Losing Yourself Quotes

“It is one thing to lose people you love. It is another to lose yourself. That is a greater loss.”
― Donna Goddard, Waldmeer

“I feel like I have lost myself. I want to find the “Me” that went away with you. The part of me that loved so unceasingly without condition. The part of me that loved the way you taught me how to love. The part of me that felt more real than I ever felt before. No one seems to find that “Me” and I can’t find Me either.”
― Kate McGahan, Only Gone From Your Sight: Jack McAfghan's Little Therapy Guide to Pet Loss and Grief

“A book about books is like a poem about poetry:

Books are knowledge, paid for, all.
Readers - horses in a stall.
Stallions should always run.
Lest they stale become, in turn.

Running waters are most clear.
In some books, you disappear –
lose yourself, and track of time.
How I wish that one was mine...

Mine, to have, to write, to read...
Mine, just like a flying steed.
Mine, forever, - to improve.
Would I then, of me, approve?

I would not, I can't... myself.
I'm but dust, swept off a shelf.
Fly, can I, just 'til I'm settled,
down, beside my flower, petalled.”
― Will Advise, Nothing is here...

“As a woman, you walk into all kinds of unknown situations that cause you to fall in love, put someone else’s needs before your own, and make unbelievable sacrifices. As time goes by, falling in love has its consequences. You fall in love with your mate, children, family, and job. However, you do not receive a fraction of what you have given in return. Sadly, nobody sees you are beyond exhausted. They want you to go, go and go without complaining.
If they carefully pay attention and think about it; when was the last time they saw you smile, truly smile? When was the last time they saw you happy, truly happy? When was the last time they offered to help you, as opposed to asking could you do this or that? When was the last time they gave you a moment to breathe?
As you work so hard and give so much of yourself, you think things will finally line up. However, that is not the case. Once you set someone up to help them prosper, things in your life start to crumble, and slowly but surely you begin to feel violated. Your hard work is soon forgotten as they drop you where you stand.
Life isn’t fair and it is hard. It’s even harder when you love so hard and lose so much. You are not perfect. You have your flaws, and most definitely you have your moments. However, you have a good heart and you try to treat others how you want to be treated. Time and time again you give people all of your heart by trying to be loving and understanding.
You’ve learned that when it comes to some people, nothing would ever be good enough. You have to be willing to accept that you loved them to the best of your ability, and only lost someone who caused you to lose more of yourself. Those people aren’t worth saving because the question is, who will save you?
However, the love you gave wasn’t in vain; it helped you to become a better person. The loss opened your eyes to see that you deserve so much better. It is alright to cry. You are finding your strength and you are beginning to find the voice within. You are special. You are unique. You are loved. There’s no need to be afraid. Life is a journey! You will make it. It’s okay to let go of the loss and count it all pure joy!”
― Charlena E. Jackson, A Woman's Love Is Never Good Enough

“He was the last thread suspending me in the light. Without him, I can feel myself spiraling downward, falling to a place where I can no longer pull myself back up.”
― Marie Lu, The Young Elites

“Nobody talks about the other loss, the loss that happens within us. We lose people and things, but we also lose parts of ourselves. We grieve those missing parts too. We grieve them, and we grieve us. But I think losing those parts creates space. For newness. For understanding others’ hurts and welcoming them into our free spaces.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“I surrendered myself to the cages of others' expectations, cultural mandates and institutional allegiances. Until I buried who I was in order to become what I should be. I lost myself when I learned how to please.”
― Glennon Doyle, Untamed: Stop Pleasing, Start Living / A Toolkit for Modern Life

“I feel very strongly that all Japanese at that time had the idea drilled into them of 1999 being the end of the world. Aum renunciates have already accepted, inside themselves, the end of the world, because when they become a renunciate, they discard themselves totally, thereby abandoning the world. In other words, Aum is a collection of people who have accepted the end. People who continue to hold out hope for the near future still have an attachment to the world. If you have attachments, you will not discard your Self, but for Renunciates it's as if they've leaped right off the cliff. And taking a giant leap like that feels good. They lose something - but gain something in return.”
― Haruki Murakami, Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche

“And THAT is how you fall into an abusive relationship: when you start acting in a way so as not to upset the other person or set them off. You’ve given away control of your own life, bit by bit, bit by bit. It’s incremental, until one day, you have hidden so much of yourself you get lost.”
― Rose McGowan, Brave

“...it cost me something to be the way I am. But I do not know what. And I don't know if I can get it back. I don't even know if I want it.”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince

“You did not lose if you lost things that made you lose yourself.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, Night of a Thousand Thoughts

“When we can trust that it's we who think, feel, and act rather than the ghosts of our parents or well-trained robots, we learn that we can also love, be in relationships, and be in the world without losing ourselves.”
― Bud Harris, Sacred Selfishness: A Guide to Living a Life of Substance

“I forgot who I was before the (space) suit,
before gravity was ripped from my vocabulary
and I mastered the art of drifting”
― Casey Renee Kiser, Way Out

“I’ve gotten so used to wearing a mask that I couldn’t even identify myself in a line-up.”
― Scarlet Jei Saoirse, Scarlosophy: Thinking Out Loud

“I kissed and kissed
until I could almost forget
how restless I’d become.”
― Marisa Donnelly, Somewhere On A Highway

“I guess this is what it's like to be a Vegetable; you lose yourself in the fog. You don't move. They feed your body till it finally stops eating; then they burn it. It's not so bad. There's no pain. I don't feel much of anything other than a touch of chill I figure will pass in time.”
― Ken Kesey, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest : A Play in Two Acts

“I have forgotten the weight of carrying four names all this time here, lost I’ve been surviving with two.”
― K. Eltinaé, The Moral Judgement of Butterflies

“She wrote his name on a piece of paper
and lit it with a match.
The letters curled
as they turned dark and misshapen
until she didn’t recognize them.
They were figments of something
that she had done in her past, lost
into some other form of existence.

Where did the letters go now?

She tried to find traces within the ash
of some resemblance of what used to be.
She dug down, her fingers turning
black and gray like the depths of her.
He was gone.

Gone.

What was she left with but ashes and darkness once the light of the flame went out? The smell of smoke lingered like a memory of him. Was this the end or could she write a new word? Not a new name, not his name, but could she call a new word into existence? A new piece of HER; a new reason for her existence? Picking up the permanent marker, Amy placed it in her pocket for later. Ashes blow in the creek bed and blend with the stream, moving down like sand in an hourglass.”
― Eric Overby, Hourglass in Grace

“I am so sorry, Harry,' he cried, 'but really it is entirely your fault. That book you sent me so fascinated me that I forgot how the time was going.'
'Yes, I thought you would like it,' replied his host, rising from his chair.
'I didn't say I liked it, Harry. I said it fascinated me. There is a great difference.'
'Ah, you have discovered that?' murmured Lord Henry...”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“Remember depending on another is not the same as a dependency, but sometimes the two are easily confused and without proper balance, it is easy to build a dependency or either become overly independent. But being overly independent also puts a strain on a relationship. This type of independence can stem from the fear of losing yourself within the relationship. This fear brings about erratic behavior and subconscious sabotage in order to advert losing yourself.”
― Victoria L. White, Learning To Love: And The Power of Sacred Sexual Spiritual Partnerships

“Νομίζω ότι έχουμε χάσει την ικανότητα μας να είμαστε αυθόρμητοι. Είμαστε όλοι σφραγισμένοι απ'αυτό το χρόνο, είμαστε όλοι προκαθορισμένοι. Έχουμε ξεχάσει το τι είναι να γελάς και να νιώθεις όμορφα γελώντας.”
― Leo F. Buscaglia, Love

“Izgubila se u njemu onako kako su to djevojke koje nisu znale bolje činile.”
― Andrea Tomić, Grad zvijeri

“I look down at my list of fruits and recite the names under my breath, syncing into the rhythms of nearby batucada drummers. Softly chanting, I close my eyes, and feel a sense of peace. For a moment, I forget everything. I forget my name. I forget why I came here. All I know is abacaxí, açai, ameixa, cupuaçu, graviola, maracujá, taperebá, uva, umbu.”
― Adam Leith Gollner, The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Obsession, Commerce, and Adventure

“It's ok to lose someone. But it's not ok to lose yourself for someone.”
― Hiral Nagda

“Impressions comes at a cost of you losing something , in a trade for admiration, likes or love. The more you try to impress others. The more you lose somethings. Now don’t lose what you can’t replace nor lose what is valuable to you or something you can’t live and progress without. Mostly don’t lose yourself, trying to impress others. Don’t compete with people whom their loss is nothing to them, because they have everything or plenty , while your loss is everything to you ,because you have nothing.”
― De philosopher DJ Kyos

“Stop giving yourself away then telling us you ”lost” yourself. It doesn’t work that way. Your hands are big enough to hold on to you AND grab the new things you love.”
― Darnell Lamont Walker

“The Familiar Squatter by Stewart Stafford

Stranger at a ranting roundabout,
Changeling deep in a cranial fog,
An infant brooked with abandon,
The frail bitterness fumed within.

Another dawn, the lid loosens more,
Recognition dims, pleading for hints,
Let me see my reflection in full now,
Squatter with a thousand-yard stare.

A planet downsized to an asteroid belt,
Leave, and I surrender to disintegrate,
Core melts inside this atrophying shell,
Beyond repair, a journey of light ahead.

© Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“Heart lost is heart found.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Yarasistan: My Wounds, My Crown

“But maybe, just maybe, I was chasing that feeling. I wanted someone to drown in my depths, the way I lost myself in yours.”
― Ara Salka, Ends And Edits: Unedited Love

“Mil olores, tristezas, historias, subían desde el empedrado, se asomaban a los balcones o a los portales de la calle Aribau. […] Mezcla de vidas, de calidades, de gustos, eso era la calle de Aribau. Yo misma: un elemento más, pequeño y perdido en ella.”
― Carmen Laforet, Nada