authenticity quotes

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

The single most powerful thing I can be is to be myself.

Sometimes you have the trends that’s not that cool. You may have certain artists portraying these trends and don’t really have that lifestyle, and then it gives off the wrong thing. And it becomes kinda corny after awhile. It’s really about keeping hip-hop original and pushing away the corniness in it.

I’ve seen zero evidence of any nation on Earth other than Mexico even remotely having the slightest clue what Mexican food is about or even come close to reproducing it. It is perhaps the most misunderstood country and cuisine on Earth.

I do say things that I think will shock people. But I don’t do things to shock people. I’m not trying to be the next Tupac, but I don’t know how long I’m going to be on this planet. So while I’m here, I might as well make the most of it.

I refuse to accept other people’s ideas of happiness for me. As if there’s a ‚one size fits all‘ standard for happiness.

I’m sticking to the script, I’m putting that organic feeling back in the game.

Ultimately, I’m not doing that much. I’m only doing what a human being who feels wants to do – in my way, without stepping out of my flow, while staying in my lane. Without, I guess, boring people.

As long as my music is real, it’s no limit to how many ears I can grab.

I think carrying moral baggage is very dangerous for an artist. If you have a duty, it’s to be true and not cover up the cracks.

God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.

I have all the emotions that everyone has; it just appears that I don’t.

I feel like when I try to fit in, it comes across as not genuine, and that is not good. I’d rather just do me and have people say, ‚Oh. That’s interesting,‘ than try to fit in.

The art of acting is not to act. Once you show them more, what you show them, in fact is bad acting.

When you realize who you live for, and who’s important to please, a lot of people will actually start living. I am never going to get caught up in that. I’m gonna look back on my life and say that I enjoyed it – and I lived it for me.

I try to see the good in everybody, and I don’t care who people are as long as they’re themselves, whatever that is.

I say what I want to say and do what I want to do. There’s no in between. People will either love you for it or hate you for it.

I find that when I get on stage now, I don’t want to perform a lot of my songs because they don’t feel like me. So I want to make songs that are timeless.

All of my music is honest.

This above all; to thine own self be true.

I have learned that as long as I hold fast to my beliefs and values – and follow my own moral compass – then the only expectations I need to live up to are my own.

It is curious how instinctively one protects the image of oneself from idolatry or any other handling that could make it ridiculous, or too unlike the original to be believed any longer.

Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood.

It’s very important for Christians to be honest with God, which often, you know, God is much more interested in who you are than who you want to be.

The essential lesson I’ve learned in life is to just be yourself. Treasure the magnificent being that you are and recognize first and foremost you’re not here as a human being only. You’re a spiritual being having a human experience.

One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. And so when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don’t invest any energy in them, because I know who I am.

Until it’s on the radio or online, it’s not real. With U2, our album isn’t finished until it’s in the stores.

If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.

I’m not always going to say things the perfect way, the right way. But I’m going to say how I feel.

I’m tough when I have to be, tender when I should be. When you find a really tough guy, he’s not a predator. He doesn’t have to prove himself. Guys who have to pretend to be tough, they ain’t. I’m tough.

I’m confident in who I am. I’ve come to a place in my life where I’ve accepted things that are me, as opposed to feeling pressure to explain myself to people around me. That’s just the way I’ve always tried to be. It didn’t change when I became a star.

One thing about me is I try to be honest.

If an individual wants to be a leader and isn’t controversial, that means he never stood for anything.

Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying.

I am who I am and I say what I think. I’m not putting a face on for the record.

We can’t just choose to tell some facts and not others because we don’t want to upset people. We have to tell it like it is.

I’ll never tell a lie. I’ll never make a misleading statement. I’ll never betray the confidence that any of you had in me. And I’ll never avoid a controversial issue.

I want to be a man who is truthful and who won’t let pride get in the way of my ripping myself open to my partner and saying, ‚Here I am. This is me.‘ I feel there’s something powerful when a man reaches a point in his life when he can be completely vulnerable.

I’m not going to make a song just to make a song. The day that I make an album, it’s so that people really know what Bad Bunny’s about.

To me, business isn’t about wearing suits or pleasing stockholders. It’s about being true to yourself, your ideas and focusing on the essentials.

I only act from my heart.

If it’s going to come out eventually, better have it come out immediately.

There is only one failure in life possible, and that is not to be true to the best one knows.

When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike.

My thing is this; if I’m sick enough to think it, then I’m sick enough to say it.

Integrity means that you are the same in public as you are in private.

The thing about the truth is, not a lot of people can handle it.

No face which we can give to a matter will stead us so well at last as the truth. This alone wears well.

Truth is so rare that it is delightful to tell it.

I don’t do things for the response or for the controversy. I just live my life.

Where is the man who has the strength to be true, and to show himself as he is?

I’d rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.

Rather be dead than cool.

It’s like, remember who you always were, where you came from, who your parents were, how they raised you. Because that authentic self is going to follow you all through life, so make sure that it’s solid so it’s something that you can hold on and be proud of for the rest of your life.

I didn’t come to Hollywood. Hollywood came to me. A lot of people wish they could say the things I say. Everyone out here is so phony, it’s sickening.

When I came into this industry, I was never afraid to be myself.

I’m crazy and I don’t pretend to be anything else.

I think that by staying true to myself and making music from my heart, the blessings come.

Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.

All my big mistakes are when I try to second-guess or please an audience. My work is always stronger when I get very selfish about it.