Fred Rogers Quotes

Don't let yourself be small because you want to fit in.

Since I don't look like every other girl, it takes a while to be okay with that. To be different. But different is good.

I'm so excited to just be able to be comfortable in my own skin and give what I have to the world and not feel like I have to copy to stand out or fit in.

I can't feel bad about being who I am, just like the girl next to me can't feel bad about being who she is. Because a rose can never be a sunflower, and a sunflower can never be a rose.

I was definitely considered different growing up. I learned that being me was all right because my family celebrated those differences.

Just because you're not like other people doesn't mean that you're bad. It means that you're different, and that's great.

I know that I'm Marmite, and I wouldn't want to be anything less or anything more. I'm just myself.

Conforming is not cool. Embracing who you are and what makes you different is actually what’s really cool.

One thing I've learned best from my mom is to be yourself and not everyone will get you and that's okay. I try to bring that into everything that I do and just understand that I will not be everyone's cup of tea and that's fine.

I complained to my mother about wanting to look less like myself and more like my friends. My mother then gave me a lesson in embracing my differences and loving them despite what others said.

It's an important point to make that people can't just be invalidated, eradicated, because they don't fit tidily into a box. And more and more, the modern world is all about conformity.

The more I like me, the less I want to pretend to be other people.

I remember straightening my hair because I wanted to be like everybody else, and now the fact that anybody would emulate what I do? It's just funny.

I love the mixture that's in me. It makes me me. And that's why it's such a shame that people waste energy in denying who they are.

When I was in school, I got there on the first day and everyone had long, blonde, straight hair, and I had short, dark, curly hair. I immediately felt I didn't fit in and started growing my hair. But I've learned that I'm only happy when I am truly me and feel comfortable and confident in myself.

But I've really learned you don't have to fit in. No matter where you go, you're always going to be you and if they don't like you for who you are, then what's the point of being someone else?

I just didn't believe I was like everybody else. I thought I was unique.

Yeah, it's nice to look up to people, but the more you try to be somebody else, the less you are of yourself.

I have a deep compassion for the idea that it's okay to be myself. The idea that anything 'other' is bad and wrong and broken is so wildly off base.

I dyed my hair about 42 different colours, and kids can be pretty judgmental about people who are different. But instead of breaking down and conforming, I stood firm. That is also probably why I was unhappy.

Get to know the real you, rather than try to look like or dress like those around you.

If you're different, or if you think something about you is just weird and out of the ordinary, I just think that's so dope.

It's not like I try to be different, but every single person is unique, and every single person has special things to offer, and it's about embracing it and not being afraid of the fact that maybe you're different or quirky, but it's okay to be different, and it can be a wonderful thing.

There's something beautiful in being who you are and being comfortable with whatever your voice is.

If I don't belong because of what I think and because of my opinions, then so be it. What can one do about it? One can't bend over backwards or pretend to be someone else just to belong. And in any case, it doesn't work. Once you no longer belong, it's over.