I'm not alone, I'm free. I no longer have to be a credit, I don't have to be a symbol to anybody; I don't have to be a first to anybody.
Interpretation
This quote expresses the liberation that comes from personal independence and self-identity.
Lena Horne's quote highlights the importance of freedom from societal expectations and the pressures to conform or achieve certain statuses. It suggests that true freedom lies in being authentic to oneself, rather than being defined by external labels or the achievements recognized by others.
In practice
This quote is perfect for a motivational speech about personal growth and self-acceptance.
It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. Carry it by the comfortable handles of gratitude for what's positive and that it is not worse, rather than the uncomfortable edges of bitterness for the negatives and that it is not better.
I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept. I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked.
I'm still learning, you know. At 80, I feel there is a lot I don't know.
My identity is very clear to me now, I am a black woman.
In my early days I was a sepia Hedy Lamarr. Now I'm black and a woman, singing my own way.
It is almost as presumptuous to think you can do nothing as to think you can do everything.
Yoga is not only learning to stand on your head but also learning to stand on your feet.
To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.
Through the senses, anger comes, and sorrow comes.
Out of 6 billion humans, the troublemakers are just a handful.
A man who uses a great many words to express his meaning is like a bad marksman who, instead of aiming a single stone at an object, takes up a handful and throws at it in hopes he may hit.
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