“Americans aren't stupid. We are, however, preternaturally disposed to herd behavior (FOMO), with a strong desire to preserve a sense of individuality and maintain control over our decision making. We're joiners and don't want to be left out of fads; we're also fiercely independent and don't want to be told what to do.”
Source: Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol
“When the Self dissolves into a world of separate selves and death becomes real, love becomes a pact with grief; what is gained then is the inescapability poignant fact of individuality. There will never be another you, and I love the stubborn particularity of you because you will disappear.”
Source: What Is the Grass: Walt Whitman in My Life
“We went to NYC when I was a little kid; my parents told me to lock the car doors because there were "punks" outside. They couldn't stop talking about how dangerous the "punks" were. A group of teens with chains and mohawks with pink and purple hair. I just thought they were beautiful, I wasn't frightened at all. From that day on, I knew that one day I would surround myself with "punks". From a very tender age, on that day, I had already made up my mind to never just think what my parents thought. I had made up my mind to have my own mind, to live on my own terms.”
“The free man knows people don’t ask for him. They ask for things: work, your hands – never you.”
Source: The Goodbye Song
“That isn't an expression that means anything to me, really. Make a fool of yourself. How can anybody do that? How can you make a fool? Show the fool, yes, expose the fool, but isn't the fool just yourself, isn't it there all the time? Show yourself. What else can you do?”
Source: Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You
“So what if there are other robots that look like you? You are unique. Every dent, every scratch is your story. Every thought and memory is yours and yours alone.”
Source: Boot: Small Robot Big Adventure
“Practically anyone who’s ever written anything will read someone else’s prose back and tell themselves they’d have at least done a thing or two differently, flipped this phrase, massaged that line.”
Source: In Limbo
“Some personal traits one holds dear just can’t be co-opted.”
Source: In Limbo
“Individuality might grate on someone’s nerves, so they had sanded away all my edges until I was beautiful and bland and utterly boring.”
Source: Beauty and Beast: A Beauty and the Beast Retelling
“Maybe if I’d learned my lessons with a more dedicated heart, I would be better behaved now, but could anyone truly be erased by zealous teachers and societal pressures?”
Source: Beauty and Beast: A Beauty and the Beast Retelling