Zadie Smith Quotes

[E]ach of our voices has something unique to say. Not only should I not mold my life to the demands of external conformity; I can't even find the model by which to live outside myself. I can only find it within.

What does it mean to be yourself?” he asked. “If it means to do what you think you ought to do, then you’re doing that already. If it means to act like you’re exempt from society’s influence, that’s the worst advice in the world; you would probably stop bathing and wearing clothes. The advice to ‘be yourself’ is obviously nonsense. But our brains accept this tripe as wisdom because it is more comfortable to believe we have a strategy for life than to believe we have no idea how to behave.

I read the other day some verses written by an eminent painter which were original and not conventional. The soul always hears an admonition in such lines, let the subject be what it may. The sentiment they instil is of more value than any thought they may contain. To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, - that is genius.

My style is personal, my style of writing is personal, and I believe in that. I believe what comes out of me is an individual thing, and that's why I, I believe in the individual.

I'm still trying to express my truth, my place in the world, my belief.

I always thought it was a trap to fit into ideologies, and maybe that's a luxury position, but my work is a reflection of my being here. My being here is not a reflection of an idea.

Create yourself. Be yourself your poem.

Writing is not lying, nor is it theft. It is a journey and search for transparency between one’s words and one’s soul.

I can only be who I am.

I'm writing from a place of - a center of authenticity, somewhere that only I know how to write from.

Don't try to write what other people are writing - write what is true to you.

The whole point in developing your own style is to find your own voice.

My interest lies in my self-expression - what's inside of me - not what I'm in.

It is not easy to be sure that being yourself is worth the trouble, but we do know it is our sacred duty.

Everybody has their own way of tapping into their realness.

I'm starting to find my own style.

I think that people just have this core desire to express who they are. And I think that's always existed.

It's very hard to find your own words - and you don't actually exist until you have your own words.

I think I'm just always myself, and I think that's what's most important to me. Just be genuine. Be authentic. Be who you are and who you were meant to be. And celebrate that. Celebrate all of that.

I'm sufficiently complex that there's no one truth about me.

Do stuff that is true to your own experiences.

You can only write your own vision.

I've never been about just trying to do what works. I've been about trying to authentically express how I feel.

I'm trying to know who I am and be honest about it.

Be your self! All you are now doing, thinking, desiring, is not you yourself.