Henri Nouwen Quotes

I don't know how to make Harper and Alloy want me, not just my name.

I spent my entire childhood going 'look at me, look at me, look at me,' before realising I needed someone to look at me for more than just what I was showing off for.

When you believe that you are not worthwhile in and of yourself, in the back of your mind you also begin to believe that life is not worthwhile in and of itself. It is only worthwhile insofar as it relates to your crusade. It is a kamikaze mission.

We're so used to presenting ourselves and getting approval according to our achievements that it's difficult to be authentic and trust that we'll be accepted just as we are.

In every aspect of our lives, we are always asking ourselves, How am I of value? What is my worth? Yet I believe that worthiness is our birthright.

The world will try to tell you that you need stuff to be somebody. Don't listen

Being needed was a handy trick. It could fill you up so full you never even noticed all the places that were empty.

Don't trap yourself with the desire of wanting to be liked.

When you play for ticket-holders, you are already validated. I have no sense that I need to be accepted. I'm already accepted.

I'd like to be known for more than being the guy in the big suit.

If you lose who you are, what do you have?

Eventually somebody will want me, and there will be a role that is mine.

All people have a natural desire to be needed, to have their importance to others tangibly confirmed.

We think of ourselves as our titles or our jobs or our position in a family. We depend on being praised by others. But something happens when that praise is undermined.

I'm not trying to become popular.

It's so easy today to get swept up in celebrity fixation and materialism and searching for some validation outside of yourself when we know it's really found within and through meaningful connections with other people.

The deepest desire of the human spirit is to be acknowledged.

People should recognize who you are and how you can act rather then how famous you are.

I didn't need the belt to validate me.

Human nature demands recognition. Without it, people lose their sense of purpose and become dissatisfied, restless, and unproductive.

A man spends his whole life trying to prove his worth to others. A woman spends her life trying to prove her worth to herself.

The significance of a man is not in what he attains, but rather what he longs to attain.

Everyone wants to feel that they matter.

No human being, when you understand his desires, is worthless. No one's life is nothing.

I think one of the reasons I pushed myself so hard and worked so hard is because I never felt special.