Here are ten powerful quotes from Becoming by Michelle Obama that capture the essence of her memoir and the themes of personal growth, identity, and resilience:
- “If you don’t get out there and define yourself, you’ll be quickly and inaccurately defined by others.”
- “For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”
- “Failure is a feeling long before it becomes an actual result. It’s vulnerability that breeds with self-doubt and then is escalated, often deliberately, by fear.”
- “Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.”
- “Do we settle for the world as it is, or do we work for the world as it should be?”
- “One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals.”
- “Everyone on Earth, they’d tell us, was carrying around an unseen history, and that alone deserved some tolerance.”
- “It hurts to live after someone has died. It just does.”
- “Women endure entire lifetimes of these indignities—in the form of catcalls, groping, assault, oppression. These things injure us.”
- “Now I think it’s one of the most useless questions an adult can ask a child—‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ As if growing up is finite.”
These quotes reflect Michelle Obama’s insights on identity, the importance of self-definition, and the ongoing journey of personal growth.
Book Review: Becoming Book Summary: What You Need to Know
