James A. Michener Quotes

Millions of people live their entire lives without finding themselves. But it is something I must do.

Everyone now knows how to find the meaning of life within himself. But mankind wasn't always so lucky. Less than a century ago, men and women did not have easy access to the puzzle boxes within them.

The longest journey is the journey inwards. Of him who has chosen his destiny, Who has started upon his quest for the source of his being.

I am trying to find myself. Sometimes that's not easy.

The real rub is finding that authentic self and it's not something that's going to come to you overnight.

I think everybody has their own way of looking at their lives as some kind of pilgrimage. Some people will see their role as a pilgrim in terms of setting up a fine family, or establishing a business inheritance. Everyone's got their own definition. Mine, I suppose, is to know myself.

My whole life has been a search for finding myself, pretty much.

The purpose of life is to explore one's own life to its fullest, to explore all dimensions.

Everyone goes through that time in their life when they're trying to figure out who they are, find their own purpose and their own way.

Josh Billings said, It is not only the most difficult thing to know oneself, but the most inconvenient one, too. Human beings have always employed an enormous variety of clever devices for running away from themselves, and the modern world is particularly rich in such stratagems.

Figuring out who you are is the whole point of the human experience.

The secret of the world is this: the world is entirely circular and you will go round and round endlessly, never finding what you want, unless you have found what you really want inside yourself. When you follow a star you know you will never reach that star; rather it will guide you to where you want to go. Its a reference point, not an end in itself, even though you seem to be following it. So it is with the world. It will only ever lead you back to yourself. The end of all your exploring will be to cease from exploration and know the place for the first time.

There's a lot about discovering who you are and how difficult that is. And it never stops.

This journey has always been about reaching your own other shore no matter what it is, and that dream continues.

It took me a while to find myself.

It's not about finding a home so much as finding yourself.

I think the more important task for a young person than developing a personal brand is figuring out what she's great at, what she loves to do, and how she can use that to leave an imprint in the world. Those are tough questions, but essential ones. Answer those - and the personal brand follows.

One of my problems is to find the self.

It took me several years to figure out who I am and a few more to accept what I discovered. Now, I'm in the enjoyment stage of that process and it's a happy place.

Especially on unexpected journeys, you have time; you can figure certain deeper things out, like who you are and what you want. That's why I enjoy journeys.

I don't like work... but I like what is in work - the chance to find yourself. Your own reality - for yourself, not for others - which no other man can ever know.

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.

I enjoy exploring and finding myself.

Everybody needs to find their own path and the best way for themselves to connect to this world.

'Days Before Rodeo' is just the journey of me finding out who I am.