Ever since I could form my own thoughts and understand what people around me were saying, I always remember being labeled “different,” “eccentric,” or the ever-popular “someone who just marches to the beat of her own drum.”

While all of these statements are true, there were times they made me feel self-conscious—like a weird black sheep just trying to fit in somewhere. And sure, it’s probably easier to fit in, but I highly doubt it’s as much fun as standing out.

So, here are 25 quotes to encourage the weirdness in us—and to remind us that everyone needs a black sheep in their life:

1. “Be weird. Be random. Be who you are. Because you never know who could love the person you hide.” ~ (Not) C.S. Lewis

2. “There is no beauty without some strangeness.” ~ Edgar Allen Poe

3. “What makes you weird or different, that’s your strength.” ~ Meryl Streep

4. “You’ll turn out ordinary if you’re not careful.” ~ Ann Brashares

5. “She dances to the songs in her head, speaks with the rhythm of her heart, and loves from the depths of her soul.” ~ Dean Jackson

6. “Maybe it’s just in America, but it seems that if you’re passionate about something, it freaks people out. You’re considered bizarre or eccentric. To me, it just means you know who you are.” ~ Tim Burton

7. “Live the full life of the mind, exhilarated by new ideas, intoxicated by the romance of the unusual.” ~ Ernest Hemingway

8. “Be daring. Be different. Be impractical. Be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers. The creatures of the commonplace. The slaves of the ordinary.” ~ Cecil Beaton

9. “No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.” ~ Aristotle

10. “Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.” ~ Morticia Addams

11. “I hope to arrive to my death late, in love, and a little drunk.” ~ Atticus

12. “To be successful, your focus has to be so intense that others think you’re crazy.” ~ Kim Orlesky

13. “If you don’t fit in, then you’re probably doing the right thing.” ~ Unknown

14. “Just keep moving forward, and don’t give a sh*t what anybody thinks.” ~ Johnny Depp

15. “Stop trying to explain yourself. People only understand things from their level of perception—within the parameters of their agreement with reality.” ~ Steve Maraboli

16. “It is ever so beautiful to be strange. To do things differently than others. To see things in a rare light. To me, that is such a gold to carry.” ~ Christopher Poindexter

17. “But darling, we weren’t given this wild soul just to merely exist. Our mission is to shake up this world, turn it upside down, and show our fellow humans the difference between breathing and being fully alive.” ~ Unknown

18. “There are parts of me that will always remain untameable, messy, and reckless; but I refuse to apologize for it anymore.” ~ Kaitlin Fester

19. “Be brave. Be wild. And stay forever hungry for art, love, knowledge, and adventure.” ~ Erin Van Vuren

20. “I’m with the dirty mouth girls. The ones with bare feet, brilliant minds, messy hair, wild hearts, and feisty spirits. The ones who aren’t afraid to speak up and who live for doing what they’ve been told is impossible.” ~ Brooke Hampton

21. “She accepts your compliments on her face, her hair, and her body graciously—and she is, indeed, beautiful. But she is only moved when you notice the beauty of her spirit.” ~ Allaisia Hanan

22. “If you end up with a boring miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your sh*t, then you deserve it.” ~ Frank Zappa

23. “I will not be another flower, picked for my beauty and left to die. I will be wild, difficult to find, and impossible to forget.” ~ Erin Van Vuren

24. “Normality is a paved road: it’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow.” ~ Vincent van Gogh

25. “She was one of the rare ones, so effortlessly herself, and the world loved her for it.” ~ Atticus

~

Relephant:

27 Adventure Quotes to Ignite our Wild Hearts.

Nobody Wants You To Read These Quotes: They Set You Free from Being Brainwashed.

~

Author: Emily Cutshaw
Image: Film still
Editor: Yoli Ramazzina
Copy editor: Callie Editor
Social editor: Waylon Lewis