Joseph Butler Quotes

What thou art, that thou art.

We are what we are.

That which we are, we are.

You were born as the one you are.

Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.

If you see me once, you cannot confuse me with another.

In terms of an identity, an identity reflects an individuality, by definition. And, if there is a quality present, it is recognizable and it can be named. If you can't name it, it means you don't recognize it.

A created thing is never invented and it is never true: it is always and ever itself.

You know like it has its own personality, its own character.

You've got to recognize, there will never be another you. It has nothing to do with ego; it happens to be the truth. There will never be another person the same. There'll never be another you.

There's only one of you in the entire history of the world, and there will only ever be one of you.

Everything about me was different.

You're not a combination of all your labels. You just are.

I am truth. I was made of truth.

To be rather than to seem.

You is what you am, a cow don't make ham.

Shall eagles not be eagles? wrens be wrens? If all the world were falcons, what of that? The wonder of the eagle were the less, But he not less the eagle.

We've all got an identity. You can't avoid it. It's what's left when you take everything else away.

Things aren't different. Things are things.

For any particular thing, ask: What is it in itself? What is its nature?

The basic truth of all things, as nearly as we may ever dream of determining and knowing this truth, is form, that which is, as it is. The way and shape of the thing no less than the thing itself.

I can say, 'Well, I'm a male. I'm a male human. I'm a medical doctor. I'm an author...' If I go to a religious point of view, I will say, 'I am a soul. I am a spirit.' If I go into science, I will say, 'I am energy. I am light.' But the truth is I have no idea what I am.

There is only one me.

We tend to think of our selves as the only wholly unique creations in nature, but it is not so. Uniqueness is so commonplace a property of living things that there is really nothing at all unique about it. A phenomenon can't be unique and universal at the same time.