Audre Lorde Quotes

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

You can't go around being what everyone wants you to be, living your life through other people's rules, and expect to be happy and have inner peace.

I have in my life concentrated more on self-expression than self-denial.

It's a hell of a responsibility to be yourself. It's much easier to be somebody else or nobody at all.

Do whatever it takes to convey your essential self.

Now all of a sudden I'm so less interested in pretending to be a lot of other people, and much more interested in being me.

Yeah, it's nice to look up to people, but the more you try to be somebody else, the less you are of yourself.

Everyone kept telling me, Just be yourself. Be yourself. I kept thinking, there's got to be more to it than that!

How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.

When you're true to who you are, amazing things happen.

I want to be more myself. Sometimes it takes awhile to find your voice.

I wanted to do things that I knew were going to be me.

I just realized the best way to live your life is to just be you, as cliche as it sounds. I grew up trying to please everyone.

I've had people say things to me like, 'Don't change.' I don't know how to be anything other than myself.

You must always be yourself, and do things at your own pace. Someday, you'll catch up.

I am not interested in being a role model, or in fulfilling the expectations of others. I know I am of most use to others and to myself by being this unique self: Nature, I have noticed, is not particularly devoted to copies, and human beings needn't be either.

It is trying to be other than one's self that unmans one. Be your own natural self and go ahead.

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

Instead of chopping yourself down to fit the world, chop the world down to fit yourself.

The greatest fear people have is that of being themselves.

I am increasingly an architect of self. I am free to will and choose. I can, through accepting my individuality... become more of my uniqueness, more of my potentiality.

I'm not super conservative, and I have no problem with people being risque or owning your sexuality or even putting it out there. I have a problem when it's all you are because you're not being fair to yourself; you have more depth than this.

Being myself didn't work. Being someone else didn't work. Maybe I just wasn't meant to have friends.

What’s the difference between spending your life trying to be invisible, or pretending to be the person you think everyone wants you to be? Either way, you’re faking.

I've learned that all you can be in this world is you. No matter how much you mess with yourself, with surgery or you know, clothes or cut your hair differently or how much you wish and pray and dream that you're gonna wake up as someone else, it's never gonna happen. You have one life and one opportunity, and all you can be is the best you.