Janet Mock Quotes

One creates oneself.

Don't wait for people to tell you who you are. Show them.

It is axiomatic that if we do not define ourselves for ourselves, we will be defined by others-for their use and to our detriment.

I make me. At 18, I decided I wasn't going to have an unconstructed self ever. I was going to be the composer, the designer, the architect of me. It's been really fun.

I have lived life enough to know that I define myself.

One of the things my parents taught me, and I'll always be grateful as a gift, is to not ever let anybody else define me; that for me to define myself. and I think that helped me a lot in assuming a leadership position.

Becoming is the action that births our womanhood, rather than passive act of being born (an act none of us has a choice in). This short, powerful statement assured me that I have the freedom, in spite of and because of my birth, body, race, gender expectations, and economic resources, to define myself for myself and for others.

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.

No one can tell you who you are and what you are made of, only you yourself know what you are made of, and only you yourself can do the work to become who you want to be.

I am me. I have to define myself. I'm going to stand up at the back of the train and take control of my future.

Figure out who you are separate from your family, and the man or woman you're in a relationship with. Find who you are in this world and what you need to feel good alone. I think that's the most important thing in life. Find a sense of self because with that, you can do anything else.

The deepest secret is that life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation. You are not discovering yourself, but creating yourself anew. Seek therefore, not to find out Who You Are, but seek to determine Who You Want to Be.

We can spend our lives letting the world tell us who we are. Sane or insane. Saints or sex addicts. Heroes or victims. Letting history tell us how good or bad we are. Letting our past decide our future. Or we can decide for ourselves. And maybe it's our job to invent something better.

I tell you this: You are your own rule-maker. You set the guidelines. And you decide how well you have done; how well you are doing. For you are the one who has decided Who and What You Really Are-and Who You Want to Be. And you are the only one who can assess how well you're doing.

Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.

I can't point to a single person or incident that changed my life, but the recognition that there is a certain world order, has been consequential. It has empowered me to do things my way. I found an inner truth by which I abide.

I want the subject to be in control. Because they will give me something I couldn't possibly know about them.

On some level, we as human beings can be who we want to be.

Carving out an identity for yourself is important so I'm trying to do that as well.

I don't think anyone has made me except myself. I think I have done it on my own.

I want to be defined by my own essence.

I want my little girl to tell me who she is so I can encourage her and not impose my desires for her on her life. I want her to dream big and to know that if she is willing to earn it, she can have anything - and become anything.

The real story is that I am very free, that I've managed to be who I wanted to be without compromising.

I have found people don't want to be told. That they can figure it out.

I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm going to be who I really am. I'm going to figure out what that is.