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

We live in a world that constantly tells us we’re not good enough or we need to change in some way or another. So then we end up with aspects of ourselves–our personality, appearance, behaviors, etc.–that don’t come from us. They come from how we think we should be. This quote, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, is about this constant drive to be something different from what we already are. Just being able to say that every single thing about ourself is completely unaffected by this drive is truly an accomplishment. And it’s something we can all strive toward. Believe it or not, this quote by Emerson from the 1800s is still relevant and true today. In fact, it always will be.