Life must be lived and curiosity kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.
Eleanor RooseveltRead
I think I lived those years very impersonally. It was almost as though I had erected someone outside myself who was the president's wife. I was lost somewhere deep down inside myself. That is the way I felt and worked until I left the White House.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Eleanor Roosevelt expresses a sense of disconnection from her true self during her time as First Lady, feeling like a separate entity rather than an individual.
Eleanor Roosevelt reflects on her experiences as the First Lady, conveying a profound sense of isolation and loss of identity. She suggests that her public persona as the president's wife overshadowed her true self, leaving her feeling estranged from her own emotions and desires. This disconnection points to the pressures of public life and the challenges of balancing personal identity with societal expectations.
Themes
IdentitySelfLeadershipIsolationPublic LifePersonal
In practice
Example use cases
In a leadership seminar discussing the importance of authenticity in public service.
More from Eleanor Roosevelt
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You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.
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Our children should learn the general framework of their government and then they should know where they come in contact with the government, where it touches their daily lives and where their influence is exerted on the government. It must not be a distant thing, someone else's business, but they must see how every cog in the wheel of a democracy is important and bears its share of responsibility for the smooth running of the entire machine.
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It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who love generously know.
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I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do.
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