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Do not cringe and make yourself small if you are called the black sheep, the maverick, the lone wolf. Those with slow seeing say that a noncomformist is a blight on society. But it has been proven over the centuries, that being different means standing at the edge, that one is practically guaranteed to make an original contribution, a useful and stunning contribution to her culture.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Embrace your uniqueness and differences, as they can lead to valuable contributions to society.

This quote emphasizes the importance of not shrinking away from being different or standing out in a crowd. Instead of viewing individuality as a flaw, it encourages embracing one's uniqueness, suggesting that nonconformity leads to original and impactful contributions to culture and society. Historically, those who have been labeled as outsiders often bring new ideas and perspectives that can enrich the world.

Themes

UniquenessNonconformityCourageOriginalityContribution

In practice

Example use cases

Using this quote during a motivational speech about embracing individuality and creativity.

More from Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Asking the proper question is the central action of transformation- in fairy tales, in analysis, and in individuation. The key question causes germination of consciousness. The properly shaped question always emanates from an essential curiosity about what stands behind. Questions are the keys that cause the secret doors of the psyche to swing open.
Clarissa Pinkola EstesRead
Tears are a river that takes you somewhere…Tears lift your boat off the rocks, off dry ground, carrying it downriver to someplace better.
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Though fairy tales end after ten pages, our lives do not. We are multi-volume sets. In our lives, even though one episode amounts to a crash and burn, there is always another episode awaiting us and then another. There are always more opportunities to get it right, to fashion our lives in the ways we deserve to have them. Don't waste your time hating a failure. Failure is a greater teacher than success.
Clarissa Pinkola EstesRead
Stories are medicine. They have such power; they do not require that we do, be, act anything - we need only listen.
Clarissa Pinkola EstesRead
There's a reason poets often say, 'Poetry saved my life,' for often the blank page is the only one listening to the soul's suffering, the only one registering the story completely, the only one receiving all softly and without condemnation.
Clarissa Pinkola EstesRead
To love means to embrace and at the same time to withstand many endings, and many many beginnings- all in the same relationship.
Clarissa Pinkola EstesRead

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