“The true self is what you have built from your nature, not just what your nature started out with”: David Brooks The Road To Character 

Your true or authentic self is not a static persona that sleeps beneath your actions. You chisel your authentic self from the raw material of your nature. 

You are the sculptor of your being. You don’t have to allow life to force you into a shape of its choosing, you can carve our the person you want to be.

Life will knock you into shape if you allow it, but life is a second-rate sculptor. You are the master.