"We only become what we are, and not what others have made of us"

We only become what we are by the radical and deep-seated refusal of that which others have made of us.
Jean-Paul Sartre

The searching-out and thorough investigation of truth ought to be the primary study of man.
Cicero

The only journey is the journey within.
Rainer Maria Rilke

It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.
Agnes Repplier

Know thyself means this, that you get acquainted with what you know, and what you can do.
Menander

Yes, know thyself: in great concerns or small,
Be this thy care, for this, my friend, is all.
Juvenal

Men soon the faults of others learn
A few their virtues, too, find out;
But is there one—I have a doubt—
Who can his own defects discern?
Sanskrit Proverb

Collect as precious pearls the words of the wise and virtuous.
Abd-el-Kadar

If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give us no shade when we are old.
Lord Chesterfield

Our business in life is not to get ahead of other people, but to get ahead of ourselves.
Maltbie D. Matlock

If you have an hour, will you not improve that hour, instead of idling it away?
Lord Chesterfield

Follow your honest convictions, and stay strong.
William Thackeray

As the sculptor devotes himself to wood and stone, I would devote myself to my soul.
Toyohiko Kagawa

He who conquers others is strong;
He who conquers himself is mighty.
Lao Tzu

The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself.
Thales

Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakes.
Carl Jung

He that will not reflect is a ruined man.
Asian Proverb

Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow.
Doug Firebaugh

Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.
Chinese Proverb

God ever works with those who work with will.
Aeschylus

Insist on yourself. Never imitate.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Heaven never helps the man who will not act.
Sophocles