Oscar Wilde — Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.Oscar Wilde
Attributed to Oscar Wilde
The joke lands because the logic is airtight. Every other identity is occupied; the only vacancy in the world has your name on it.
Speak English in your own voice, with your own accent and humour. Fluency is not becoming someone else — it is carrying yourself into another language.
Words that widen the world
Genuine; true to one's own character.
Synonyms: genuine, real, sincere
Her English sounded authentic, not copied.
Already claimed or occupied.
Synonyms: claimed, occupied, reserved
Every other role is already taken.
Common questions
It humorously argues for authenticity: imitating others is pointless because your own identity is the only one available to you.
It is popularly attributed to Wilde, though it does not appear in his published work, so we mark it as attributed.
Carry it with you
In your own words, what does this thought mean to you? Write three or four sentences in English about a moment when it felt true — saying it yourself is how it stays with you.
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