“Trying to Find Out Who We Are”
“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” (George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones)
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“O me! O life! … of the questions of these recurring;
Of the endless trains of the faithless —of cities fill’d with the foolish;
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light—of the objects mean—of the struggle ever renew’d;
Of the poor results of all—of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me;
Of the empty and useless years of the rest—with the rest me intertwined;
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer:
That you are here—that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.” (Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass)
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“We can spend our lives letting the world tell us who we are. Sane or insane. Saints or sex addicts. Heroes or victims. Letting history tell us how good or bad we are. Letting our past decide our future. Or we can decide for ourselves. And maybe it’s our job to invent something better.” (Chuck Palahniuk, Choke)
________
“In most of our human relationships, we spend much of our time reassuring one another that our costumes of identity are on straight.” (Ram Dass)
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“I mean, we’re all trying to find out who the hell we are, aren’t we?” (Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Identity)
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Catalyst Quotes 