Stephen Chbosky Quotes

For paranoia about 'what other people think' : remember that only some hate, a very few love - and almost all just don't care.

How much of my true self I camouflage and choke in order to commend myself to him, denying the fullness of me. How often have I paraded sweetness and interest when I felt otherwise; pretended to take careful leave of him on many an occasion when I would rather have walked right out. How I've toned myself down, diluted myself to maintain his approval.

So many people are paralyzed by worrying, "What are these people going to think?"

I think it really holds you back having to think about your image.

So many people hide inside their clothes.

Seeking approval and people pleasing forces you to alter your actions and speech to no longer reflect what you actually think or feel.

I really think that if there's any one enemy to human creativity, especially creative writing, it's self-consciousness.

I was and I always shall be hampered by what I think other people will say.

The greatest prison people live in is the fear of what other people think.

I can be such a people pleaser, and so worried about what people are thinking or feeling insecure.

Many people allow their need for other people's approval to control their lives. They spend their lives worrying about what others think of them.

We're constantly getting these messages to mind our own business and look the other way if we want to be well liked, to not tell the truth or speak our mind or say anything too intense. Well, I'm telling you here that this approach not only makes you party to other people's crimes against themselves but is a prescription for mediocrity and delusion

My whole life I've been a fraud. I'm not exaggerating. Pretty much all I've ever done all the time is try to create a certain impression of me in other people. Mostly to be liked or admired. It's a little more complicated than that, maybe. But when you come right down to it it's to be liked, loved. Admired, approved of, applauded, whatever. You get the idea.

I'm terrified of just being myself because I think it's boring. I know who I really am and I think it's boring.

We are all jellyfish, too pitiful and too afraid of being disliked to be honest.

A writer, or a beginning writer, is faced by the huge walls of self-consciousness. Most people think, "What if I say the wrong thing? What if I don't sound erudite and sophisticated? I'll be considered a fool." In time, with a lot of practice, you realize that's your foolishness is your gift.

Sometimes I'll be confident and go into a shop and say, "Hello, yeah, all right," and then the next day, if someone looks at me or talks to me, I just don't know what to do. If you're walking down the street with a baseball cap, you might be fine. But if you're in a pub and you see someone look at you, you think the worst thing in the world now is if they come over. It's a really weird feeling.

Whenever there's a camera in my face, that's when I feel vulnerable, and then it turns into a little bit of being self-conscious, which I think is the worst kind of vulnerability.

I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who didn’t really care much about what people thought about them.. but I don’t think I am.

We think we need to create ourselves, always doing a paste-up job on our personalities. That is because we're trying to be special rather than real. We're pathetically trying to conform with all the other people trying to do the same.

I don't know how to write without thinking what people would want. You don't know whether they want you to be black or white, so you kind of get a gray, something in the middle.

I don't really care what people think, ... I just do my own thing. ... I like being loud and letting people know I'm there.

We're afraid of letting people see the glory of who we are.

Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity.

I feel myself trying to be charming, and then I realize I’m obviously trying to be charming, and then I try to be even more charming to make up for the fake charm, and then I’ve basically turned into Liza Minnelli: I’m dancing in tights and sequins, begging you to love me. There’s a bowler and jazz hands and lots of teeth.