Robert Rauschenberg Quotes

Let's all be different same as me.

Be stupid, be dumb, be funny, if that's who you are. Don't try to be someone that society wants you to be; that's stupid. So be yourself.

I'd rather be a freak than a clone.

Express who you are in a world where everyone is the same.

Imitation is very easy, and the whole culture and society depends on imitation. Everybody is telling you how to behave, and whatsoever they are teaching you is nothing but imitation. Religious people - the so-called religious people, the priests, the theologians - they are also teaching you, 'Be like Jesus, be like Buddha, be like Krishna.' Nobody ever tells you, 'Just be yourself' - nobody. Everybody is against you, it seems. Nobody allows you to be yourself, nobody gives you any freedom. You can be in this world, but you must imitate somebody.

The greatest fear people have is that of being themselves. They want to be 50 Cent or someone else. They do what everyone else does even if it doesn’t fit where and who they are. But you get nowhere that way; your energy is weak and no one pays attention to you. You’re running away from the one thing that you own – what makes you different. I lost that fear. And once I felt the power that I had by showing the world I didn’t care about being like other people, I could never go back.

Be yourself, no matter what they say.

Apparently God makes us all different. Some of us are happy to respond to His individual touch on our lives by remaining individuals, and others of us are intimidated or frightened into trying to become like each other so that we have company, so that we don't feel so lonely.

Style is originality; fashion is fascism. The two are eternally and unalterably opposed.

An air of fashion, which is but a badge of slavery ... proves that the soul has not a strong individual character.

I just try to be myself and not conform to something I'm not and just continue doing what I do. I just try not to think about the fact that I'm an inspiration for people.

When I first got into the league, I tried to fit in. Now I don't care.

I know that many people kill off their real personality just to fit into this society, but why do we have to compromise? I never understood that. I decided to try to be myself and to live by my own values rather than those of others.

When we are honest - that's my saying - if we are honest then we will reveal ourselves. But we do not have to make an effort to be individualistic, different from others.

I always tried so hard to fit in, and then I figured out that I didn't want to fit.

If you try to follow everyone else's mold, you'll probably fail at some point because God created us uniquely for a reason.

We all want to be special, to stand out; there's nothing wrong with this. The irony is that every human being is special to start with, because we're unique to start with. But we then go through some sort of boot camp from the age of zero to about 18 where we learn everything we can about how not to be unique.

Two or three things I know for sure, and one is that I'd rather go naked than wear the coat the world has made for me.

Yeah, it's nice to look up to people, but the more you try to be somebody else, the less you are of yourself.

I feel like when I try to fit in, it comes across as not genuine, and that is not good. I'd rather just do me and have people say, 'Oh. That's interesting,' than try to fit in.

I'm so excited to just be able to be comfortable in my own skin and give what I have to the world and not feel like I have to copy to stand out or fit in.

In our society, no one dares to be themselves.

I tried to be different; I didn't want to be like everybody else.

We don't need to be categorized - we are all individual and beautifully unique.

When you're growing up, the most important thing is to try to not change yourself too much. Be you, because everyone else is taken.