"Being Weird Is a Wonderful Thing"

Book excerpt: A gift that celebrates being yourself, in your own unique way. Do you ever feel different? A little weird, a little wacky? It’s time to own it, because, as Meryl Streep proclaimed, “what makes you different or weird, that’s your strength.” In this inspiring collection, singers, poets, actors, activists, comedians, designers, athletes, and philosophers share wise and pithy reflections on what it’s like to march to the beat of a different drummer. Every statement is a powerful, positive reminder that to live successfully is to be completely unapologetically you. “We are not what other people say we are. We are who we know ourselves to be, and we are what we love. That’s OK.” —Laverne Cox “All the colors I am inside have not been invented yet.” —Shel Silverstein “I am different, not less” —Temple Grandin “The more I feel imperfect, the more I feel alive.” —Jhumpa Lahiri “Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward.” —Ai Weiwei