One isn't born one's self. One is born with a mass of expectations, a mass of other people's ideas - and you have to work through it all.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- You are not born your true self; you are born with others' expectations and must work through them to find yourself.
- In plain terms
- You start with other people's ideas and have to work through them to become yourself.
- What can you take from it?
- Self-discovery requires filtering out external expectations.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How much of you is truly yours?
- Which expectations did you have to work through?
Another view
It may underestimate how much social connection shapes identity.
More from V.S. Naipaul
Everybody is interesting for an hour, but few people can last more than two.
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