James Lipton Quotes

One does not "find oneself" by pursuing one's self, but on the contrary by pursuing something else and learning through discipline or routine. . . who one is and wants to be.

You don't find out who you are unless you work at it.

I believe BMX has shaped me into who I am today, so if this journey never would have begun, then who knows the person I would be or what I would be doing with my life.

Your glass will not do you half so much service as a serious reflection on your own minds.

I had to examine myself very thoroughly to find the right path personally.

There are more people than you think who want to have a challenging experience, in which they are obliged to reflect about the past.

Everything that I've done has made me who I am today. You know, it's cliche, but it's true.

I think I can see more clearly now - about how the pattern of past experiences has shaped who I am and the characters I have played - and I'm grateful for that.

I think we are a product of all our experiences.

That's the greatest thing: an experience you can grow from.

I think it's healthy to gain a perspective on who you are deep down, question yourself, and challenge yourself; it's important to do that.

I think you're always trying to figure yourself out and mistakes that you've made.

I immerse myself in things that meant something to me while I was growing up.

I had played on the police athletic league, but my father had a unique thing, he always said, 'Before you start going to basketball camp and doing all the things, you should learn about yourself first before somebody else starts telling you how to play.'

In order to see truly where I am and where I want to go, I need to remember where I once was.

When you're little, every experience writes on the canvas of who you are.

Spend time in your head and figure yourself out. Start taking note of all the things you do that you don't like, and then you're more conscious of it, and you learn.

My entire twenties were filled with decisions that make me think, 'You had to go there, huh?' But that's part of exploration and I think a lot of the most beautiful moments of my life and a lot of the most amazing things have come out of some of the most tumultuous times.

Playing four years of college, you learn a lot; you learn more about yourself than anything.

The exploration of oneself is usually also an exploration of the world at large, of other writers, a process of comparison with oneself with others, discoveries of kinships, gradual illumination of one's own potentialities.

I'm in a period of growth and expansion. I'm taking long, hard looks at the world and what's happening in it, analyzing and thinking. I'm trying to become acquainted with the universe - with the part of it I occupy - and trying to settle, for myself, what my relationship with it is.

The most excellent and divine counsel, the best and most profitable advertisement of all others, but the least practised, is to study and learn how to know ourselves. This is the foundation of wisdom and the highway to whatever is good. . . . God, Nature, the wise, the world, preach man, exhort him both by word and deed to the study of himself.

For the wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching has become a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong.

Analyze thy life's experiences, see thy shortcomings, see thy virtues. Minimize those faults, magnify and glorify thy virtues.

If someone is self-aware, then they can always continue to grow. If they're not self-aware, I think it's harder for them to evolve or adapt beyond who they already are.