Pearl S. Buck Quotes

The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.

No being can be what he is unless he is putting his essence into action in his field.

You are unique, and if that is not fulfilled, then something has been lost.

One of the most important results you can bring into the world is the you that you really want to be.

In the end, it's about what you want to be, not what you want to have.

Many people dedicate their lives to actualizing a concept of what they should be like, rather than actualizing themselves. This difference between self-actualization and self-image actualization is very important. Most people live only for their image

I am what I wanted and I want what I am.

A true desire is not to have but to be. We are whole creatures in potential, and the true purpose of desire is to unfold that wholeness, to become what we can be.

When you know your not going to die, you have to ask yourself... What's the highest and best use for myself.

Nobody who's really using his ego, his real ego, has any time for any goddam hobbies

Whatever you are made of, be the best of that.

There is no paycheck that can equal the feeling of contentment that comes from being the person you are meant to be.

You cannot be seeking yourself when you're making money.

I wanted to become me, totally me. The more me, the better. I instinctively knew this and I was right.

Find out who you are. And do it on purpose.

Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself, 'What makes me come alive?' Because what the world - a wife, a child - needs is men who have come alive.

Life, is not a having and a getting, but a being and a becoming.

Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.

When you don't have children you have to define and make your own purpose, and make your own reason for being here.

Never think you can separate who you are from what you're doing.

I want to be successful, and I want to do good, but I also want to be myself.

You're lucky if you find something that makes you feel like yourself; that's the one time that you feel like you know who you are. Most people are struggling to find that out all the time.

I think that's one of the things that's missing in a lot of people's lives. That's finding out what works for you and doing that.

Many people will never learn the lessons meant for them in this lifetime, nor become the person they were meant to be, simply because they are too busy being someone else.

All men want, not something to do with, but something to do, or rather something to be.