QuoteProject
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
E. E. Cummings
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Growing up requires the bravery to embrace one's true self.

This quote by E. E. Cummings emphasizes that the journey to adulthood involves not just the passage of time but also the courage to reveal and accept one's authentic identity. It suggests that true growth is accompanied by a willingness to confront societal expectations and personal fears, leading to a richer and more genuine existence.

Themes

CourageGrowthIdentityAuthenticitySelf-Discovery

In practice

Example use cases

In a graduation speech, one could use this quote to inspire young adults to embrace their true selves as they enter the next phase of life.

More from E. E. Cummings

I'd rather have two good friends, than 500,000 admirers.
E. E. CummingsRead
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.
E. E. CummingsRead
When god decided to invent everything he took one reath bigger than a circustent and everything began
E. E. CummingsRead
The Artist is no other than he who unlearns what he has learned, in order to know himself.
E. E. CummingsRead
Nobody else can be alive for you; nor can you be alive for anybody else.
E. E. CummingsRead
If a poet is anybody, he is somebody to whom things made matter very little - somebody who is obsessed by Making.
E. E. CummingsRead

Similar quotes

But I despised men who accepted their fate. I shaped mine twenty times and had it broken twenty times in my hands.
Dorothy DunnettRead
If a man is in need of rescue, an airplane can come in and throw flowers on him, and that's just about all. But a direct lift aircraft could come in and save his life.
Igor SikorskyRead
I've participated in many demonstrations since I was a child. When I was at medical college, I was fighting King Farouk, then British colonization, against Nasser, against Sadat who pushed me into prison, Mubarak who pushed me into exile. I never stopped.
Nawal El SaadawiRead
We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and we've done this as recently as the last year in Afghanistan and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home to seek our own lives in peace.
Colin PowellRead
But fear no more! I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory. No, I do not wish for such triumphs, Frodo son of Drogo.
J. R. R. TolkienRead
Women are strong, strong, terribly strong. We don't know how strong until we are pushing out our babies. We are too often treated like babies having babies when we should be in training, like acolytes, novices to high priestesshood, like serious applicants for the space program.
Louise ErdrichRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.