someone else will occupy his domain, and he'll have to begin again. Digging oneself in marks the real beginning of old age, because a man is young as long as he isn't afraid to make new beginnings. If he stays in the same place, he has to put up with things, or take action. If he moves on, he keeps his freedom; he's ready to change places and the conditions imposed on him. — Mesa Selimovic

The writer's life requires courage, patience, empathy, openness. It requires the ability to be alone with oneself. Gentle with oneself. To be disciplined, and at the same time, take risks. — Dani Shapiro

Stop groveling, stop whining and start working! — Abhijit Naskar

We dare not talk of the darkness for fear it will infect us.
We dare not talk of the fire, for fear it will destroy us.
And so we live in the half-light,
Like our mothers before us.

Come to the fire,
Feel it warm your skin.
Come to the fire,
Feel it burn in your belly,
Shine out through your eyes.
Come dance in the fire,
Let it fuel your prayers. — Lucy H. Pearce

Have the courage to do what you're not ready to do. — Richie Norton

Spontaneous insanity is the real bliss! It's sad that we are honored for playing sane, serious, safe, miserable and controlling in this poor world. — Saurabh Sharma

I judge the world by my own lights
and I come by my own hand. — Catherine Madsen

Dream your own dreams,
be your own person and image,
no matter the extremes. — KayeC Jones

The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

There's a way,
a way way too long but reachable,
not for everyone a way but possible ...
Go and don't lose your way! — Rossana Condoleo

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; give the world the best you've got anyway. — Mother Teresa

Like your tastebuds, desires and goals are ever-changing. What used to work, might not do it for you anymore. The question is: Do you have the guts to do something about it? — C. Nzingha Smith

Roar to your own beat! — Janet Autherine

There was once a poor shoemaker who had three fine strong sons and two pretty daughters and a third who could do nothing well, who shivered plates and tangled her spinning, who curdled milk, could not get butter to come, nor set a fire so that smoke did not pour into the room, a useless, hopeless, dreaming daughter, to whom her mother would often say that she should try to fend for herself in the wild wood, and then she would know the value of listening to advice, and of doing things properly. And this filled the perverse daughter with a great desire to go even a little way into the wild wood, where there were no plates and no stitching, but might well be a need of such things as she knew she had it in herself to perform ... — A.S. Byatt

Have the courage to let some go, and sacrifice for some to stay; thus, live and make life your own way. — Mohammed Ali Bapir

Everything and everyone has a place to be, Echo. It's just a matter of how they get there and when. You have a place; you just have to find it. — Nadege Richards

No matter what kind of difficult situation one may find oneself in, some opening, some opportunity to fight one's way out, can always be found. What's most important is to hold fast to Hope, to face the future with courage. — Daisaku Ikeda

For the sake of all the others who are like you, but less strong and less gifted perhaps, many of them, it's up to you to have the courage to make good. — Radclyffe Hall

Risk is the unique path to success. — Adria J. Cimino

Standing in the ring of fire, the eye of the storm, the vortex of pain and pressure is simultaneously the most vulnerable and most powerful place to be. Here we embody paradox. We stand our ground and surrender completely. Here we know the full power of the Feminine. — Lucy H. Pearce

This process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-hearted. It involves the stretching and growing of becoming more and more of one's potentialities. It involves the courage to be. It means launching oneself fully into the stream of life. — Carl Rogers

The writing life requires courage, patience, persistence, empathy, openness, and the ability to deal with rejection. It requires the willingness to be alone with oneself. To be gentle with oneself. To look at the world without blinders on. To observe and withstand what one sees. To be disciplined, and at the same time, take risks. To be willing to fail - not just once, but again and again, over the course of a lifetime. — Dani Shapiro

Chasing your dreams with all your strength. — Lailah Gifty Akita

One must be truthful with oneself about one's own motives, especially if one is to survive in the world. It takes rigor, and it takes courage. — Emile Chartier

All we need to do is look up, notice where we are, and be open to the
possibility of wonder. — Holly Elissa Bruno

Stubbornness is knowing exactly what you want courageously living by free will; never to be judged or ridiculed. — Michelle Cruz-Rosado

Tumble me down, and I will sit
Upon my ruines (smiling yet
Teare me to tatters; yet I'le be
Patient in my necessitie.
Laugh at my scraps of cloathes, and shun
Me, as a fear'd infection:
Yet scarre-crow-like I'le walk as one,
Neglecting thy derision. — Robert Herrick

I believe it will have become evident why, for me, adjectives such as happy, contented, blissful, enjoyable, do not seem quite appropriate to any general description of this process I have called the good life, even though the person in this process would experience each one of these at the appropriate times. But adjectives which seem more generally fitting are adjectives such as enriching, exciting, rewarding, challenging, meaningful. This process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-fainthearted. It involves the stretching and growing of becoming more and more of one's potentialities. It involves the courage to be. It means launching oneself fully into the stream of life. Yet the deeply exciting thing about human beings is that when the individual is inwardly free, he chooses as the good life this process of becoming. — Carl R. Rogers

The wonders of life ... you and I are the light! Seek within ... there is no one to fight ... love is all ... we are one ... concentrate on bringing forth your sight ... breathe deep ... the universe is waiting for you divine ones. — Sereda Aleta Dailey

As you step out of your comfort zone,
may life embrace you back. — Leta B.

In life we must be willing to take risks, for that is the only way progress is attained. — Ndiritu Wahome

I was attached to this city by the god - though it seems a ridiculous thing to say - as upon a great and noble horse which was somewhat sluggish because of its size and needed to be stirred up by a kind of gadfly. It is to fulfill some such function that I believe the god has placed me in the city. I never cease to rouse each and every one of you, to persuade and reproach you
all day long and everywhere I find myself in your company. — Socrates

In a man like Friedrich von Schlegel the courage to be as an individual self produced complete neglect of participation, but it also produced, in reaction to the emptiness of this self-affirmation, the desire to return to a collective. Schlegel, and with him many extreme individualists in the last hundred years, became Roman Catholics. The courage to be as oneself broke down, and one turned to an institutional embodiment of the courage to be as a part. — Paul Tillich