Sherwood Anderson Quotes

Learn to... be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not.

Do not try to be humble: learn humility.

I'm at peace with myself and where I am. In the past, I was always looking to see how everybody else was doing. I wasn't competitive, I was comparative. I just wanted to be where everybody else was. Now I've gotten to an age when I am not comparing anymore.

I'm a very contented, peaceful man. I made mistakes, yes, but I accepted them, and, I hope, graciously.

What I am is how I came out. No one's perfect and you just have to accept your flaws and learn to love yourself.

I know I'm not perfect.

I have not changed with the accomplishments. I've remained the same. If I had changed, great. You know, but I haven't.

I have many shortcomings. I feel very lucky to have been able to have what I've had.

You can only begin to be great when you embrace a sense of your own ridiculousness.

Just knowing you don't have the answers is a recipe for humility, openness, acceptance, forgiveness, and an eagerness to learn - and those are all good things.

I don't want to sound self-righteous, and I don't want to act like I have it all put together.

One of the biggest challenges for me is that I'm still a human being. I'm a very imperfect human being. I'm very open about the fact that I'm not trying to pretend to be better than anyone else.

If you desire to know or learn anything to your advantage, then take delight in being unknown and unregarded. A true understanding and humble estimate of oneself is the highest and most valuable of all lessons.

One that does not think to highly of himself is more than he thinks.

There is no end to one's faults. To think of them makes one humble.

No one can grow if he does not accept his smallness.

My greatest victory has been to be able to live with myself, to accept my shortcomings. I'm a long way from the human being I'd liked to be, but I've decided I'm not so bad after all.

You have to be content with who you are on a day-to-day basis.

The true secret of spiritual strength is self-distrust and deep humilty.

If I could only fancy myself clever, it would be better, but to be a failure of Nature and to know it is not a comfortable lot. It is the last lesson one learns, to be contented with one's inferiority -- but it must be learned.

I'm not the best of you, but I'm not the worst either.

One must never be either content with, or impatient with, oneself.

Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself. I mean do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage. How are we to be patient in dealing with our neighbour's faults if we are impatient in dealing with our own? He who is fretted by his own failings will not correct them. All profitable correction comes from a calm and peaceful mind.

If you read something bad about yourself and it stings you, I've learned that somewhere that's a judgment I'm holding about myself, so I'll try to work through that.

The better you understand yourself the less cause you will find to love yourself.