Elif Batuman Quotes

I'd just like to be able to walk outside as everyone does and enjoy time with my friends, not feel bad for not wanting to take a picture.

I think the stigma surrounding mental illness and also the stigma surrounding self-esteem issues or insecurities or just even feeling different is something that doesn't really get enough attention. Everybody struggles with feeling alone or that they are going through something they don't quite understand.

If you are lonely when you are alone, you are in poor company.

I'm always wearing Spanx, eating ice cream and feeling a bit lonely.

I wouldn't want them to feel lonely or outcast ever in any way. And no matter where they were in the world, I'd want them to always feel incredibly confident about who they were and proud.

I'm not some weirdo depressed daughter that's afraid of the world - that locks herself in her room all day.

I think everyone struggles to feel comfortable in their skin or has at one time or another.

I'm concerned with the lost, the lonely, the shy. I think shyness is in some ways more widespread now than formerly. I used to be shy myself. Of course, you can't be me now and remain shy, but I remember very well what it felt like.

In junior high school, I was an object of pure ridicule for my dress, withdrawal, and asocial manner. Dozens of times, I saw individuals laugh and smile more in ten to fifteen minutes than I did in all my life up to then.

Alone I'm nothing.

I suffer from an amazing amount of insecurities, and I'm grateful that my body image, it's normally not something I pay attention to.

I don't think I like characters who are afraid and ashamed of who they are.

I finally faced the fact that it isn't a crime not having friends. Being alone means you have fewer problems.

What I was reading was already part of my psyche, but finally someone else was saying it's okay to walk alone.

I don't get as much female attention as you'd think, because I never go out.

I don't always understand my worth.

Nothing is harder than to accept oneself.

It's not easy to come somewhere new and have to find your place. You might feel someone doesn't like you, or you might need to find new friends. It's not easy, and I don't like this kind of thing. It's not easy, so you want to protect the players who are alone.

I grew up very self-loathing. I was a phobic. I had anxiety. I had panic attacks.

I suggest we learn to love ourselves before it's made illegal.

After that I couldn't show my face outside. I lost my identity and balance. I was still living with my parents, and they were my only friends. For so many people, this thing with the nurse was confirmation that I must be mad or mentally ill.

I love myself, the way I look, my body, but sometimes I can't help but feel insecure.

The truth is: Belonging starts with self-acceptance. Your level of belonging, in fact, can never be greater than your level of self-acceptance, because believing that you're enough is what gives you the courage to be authentic, vulnerable and imperfect.

I was almost tragically shy, like, clinically. I should've been admitted somewhere. I think my parents knew, but maybe they didn't think much about it. It's hard walking the Earth shy. You miss out on a lot.

To me, self-esteem is not self-love. It is self-acknowledgment, as in recognizing and accepting who you are.