Self Definition Quotes

“What do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? We mean that man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world-and defines himself afterward.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism

“In any situation, we can use our agency to define our purpose and seek meaning.”
― Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption: Volume III - Beta Your Life: Existence in a Disruptive World

“At age 43, when I decided to run again, I realized that the images used to describe runners didn't fit me. I wasn't a rabbit. I wasn't a gazelle or a cheetah or any of the other animals that run fast and free. But I wasn't a turtle or a snail either. I wasn't content anymore to move slowly through my life and hide in my shell when I was scared.

I was a round little man with a heavy heart but a hopeful spirit. I didn't really run, or even jog. I waddled. I was a Penguin. This was the image that fit. Emperor-proud, I stand tallto face the elements of my life. Yes, I am round. Yes, I am slow. Yes, I run as thought my legs are tied together at the knees. But I am running. And that is all that matters.”
― John Bingham, The Courage To Start: A Guide To Running for Your Life

“Choose to be pro-active, assertive and self-defining.”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

“Have you ever taken yourself a bit too seriously, thinking that who you are is actually defined by what you look like, how much talent you have (or don't have), how well known you are (or aren't), or how much money you have (or don't have)? Those are all "garments and labels" you wear during the course of your stay here on this planet, but it's not who you are. At the end of the day, when it's all said and done, you will turn all of that back in just like a car you had on lease.”
― Dennis Merritt Jones, The Art of Being: 101 Ways to Practice Purpose in Your Life

“I define me. No event or person does this. I define me. I decide who I am and how I'm going to behave, and I choose to be better. To look more carefully, to trudge deeper. To think about other people's past and not judge someone for doing or handling something differently than I would. To understand my limitations, my shortcomings - that is my growth edge.”
― Chelsea Handler, Life Will Be the Death of Me: . . . and you too!

“From what deep springs of character our personal philosophies issue, we cannot be sure. In philosophers themselves we seem always able to notice some deep internal correspondence between the man and his philosophy. Are our philosophies, then, merely the inevitable outcome of the body of fate and personal circumstance that is thrust upon each of us? Or are these beliefs the means by which we freely create ourselves as the persons we become? Here, at the very outset, the question of freedom already hovers in the background.”
― William Barrett, The Illusion of Technique: A Search for Meaning in a Technological Civilization

“Human beings possess the gift of personal freedom and liberty of the mind. We each possess the sovereignty over the body and mind to define ourselves and embrace the values that we wish to exemplify. Personal autonomy enables humans to take independent action and use reason to establish moral values. We are part of nature. Consciousness, human cognition, and awareness of our own mortality allow us to script an independent survival reality and not merely react to environmental forces.”
― Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls

“As noted before, we’re unfairly biased toward what we already know, what we believe to be certain. If I believe I’m a nice guy, I will avoid situations that could potentially contradict that belief. If I believe I’m an awesome cook, I’ll seek out opportunities to prove that to myself over and over again. The belief always takes precedence. Until we change how we view ourselves, what we believe we are and are not, we cannot overcome our avoidance and anxiety. We cannot change.
In this way, “knowing yourself” or “finding yourself” can be dangerous. It can cement you into a strict role and saddle you with unnecessary expectations. It can close you off to inner potential and outer opportunities.
I say don’t find yourself. I say never know who you are. Because that’s what keeps you striving and discovering. And it forces you to remain humble in your judgements and accepting of the differences in others.”
― Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

“Wisdom along with maturity is self understanding and defining one's character through reasoning in a circumstance.”
― Unarine Ramaru

“Lelia gave a dharma talk about letting go of self-definition: I can't do this because of what happened to me in my childhood; I can't do that because I am very shy; I could never go there because I'm afraid of clowns or mushrooms or polar bears. The group gave a gentle, collective laugh of self-recognition. Teresa found the talk helpful, as she had been having an extended interior dialogue during meditation about how septuagenarians from Torrance were fundamentally unsuited for Buddhism.”
― Ann Patchett, Commonwealth

“When a person becomes comfortable with stupidity, it eventually defines him.”
― Vincent Okay Nwachukwu

“Restructuring our perception does not mean simply “adding facts” to our worldview but altering the footing on which we make decisions when we see how the world is changing. Making decisions is an act of self-definition and self-creation guided by informed reason, not by blind impulse or deception. ("Final decision")”
― Erik Pevernagie

“Think thyself yourself." - On Self-Definition”
― Lamine Pearlheart, Aether

“Your definition of yourself will help you position yourself. Define what you want, money might not flow in immediately. Know your worth and stand your ground.”
― Olawale Daniel , 10 Ways to Sponsor More Downlines in Your Network Marketing Business

“We were collectively defining our identities by what we would not do, and such an act of definition can be a strange, subtle sort of self-murder. I understand that such a radical act might be necessary, in the face of an intractable self-destructiveness, to save one's life. But I can't bring myself to embrace it, because in any such act of self definition (I'm Mark and I'm an addict) the other selves, some of whom are not named because they don't belong in this context, and some of whom aren't named because they cannot be, but remain phantoms, potentialities, shadows, little streams into the larger liquidity--well, all those aspects of oneself are more or less banished from the conversation, and they retreat a little farther away, and then a little farther again.”
― Mark Doty, What Is the Grass: Walt Whitman in My Life

“Working on these books helped me make sense of this place and what had happened to us. It was my way of processing and even reclaiming the power to tell the world who I was in my own words, not the interrogators'. They could control my life, but I wouldn't allow them to define it.”
― Mansoor Adayfi, Don't Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantanamo

“The knowledge of God is a consciousness of ignorance. It does not yield a clearly defined sense of self with which we can rest content, and say I am such and such a person. After every partial act of self-definition, attention to God reminds us of what remains unsaid. For this reason the work of religion is never done. The task of self-knowledge is never complete, just because what we call self-knowledge is in reality self-definition. While we live the self has continually to be defined anew.”
― Graham Shaw, God in Our Hands