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When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.
Maya Angelou
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Trust people's actions and words as true reflections of their character.

This quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing and accepting a person's true nature based on their actions and behaviors rather than hoping they will change. It suggests that when someone reveals their true self, it is wise to take them at face value, rather than dismissing or underestimating the significance of those revelations.

Themes

TrustCharacterWisdomPerceptionAcceptance

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about relationships, you can use this quote to remind friends to trust their partner's behavior.

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If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?
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The white American man makes the white American woman maybe not superfluous but just a little kind of decoration. Not really important to turning around the wheels of the state. Well the black American woman has never been able to feel that way. No black American man at any time in our history in the United States has been able to feel that he didn't need that black woman right against him, shoulder to shoulder-in that cotton field, on the auction block, in the ghetto, wherever.
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I dreamt we walked together along the shore. We made satisfying small talk and laughed. This morning I found sand in my shoe and a seashell in my pocket. Was I only dreaming?
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I think Clinton, after getting into office and into Washington, was shocked at being bludgeoned. So he spent time trying to be all things to all people - one way guaranteed not to be successful or respected in a lion's den. You can't just play around with all those big cats - you've got to take somebody on.
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