Laura Riding Quotes

I have never regarded myself as this or that. I have been too busy being myself to bother about regarding myself.

When we're growing up there are all sorts of people telling us what to do when really what we need is space to work out who to be.

Really, I was such a late bloomer, I really didn't learn how to be me until I was in my late '40s, which is when I started playing roles that were closer to me.

I suppose everyone continues to be interested in the quest for the self, but what you feel when you're older, I think, is that you really must make the self.

People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.

I don't know what else I would be if I wasn't me. I am not looking from the outside, looking back. I am who I am.

I think as you get older, you find out more and more about yourself and what you like and what you don't like.

I believe that self-discovery is an ongoing thing.

We spend so much of our early lives trying to figure out who we really are. And we spend the rest of our lives preparing ourselves to let it go.

We spend our life until we’re twenty deciding what parts of ourself to put into the bag, and we spend the rest of our lives trying to get them out again.

Once you get older, you get a little closer to yourself, intimate. I've always been very aware of that, more conscious of who I am, how I fit in the thing as opposed to trying to emulate someone else. Though, sometimes I try to emulate De Niro all the time, who is someone I could never be.

One of the basic laws of human existence is: find yourself, know yourself, be yourself.

Be the person you are. Never try to be another, and you will become mature. Maturity is accepting the responsibility of being oneself, whatsoever the cost.

The greatest discovery in life is self-discovery. Until you find yourself you will always be someone else. Become yourself.

I think people who struggle to define themselves might never be satisfied because there is no definition. Living with responsibility is important, but I don't really think you have to grow up.

I have never seen myself as leading for others. What's important is that I know who I am. Not completely. But I'm coming around third base.

Listen to your being. It is continuously giving you hints; it is a still, small voice. It does not shout at you, that is true. And if you are a little silent you will start feeling your way. Be the person you are. Never try to be another, and you will become mature. Maturity is accepting the responsibility of being oneself, whatsoever the cost. Risking all to be oneself, that's what maturity is all about.

I'm not interested in nostalgia; I'm interested in who I am.

At which point should we let go and do what we want to do, and when should we submit to rules? Coming to terms with our true natures and who we really are has always been a fascination to humans. I know it fascinates me.

People have to learn who they are - you can't have somebody else telling you who you are.

One of the greatest moments in anybody's developing experience is when he no longer tries to hide from himself but determines to get acquainted with himself as he really is.

It's not always easy to identify your own voice. It comes with time.

Over the years, I was never really driven to become a solo artist, but I was curious to find out who I was as an individual creative person. It's taken some time, but now I feel I've truly paid my dues. I guess I'm at a point now where I'm more comfortable in my own skin.

Carving out an identity for yourself is important so I'm trying to do that as well.

I'm not really on a mission to tell anybody anything. I'd rather be figured out.