Be true to yourself – What does it really mean?

There are many “inspirational” quotes, but I think that most of them only sound nice, when, in reality, they are meaningless. Take, for instance, “believe in yourself”. It sounds good, it looks fancy, but, in fact, it is very abstract and impractical. Maybe it is a good quote for those who really have some psychological problems, but for the average person I don’t see the point of it.

Be true to yourself

I believe a good quote is “be true to yourself”. I am not sure about its origin, but it may be derived from “to thine own self be true”, a phrase in a monologue delivered by the character Polonius in Act I Scene III of Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

Its meaning could be explained in multiple steps.

Know thyself

First of all you must “Know thyself”. I think this is the mother of all inspirational quotes. This aphorism was inscribed in the pronaos of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi where the Oracle was. All Greeks read it and knew it and Plato used it in his writings. This is a simple, yet perfect phrase. You must know yourself if you’re ever going to do something with your life. You must know:

• who you are
• what you want
• what you can do and what you cannot, what are your strengths and what are your weak points
• what you can do to improve yourself and your life

There are many people who are delusional about their selves. They think either too much or too little about themselves. So this “Know thyself” quote is perfect to start with.

Once you know yourself, you must stay true to it. There are 2 sides about it:

• You shouldn’t pretend to be someone who you’re not. There are people who want success no matter what. There are people who would have loved to steal J.K. Rowling drafts and say it was them who wrote the Harry Potter series. There are also people who deceive in small portions, but do it regularly. They are not true to themselves. (Did you notice how all “arty” people wear a scarf around their necks? They try so hard to look like some “artists”. But then I think about Freddy Mercury who was a True artist… he was so simple, so modest, there was no “posing”, no pretending. And if you don’t have Freddy Mercury’s talent, then just don’t try to pretend you have it!)

• You shouldn’t do things that you don’t want to do (mostly). A person who lives his life doing stuff he hates is a very unhappy person. Of course that sometimes we have to do what we don’t like, this is called compromise, we do it because it helps us gain something better, but when life consists only in events we hate, then there is a problem. You’re not true to yourself anymore.

Being true to yourself is a good way of living. We could discuss much more about it, but I just wanted to state what I thought it was the most important about the meaning of this quote. I hope it is more clear now.

Hugs and kisses!

Be true to yourselves, no matter what!