True Self Quotes

Demons frighten us because we set ourselves up to be frightened. We are overly attached to our reputations and possessions. When we love and desire what we should be rejecting, we are in conflict with our true selves. That's when the negative energies catch us and use our weapons against us. Instead of taking up what we have to defend ourselves, we put our swords in the hands of our enemies and make them attack us. ~ Teresa Giudice

Being born as an Indigo, the most difficult mission is to be strong enough to retain your true "self" while living in human stereotype society. Having to pretend, to act "the same as others," can only make you so deeply unhappy and hurt - feeling as though your "wings" have been cut off. ~ Sahara Sanders

We all dream of being exactly what we are – powerful, beautiful, and worthy. ~ Vironika Tugaleva

In order to realize our true self we must be willing to live without being dependent upon the opinion of others. ~ Bruce Lee

Be sure that it is not you that is mortal, but only your body. For that man whom your outward form reveals is not yourself; the spirit is the true self, not that physical figure which and be pointed out by your finger. ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

Beneath the surface level of conditioned thinking in every one of us there is a single living spirit. The still small voice whispering to me in the depths of my consciousness is saying exactly the same thing as the voice whispering to you in your consciousness. 'I want an earth that is healthy, a world at peace, and a heart filled with love.' It doesn't matter if your skin is brown or white or black, or whether you speak English, Japanese, or Malayalam - the voice, says the Gita, is the same in every creature, and it comes from your true self. ~ Eknath Easwaran

The narcissist, cut off from her spirituality, is one who spends unquantifiable energy supporting and maintaining and utterly and completely fake self, in denial of one's true self, trading it for glamour to compensate for a core of being that is simply wracked,a deep dark cold void; using and abusing others to maintain and sustain the false state. this fake self is contrived in absentia from the connectivity that even the most unaware take for granted. The narcissist doesn't see other human beings. ~ Stacey Scott Mae

Women have the stress of being beautiful, of age and youth. Men don't have all that. And with women, that stress causes a lot of mistakes and bad choices - a lot of not being their true self. ~ Miuccia Prada

One can only walk so far from one's true self before the bond either snaps, or pulls one back. ~ Robin Hobb

Because infinite players prepare themselves to be surprised by the future, they play in complete openness. It is not an openness as in candor, but an openness as in vulnerability. It is not a matter of exposing one's unchanging identity, the true self that has always been, but a way of exposing one's ceaseless growth, the dynamic self that has yet to be. ~ James P. Carse

There is but one cause of human failure. And that is man's lack of faith in his true Self. ~ William James

What was astonishing to him was how people seemed to run out of their own being, run out of whatever the stuff was that made them who they were and, drained of themselves, turn into the sort of people they would once have felt sorry for. it was as though while their lives were rich and full they were secretly sick of themselves and couldn't wait to dispose of their sanity and their health and all sense of proportion so as to get down to that other self, the true self, who was a wholly deluded fuckup. ~ Philip Roth

The moment you understand yourself as the true Self, you find such peace and bliss that the impressions of the petty enjoyments you experienced before become as ordinary specks of light in front of the brilliant sun. ~ Swami Satchidananda

Even though I can't tell others whether they should chase their marathon dreams, I highly recommend they do something completely out of character, something they never in a million years thought they'd do, something they may fail miserably at. Because sometimes the places where you end up finding your true self are the places you never thought to look. That, and I don't want to be the only one who sucks at something. ~ Dawn Dais

Our parents don't know us ... They can't know us. We hide ourselves from them. Once they knew everything about us and in order to escape them we keep out secrets, our private selves. ~ Ellen Sussman

You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way. ~ Richard Bach

The well bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves. ~ Oscar Wilde

When you view (or think about) porn, a crummy feeling comes over you. It's the feeling of shame, or something like it. Shame changes your self view. It changes who you think you are, how you see yourself. You see yourself as ugly, and an undercurrent of resentment may start boiling up underneath. When you have this kind of self perception, you can't be vulnerable and open to the world. You can't allow yourself to be who you are. You have to keep your true self hidden from the world. You can't have intimacy. Intimacy is key to having a real relationship with anybody. When you view pornography, you destroy the possibility of intimacy with a partner and others, so a real relationship becomes impossible. You retreat out of interdependence with the world and into isolation where you can indulge in your addiction.

Along with the feeling of shame is the annihilation of boundaries. You can't defend yourself emotionally in the world. Words strike your soul while you're reeling from addiction. Everything hits you where it hurts. Minor inquiries by others feel like investigations of you. Your soul can't bear being seen, yet it's exposed entirely. The only recourse in a big, hurtful world, it seems, is to retreat and lick your wounds with the addiction again. ~ Fahad Shah

I'm inspired by people who are their true selves and use that to do good. ~ Matthew J. Fox

When we come in contact with our true self, we stop trying to be someone else. We fall in love with it and embrace it with all its flaws :-) ~ Assegid Habtewold

Hell, in my opinion, is never finding your true self and never living your own life or knowing who you are. ~ John Bradshaw

If people don't appreciate your REAL self it's hard to be with them, but you only find TRUE friends by SHOWING that self & TRUSTING. ~ Jay Woodman

We all got to die," she said. "But dying as your true self is always better. God'll take you however you come to Him. But it's easier on a soul to come to Him clean. You're forever free that way. From top to bottom. ~ James McBride

Do your fears warn of external dangers? Or, are they the kind that keep you from becoming more of your true self? ~ Gina Greenlee

Remember, Lucius, that everything you learn is already a part of you, even to the Godhead Itself. Study nothing except in the knowledge that you already knew it. Worship nothing except in adoration of your true self. And fear nothing"--there the Maestro stopped and shuddered, as though he had a presentiment--"fear nothing except in the certainty that you are your enemy's begetter and its only hope of healing. For everything that does evil is in pain. Will you remember those things? ~ Clive Barker

The free expression of resentment against one's parents represents a great opportunity. It provides access to one's true self, reactivates numbed feelings, opens the way for mourning and - with luck - reconciliation. ~ Alice Miller

Get lost in the beauty and tranquility of nature to find your true self again and again. ~ Debasish Mridha

The people around you are mirrors, I think.
You see yourself reflected in their eyes. If the mirror is true, and smooth, you see your true self. That's how you learn who you are. ~ Caitlin Moran

When true self-remembering comes, one does not want to alter oneself, or others; one somehow rises above their weaknesses and one's own. There can be no blame anywhere. One swallows what is, and becomes free. ~ Rodney Collin

When you're an original it may take time for people to catch on. So keep at it and don't question yourself. ~ Lorin Morgan-Richards

The True Self is infinite. It knows no boundaries. Pure essence. Pure light. Engulfing the mind, the soul, the body, the invisible real, with its radiance. ~ Alberto Villoldo

I know that love is about power, too. Who gives, who takes. Who is willing to risk showing their true self. ~ Alison Goodman

Sometimes you might accept yourselves for who you are not, only because others treat you less than who you know to be your true self. You might begin to accept being treated a certain way because you wanted to be noticed and then later on wonder why are you allowing a person to treat you as such. That's when you've realized that you are more than how they treat you or call you. They might call you names but you know who you are. Do not let a person treat you less than you are. Hold on to your values, you're nothing without your principles ~ Marcia M. Edwards

I have found the old adages to be true. One can only walk so far from one's true self before the bond either snaps, or pulls one back. I am fortunate. I have been pulled back. I walk once more in trueness to myself."
p. 177: Kettricken to Fitz: ~ Robin Hobb

Your True Self is who you are, and always have been in God ... The great surprise and irony is that "you," or who you think you are, have nothing to do with its original creation or its demise. It's sort of disempowering and utterly empowering at the same time, isn't it? All you can do is nurture it. ~ Richard Rohr

Yoga is for internal cleansing, not external exercising. Yoga means true self-knowledge. ~ K. Pattabhi Jois

Remember who you really are. You cannot be destroyed or hurt. You cannot be harmed or killed. You, the real you, will always be present and powerful. ~ Vironika Tugaleva

- Always with me was the inner twin: my true nature, my true self. It is timeless, free, compassionate and in love with whatever is natural to me.- ~ Alice Walker

Remember your true self. You are more than just flesh and bones; you are unlimited energy and power. Knowing this, you will understand why happiness and prosperity are your birth right. ~ Stephen Richards

It is an honour to see someone living as their true-self, someone living without fear of other people's opinions. Act as you are, you honour the world with your presence. ~ Avina Celeste

Eventually, I developed my own image of teh "befriending" impulse behind my depression. Imagine that from early in my life, a friendly figure, standing a block away, was trying to get my attention by shouting my name, wanting to teach me some hard but healing truths about myself. But I-- fearful of what I might hear or arrogantly trying to live wihtout help or simply too busy with my ideas and ego and ethics to bother-- ignored teh shouts and walked away.

So this figure, still with friendly intent, came closer and shouted more loudly, but AI kept walking. Ever closer it came, close enough to tap me on the shoulder, but I walked on. Frustrated by my unresponsiveness, the figure threw stones at my back, then struck me with a stick, still wanting simply to get my attention. But despite teh pain, I kept walking away.

Over teh years, teh befriending intent of this figure never disapppeared but became obscured by the frustration cuased by my refusal to turn around. Since shouts and taps, stones and sticks had failed to do the trick, there was only one thing left: drop the nuclear bomb called depression on me, not with the intent to kill but as a last-ditch effort to get me to turn and ask the simple question, "What do you want?" When I was finally able to make the turn-- and start to absorb and act on the self-knowledge that then became available to me-- I began to get well.

The figure calling to me all those years was, I believe, what Thomas Merto ~ Parker J. Palmer

The most important journey in your life will be the journey to find yourself. To find who you are, to find what you love, is the greatest gift in life. Look at yourself, honestly, and find who you really are. To reveal your true self might be scary but the act of learning who you really are is important to make it possible to live your best possible life. ~ Avina Celeste

An honest bookstore would post the following sign above its 'self-help' section: 'For true self-help, please visit our philosophy, literature, history and science sections, find yourself a good book, read it, and think about it. ~ Roger Ebert

If we enter into ourselves, find our true self, and then pass beyond the inner "I", we sail forth into the immense darkness in which we confront the "I AM" of the Almighty. ~ Thomas Merton

The time it takes for your thoughts to manifest into reality is the distance you are from your true self. ~ Konahwhaka

Cruelty is easy, and it breeds only misery. Kindness is harder, and you have to be brave to give it. To be cruel, you can stay closed off from everyone, wear a mask, but to be kind, in essence, to show love, you have to make yourself vulnerable, show your true self to someone and open yourself up to rejection. ~ L. H. Cosway

Selfishness is the biggest form of helplessness as it makes the person blind so much that he fails to search his true self for being always in the lurch. ~ Anuj

Upon the time of death, when you leave your body and look back at your memories, it might come as a big surprise to you to see that you have spent an entire lifetime behaving according to what others expected from you, that is, doing what they expected you to do according to your exterior appearance to them, and based on which they formed their entire conclusions regarding who you are. When that moment comes, you will regret wasting an entire lifetime living in total darkness about your true self. That is when you will wish to be reborn again. And then you will forget your regrets and repeat your previous steps. And you will reborn again, and again, and again, until the world you live in, is uplifted enough to help you go through life in a good way. Ironically, that cannot be achieved until the world becomes what you wish it to be, until others are better than you. And so, it is paradoxically comic to realize that you will never become better than those that surround you, and it is up to you to help them help you. ~ Robin Sacredfire

The spirit is the true self, not that physical figure which can be pointed out by your finger. ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

There are countless moments in the average life when you have to decide whether to open yourself up or bury yourself deep. In love, at work, among your family, with friends, there are moments when you have to decide whether you are ready to reveal your true self. ~ M.J. Arlidge

But what is your true self is the God within you who became you, and when you realize that you are not yourself but you are he, then you discover that you and he are one, just as Jesus said. Jesus was a great master, and he had great teachings for the world, and when it says in the Bible, "All those who received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God." ~ Goswami Kriyananda

People will always show their true selves in the end. ~ Leona Lewis

Peter opens his eyes and they are tearless and fierce, revealing a glimpse of his true self. Pure animalistic strength. There was never any fear for him to hide. ~ Dan Krokos

An unforeseen situation… An unexpected turn of events… In the face of those, you too will face your true self. ~ Makishima Shougo

True healing is not physical - it is a spiritual awakening to our True Self. If art is used for that purpose then it can be quite healing as it purifies the mind of thoughts that create disease. ~ Judith Cornell

Falling in love in a Christian way is to say,'I am excited about your future and I want to be part of getting you there. I'm signing up for the journey with you. Would you sign up for the journey to my true self with me? It's going to be hard but I want to get there. ~ Timothy Keller

Nothing Exposes our true self more than how we treat each other in the home. ~ Joseph B. Wirthlin

Let's begin with a quotation from mindfulness expert and teacher Bhante Henepola Gunaratana. It beautifully encapsulates what deceptive brain messages are, what they do to you, and how they keep you from following the path of your true self: We see life through a screen of thoughts and concepts, and we mistake those [thoughts] for reality. We get so caught up in this endless thought-stream that reality flows by unnoticed. We spend our time engrossed in activity, caught up in an eternal pursuit of pleasure and gratification and eternal flight from pain and unpleasantness. We spend all our energies trying to make ourselves feel better, trying to bury our fears, endlessly seeking security.16 To phrase it another way: We spend a considerable amount of our time engrossed in following deceptive brain messages until we begin to see them for what they are and value our true emotions and needs. ~ Jeffrey M. Schwartz

Ego is to the true self what a flashlight is to a spotlight. ~ John Bradshaw

The awakening process is not about 'finding who you are' but more about finding out about the ego, about who you are not. ~ Maria Erving

Your true value lies in your sensuality, everything else is smoke and mirror. ~ Lebo Grand

I am the dangerous daughter, thigh-stroking, soft-tongued lover, the pit, the well, and the well of horniness, laughter rolling up out of me like gravy boiling over the edge of a pan. I become the romantic, the mystic, the one without shame, rocking myself on the hip of a rock, a woman as sharp as coral. I make in my mind the muscle that endures, tame rage and hunger to spirit and blood. I become the rock. I become the knife. I am myself the mystery. The me that will be waits for me. If I cannot dream myself new, how will I find my true self? ~ Dorothy Allison

Evil deeds are the fruit of an evil heart. They are not an aberration from our true self but a revelation of it. ~ Sinclair B. Ferguson

Zazen is the ultimate practice. This is indeed the True Self. The Buddhadharma is not to be sought outside of this. ~ Dogen

None of us can help the things life has done to us. They're done before you realize it, and once they're done they make you do other things until at last everything comes between you and what you'd like to be, and you've lost your true self forever. ~ Eugene O'Neill

When you stop living your life based on what others think of you real life begins. At that moment, you will finally see the door of self acceptance opened. ~ Shannon L. Alder

Death changes nothing but the masks that cover our faces. ~ Kahlil Gibran

Stunned, I sat down on the bed, reading the message over and over again, convinced I had misunderstood it in some way. I couldn't believe that Jack would have written something so cruel or been so cutting. He had never spoken to me in such a way before, he had never even raised his voice to me. I felt as if I'd been slapped in the face. Surely I deserved some explanation and, at the very least, an apology? I needed to talk to someone, badly, so it was sobering to realise there was no one I could call. My parents and I didn't have the sort of relationship that would allow me to sob down the phone that he had left me by myself and for some reason I felt too ashamed to tell any of my friends. Where had the perfect gentleman I'd thought him to be gone? Had it all been a facade, had he covered his true self with a cloak of geniality and good humour to impress me? ~ B.A. Paris

One of the tragic ironies of history is that such original and creative geniuses as Buddha and Jesus have been extolled as perfect patterns for all to emulate. In the very struggle to be like someone else rather than to be one's own true self, or to do one's own best in one's own environment, a child is in danger of losing the pearl that is really beyond price - the integrity of his (or her) own soul. ~ Sophia Lyon Fahs

It is the main motivation of humankind to be free, to express our true selves and pursue our dreams without restriction - to experience what may be called Personal Freedom. ~ Brendon Burchard

To make meaningful connections in an authentic way, you have to project the best parts of your true self. In other words, before you expect others to like you, you have to like you--that is the law of self-image. ~ Michelle Tillis Lederman

The act of gaining true insights from self - reflection is a futile action for most ... as there are easy way out things like self justification, rationalization, delusions and denial which keeps us away from our true self, the inner core and thus we live contented ~ Anubhav Mishra

I think being yourself - your true, entire self - is always going to feel like you're swimming upstream."

"Yeah," she said. "But if the last few years with you have been any indication, I think it also feels like taking your bra off at the end of the day. ~ Taylor Jenkins Reid

No one reveals himself as he is; we all wear a mask and play a role.

- On Psychology ~ Arthur Schopenhauer

Be what you are not. The true self is no one. ~ Marty Rubin

Let's say right now that we can tell each other our secrets and we won't make fun of each other. Don't take this the wrong way, but you sound weird, too. I am glad of it, because I can be my own true self with you. ~ Silas House & Neela Vaswani

As you recover, you will find yourself letting go of many of your negative beliefs. You will discover that many of the so-called truths you were raised with and forced to believe are not truths at all. With this perspective, you will come to see, for example, that the names you were called as a child are simply not true. You are not 'stupid,' 'lazy,' 'ugly,' or a 'liar'. You can discover just who you really are. You can let go of your pretenses and masks and discover who the real person is underneath. ~ Beverly Engel

The health of an enlightened and progressive society is measured by how vibrant is its science fiction, since that is where true self-critique and appraisal and hope lie. ~ David Brin

Life is not about finding your true self, but creating who you wish to be. ~ Steven Redhead

Showing your true self sometimes don't give you any benefit, but at least you do honest to your self and God. ~ Olivia Sinaga

Whoever loves you now - and you must also love yourself - will love the truth of you. ~ Cassandra Clare

If you use your clothes consciously they can become a way know yourself better and to live more consciously. ~ Glynis Mackenzie

In becoming the universe God abdicated. He destroyed himself as God. He turned what he had been, his true self, into nullity and thereby forfeited the Godlike qualities which pertained to him. The universe which he has become is also his grave. He has no control in it or over it. God, as God, is dead. ~ Simon Raven

Krishna warns Arjuna that a life of work, even successful work, cannot be fulfilling without Self-knowledge. Ultimately, the true Self within him is not affected by what he does, whether good or bad. Only knowledge of the Self, which rises like the sun at dawn, can fulfill the purpose of his life and lead him beyond rebirth. This ~ Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

Child. This ability to grieve - that is, to give up the illusion of his "happy" childhood, to feel and recognize the full extent of the hurt he has endured - can restore the depressive's vitality and creativity and free the grandiose person from the exertions of and dependence on his Sisyphean task. If a person is able, during this long process, to experience the reality that he was never loved as a child for what he was but was instead needed and exploited for his achievements, success, and good qualities - and that he sacrificed his childhood for this form of love - he will be very deeply shaken, but one day he will feel the desire to end these efforts. He will discover in himself a need to live according to his true self and no longer be forced to earn "love" that always leaves him empty-handed, since it is given to his false self - something he has begun to identify and relinquish. ~ Alice Miller

What we call the personality is often a jumble of genuine traits and adopted coping styles that do not reflect our true self at all but the loss of it. ~ Gabor Mate

To return to the basic idea, you must see that there is a difference
between your True Self and your False Self. The True Self
is the essential you. It is pure, unconditioned, natural, spiritual.
It has nothing to do with ego-competition, pretense, self-deception,
pride, vanity, arrogance, and other negativities that keep a
man afraid. All such items belong to the False Self. ~ Vernon Howard

Though not everything is so easy in doing, ponder before you say something is far difficult to do! When you think of the difficulty in getting it done, think and think again; you may have spent the same time you should have used for the utmost preparations that could have made the difficulty you look at but cannot see the panacea on something else, or you are not finding the necessary time, wit, courage, tenacity and the will power to release your whole and true self to master the very act and art of making difficult things easier! ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

I am going to be the woman you fear. my true self. (Track Twenty-Five Remix) ~ Alicia Cook

I had a dream about you last week. It was October 31, 2002 and we met at a Halloween party. You came dressed as yourself; I knew you've been hiding your true self all this time. ~ Rodney Jenkins

See If You Can Give Yourself Gifts That May Be True Blessings, Such As Self-Acceptance ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

It's so hard for women to be happy for one another, like genuinely happy. Once you find that, you know you've found true SELF happiness ~ Zendaya

Come into the mountains, dear friend Leave society and take no one with you But your true self Get close to nature Your everyday games will be insignificant Notice the clouds spontaneously forming patterns And try to do that with your life. ~ Susan Polis Schutz

Until we let go of our mental images of who we are or who we should be, our vision remains clouded by expectation. But when we let go of everything, open ourselves to any truth, and see the world without fear or judgement, then we are finally able to begin the process of peeling off the shell of false identity that prevents our true self from growing and shining in to the world. ~ Paul Buchheit

I guess all anyone wants is to be loved for their true self. And to find the strength to ignore the inner soundtrack that tells us to pretend to be something we aren't, otherwise we'll be on our own. ~ Samantha Tonge

I say what I think," said the woman. "My people don't hide behind masks."
"You certainly do," said Awt, equably. "Your mask is rudeness and offensively plain speech. We only see how you wish to appear, not your true self. Mask or not, Watchman Inarakhat has been more honest than you. ~ Ann Leckie

Somehow I get the idea that being whole is about being perfectly consistent. I'd rather we be perfectly honest. ~ Danielle LaPorte

Supposing one were a thing after all--a thing designed and invented by Someone Else and valued for qualities quite different from what one had decided to regard s one's true self? ~ C.S. Lewis

A critter reveals his true self at midnight. ~ W.H. Beck

Perhaps the True Self
and the full Christ Mystery (not the same as organized Christianity)
will always live in the backwaters of any empire and the deep mines of any religion. ~ Richard Rohr