Authenticity

We dare not squander our education. We dare not squander our integrity. We must be brave to think critically. We must be free to believe in ourselves.

If you want to serve the age, betray it.

Where do the mermaids stand? Answer that question, and you could build a school, a nation, or a whole world on it.

We live in an age in which ideas, important ideas, are worn like articles of fashion — and for precisely the same reason articles of fashion are worn, which is to make the wearer look better and to feel a la mode.

An intellectual is a person knowledgeable in one field who speaks out only in others. It required no intellectual effort whatsoever. Suddenly he was elevated to a plane from which he could look down upon ordinary people.

The way to be happy is to like yourself, and the way to like yourself is to do only things that make you proud.

Right after graduation today, make a list of the people who don't believe in you. And you call them tonight, and tell them to go to hell!

Love what you do, or don't do it. Don't make a choice of any kind, whether in career or in life, just because it pleases others or because it ranks high on someone else's scale of achievement.

Why write your own material when others have done it for you? Don't worry about being caught. If you have to apologize, just say, 'An error was made.' Nobody cares.

It will be a little messy, but embrace the mess. It will be complicated, but rejoice in the complications. And don't be frightened: you can always change your mind. I know: I've had four careers and three husbands.

Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there.

For every five minutes you spend looking into a mirror, spend five times that amount of time looking out at the world. Your happiness has a lot more to do with how you see the world than how the world sees you.