Everyone sees what you appear to be,” observed Machiavelli, “few really know what you are.

« The more thought you give to what people think of you, the less attention you give to what you want, what you like, what you think, how you would like to enjoy life, and more importantly what makes you, YOU. »

As you care less about what people think of you, you will care more about what others think of themselves.

Whatever people think of you is really about the image they have of you, and that image isn’t you.

Don't be concerned with other people's impressions of you. They are dazzled and deluded by appearances. Stick with your purpose. This alone with strengthen your will and give your life coherence.

Because if you base your self-worth on what everyone else thinks of you, you hand all your power over to other people and become dependent on a source outside of yourself for validation. Then you wind up chasing after something you have no control over, and should that something suddenly place its focus somewhere else, or change its mind and decide you’re no longer very interesting, you end up with a full-blown identity crisis.

It’s not what you are that counts, it’s what they think you are.

Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?

I'd think, That ain't me, that ain't my face. It wasn't even me when I was trying to be that face. I wasn't even really me then; I was just being the way I looked, the way people wanted. It don't seem like I ever have been me.

Nobody looks like what they really are on the inside. You don’t. I don’t. People are much more complicated than that. It’s true of everybody.

If people could see me the way I see myself - if they could live in my memories - would anyone love me?

you are not what you think you are; but what you think, you are.

If you will forget about yourself, whether or not you are making a good impression on people, what they think of you, and you will think about them instead, you won't be shy.

To know yourself is to forget yourself.