Individuality: the quality that makes one person or thing different from all others (Merriam-Webster)

Although it’s widely accepted that individuality is an important aspect of being human, how do we cultivate this after starting out in life dependent on and undifferentiated from our parents? Somehow separation and the process of individuation gradually needs to occur.

Some Quotes Reinforcing the Need for Individuality

Ralph Waldo Emerson: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

Bernard M. Baruch: “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

Rita Mae Brown: “I think the reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself.”

Brian Tracy: “Never complain, never explain. Resist the temptation to defend yourself or make excuses.”

Lao Tzu: “Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”

Friedrich Nietzsche: “The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”

Rita Mae Brown: “About all you can do in life is be who you are. Some people will love you for you. Most will love you for what you can do for them, and some won’t like you at all.”

Leo Buscaglia: “We need not be afraid to touch, to feel, to show emotion. The easiest thing in the world is to be what you are, what you feel. The hardest thing to be is what other people want you to be.”

Joseph Campbell: “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”

Ethel Barrett: “We would worry less about what others think of us if we realized how seldom they do.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.”

Lao Tzu: “When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.”

Eleanor Roosevelt: “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.”

Steve Jobs: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”