35 Identity Quotes

Both consciously and subconsciously, humans have always been engrossed in realizing their true identity and place in this world. 

Your definition of your identity and character will always be different from the perception of others about you. The best gift you can give yourself is to be self-aware and reflect on finding your true purpose in life.

Here are some of the most beautiful identity quotes to help you understand the value of life and your place in it. These quotes were said by well-known personalities from around the world who were capable of realizing their purpose and courageous enough to pave the path to their true ambitions.

Take inspiration from these quotes to figure out the path to help you find your true self.

Famous Identity Quotes

Find yourself again through these wonderfully penned identity quotes!

“It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.”
- Patrick Rothfuss, 'The Name Of The Wind'.

“We know what we are, but not what we may be.”
- William Shakespeare.

“Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be.”
- Orson Scott Card, 'Ender's Game'.

“Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law." 

- Gautama Buddha.

“Identity is this incredible invisible force that controls your whole life. It's invisible like gravity is invisible, but it controls your whole life.”

- Tony Robbins.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life to be required to violate your own identity.”

- Philip K. Dick.

“Death ain't nothing but a fastball on the outside corner.”

- August Wilson.

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will."

- Charlotte Brontë.

“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself.”
- Harvey Forbes Fierstein.

Identity Quotes About Self

Here are some interesting identity quotes by significant public figures from different parts of the world.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
- Mahatma Gandhi.

"He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.”
- Gabriel García Márquez, 'Love In the Time Of Cholera'.

“The only true happiness lies in knowing who you are … and making peace with it.”

- Laurell K. Hamilton.

“Whenever two people meet, there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is.”

- William James.

"How do I know who I am or where I am? How could a single wave locate itself in an ocean?”

- Rumi.

“When I discover who I am. I will be free.” 

- Ralph Ellison, ‘Invisible Man’.

“Through others we become ourselves.”
- Lev S. Vygotsky.

“I always had long hair. When you lose it, you realise just how important it is to your identity.”

- Delta Goodrem.

Inspiring Identity Quotes

Discover some truly inspirational quotes to help you get closer to your true self.

“I am not an angel,' I asserted; 'and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself. Mr. Rochester, you must neither expect nor exact anything celestial of me - for you will not get it, any more than I shall get it of you: which I do not at all anticipate.”
- Charlotte Brontë, 'Jane Eyre'.

"In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity."

- Erik Erikson.

“We have come to realize in modern times that the ‘melting pot' need not mean the end of particular ethnic identities or traditions.”

- John F. Kennedy.

“She did not look into my eyes, did not see the lion inside. She did not see me of me, the Isabel.”

- Laurie Halse Anderson.

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”

- Oscar Wilde.

“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known.”

– Chuck Palahniuk.

“We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.”
- Pascal Mercier, 'Night Train To Lisbon'.

“I belong to the people I love, and they belong to me--they, and the love and loyalty I give them, form my identity far more than any word or group ever could.”
- Veronica Roth, 'Allegiant'.

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
- William Shakespeare, 'Romeo And Juliet'.

"Don’t let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice."
- Steve Jobs, Stanford University commencement speech, 2005.

“I seem to have run in a great circle, and met myself again on the starting line.”
- Jeanette Winterson, 'Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'.

Identity Quotes That Makes You Think

Ponder a little more about your true self with these identity quotes, which will force you to scratch your head!

“One of the biggest surprises in this research was learning that fitting in, and belonging are not the same thing. In fact, fitting in is one of the greatest barriers to belonging.

Fitting in is about assessing a situation and becoming who you need to be in order to be accepted. Belonging, on the other hand, doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are.”

- Brene Brown.

“I’ve only been half myself lately, and I thought coming here would let me work this part out of me so I could be me again.”

- Shannon Hale.

“If you base your identity on having friends, being accepted, and being popular, you may find yourself compromising your standards or changing them every weekend to accommodate your friends.”

- Sean Covey.

"It is easier to live through someone else than to complete yourself. The freedom to lead and plan your own life is frightening if you have never faced it before. It is frightening when a woman finally realizes that there is no answer to the question 'who am I' except the voice inside herself.”
- Betty Friedan.

"Stop apologizing! It’s ok if your ideas are different, your goals are big – don’t be afraid of what others would say. You are skilled, capable, and talented – you deserve to be a leader, and you are enough. Leaning in can be uncomfortable, so don’t be afraid to own your seat, lean back, and kick your feet up.”

- Joy Fitzgerald.

“Sometimes, being different feels a lot like being alone. But with that being said, being true to that and being true to my standards and my way of doing things in my art and my music, everything that has made me feel very different…in the end, it has made me the happiest.”

- Lindsey Stirling.