Sherwood Anderson Quotes

The desire to be seen as superior and singular- and, conversely, but similarly, inferior and individual, is a big topic...They have a term for the syndrome- it is called terminal uniqueness...we all refuse to be part of the crowd, to walk in the middle of the road in the safety of others. We all think were special. But the problem is, as I point out to Dr. Singer all the time, I actually am special.

To consider oneself different from ordinary men is wrong, but it is right to hope that one will not remain like ordinary men.

Everyone's terrified of being mediocre. Everyone wants to be special.

You are not a special snowflake.

One would like to be grand and heroic, if one could; but if not, why try at all? One wants to be very something, very great, very heroic; or if not that, then at least very stylish and very fashionable. It is this everlasting mediocrity that bores me.

I never intended to become a run-of-the-mill person.

I'm fortunate to know a lot of incredibly talented people, and they all want to be a penguin.

You'll never stand out if your goal in life is to fit in.

You spend so much of your life basing yourself on what you think other people think of you. Then you realise that maybe one of the purposes of life is not to care.

In a world full of people, only some want to fly. Isn't that crazy?

People want you to be ordinary. They don't like it when people are different. They don't like it when a man soars over their heads while they stand in the dirt. People hate you when you're special; it reminds them of everything that they aren't.

People can copy what you've done, but they can't copy what you still want to do.

I do not choose to be a common man.

According to one influential wing of modern secular society there are few more disreputable fates than to end up being 'like everyone else' for 'everyone else' is a category that comprises the mediocre and the conformist, the boring and the suburban. The goal of all right-thinking people should be to mark themselves off from the crowd and 'stand out' in whatever way their talents allow.

I just try to be myself and not conform to something I'm not and just continue doing what I do. I just try not to think about the fact that I'm an inspiration for people.

Nothing is so common-place as to wish to be remarkable.

For one thing I tend not to see myself in various moulds that people fit me into.

We can’t all be better than everyone else.

All men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with a mighty urge to become otherwise.

I used to think I was ordinary and just like everybody else, and I am, but there is something about being in a band. It's not for everyone.

I'm always gonna do my own thing. I wanna be something - whether I'm 19 years old working at a pet store, or I'm 19 years old with a No. 1 record - I wanna be the biggest I can be to my crowd, no matter what my crowd is.

I don't think I was ever really a normal kid. I always wanted to do it big, and so I was always on the lookout for strong people I could learn from.

I don't want to be seen in a way where all I can do is what people expect of me.

I don't want to be special.

When you're younger, all you want to do is fit in, and then the older you get, you don't want to fit in, you want to stand out.