Ryan Holiday Quotes

I don't want to pretend I'm any cooler or smarter than I am.

I realized that I had to be honest about where I was, where I was coming from, and what I was trying to do.

I've been & am absurdly over-estimated. There are no supermen & I'm quite ordinary, & will say so whatever the artistic results. In that point I'm one of the few people who tell the truth about myself.

This is who I am. I'm not perfect. I don't want to try to be perfect.

I think I have a better sense of my weaknesses - being self-important, selfish and having a big ego probably triggers all the other stuff. I can see myself more clearly.

I just don't want to be self-obsessed.

I just try to show up and be relaxed and present and honest. And that's my only trick. And sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Honestly, sometimes it really doesn't work.

No one is perfect. I would never claim to be that person.

I don't pretend to be perfect.

I guess it has to be healthy, you have to be honest with yourself and I think that's when ego is okay.

I do not intend to let myself down more than I can possibly help, and I find that the fewer illusions I have about myself or the world around me, the better company I am for myself.

One of the key elements is the ability to be honest with yourself.

I'm very open and honest, and I feel like it's important for women to hear that we're not perfect; none of us are perfect. And sometimes we aspire to have these ideas in our heads of what perfection is, and I probably would've been better off if I'd left myself alone.

I'm a very open person, very self-deprecating. I accept my flaws.

I think I'm a pretty open book. We're all a work in progress, and I'm not ashamed to say that I don't have it all together - I don't really think anyone does.

I don't want to pretend to be a prophet or a saint. I'm very conscious of my limitations. I know my flaws. But I don't like lying.

Honesty is about the scars. It's about the blemishes. But it's more than just bragging about failure, which could be a form of ego. It's about truly helping people.

I am determined to live without illusions. I want to look at reality straight. Without hiding.

When you're writing personal stories, you have to be totally uncompromising - to the extent that you can be - about yourself. I know that if I am uber-uncompromising with myself, that gives me some latitude to write about others.

I know I'm not perfect.

I don't take myself terribly seriously. It's why I can be incredibly honest about my life.

Just be honest with yourself. That opens the door.

That inner voice has both gentleness and clarity. So to get to authenticity, you really keep going down to the bone, to the honesty, and the inevitability of something.

I'm not perfect; I've never professed to be, and I don't want to be. How much fun is that?

Sometimes I may be totally arrogant, sometimes I may totally be the most humble guy you've ever met, sometimes I may be in between. But that's life. Who isn't like that? What's the big deal if I had an arrogant moment.