Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in.
Alan AldaRead
Laugh at yourself, but don't ever aim your doubt at yourself. Be bold. When you embark for strange places, don't leave any of yourself safely on shore. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Embrace self-acceptance while challenging your fears. Take risks and explore the unknown without holding back.
This quote encourages individuals to maintain a light-hearted view of their own imperfections while rejecting self-doubt. It emphasizes the importance of being courageous and venturing into new and unfamiliar experiences, suggesting that to truly grow and discover oneself, one must fully commit to the journey without leaving any part of themselves behind.
Themes
CourageSelf-AcceptanceExplorationRisk-TakingGrowth
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming challenges.
More from Alan Alda
All quotes →Laugh at yourself, but don't ever aim your doubt at yourself.
Alan AldaRead
Here's my Golden Rule for a tarnished age: Be fair with others, but keep after them until they're fair with you.
Alan AldaRead
If you know what you're looking for, that's all you'll get - what's previously known. But when you're open to what's possible, you get something new - that's creativity.
Alan AldaRead
I found I wasn't asking good enough questions because I assumed I knew something. I would box them into a corner with a badly formed question, and they didn't know how to get out of it. Now, I let them take me through it step by step, and I listen.
Alan AldaRead
You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself.
Alan AldaRead
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