100 Quotes About Authenticity

Authenticity isn’t an exact science. It’s not something you can simply “get” or “have,” it’s something that must be built over time. Authenticity is the quality of being natural, real, and genuine. And when we are inauthentic, our words and actions have no value Read more

But being authentic is more than simply being yourself. It’s about living in alignment with your true self. And the only way to achieve that is to know your true self.

The following collection of authenticity quotes will help you find yourself, live life on your terms, and be who you are meant to be.

1
Real isn't how you are made, ' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.''Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit. 'Sometimes, ' said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.' 'Does it happen all at once, like being wound up, ' he asked, 'or bit by bit?' 'It doesn't happen all at once, ' said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand. . Margery Williams Bianco
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Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path. Unknown
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We are all different. Don’t judge, understand instead. Roy T. Bennett
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Don't let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It's your life, not theirs. Do what matters most to you; do what makes you feel alive and happy. Don't let the expectations and ideas of others limit who you are. If you let others tell you who you are, you are living their reality – not yours. There is more to life than pleasing people. There is much more to life than following others' prescribed path. There is so much more to life than what you experience right now. You need to decide who you are for yourself. Become a whole being. Adventure. Roy T. Bennett
5
Make a pact with yourself today to not be defined by your past. Sometimes the greatest thing to come out of all your hard work isn't what you get for it, but what you become for it. Shake things up today! Be You...Be Free...Share. Steve Maraboli
If you don't know who you truly are, you'll never...
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If you don't know who you truly are, you'll never know what you really want. Roy T. Bennett
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When you're socially awkward, you're isolated more than usual, and when you're isolated more than usual, your creativity is less compromised by what has already been said and done. All your hope in life starts to depend on your craft, so you try to perfect it. One reason I stay isolated more than the average person is to keep my creativity as fierce as possible. Being the odd one out may have its temporary disadvantages, but more importantly, it has its permanent advantages. . Criss Jami
8
Take lightly what you hear about individuals. We need not distort trust for our paltry little political agendas. We tend to trust soulless, carried information more than we trust soulful human beings; but really most people aren't so bad once you sit down and have an honest, one-on-one conversation with them, once, with an open heart, you listen to their explanations as to why they act the way they act, or say what they say, or do what they do. Criss Jami
Our power lies in our small daily choices, one after...
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Our power lies in our small daily choices, one after another, to create eternal ripples of a life well lived. Mollie Marti
You have to be transparent so you no longer cast...
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You have to be transparent so you no longer cast a shadow but instead let the light pass through you. Kamand Kojouri
11
The biggest mistake people make when trying to be authentic is just that: they try. They see these role models of what an "authentic" person is supposed to look like or act like, and they try to emulate that. Authenticity isn't about what things appear to be. It's about allowing things to be what they are. Authenticity is about getting away from hiding, from wearing a mask, from always asking, "How should I act? What should I say? What will people think?" That includes asking, "How should an authentic person act? What would a genuine person say?" Being authentic isn't about making yourself a certain way. It's not even about finding out what you "really" enjoy as opposed to what other people enjoy, or who you "really" are as opposed to who other people are. Authenticity is allowing your likes, dislikes, personality, appearance, hobbies, and beliefs to be fluid, to change, to evolve as you learn, grow, and experience the world. At its core, authenticity is the practice of surrendering the tiresome task of keeping up appearances and taking up of the lifetime work of allowing what is already within you to come out while you remove as many internal and external obstacles as possible. And who knows what will spill out of you if you just allow it to? Who knows what is within you awaiting recognition, awaiting permission to show itself to the world? Even you don’t know–until you try. Or, rather, until you stop trying. Until you become curious. Vironika Tugaleva
When you open your mind, you open new doors to...
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When you open your mind, you open new doors to new possibilities for yourself and new opportunities to help others. Roy T. Bennett
Embrace being perfectly imperfect. Learn from your mistakes and forgive...
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Embrace being perfectly imperfect. Learn from your mistakes and forgive yourself, you’ll be happier. Roy Bennett
Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, focus your...
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Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, focus your energy on what you can create. Roy Bennett
15
You’ll learn, as you get older, that rules are made to be broken. Be bold enough to live life on your terms, and never, ever apologize for it. Go against the grain, refuse to conform, take the road less traveled instead of the well-beaten path. Laugh in the face of adversity, and leap before you look. Dance as though EVERYBODY is watching. March to the beat of your own drummer. And stubbornly refuse to fit in. . Mandy Hale
How to win in life:1 work hard 2 complain less...
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How to win in life:1 work hard 2 complain less 3 listen more 4 try, learn, grow5 don't let people tell you it cant be done6 make no excuses Germany Kent
She's an old soul with young eyes, a vintage heart,...
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She's an old soul with young eyes, a vintage heart, and a beautiful mind. Nicole Lyons
They all believed in him because of the authenticity of...
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They all believed in him because of the authenticity of his musical talent and his faith in it. Amit Kalantri
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How can so many (white, male) writers narratively justify restricting the agency of their female characters on the grounds of sexism = authenticity while simultaneously writing male characters with conveniently modern values? The habit of authors writing Sexism Without Sexists in genre novels is seemingly pathological. Women are stuffed in the fridge under cover of "authenticity" by secondary characters and villains because too many authors flinch from the "authenticity" of sexist male protagonists. Which means the yardstick for "authenticity" in such novels almost always ends up being "how much do the women suffer", instead of - as might also be the case - "how sexist are the heroes". And this bugs me; because if authors can stretch their imaginations far enough to envisage the presence of modern-minded men in the fake Middle Ages, then why can't they stretch them that little bit further to put in modern-minded women, or modern-minded social values? It strikes me as being extremely convenient that the one universally permitted exception to this species of "authenticity" is one that makes the male heroes look noble while still mandating that the women be downtrodden and in need of rescuing.- Comment at Staffer's Book Review 4/18/2012 to "Michael J. Sullivan on Character Agency . Foz Meadows
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I've found that trying to be like everyone else, do what others do and follow others 'guaranteed path' to 'so-called success' never really works for me. I have found my best strategy is to authentically be me, listen within and follow it....and then to treat and connect with others - wherever I can - personally, personably and individually. Rasheed Ogunlaru
When emerging from humble beginnings, those around you tend to...
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When emerging from humble beginnings, those around you tend to underestimate your authenticity because they knew you before you were 'somebody'. Criss Jami
Don't worry about not doing
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Don't worry about not doing "it" perfectly right now. It's ok, just keep at it, you will soon settle in it and then you'll be glad you didn't give up. TemitOpe Ibrahim
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Contrast is not ‘bad’ since the contrast we experience still causes us to learn and grow. Expansion never ceases, and that is a beautiful thing. Contrast allows us to see what is not in alignment with our Authentic Selves, and then presents us with opportunity after opportunity to respond from a place of compassion, forgiveness, acceptance, love, joy, gratitude, etc. Thus, when we break the karmic loop we swing back into alignment with Spirit. . Alaric Hutchinson
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To ‘pretend’ is to say that I’m willing to waste the precious energy that it takes to pretend, and I’m unwilling to cultivate the bravery that it takes to be real. And I am at a complete loss to pretend that either of these aren’t true. Craig D. Lounsbrough
When we allow ourselves to be authentically free, it raises...
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When we allow ourselves to be authentically free, it raises our vibration. Alaric Hutchinson
Comfort yields complacency. Break free.
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Comfort yields complacency. Break free. A.D. Posey
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We all see very clearly in others tendencies which we, ourselves, have overcome. The older and wiser we grow, the more we can see the arrogance of youth. The more authentic we become, the more we can see the lies of insecurity. The more vulnerable we allow ourselves to be, the more we see the dangerous symptoms of unexpressed emotions. There is no finish line to learning. There is no point where we're done growing, and all we will ever do is look down upon others who are behind us. No one is ever at the top. We are all growing at our own rates, and no matter how terrible or how enlightened we fancy ourselves to be today, the future will be sure to give us a different perspective. There is really no use in comparing yourself to others. There will always be someone ahead and someone behind, and there will be dozens (if not hundreds) of different scales and gradients to be behind and ahead on. To be number one is never final. It is and always will be a momentary, fleeting instant. But to be a growing version of yourself? That, you can be. You can be that every single day. Vironika Tugaleva
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Consider the fact that maybe…just maybe…beauty and worth aren’t found in a makeup bottle, or a salon-fresh hairstyle, or a fabulous outfit. Maybe our sparkle comes from somewhere deeper inside, somewhere so pure and authentic and REAL, it doesn’t need gloss or polish or glitter to shine. Mandy Hale
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Beauty will not come at the call of a legislature, nor will it repeat in England or America its history in Greece. It will come, as always, unannounced, and spring up between the feet of brave and earnest men. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Crying cleanses the soul.
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Crying cleanses the soul. A.D. Posey
And then she learnt to be a little wild she...
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And then she learnt to be a little wild she had to be a little less afraid. Nikki Rowe
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Life is not about who you know, but rather about who knows you & what you stand for. Show the world with presence, actions & the way you lead your life, who you are. Akilnathan Logeswaran
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It follows from Schopenhauer’s analysis that evert genuine work of art must have its origin in direct perception; that is to say it does not originate in concepts, and concepts are not what it communicates. This is what more than anything else differentiates good art from bad, or more accurately authentic from inauthentic art. The latter often originates in a desire on the part of the artist to meet some demand external to himself — to win approval, say, or be in the fashion, or supply a market — or else to put over a message of some sort. Such an artist starts by trying to thin what it would be a good idea to do — in other words, the starting point of the process for him is something that exists in terms of concepts. The inevitable result is dead art, of whatever kind, whether imitative, academic, commercial, didactic or fashion-conscious. It may be successful in its day because it meets the demands of its day, but once that day is over it has no inner life of its own with which to outlive it. Bryan Magee
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In the end the soul is itself the longing of the soulless for salvation. Theodor W. Adorno
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Your sweet-toting and sugarcoating is of no service to anyone! Do not sugarcoat reality; it only gives the people in your life a sweet-tooth that then makes it more challenging for them to later bite down on the hardness of life. Do not tote and tout sweets either — you’re malnourishing people! Instead give them the truth. What is the truth you may ask? Authentic expression of who you really are, how you really feel, without projecting the labels of right or wrong. Alaric Hutchinson
36
Most of us think that being authentic is about being true to what we want and who we are, without regard for the impact it has on others. On the contrary, the authentic self is an intelligence at the core of who we are that is inspired, centered, and connected to those we lead. When we are in this centered place of being we are able to choose behavior that serves the greatest good. Henna Inam
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So, how close are love and genius, really? We know that they are both mentioned far more than lived. Criss Jami
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Gold authenticity can only be tested under maximum fire. The same holds true with regard to manhood. Moutasem Algharati
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There is a difference between working hard to create a life that truly serves you and working hard to create a life that you’ve been told you should want. Vironika Tugaleva
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I have finally come to realize that it’s being forced to be honest with myself that’s made my pain painful all along. Craig D. Lounsbrough
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Let's burn our masks at midnightand as flickering flames ascend, under the witness of star-clouds, let us vow to reclaim our true selves. Done with hiding and weary of lying, we'll reconcile without and within. Then, like naked squint-eyed newborns, we'll greet the glorious birth of dawn;blinking at the blazing, wondrous colorswe somehow failed to notice before. John Mark Green
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Adoption is outside. You act out what it feels like to be the one who doesn't belong. And you act it out by trying to do to others what has been done to you. It is impossible to believe anyone loves you for yourself. I never believed that my parents loved me. I tried to love them but it didn't work. It has taken me a long time to learn how to love - both the giving and the receiving. I have written about love obsessively, forensically, and I know/knew it as the highest value. I loved God of course, in the early days, and God loved me. That was something. And I loved animals and nature. And poetry. People were the problem. How do you love another person? How do you trust another person to love you? I had no idea. I thought that love was loss. Why is the measure of love loss?. Jeanette Winterson
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By assembling in our mind all the consequential facts we have lived through and by reviewing, appraising or sometimes idealizing the numerous key points of the past, authenticity may gradually mutate and actuality decay at last. At that point in time we are to experience a maimed factuality. ("Labyrinth of the mind") Erik Pevernagie
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We’re not broken. We’re not in the wrong bodies. We’re not inadequate. We’re not lesser. We’re not unwanted. We’re not fraudulent. We’re not undesirable. That’s all just a set of lies we tell to soothe the experience of the prisons we put ourselves in. Agnostic Zetetic
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Your true power is not in your difference, but in your consistency of being different. The world will always adjust to consistency, yet struggle with change. Shannon L. Alder
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Don’t believe everything you think. Our minds are thought-creating machines. Most of these thoughts are fear-based. Our authentic self has the power to pick the thoughts that best serve us and those we lead. Henna Inam
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Every single person is gifted. Every single person has an amazing thing and an amazing perspective to offer life! It is inherent in every single person, in each and everyone of us! We ALL have GREATNESS within us! Greatness is every person's venue and birthright, and we have something amazing to offer the world and society. And that is our authentic awesome self. The world needs this now, more than ever! . Angie Karan
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Want to help others? Be yourself. You’ll inspire others to muster the courage to be themselves as well. Kamand Kojouri
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Some people make you want to be a better person, and that, for me, is the purest form of love. Charlotte Eriksson
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Confidence is knowing who you are and not changing it a bit because of someone’s version of reality is not your reality. Shannon L. Alder
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The greatest act of courage is to be and to own all of who you are – without apology, without excuses, without masks to cover the truth of who you are. Debbie Ford
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True courage comes not just from feeling confident and strong, but from being the honest, authentic expression of yourself. Think about how audacious it is to really believe in yourself. It tathat your presence on this earth matters. Debbie Ford
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It takes courage to dream, to face our futures and the limiting forces within us. It takes courage to be determined that, as we slow down physically, we are going to grow even more psychologically and spiritually. Courage, the philosopher Aristotle taught us, is the most important of all the virtues, because without it we can’t practice any of the others. Courage is the nearest star that can guide our growth. Maya Angelou said we must be courageous about facing and exploring our personal histories. We must find the courage to care and to create internally, as well as externally, and as she said, we need the courage “to create ourselves daily as Christians, as Jews, as Muslims, as thinking, caring, laughing, loving human beings. Bud Harris
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A true prophet would rather be believed false by many but actually true than believed true by many but actually false. Criss Jami
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True leadership can only be achieved when one looks within oneself and commits to authenticity. It gives us the courage to stand at the front and influence others to willingly follow; it gives us the courage to learn, inspire, demand the best and shape the future. Sameh Elsayed
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Family and friends become oppressors the moment they teach you that loyalty is more important than what is done to people outside your social circle. What they are really saying is this: Save yourself because God is more interested in an intact family or social circle that looks righteous, rather than you being a person of integrity that has compassion for others. It is this absurdity that teaches the wrong version of God and creates the next generation of "me" centered individuals. Shannon L. Alder
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Don't dilute your core message burning in your spirit just to satisfy the masses Bernard Kelvin Clive
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In your heart, you have a song that will change the world, once you give yourself permission to sing. Vironika Tugaleva
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Tell the truth. It's your duty to do so. It's up to them how they take in the information. Keep it real. J.R. Rim
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The hope is indeed that some will experience and believe: The purpose of a number of spiritual gurus is to demonstrate to God-fearing men faux spirituality. Criss Jami
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We believe that it is the job of each of us to step outside of ourselves, look beyond the shadows, and seek reality. If we hope to present an authentic self to the world, it is critical that we understand what is real and true about ourselves. So how do we begin to see our companies, our brands, our products, or ourselves as we really are ? For us, the best way to start is to stop watching shadows and start facing reality. Tom Hayes
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Your message, your ministry, your influence is built from your flaws. People relate to HUMANITY...not perfection. Mandy Hale
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When you build your life on a foundation of your authentic truth ~ you are fulfilled with joy and enduring peace, you feel you, the person you are meant to be Angie Karan
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Capital is an abstract parasite, an insatiable vampire and zombie maker; but the living flesh it converts into dead labor is ours, and the zombies it makes are us. Mark Fisher
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You will never change, unless you are honest with yourself or you are forced to be authentic by someone that was honest with him or herself. Shannon L. Alder
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Your life should consist of more than commuting, working, eating, surfing the Internet, sleeping and watching TV. Your life should be filled with purpose-driven experiences and projects that bring excitement, passion, energy, and authentic meaning and joy into your life. Richie Norton
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We search our entire lives to create a genuine and reliable self that can relate with other people and faithfully express our artistic temperament. Our battle for personal authenticity requires us to penetrate layers of self-deception, conquer ego defense mechanism, and destroy a false self that is intent upon meeting other people’s expectations. Kilroy J. Oldster
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When Dr. Jung said we must be able to look forward in old age to the next day and to look forward to the great adventure that is ahead, he was making life’s “imperative to grow” personal. As long as we are alive, we must be able to dream of the future, of a better world or better ways of life. We are also invited by our greater Self to dream new dreams of creativity and fresh ways of expressing ourselves, as many great artists have into their nineties. . Bud Harris
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Authenticity is our natural state of being. The authentic self is a state of being where we are centered, creative, adaptive, and inspired. Henna Inam
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Being true to ourselves is about having courage to define our own version of what it is to live a successful life. Henna Inam
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A prophet is always underestimated, and part of what makes one a prophet is that he doesn't really mind it. Criss Jami
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If you trade your authenticity for safety, you may experience the following: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame, resentment, and inexplicable grief. Unknown
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Meditation is about mindfulness and learning to strip away the illusion, revealing your authentic self and connectedness to everything and everyone. Nanette Mathews
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We can't pack down hurt, nor can we off-load it to someone else while maintaining our authenticity and integrity. Most of us have been on the receiving end of one of these outbursts. Even if we have the insight to know that our boss, friend, colleague, or partner blew up at us because something tender was triggered and it's not actually about us, it still shatters trust and respect. Living, growing up, working, or worshipping on eggshells creates huge cracks in our sense of safety and self-worth. Over time, it can be experienced as trauma. Unknown
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You make me feel at home in my own skin, and that is one of the greatest gifts anyone has ever given me. John Mark Green
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Hypocrisy versus authenticity among men is not always so black and white, and as is righteousness, humility is often self-proclaimed. The Church is most definitely supposed to be a hospital for the spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically sick, hurting, and broken individual, yet ironically, many of its critics are those who ran away and permanently denounced its members after they visited and felt that they were sneezed on. Criss Jami
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Practice holding labels lightly as leaders so you have greater range in your behaviors and are more adaptable and effective in a greater range of situations. Henna Inam
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Arrange your life in such a way that you don't make choices based on fear of God, instead of love of God. Shannon L. Alder
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Within, you hold a tiny piece of eternity, a fraction of life, a mirror of the universe. Vironika Tugaleva
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By no longer relying on approval from others for (false) reassurance or acceptance, you access a Divine channel of freedom. Maria Flynn
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Ego is borne of the need to ‘prove’ oneself instead of making the choice to ‘be’ oneself. And so maybe we need to begin curbing the birthrate. Craig D. Lounsbrough
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To fully appreciate the depth of love, we must captivate ourselves in the moment. Whether it is fate or humanism, it produces a great capacity for happiness with a throw in of anxiety, grief, and isolation. Use those whales as an insidious beginning to produce meaning and humility in your life. Luis Enrique Cavazos
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10 Reasons Why Authentic People Are Successful: 1. They live fearlessly on the road less traveled.2. They communicate from a place of love.3. They use their intuition.4. They quickly create boundaries.5. They love alone time.6. They trust the process of life.7. They see through the eyes of love.8. They bring out the best in others.9. They love deep conversations.10. They're confident Maria Flynn
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You cannot become good enough for your own approval just like you can't become good enough to have hair. You cannot earn your own self-acceptance just like you can't earn your own ears. You can't become what you are. Stop looking out there. Look in the mirror. You're already everything you've ever wanted to be. Vironika Tugaleva
85
Often, our relationships become an unrealized quest for what is perfect, unfettered, and free of flaws. We expect our partners, spouses, and our friends to avoid missteps and to be magical mind readers. These secret expectations play a sinister part in many of the great tragedies of our lives: failed marriages, dissipated dreams, abandoned careers, outcast family, deserted children, and discarded friendships. We readily forget what we once knew as children: our flaws are not only natural but integral to our beings. They are interwoven into our soul’s DNA and yet we continually reject the crooked, wrinkled, mushy parts of our life rather than embrace them as the very essence of our beings. I once believed that aiming for perfection would land me in the realm of excellence. This, however, may not be the trajectory of how things happen. In fact, the pursuit of perfection may be the biggest obstacle to becoming whole. It seems essential to value hard work and determination and yet recognize that the road to excellence is littered with mistakes and subsequent lessons. Imperfection and excellence are intertwined. There is joy in our pain, strength in weakness, courage in compassion, and power in forgiveness. Ann Brasco
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You’ll never know who you are unless you shed who you pretend to be. Vironika Tugaleva
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When things are challenging, remember you are not the feelings and emotions. They are just a reaction to the situation, so accept them and try to find the root source and ease that pain - The core essence of you is a beautiful, unique, authentic spirit and you are worth of everything in life. Nanette Mathews
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Do you to the best of your ability with love, passion and purpose. The right tribe of people will fall into your life. April WIlliams
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Today is a good day to tackle a fear and make yourself proud. April WIlliams
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My happiness will not be ruined by people who can not find their own. April WIlliams
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Don't worry about the ones who don't recognize your worth. Not everyone has an eye for talent. April WIlliams
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Be real. Be authentic. Be yourself, whatever the emotional cost. Pain goes away, while regret over a life lived trying to be a plastic version of yourself does not. Vironika Tugaleva
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We try so hard to make ourselves lovable, and yet each layer of this mask puts another wall around us — a wall that keeps love out. Vironika Tugaleva
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Authenticity is not the search for uniqueness. An oak tree does not try to become an oak tree. A cactus does not try to become a cactus. All living things simply reach for nourishment - they reach for sun, reach for water, reach their roots deeper into the ground. By being open to receiving what they need, they become unique effortlessly. So let yourself fall open. Forget about crafting yourself a unique personality. Just allow. Allow in love. Allow pain. Allow desire. Allow learning. Allow healing. Allow frustration. Allow uncertainty. Allow yourself to experience what you must experience and learn what you need to learn, so that your uniqueness can emerge organically. . Vironika Tugaleva
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When you begin to walk your own journey, to have your own unique conversation, you will naturally stop feeling envious of others. Not because you’ll realize your desires are different from theirs, but because they are so similar. You’ll discover the difference between doing well and pretending to do well, between being happy and pretending to be happy, between healthy relationships and staged ones. You’ll see just how many obstacles lie on any path. You’ll realize that it takes the same amount of effort to work on building up the quality of the conversations in your life as it does to broadcast to the public, constantly, that those conversations are already perfect. You can either build up the mask or build up the authentic self. And you, brave and beautiful you, will make the right choice eventually. Be it now or on your deathbed. We all realize soon enough. Vironika Tugaleva
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Who was I fooling, telling my heart to quiet its beautiful song so I could march in the parade of conformity? My biggest fool was me. Vironika Tugaleva
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Nothing is more attractive than being your authentic self! Dawn Gluskin
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Our work is not to become unique. We are unique. Our work is to unleash our sense of adventure and to allow the inner whisper that says “come hither” to be reason enough to go. Vironika Tugaleva
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Try seeing, feeling, and tasting the water you swim in the way a land animal might perceive it. You may find the experience fascinating -- and mind-expanding. Erin Meyer
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Or that passion to act a part that sometimes makes us do things finer than we are ourselves? Oscar Wilde