The hardest thing in the world is to be ourselves.

To endure oneself may be the hardest task in the universe.

Be true to thine own self

One has to test oneself to see that one is destined for independence and command — and do it at the right time. One should not dodge one’s tests, though they may be the most dangerous game one could play and are tests that are taken in the end before no witness or judge but ourselves. Not to remain stuck to a person — not even the most loved — every person is a prison, also a nook.

Not to remain stuck to a fatherland — not even if it suffers most and needs help most — it is less difficult to sever one’s heart from a victorious fatherland. Not to remain stuck to some pity — not even for higher men into whose rare torture and helplessness some accident allowed us to look.

Not to remain stuck to a science — even if it should lure us with the most precious finds that seem to have been saved up precisely for us. Not to remain stuck to one’s own detachment, to that voluptuous remoteness and strangeness of the bird who flees ever higher to see ever more below him — the danger of the flier.

Not to remain stuck to our own virtues and become as a whole the victim of some detail in us, such as our hospitality, which is the danger of dangers for superior and rich souls who spend themselves lavishly, almost indifferently, and exaggerate the virtue of generosity into a vice.

One must know how to conserve oneself: the hardest test of independence.

Love is the most difficult test we each will face. It's the highest testimony of ourselves; everything else in our lives is all preparation for this supreme challenge.

The hardest thing in life may be to learn to truly trust that there is something noble and generative in ourselves. This is a greater sense of the notion of believing in our self; to truly believe in oneself means to uncover the inner core of imagination and authenticity that can also be called the genius within us. When we connect to the inner resident of the soul, we also learn how we are woven to the Soul of the World.

[T]he toughest thing is facing yourself. Being honest with yourself, that's much tougher than beating someone up. That's what I call tough.

If you know who you are, and you keep that in mind at all times, and not let that get away from you to sacrifice your principles, your values, your true self. Because if you're true to you, then life will be true to you.

Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself.

To thine own self be true

The only obligation we have in any lifetime is to be true to ourselves.

Stay true to yourself, even in the face of adversity.

The hardest battle you’re ever going to fight is the battle to be just you.

The most important gift we can give ourselves is the commitment to living our authentic life. To be true to ourselves, however, is not an easy task. We must break free of the seductions of society and live life on our own terms, under our own values and aligned with our original dreams. We must tap our hidden selves; explore the deep-seated, unseen hopes, desires, strengths and weaknesses that make us who we are. We have to understand where we have been and know where we are going.