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If there's one theme in all my work, it's about authenticity and self-expression. It's the idea that some things are, in some real sense, really you - or express what you and others aren't.
Bernard Williams
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the importance of being true to oneself and expressing one's genuine identity.

In this quote, Bernard Williams highlights the significance of authenticity and self-expression in one's work. He suggests that true art or expression reflects a person's real self, conveying elements that resonate deeply with the individual while potentially revealing aspects that may be hidden in others. This pursuit of authenticity is essential not only in art but in any form of personal expression.

Themes

AuthenticitySelf-ExpressionIdentityArtGenuineness

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion on creativity at a conference, you might use this quote to emphasize the importance of originality.

More from Bernard Williams

An extravagance is something that your spirit thinks is a necessity.
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There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.
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Contemporary moral philosophy has found an original way of being boring, which is by not discussing moral issues at all.
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The majority of philosophers are totally humorless. That's part of their trouble.
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People have been predicting the death of philosophy since the 17th century. When I was a student, people were saying, 'We're in the last days of philosophy.' Then we were told in the '60s it would be replaced by sociology, then by literary criticism.
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Virtually the only subject in which one could ever get a scholarship to Oxford or Cambridge was classics. So I went to Oxford to study classics and, unlike Cambridge, it had a philosophy component, and I became completely transported by it.
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